Hello, hello! :D If it's your first time reading one of my (two) fanfics, then greetings! If you're already a reader of Everything but Nothing, welcome back! :D I got an idea for this fanfic, and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I finally decided to type it out. Now don't worry; I will still continue Everything but Nothing (in fact, I've only gotten to the halfway point, I think), but I will alternate updating for that and this new one.

The title, Phoenix, sounds weird, but trust me, it has a lot to do with this fanfic. ;) Thanks to Bubbletail for letting me use some of her cats! :) Now for the Allegiances and Chapter 1! :D

Allegiances

LeafClan

Leader: Branchstar-light brown tabby tom

Deputy: Falconflight-dark gray tabby tom

Medicine cat: Whispersong-gray she-cat (apprentice, Swallowpaw)

Warriors:

Pounceclaw-white-and-brown splotched tom

Ravenwing-black she-cat

Oakpelt-dark brown tabby tom with one white paw

Ivyfur-light brown she-cat (apprentice, Thunderpaw)

Ashfeather-gray tabby she-cat

Cedarheart-brown tabby tom with blue eyes (apprentice, Redpaw)

Breezetail-black tom

Twigclaw-thin brown tom

Rainfall- a pretty pale gray tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Birchstep-light gray tom with amber eyes

Apprentices:

Swallowpaw-brown she-cat with one white paw (mentor, Whispersong)

Redpaw-orangish-russet she-cat (mentor, Cedarheart)

Thunderpaw-black tom (mentor, Ivyrain)

Queens:

Doveflight-white she-cat (mother of Breezetail's kits, Cloudkit, a white she-kit with blue eyes, and Graykit, a light gray tom)

Brightsky-warm light brown she-cat (mother of Cedarheart's kits, Tigerkit, a dark brown tabby tom with green eyes, Petalkit, a light brown tabby she-cat, and Darkkit, a dark brown tom)

Blazepelt-deceased ginger she-cat with green eyes (mother of Birchstep's kits, Amberkit, a ginger she-cat with amber eyes, Ashkit, a gray tom, and Lilackit, a light gray she-cat, who are being nursed by Brightsky)

Elders:

Treefall-brown tom

Mousetail-orange she-cat

StoneClan

Leader: Harestar-scrawny gray tom

Deputy: Sagepelt-orange she-cat

Medicine Cat: Shivertail-lean, light brown tabby tom

Warriors:

Flashfang-well muscled orange tabby tom (apprentice, Hawkpaw)

Flightheart-light brown tabby she-cat

Goldenfur-striped golden she-cat with amber eyes

Boulderfall-gray tabby tom

Honeydew-golden brown she-cat (apprentice, Lightpaw)

Thundersky-dark gray tom

Rockpelt-black tom

Darkpool-dark brown she-cat with blue eyes (apprentice, Dustpaw)

Frostclaw-black-and-white tom

Hazelberry-cream colored she-cat

Kestrelstrike-light brown she-cat with green eyes

Apprentices:

Dustpaw-dark brown tom (mentor, Darkpool)

Hawkpaw-brown tom with blue eyes (mentor, Flashfang)

Lightpaw-striped light brown she-cat (mentor, Honeydew)

Queens:

Icefeather-pure white she-cat (expecting Frostclaw's kits)

Mapleleaf-brown she-cat with blue eyes (mother of Flashfang's kits: Brackenkit, a reddish brown tom with blue eyes and Stripekit, a striped brown tom)

Elders:

Stripepelt-dark brown tabby tom

Sandwave-golden brown tom

CreekClan

Leader: Ripplestar-white she-cat with black lines running down her pelt

Deputy: Marshpelt-gray she-cat

Medicine Cat: Runningbreeze-light brown tom

Warriors:

Wavestorm-blue-gray she-cat with kind eyes

Pebbleskip-black tom (apprentice, Streampaw)

Brambleheart-dark brown tabby she-cat with one white paw (apprentice, Lionpaw)

Splashfoot-tortoiseshell she-cat

Featherpool-light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes

Leopardleap-mottled ginger tom

Splotchtail-white-and-brown she-cat with a brown tipped tail

Reedfur-dark brown tom

Rushwater-gray tom with amber eyes (apprentice, Minnowpaw)

Apprentices:

Streampaw-dark gray she-cat (mentor, Pebbleskip)

Lionpaw-golden brown tabby tom (mentor, Brambleheart)

Minnowpaw-light gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes (mentor, Rushwater)

Queens:

Blizzardfire –white she-cat (mother of Pebbleskip's kits, Whitekit, a white she-cat with amber eyes, and Blackkit, a black tom)

Redfur-reddish brown she-cat (mother of Leopardleap's kits, Mothkit, a mottled golden brown she-cat, and Hollykit, a dark russet she-cat)

Elders:

Owlclaw-light brown she-cat

Troutleap-dark gray tom

Chapter 1: Introduction

Life is hard. Some of it is harder for others.

I was born on a cold frosty night, sliding out into the frigid air to a symphony of sounds: my father yowling with sorrow, my siblings mewing for milk in little huddled heaps, and my mother, her breathing barely audible.

My mother.

She was a beautiful ginger cat, with long silky fur and clear green eyes. She survived for exactly one moon after I was born, lying weak and tired in her new nest in the medicine cat's den until she finally gave in and went to StarClan.

Her name was Blazepelt, a name well fitting for her bright ginger coat. Only after her death did the color seem to fade until she didn't seem like the same cat, only a body lying before the cats repeating her name and watching vigil.

I took after her coat: the same fiery color, but not her eyes. My eyes I inherited from my father, Birchstep—amber eyes, the same as my name. But Blazepelt named me after my pelt, as brilliant as her own.

My father heard her say it. The medicine cat, Whispersong, heard her. And I heard her say it too, even though my eyes were shut tight against the harshness of life, and my ginger pelt shivering with cold.

"This last kit—my kit—shall be named Amberkit, named for her pelt."

Her words were faltering syllables, and her voice dropped off into a harsh, racking cough. She'd had whitecough when we were born, and after that, the sickness veered deeper into greencough, eventually taking her life.

Birchstep was heartbroken, and only came into the nursery once to see my siblings and me, to make sure that we were well, sucking borrowed milk from the side of another queen. Another queen, one who had survived through her birth, and her three kits with her.

And then he was like a distant memory, a shrunken husk of a cat. He performed his warrior duties with the best of his ability, and fought the other Clan cats in battle well, but inside he was empty.

What was there to live for? Surely not his Clan, though he went on patrols every sunrise and brought home sizable amounts of prey each day. Surely not the Warrior code and the promise of StarClan, though he followed the rules and believed in his ancestors faithfully. Surely not his mate, for she had died and left him alone and was the very cause of his unhappiness.

And surely not us—not me—his very own kits.

In Birchstep's mind, we were the cause of Blazepelt's death. We should have died instead of her, should have joined StarClan even before we had lived, in her place.

When I was old enough to understand this, old enough to play games with my littermates, Lilackit and Ashkit, I thought I didn't care. Much. You can't miss what you never had. But sometimes you do.

"Amberkit! Wake up!"

A paw prods me in my side, a sharp voice cuts through my dreams. But I don't want to wake up, don't want to open my eyes and leave the warmth of Brightsky's side, my foster mother. And so, I only curl up into a tighter ball and try to find my way back to sleep, where in my dreams my mother will be alive and my father will love me and everything will be all right.

"Get up!" a voice shouts suddenly, right into my ear.

I shoot up like a frightened rabbit, only this rabbit isn't frightened—it's mad. I stand on all four paws, glaring at the culprit—a dark brown tabby tom-kit.

"Tigerkit! I wanted to sleep!" I yell at him, my peaceful dreams forgotten. My ginger tail swishes back and forth angrily.

He smirks. "Well, you're awake now, aren't you?"

"You little—" I lunge at him, toppling him over just as he yells, "Hey, you're little too!"

His mother, Brightsky, sits up and looks at us. "Kits, Lilackit and Stonekit are still sleeping. Why don't you play outside?"

Untangling ourselves, we both nod at her and race outside to where my brother, Ashkit, and Tigerkit's sister, Petalkit, are already tossing around a moss ball. I skid to a stop, blinking my amber eyes against the bright sunshine.

Tigerkit is already calling out to them. "Hey, guys! Could we play too?"

"Sure!" Petalkit plants one light brown paw on the moss ball, bringing it to a halt, and Tigerkit and I take up our positions on either side of her. My brother Ashkit stands across from Petalkit. Then we began the game.

First, Petalkit passes it to Ashkit. He gives it to Tigerkit, who shoots it at me with a quick blow of his paw. His sniggers are abruptly stopped when I manage to hook the ball with my claws, just preventing it from escaping.

"You didn't succeed," I tease, sticking out my tongue.

"It doesn't matter," he scoffs. "Pass the ball already, wouldja?"

I kick it to Ashkit, who sends it to Tigerkit again. The game goes on, with Tigerkit repeatedly shooting the moss ball at me, trying to slip the ball past my quick paws and trying to make me lose. Each time, I foil him, but he only grins and waits for his turn to try again.

Then I'm caught off guard, and he spins the moss ball past my leg with a quick kick of his paw while I am watching a bird preen itself in a tree.

"Ha, I finally got you!" he crows, green eyes dancing with delight.

"Note the 'finally'," I say drily, and turn around to chase after the moss ball. Leaving Tigerkit to his celebrating, Ashkit and Petalkit follow me, and Tigerkit is forced to come too, lest he be left behind.

There it is! The moss ball has rolled to a tree, cradled in its roots—the very same tree in which the bird I have been watching has been roosted in. Without looking either way, I leap for it excitedly—and slam right into a light gray side.

I fall back on my hind legs and look up into a pair of amber eyes, the same as my own. A sliver of regret flashes in the cat's eyes, then turn hard and empty. The sun, shining only a second before, hides behind a cloud.

I have just crashed into my father.

A cliffhanger, on the very first chapter, yay! It's not very cliffhanger-ish, but still leaves you to wonder. Review, review, review! :) (So that I may come home from my skiing vacation to find an email full of review alerts. ;D)

~Ponyiowa