Chapter One

Disclaimer: The Warrior Series is Erin Hunter's, this story is mine.

Echosong beamed down at Leafstar, who was industriously licking the head of her fuzzy, newborn kit. New life was such a beautiful thing!

Echosong turned silently, careful not to disturb Leafstar, and faced Wanderingpaw, "Your kit is so beautiful!"

Wanderingpaw blushed, "Thanks Echosong, but it's our kit."

Echosong took her turn at blushing, "Of course! I'm so sorry, I..."

She trailed off and turned back to the kit. When Sharpclaw had been killed in a rock fall Leafstar had fallen into a deep depression, listless and unresponsive, she'd practically given leadership over to Cherrytail and the entire clan was worried about her.

And then out of nowhere had come Wanderingpaw. He said he'd come from Thunderclan and that he brought them Firestar and Sandstorm's best wishes. No one in Skyclan had asked why he'd left his clan and he never showed the slightest urge to leave Skyclan once he'd arrived.

He'd fallen into their pattern of clan life effortlessly, though he insisted on leaving the 'paw' on the end of his name, saying no name could fit him any better. And as Wanderingpaw became an integral part of Skyclan Leafstar suddenly began smiling again and tripping over her paws every time Wanderingpaw opened his mouth.

So it'd been no surprise when Leafstar had announced that she was bearing Wanderingpaw's kits. And now Leafstar and Wanderingpaw's new kit lay mewling in the soft sand of the nursery.

It had been a hard labor for Leafstar since she'd been carrying one enormous kit instead of several small ones. The poor kit could barely squeeze out of his mother's belly! But when he lay before them on the nursery floor they could see that he was beautiful, though it was obvious he was not of pure Skyclan blood. His hind legs were muscled like every Skyclan cats' and his paw pads were just as hard as theirs, but their was a leanness to his body that their stocky forms didn't hold, and his tail was long and winding, less like their practical balancers, and more like an otter's rudder. And then there were his claws. Echosong, Wanderingpaw, and even Leafstar were all at a loss of how her kit had come to have such long, menacing claws on his tiny, brand new paws. All this they could see in the half-formed features of a newborn kit.

Now he lay, perfect, beside his mother, the largest kit Echosong had ever seen.

Echosong smiled to herself and was turning to leave the nursery and give the new parents some peace when something silver caught her eye. She turned slowly around and then stared in surprise at the scene before her.

An enormous star-speckled cat was bending down over the newborn kit to lick its head! The cat was so huge that it couldn't even stand up in the nursery's confines and a flowing, rippling mane fell down its back like a silent waterfall. Echosong knew instinctively that the silver visitor was her long, long ago ancestor, sent by Starclan to herald the birth of this unusual kit. Perhaps this cat had even been a member of the legendary Lionclan! The cat finished licking the kit's forehead and slowly turned to face Echosong. Its eyes, large and golden, caught hers and the big cat winked. And suddenly the nursery came back into focus.

Leafstar was eyeing Echosong with a concerned, motherly expression, "What is it Echosong?"

Echosong went to answer and the kit caught her gaze. In the center of the kit's forehead, right where the Starclan cat had licked him, a tiny white star had appeared, nearly glowing in contrast to his mottled dark brown fur.

Echosong stuttered a bit, trying to answer Leafstar, "I... Leafstar, I've had a sign from Starclan. Your kit is destined to rise above all cats and shin the way silver pelt does on a cloudless night. You must christen him Starkit, for he will have no other name."

The words had come to Echosong without warning and had fallen from her lips without her consent. But in the warm nursery air they rang true.

Leafstar stared at her for a moment. Taking in Echosong's shell-shocked expression she decided to go along with the medicine cat; Echosong had never lead the clan wrong before. "Well, the light spot on his forehead does look like a star... Okay Echosong, if it means so much to you."

Echosong smiled in relief, "Thanks Leafstar! I'll leave you two alone now." She turned and finally left the nursery, filled with the knowledge that Starkit would be a lion among cats.

***

Leafstar licked the newly named Starkit once more, then turned to her mate, "Do you know what that was all about?"

Wanderingpaw shrugged, "Don't look at me! I have no idea."

And he didn't. He didn't know that the blood of the four forest clans ran in his veins, nor that his kit had now become a link between the forest and Skyclan, a blend of the best characteristics of all five clans.

All he knew was that if his kit was destined for greatness he was going to end up with a rather silly title. Who ever heard of a cat called Starstar?

So Wanderingpaw and Leafstar sat, tails entwined, gazing with eyes full of love at their newborn son, Starkit.

Two moons later.

Starkit crouched down, hiding himself neatly in the moss of his mother's vacated nest. Bouncepaw came into the target zone, completely unaware of the danger he was in.

"Rawr!" Starkit flung himself at the older cat, tail thrashing with the effort.

Bouncepaw stumbled backwards out of the nursery in surprise. The moss he had gathered to replace the nursery's soiled bedding with flew out of his mouth and was scattered across the nursery floor on a light Green Leaf breeze. He reached up wearily and pulled the energetic fur ball out of his pelt.

"Starkit, not now! I'm supposed to be changing the nursery's moss, not playing with you!" Bouncepaw gave Starkit an exasperated stare.

Starkit scuffed his paws on the sand, "Sorry Bouncepaw. But please will you play with me, pleeease?"

Starkit opened his eyes as wide as they would go and stuck out his lower lip, blinking several times for effect.

Bouncepaw glanced around the camp. Echosong was sorting herbs in the sunlight while Leafstar and Wanderingpaw peacefully shared tongues by the fresh kill pile.

Bouncepaw looked down at the hopeful kit. He looked back up at the quiet camp. "Fine, but just this one time, okay?"

Starkit bounced up and down with excitement and galloped back into the nursery, tail held straight up like a miniature flag. "We can play in here Bouncepaw, no one will see us or hear us!"

Bouncepaw smiled, "Alright you scrap of mangy fur, let's battle!"

Starkit crouched down, tail twitching, tongue between his teeth to help his concentration. Bouncepaw, still smiling, crouched down as well and waited for the kit to make his move.

Suddenly Starkit barreled into Bouncepaw, so fast that Bouncepaw was knocked off his paws and rammed into the nursery's stone wall. Stunned, he didn't have time to recover as Starkit jumped onto his chest and pinned him down.

Starkit beamed, "I won! I won, didn't I Bouncepaw? I won!"

Bouncepaw groaned. His head was pounding as if a boulder was crashing into his skull again and again. He tried to move, but couldn't manage it. His head hurt so much! Black spots were gathering around the edges of his vision. He was in too much pain to fight them off. He fell gratefully into the blackness, leaving all pain behind.

Starkit hopped off Bouncepaw's chest and waited for his friend to get up. Bouncepaw didn't move. Starkit walked up to Bouncepaw's head. "Wake up Bouncepaw, wake up. Come on Bouncepaw, I didn't mean it! Bouncepaw!"

Leafstar yawned and stretched. She'd nearly fallen asleep sharing tongues with Wanderingpaw! It was so nice and warm in the camp during Green Leaf!

She nudged Wandering paw. He mumbled sleepily back at her. She sighed. Fine, she'd go check on Starkit herself.

Stretching once more for good measure, she padded to the nursery entrance and was about to go in when Echosong got her attention.

She turned around as Echosong spoke, "Hey Leafstar, Bouncepaw went in there to change the nursery's moss. Tell him that when he's done I'd like him to come help me sort these herbs, okay?"

Leafstar nodded, "Sure thing, Echosong!"

Echosong bent down to continue sorting the herbs, marveling at the amount she'd gathered in a plentiful Green Leaf, and Leafstar stepped nonchalantly into the nursery where she found a scene that horrified her beyond belief.

Bouncepaw lay against a nursery wall, completely and frighteningly still. Starkit was crying next to him, batting at Bouncepaw with sheathed claws, "Bouncepaw wake up! Please wake up Bouncepaw! Please!"

Echosong was crouching over Bouncepaw when he finally awoke. "Thank Starclan! Bouncepaw you're awake! How do you feel?"

Bouncepaw blinked groggily in the sudden light. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton and his head ached with a hot, pounding throb. "Like I got hit by a monster."

Echosong wasn't really paying attention; she'd turned to her supply of herbs and was measuring out poppy seeds. She gave him a small pawful and he lapped them up gratefully. The throbbing in his head faded, though when he tried to sit up nausea overcame him and he was forced to lie back down.

Echosong shook the unused poppy seeds off her paw and turned back to Bouncepaw, "Now then. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Bouncepaw frowned and tried to focus, "I... I think I was playing with Starkit in the nursery. I know I shouldn't have been, but he really wanted to so I gave in. And then he pounced on me and I hit the nursery wall and... That's all I remember."

Echosong nodded, but she didn't look convinced by his story, "A kit knocked you into a wall with so much force that you went unconscious and didn't wake up for three sunrises? I'm not sure you've got the story right."

Bouncepaw blinked in surprise, "I've been unconscious for three sunrises?"

Echosong nodded again, "We were all very worried. You should have seen poor Starkit! He was so upset by it! But are you really sure that he was the one who tackled you like that?"

Bouncepaw looked uncertain, "I don't know. I thought it was Starkit. Of course, I was hit on the head rather hard... But who else could it have been?"

Echosong sighed, "I have no idea. There was no scent of badger or fox, and if it had been one of those two creatures I doubt you would be alive now. And only Leafstar, Wanderingpaw, and myself were in the camp when Leafstar found you like that. Leafstar did say that Starkit was prodding you and trying to get you to wake up..."

Bouncepaw shook his head, "But it felt as if I was pummeled by a member of Lionclan! There's no way a two-moon-old kit could have done that!"

Echosong looked away, "I didn't tell the clan this, but maybe I should have..." She turned back to face Bouncepaw, "When Starkit was born I received a sign from Starclan. An enormous star-speckled cat appeared in the nursery and began licking Starkit on the head, leaving the white, star-shaped spot he has on his forehead. I told Leafstar that her kit was destined for greatness and that she should name her kit Starkit, but she never told the rest of the clan why she chose such an odd name for her kit. Perhaps telling the clan would have prevented this accident. We will have to be extremely careful with this kit. If he has the power to knock a cat seven moons his elder unconscious, who knows what else he can do?"

Bouncepaw nodded solemnly, "He was always rather large for a kit. Do you think we should tell the clan?"

Echosong shook her head, "No. I'll talk to Leafstar about it. It's her kit and her clan so it's her decision. I don't want the entire clan to be frightened of Starkit! This has to be handled very delicately and neither you nor I are diplomats. Let's let Leafstar settle this."

Bouncepaw spoke up once more, "But what do I say when other cats ask me how I got hurt?"

Echosong sighed, "Just try to change the subject, or say you don't really remember. You can't go around saying that Starkit knocked you out; cats will think you're a lunatic!"

Bouncepaw nodded, "Right. Just tell them I don't remember. They'll probably believe that..."

Echosong watched as the poppy seeds took effect, sending Bouncepaw back to hopefully happy dreams. There was going to be trouble over this, she was sure of that. But it couldn't be avoided. The clan had to know Starkit's strengths to prevent another injury like Bouncepaw's. If only she could know that they'd take it the right way and not alienate the poor kit from his own clan! She shook her head and turned to finish sorting her herbs, wishing that she could just curl up and go to sleep like Bouncepaw had.