EDIT; Someone informed me that I'm apparently not allowed to have a chapter 'solely based on a character list' so, here, let me fix that owo
ThunderClan
Leader Bluestar- blue-gray she-cat with silver around her muzzle
Apprentice, Firepaw
Deputy Redtail- small tortoiseshell tom with a distinctive ginger tail
Apprentice, Dustpaw
Medicine Cat Spottedleaf- beautiful dark tortoiseshell she-cat with a distinctive dappled coat
Warriors-
Lionheart- magnificent golden tabby tom with thick fur like a lion's mane
Apprentice, Graypaw
Tigerclaw- big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws
Apprentice, Ravenpaw
Whitestorm- big white tom
Apprentice, Sandpaw
Willowpelt- very pale gray she-cat with unusual blue eyes
Runningwind- swift tabby tom
Mousefur- small dusky brown she-cat
Stonefur- gray tom with battle-scarred ears and blue eyes
Darkstripe- sleek black-and-gray tabby tom
Longtail- pale tabby tom with dark black stripes
Apprentices
Dustpaw- dark brown tabby tom
Ravenpaw- small, skinny black tom with a white dash on his chest, and a white-tipped tail
Sandpaw- pale ginger she-cat
Graypaw- long-haired solid gray tom
Firepaw- pretty ginger she-cat
Queens
Frostfur- beautiful white she-cat with blue eyes
Kits: Cinderkit (fluffy gray she-cat) and Brackenkit (golden-brown tabby tom)
Brindleface- pretty tabby she-cat (pregnant)
Goldenflower- pale ginger she-cat
Kits: Swiftkit- black and white tom
Speckletail- pale tabby, oldest nursery queen (pregnant)
Mossheart- pale-gray-and-white she-cat with green eyes
Kits: Stormkit (silver tabby tom), and Sunkit (ginger and white tabby tom)
Mistyfoot- blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes
Kits: Leafkit (tortoiseshell she-cat), Dapplekit (gray she-cat with darker flecks), and Moonkit (silver and white tabby she-cat)
Elders
Halftail- big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing
Smallear- gray tom with very small ears, oldest cat in ThunderClan
Patchpelt- small black-and-white tom
Dappletail- once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat
One-eye- pale gray she-cat, virtually blind and deaf
Okay- here's chapter one, then.
Ember sat on top of her fence, peering into the woods. She had been having strange dreams recently; dreams about hunting in the woods. She crouched, preparing to jump down. One look wouldn't harm anyone…
"Where are you going, Ember?"
The small ginger she-cat nearly jumped out of her fur. She whipped her head around and stared at her black-and-white friend with bright green eyes. "I was just going to go see what it was like in the woods," she answered, flicking her tail.
"You're going into the woods?" Smudge echoed, staring with wide amber eyes at her.
"Well, yes, just for a little while. I wanted to see if I could catch a mouse." After all, she'd only just barely missed the mice in her dreams. Her housefolk always woke her up before she could catch the mouse…
"Well, be careful," Smudge's worried voice broke her out of her thoughts. "Henry says that there are wild cats that eat bones and live rabbits in there!"
"Henry?" she snorted. "That fat old tabby hasn't been into the woods for moons! I bet he hasn't even been there at all. He's probably trying to scare you. I'll be back later, alright? Then you'll see that I'm fine."
Before he could reply, she jumped off of the fence post and onto the soft, grassy earth. She padded into the woods, ears pricked. Not even three tail-lengths in, she froze at the sound of small paws scuttling among the leaves. She felt herself drop into a crouch instinctively, creeping forward silently. It was a mouse! Her heart pounded with excitement. Feeling like she was close enough to the rodent, she leaped. The mouse heard the sound of her bell jingling on her collar, darting for cover.
Ember spat in frustration. She'd almost had it! Suddenly, she became aware of leaves crunching under paws. She spun around, arching her back. "Who's-"
She was cut off as a large gray shape rammed into her flank. She yowled, battering at the larger cat's belly with her hind paws. The cat above her grunted, but didn't release her. She decided to try something else, something more risky; she let herself go limp, hoping that the cat would soften its grip. It worked- she felt the larger cat's grip relax, and she scrambled away from him, darting back in the direction of her housefolk's home.
The cat was running after her. She had to face it! She pivoted, arching her back and hissing. The cat stopped, staring at her. Suddenly he let out a mrrow of laughter, licking a paw and drawing it over his ear.
She didn't relax. She took the opportunity to observe the tom, narrowing her green eyes. He had a gray pelt, and the fur was long and shaggy. He had pale yellow eyes, which were watching her.
"I'll fight you again if I have to," she growled, bristling.
"You fight pretty well for a kittypet!" the tom meowed cheerfully. "My name's Graypaw. I'm an apprentice in ThunderClan! You better feel lucky that I wasn't a ShadowClan warrior. They would have shredded a cat like you!"
Slowly, Ember allowed herself to relax. This 'Graypaw' didn't seem in any hurry to attack her again. He seemed friendly enough, anyway. "Do you live out here?" she asked curiously.
"Of course! We hunt for ourselves and fight to protect our borders from other Clans. They try to steal our prey constantly."
"You-"
Again, she was cut off. This time, however, it was by a she-cat's meow. "That was a good fight, Graypaw. You too, kittypet."
Graypaw whipped around the face the she-cat. He crouched low to the ground, looking respectfully at her. "Bluestar," he greeted, partly for Ember's benefit. Under his breath, he muttered, "She's the leader of my Clan."
Another cat slid out from the bushes- a large golden tabby tom. He stared down at the two cats, and then glanced at the blue-gray she-cat, Bluestar. "I've never seen a kittypet turn back and try to fight," the tom growled.
Graypaw crouched even lower. "That's Lionheart," he whispered, "He's my mentor. A mentor trains their apprentice to become a warrior."
"Thank you for the introduction, Graypaw," the tabby, Lionheart, meowed.
"Kittypet, I've seen you staring into the forest whenever I patrol this border. You probably would have caught that mouse if you hadn't have hesitated so long," Bluestar meowed softly.
Ember blinked in surprise. She was praising her? "T-thank you," she meowed, dipping her head respectfully to the older she-cat.
"Would you like to see what living out here in the wild would be like? We would train you to become a warrior. Don't take this offer lightly, though. You'd have to give up your comfortable, soft life. The Clan cannot offer you such things. However, the rewards are great. You earn your clanmates trust and respect."
Before the ThunderClan leader could continue, Lionheart interrupted. "Bluestar, are you crazy? This is a kittypet. She would never be able to survive out here!"
"That may be true, Lionheart-"
Again, she was interrupted, but by Ember this time. "Then why offer me the chance?" she challenged. "I would love the chance! I'd prove anyone who dared to say that I was weak wrong." She heard Graypaw snort disbelievingly at her.
"However," the pretty ginger she-cat continued, "if it's alright… can I have until tomorrow morning? I'd like to say goodbye to a few cats."
Bluestar blinked thoughtfully. "Alright," she meowed finally. "That's acceptable- I can understand that. Lionheart will be here at sunhigh."
"Thank you," Ember meowed, once again dipping her head.
"They asked you what?" Smudge meowed, widening his amber eyes.
"They asked me to join their Clan!" she meowed excitedly.
"Why would they do that, though?" Her friend sounded puzzled.
"I guess they need extra paws in their Clan," she answered, shrugging. "But I've decided that I'm going to join them."
"What!" Smudge yelped. "You can't! I'll be alone!"
"No, you won't," she soothed. "My housefolk will get a new cat, and you'll get along with them just fine. You get along with everyone!"
He looked unsure, but nodded. "Alright. Let's just spend this morning together, for old time's sake."
Ember padded forward, into the forest. She could smell the lingering scents of Bluestar, Graypaw, and Lionheart, but she couldn't tell if the golden tabby was there. She sniffed again. Was he…?
"Hello, young one."
She spun around, seeing Lionheart emerge from the bushes.
"Can you tell if I'm alone or not?"
She sniffed. "Bluestar and Graypaw aren't with you this time," Ember meowed hesitantly.
"Good, but someone else is," he murmured.
A big white tom emerged from the same place he had. His eyes were the color of sunbaked sand. He padded forward, sniffing her. "Hello," he purred.
"This is Whitestorm, a senior warrior," Lionheart introduced. "Now, come. Bluestar is expecting us." As he finished his sentence, he turned around, bolting into the bushes. Whitestorm followed quickly.
Ember was gasping for breath by the time they reached the top of a ravine. She heard Lionheart meow, "The entrance to camp is right down there. Come on, we're almost there."
The ginger she-cat scrambled down the rocky slope, relieved when the ground leveled out into a grassy path. She followed Lionheart and Whitestorm, ears flattened to her head. Cats turned to stare at her, curious at her foreign scent.
Her ears pricked when Bluestar padded over to them. "She came," the older she-cat purred.
"Lionheart believed she would not," Whitestorm meowed, flicking his tail.
"Well, how was she?" she prompted.
"She kept up well despite her puny size," Lionheart admitted.
"Good," Bluestar sounded pleased. "Then I shall announce her arrival to the Clan." As she spoke, she walked over to a large rock, leaping up to the top. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"
Cats padded out from dens, looking expectantly up at their leader.
"ThunderClan has had fewer kits than usual lately. Our apprentices aren't close to becoming warriors, and we need more warriors. I have found an outsider who is willing to become an apprentice-"
"Lucky to become an apprentice!" Ember flattened her ears to her head, turning to look at the cat who spoke up. It was a pale tabby with black stripes.
Bluestar ignored the interruption. "Lionheart and Whitestorm have met this cat, and they agree that she should be taught our ways."
"What Clan is she from? She doesn't carry any scent that I know!" It was the tabby again.
"That's Longtail," Lionheart murmured. "He smells your fear. They all do. You must prove that you aren't afraid of a fight."
She hesitated, trying to pinpoint his position. He was behind a small brown she-cat and a blue-gray she-cat that looked a lot like Bluestar.
"Do you back down from a challenge?"
She drew her lips back into a snarl, leaping at the tabby. He was completely unprepared for her attack. The two cats were locked in a vicious tussle, clawing at each other's pelts. She retched as the tom gripped her collar between his jaws, pulling on it.
Suddenly, the unwelcome feeling was gone. She was free of her collar. Longtail spat the collar out of his mouth, hissing. One of his ears had a nick in it, and the blood flowed from it onto his shoulder.
"Stop!" Bluestar yowled. She leapt down to their sides. "This kittypet has lost the hold that her Twolegs had on her, and she is free to join ThunderClan as an apprentice."
"You look like fire in the sunlight," she murmured to Ember. "Until this she-cat has earned her warrior name, she will be known as Firepaw."
The Clan called out their approval by yowling her new name. Firepaw closed her eyes, letting it sink in. She was one of them now.
"Firepaw!"
Her eyes shot open, seeing Graypaw in front of her. "Graypaw!" she purred.
"Great name," he meowed. "I'll show you around camp-"
A gray tom with small ears yowled suddenly. She looked to the camp entrance. A skinny black tom was staggering into the clearing, bleeding heavily.
"Redtail is dead!"