The Four Tribes
Prologue LeafStar was sitting outside his den, smiling to himself. Today was a good day for the tribe, because RoseStep' s kits were born. My kits. He thought. I can't wait to meet them! They're going to become great warriors, that's for sure. Maybe even one of them might be leader. "LeafStar! Come and see our kits!" RoseStep called from the nursery. He jumped down and trotted towards the nursery, his heart was as high as the clouds, full of hope and excitement. When he entered the nursery he could immediately smell the scent of warm milk mixed in with the other scents of pine needles and herbs. RoseStep was nestled in a nest near the corner of the nursery, busy licking 4 small furry bundles next to her. LeafStar slowly walked closer to her, careful not to disturb the other queens in the nursery. RoseStep looked up and smiled when she saw him. "I named them the names you chose," She said quietly. "Crystalkit, Lightkit, Pearlkit and Redkit." LeafStar looked down at his kits. Crystalkit was a silverish white, like a crystal. Lightkit was bright yellow with a black paw. Pearlkit had a beautiful dappled pelt. Redkit looks a lot like RoseStep, dark red with a white tail tip and stripes. "They're beautiful." He whispered. "I know. But look at the gems on Crystalkit's and Lightkit's forehead LeafStar. Your dream came true." RoseStep whispered. LeafStar looked and on Crystalkit's forehead was a diamond, the symbol for the leader rank. On Lightkit's forehead was a brilliant green emerald, the symbol of the healer. LeafStar's smile widened, and he thought there couldn't be any cat that could be as happy as he was now. His kits are going to be great warriors, even a leader and a healer! (Pearlkit's and Redkit's jewels were sapphires, the symbol of a warrior.) RoseStep and LeafStar exchanged a smile. "Awesome."-
Lapiskit was playing on the beach of the Water Tribe with her littermates, Heronkit and Abysskit. The three siblings were playing their favorite game of moss ball. "Bet you can't catch it!" Lapiskit called to Heronkit. "Bet I can!" Heronkit answered, crouching down and swinging her tail. Their mother, SandTail, watched from a few feet away and called "Careful you three! After all your only-" "Yeah yeah we know….we're only 2 moons old." The siblings answered together, rolling their eyes. "We'll be careful moooom." Lapiskit said, and the three of them laughed. "C'mon, let's continue our game of moss ball!" Heronkit said, bounding away. -
Away in the snowy mountains, another litter of kits were born. Their mother, SnowSong and their father, IceStorm were very proud. The kits names were Hailkit and Peakkit. Sadly, their father was lost in a battle that day. SnowSong was heartbroken and devastated. She left the Snow Tribe forever. So, the 2 kits were adopted by another queen, FrostFlower. She vowed to take care of them as if they were her own kits. FrostFlower's mate, Whitefoot was a gentle cat and he vowed too, to take good care of them. "When our kits are born, they're going to be best friends with Hailkit and Peakkit." FrostFlower said quietly to Whitefoot. WhiteFoot nodded and smiled. -
Up in the sky, between the clouds, 2 kits were racing. They were Sky Tribe kits, so they have feathered wings. Their names were Bluekit and Bellkit. "Come and catch me Bellkit!" Bluekit said over his shoulder at his younger sister. "No fair! Your wings are bigger then mine!" Bellkit whined. "Okay fine I'll slow down…." Bluekit slowed down a bit so his sister could catch up. "Let's go back, mom and dad will be looking for us." Bellkit said. "Fineeeeee…" Bluekit and Bellkit flew back to their camp in the sky. Their mother and father were the Leader and Deputy of the Sky Tribe. StormStar is a dark gray tabby tom with green eyes. He's cold on the outside, but once you get to know him, he's actually nice. GoldenWing is the kits mother and the deputy of the tribe. She is very kind and friendly and will help anyone who's in trouble. "Mom! Dad! We're back!" The kits called. GoldenWing rushed out of the warriors den to greet them. "Goodness! Look at your fur!" She exclaimed at Bluekit. He looked at his fur and realized it was all ruffled and messy. "Must have been the wind." He shrugged. GoldenWing sighed. "Well, you will learn someday…"
Chapter 1
9 moons later…
"C'mon, Redpaw we're gonna be late!" Crystalpaw said. Crystalpaw, Lightpaw, Pearlpaw and Redpaw are now all apprentices. They were hurrying back to camp, or else the rest of the cats going to the gathering are going to leave without them! The four siblings burst through the entrance bush and stumbled to a stop in front of their father, LeafStar. "There you are. We were going to leave without you four if you came back any later." He said sternly. "Sorry dad…" The four of them mumbled. They walked in silence to the gathering. When they got there, the other tribe cats were already there. LeafStar went to sit on the Great Willow with the rest of the tribe leaders: IceStar of Snow Tribe, StormStar of Sky Tribe, and BlueStar of Water Tribe. The four littermates sat down next to another group of apprentices. 2 of them were from Sky Tribe, 3 from Water Tribe and another 2 from Snow Tribe. "Um, hi. I'm Crystalpaw of Jewel Tribe, these are my siblings, Lightpaw, Pearlpaw and Redpaw." Crystalpaw said, pointing at each of her siblings as she said their names. They all waved. "Oh! Hi! I'm Lapispaw. This is my brother, Abysspaw and my sister, Heronpaw." Heronpaw waved at them shyly. Abysspaw waved too, a bit more slowly than his sister. "Hello. I'm Hailpaw and this is my brother, Peakpaw." They both waved. "Hi! We are Bluepaw and Bellpaw of Sky Tribe!" The brother and sister said together at the same time, causing all of them to giggle. "It's really nice to meet you all! Say, you wanna be friends?" Lapispaw said eagerly. They all nodded. "Yay! I have 10 new friends!" Pearlpaw said excitedly. They chatted for the rest of the gathering and before they knew it, it was time to say goodbye. "See you all at the next gathering!" Bellpaw called. "Will do!" Crystalpaw answered back.
Pearlpaw and Redpaw were practicing battle moves in the training area with their mentors, FlowerStorm and DoveSong, who were both great warriors. "Roll right! Pounce and unsheathe your claws!" FlowerStorm said from beside Pearlpaw. Pearlpaw nodded and did what she was told. FlowerStorm nodded in satisfaction. "Very good Pearlpaw. You'll become a noble warrior. Keep up the hard work." "Alrighty!" Pearlpaw chirped, grinning at her mentor's compliment. Meanwhile, on the other side of the training area, DoveSong was practice fighting with Redpaw. DoveSong launched herself at Redpaw, claws out. Redpaw ducked and rolled away, quickly standing up and pounced at his mentor. DoveSong jumped and slammed into Redpaw, knocking them both onto the ground. After a few miunets, DoveSong had Redpaw firmly pinned him on the floor. "Next time, try pouncing at a different angle then your opponent." "Okay." Redpaw nodded. "Hey FlowerStorm! How about we let these two energy balls practice fight each other?" DoveSong called to FlowerStorm. "Great idea!" She replied. FlowerStorm then bent down to Pearlpaw and murmured something in her ear. Pearlpaw nodded and a look of understanding dawned on her face as she suddenly knows what her mentor was thinking. The brother and sister squared off, with their mentors watching from aside. Redpaw attacked first, starting at a run and pouncing onto Pearlpaw's back. Pearlpaw rolled onto the ground, shaking Redpaw. Pearlpaw then pinned Redpaw to the ground, but Redpaw used his hind legs to kick Pearlpaw aside. Pearlpaw landed on her paws, kicking up dirt. Redpaw jumped in the air, but so did Pearlpaw. Redpaw thought they were gonna clash, but suddenly, Pearlpaw twisted in the air, landing perfectly on the other side.
After 5 more minutes or so, Pearlpaw had Redpaw pinned to the ground. "Great job! Both of you! Excellent twist, Pearlpaw! Wonderful pouce, Redpaw!" DoveSong said, coming over with FlowerStorm right behind her. "Awesome training today. Let's head back to camp, then you guys could get something to eat and some rest." FlowerStorm said, leading them back to camp.
Meanwhile in the forest, Lightpaw was training with his mentor, RobinFeather, to be a healer. They were searching for herbs. "Now Lightpaw. What herbs do you smell or see?" RobinFeather asked Lightpaw. "Um…I think that plant over there is a poppy flower. Aaaaaand I'm pretty sure that smell is the scent of Catmint." Lightpaw said, looking at his mentor, worried he got it wrong. "Very good. Now, what part of the poppy flower do we use?" "The seeds. The seeds make cats fall asleep." "Excellent. And what do we use Catmint for?" "It cures greencough. I think." "Correct. You've done a good job today. We'll collect some Poppy seeds and head back to camp." "Alright." Lightpw looked proud when he got back to camp. At camp, he spotted Pearlpaw and Redpaw sitting together, eating some prey. He walked over. "Hey guys. Where's Crystalpaw?" "She's still training with dad." Pearlpaw said. Lightpaw looked around camp and saw Crystalpaw with their father. After a while LeafStar walked back to his camp and Crystalpaw came over to them. "Hey guys…" She yawned. "Sis? You okay? You don't seem like yourself lately…" Pearlpaw asked, worried. "I-I'm fine…just been-yawns-really busy with training…" Crystalpaw stifled another yawn. "Well, I'm gonna go sleep. Night guys." Crystalpaw walked off, swaying a bit. "Is it just me, or are we are worried?" Lightpaw asked. "Nope, you're definitely not the only one worried about her." Redpaw answered.
Chapter 2
Lapispaw was practicing swimming with Heronpaw and Abysspaw and their mentors, FinPool, LilacStep, and CoralSong. "First one to us is the winner!" LilacStep called from far away in the water. "3…2…..1…..swim!" FinPool shouted. Immediately the littermates jumped in the water and started swimming as fast as they can. Heronpaw reached them first, right after Lapispaw and Abysspaw reached them at the exact same time. "Heronpaw wins! And you two were a tie." CoralSong said, smiling. The 3 siblings high-fived each other. "Since you did so well, me, LilacStep and CoralSong decided to take you to explore the treasure caves." FinPool announced. "Wow! Really?!" Abysspaw exclaimed, excited. Heronpaw and Lapispaw looked just as excited. "Yup really. Let's go!" CoralSong said dove into the water. The others followed. On the way to the caves, the three apprentices were doing flips in the water, too excited to swim properly. "Calm down you three! You're getting this excited before you even see the caves! Save your excitement for later!" LilacStep said, laughing. After 10 more minuets of swimming, they finally arrived at the treasure caves. A soft glow could be seen coming from the cave entrance. "Whoa…." Abysspaw murmured. "Even though I've been here a ton of times, I still find it quite amazing." FinPool said. The group entered the caves and the apprentices gasped in wonder at the sight before them. In these caves were piles and piles and piles of treasure. They have been here for thousands and thousands of years, protected by magic so they never rust or crack. There was also another magic to make sure that there is air in this cave and not water, even though it was an underwater cave. There was Sapphires, Garnets, Emeralds, Gold, Silver and copper coins, all piled up into giant mountains of treasure. "Oh. My STARS!" Lapispaw squeaked "Go on and play! Don't just stand there!" LilacStep chuckled. "Y-you mean we can jump into the piles of treasure?" Heronpaw asked disbelief in her voice. "Well, why else did you think we brought you here? To destroy them? Go on!" FinPool said, nudging them. The three of them squealed in delight and immediately jumped into the nearest pile of treasure. A moment later their heads popped up. They looked at each other for a moment in silence and then fell back on the treasure, laughing loudly. "May we join? We haven't been here for a while." CoralSong said. "Of course! Come and play with us!" Lapispaw said. Their mentors jumped in too and the 6 of them laughed and played there for the rest of the afternoon.
Chapter 3
Hailpaw and Peakpaw were heading back to camp after hunting. Hailpaw had caught 2 snow hares and Peakpaw caught 1 bird and 2 mice. When they got back to camp, Snowkit and Harekit, the kits of FrostFlower were waiting for them. "Ooh! What did you catch this time?" Harekit asked eagerly. "I caught 2 hares and Peakpaw caught a bird and 2 mice." Hailpaw replied. "Look at how big that bird is!" Snowkit was gaping at the bird in Peakpaw's jaws. "Peakpaw has a talent for catching birds. Maybe in 1 moon when you guys are warriors, he'll teach you." Hailpaw said. "Will you teach us? Will you? Will you?" Both kits said as they sat in front of Peakpaw with their adorable kitty faces. Peakpaw grumbled something to himself but then said "O-of course! I can't wait to teach you two!" "Yayyyy!" The kits squealed and ran off to find their mom. The two apprentices put their prey in the fresh kill pile and followed the kits more slowly. When they caught up with the kits, they were talking excitedly with their mother, FrostFlower. FrostFlower waved at them with her tail. "The kits are telling me what awesome apprentices you two are." She said. They both smiled shyly and gave the kits a sideways smile. "FrostFlower…we know the kits are almost apprentices, so I was wondering if me and Peakpaw could take them on a trip into the forest." Hailpaw asked a bit nervously. "Hm…I suppose. They need to know the forest one day so why not do it a bit earlier?" The kits eyes widened and then they started jumping around, shouting "We get to see the forest! We get to see the forest!" FrostFlower smiled warmly at them. "Awesome! We'll take them out bright and early tomorrow at sunrise." Hailpaw said. "Alright. I'll wake them up tomorrow morning. Let's go you two, time for bed." She said, ushering them back to the nursery.
Next morning at sunrise