TrueClan
On a chilly leaf-bare night, deep inside a nest made of brambles and shrubbery that shielded the young from the harsh cold, lay a variety of small kits. Two of these infants were taken out of their protective den and brought out into the cold moonlit night, where they could hear the sounds of many cats around them. Their small mouths opened in a soundless howl for their mother. The only answer that they got was a wail from the many unseen cats.
They squealed, and their mother whispered, "Good bye my sweet little Fatekit, and dear Spiritkit. Fortunes attend to you and keep you safe, chosen ones of my last litter. Remember this, the last and only farewell from your mother and your Clan, my dear ones. I hear you will never be told of me until you become TrueClan warriors. I hope you remember I love you and do not part willingly. Good bye!" Two cats with strange scents stalked up and lifted them, carefully grabbing the scruffs of their neck. They squirmed and cried, but to no avail. They were quickly carried off into the night, accompanied by three other kits from their Clan.
These cold collectors were from TrueClan, the unquestioned rulers of the forest, and a dominating force over the other four clans, ThunderClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan. For as long as any cat cared to remember, TrueClan had come to take promising kits, with coats of colors gold, white, or silver, to train them as the next generation of guardians. ThunderClan was the most powerful clan in the forest besides TrueClan. Before TrueClan had come, ThunderClan had been looked up to and respected. They kept to their territory and let the other clans stay on their own lands too. Because of their reputation, ThunderClan had had many kits taken by TrueClan. RiverClan, being a close second in power to ThunderClan, had also lost many kits. In these two clans, 'kit collections' were very common. ShadowClan was the clan all were wary of. Many believed them, not unreasonably, to be the reason this TrueClan curse was on them…not that anyone would say it out loud. Skull had come from ShadowClan, and his rule and demise had been what prompted TrueClan to form in the first place. Few kits were taken from ShadowClan. WindClan was the weakest of all clans, but an unwavering ally of ThunderClan. Very few WindClan kits had been taken by TrueClan.
Upon the party's arrival to the TrueClan border, the party of the newly taken kits were carried to a fast river and scrubbed with moss.
A mentor supervising explained to an apprentice, "To rid them of Clan scent, so they cannot return."
As the five dripping bundles of fur were taken before Dreamstar, to be named, the white tom spoke: "Two are named by Firestar: Fatekit and Spiritkit." He purred, nudging the two bright silver she-kits forward.
"If Firestar wished them named such, so be it," spoke Mooneyes before Dreamstar could speak. "Just name the others."
Dreamstar nodded, and looked down at the other remaining kits: one tom and two she-kits. The tom was a white with black stripes, and two golden she-kits, only one had blue eyes, the other had green.
"The tom will be called Stripekit, the golden with blue eyes is Aurakit, and the one with green eyes is Lilykit."
Hesitantly, the white tom spoke up again about the white tabby. "Aren't only PURE silver, white, and gold cats accepted to TrueClan? By StarClan's wishes?"
Mooneyes spoke, "Whitecoat, and all who have the same question, the stripes will fade, or be made to." She sighed heavily. "Besides, we need more toms at the start of our Clan. Extensions of the law will be allowed."
A pretty golden warrior named Dawnflower padded towards them and asked, with eyes gleaming in the moonlight, "Are these kits to be wiped, or are they too young to remember?"
"Stripekit, Lilykit and Aurakit will be wiped, but the others were born only half a moon ago, they will not remember," Dreamstar decided quickly. So the two smallest kits, triplets posing as twins, taken to the nursery and dried so they would not catch green-cough from the harsh leaf-bare weather. After being dried, they were given to a caregiver, while the other three were carried away to be wiped.
"Many kits for this year's leaf-bare," commented Mooneyes.
"Yes," replied Dreamstar. "Which makes me wonder…"
"No!" cut in Mooneyes, hair raised and tail thrashing angrily. "It will not happen! It is not them! The prophecy cannot-No! Will not come true!" She twitched her tail angrily, then stalked off to the TrueClan camp.
Dreamstar stared up at the sky. "There were only two," she whispered to herself. "But…still…"
Sandstorm watched as two kits from her litter were carried away. She instinctively knew this litter would be her last. As soon as they were out of sight, she whirled around into the nursery, where a bright ginger tom was lying, covering his other silver sister, Hopekit. As Sandstorm watched her daughter, fear over took her. Oh StarClan, what had she done? All silver, gold, or white kits were to be given to TrueClan. She knew if the searchers from TrueClan had seen little Hopekit, they would have taken her too. If ThunderClan found out what she had done, hiding a 'chosen one,' they would be horrified! And her mate, Firestar? What would he do if he found out? What could he do but banish her and send the kit to TrueClan?
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Sandstorm looked stealthily around to see if any cats had yet left the main ground in the camp after the search. They had not. Frantically, she grabbed Hopekit and ran. She ran out of the camp using the back way. Blindly, she ran until she found herself at the river. She put her kit down in an exhaustion that was both physical and emotional. She looked at her kit. She had to give her up. But she couldn't! She turned around quickly, hearing a stray snapping of wood, and shielded her kit. No one was there. She began pacing, heart twisted in anguish. "No good choice can be reached," she whispered to herself.
"What if I left, and raised her in the forest? No, that won't work, I still have to raise her brother, and my friends, family….What if I hid her and cared for her in secret? No, someone would find her." As she spoke, the splash of a fish in the water broke her out of her confused and jumbled thoughts. She had to make a decision quickly, before she was found out and the choice was made for her. The splash caught her attention, though. Why couldn't she just put Hopekit in the river? She would be at peace with her warrior ancestors, StarClan, the great protectors of the forest and all its inhabitants. They would watch out for her, keep her safe from ALL harm forever." 'NO!' A voice in her head rejected that immediately. She could not kill her kit…but she could trust her to the river and to StarClan.
She searched silently for a stick of some kind and, to her luck, found one that was hollowed out. 'Like a small two-leg canoe, that goes down the river sometimes,' she thought. She looked around again. She was still unobserved. She then searched for dry moss, preferably some that had been warming in the sun all day. It seemed StarClan was with her, for she found some and carefully lined the hollow in the small log with it. Then, gently, she laid Hopekit on the moss. She looked around again quickly, and then, with a sob, gently nudged the kit into the river which was full of pollution from the two-legs. She looked up at the full moon in the sky and breathed a prayer.
"StarClan, watch over my Hopekit. Send her somewhere she will be loved and cared for, as I cannot love and care for her here and now. Please. Watch over her." When she could not watch anymore, she turned and walked slowly back to her clan, head and tail down, her soul crushed.
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AN-Hey! Long time no new updates! Well, this is just a new story idea. I've got some 50 pages of it, but I want feedback first. I want at least 7 reviews! Crossing my fingers for 10! Like it, hate it, reply. Please. Flames are used to melt the snow outside my window. Enjoy!
