Tigerkit peered out of the gorse tunnel, wistfully. Her claws dug furrows into the ground as she watched the sun rise over the trees. "Hey, Tigerkit." A voice meowed.
"I was just looking!" Tigerkit mewed in dismay, spinning to face the cat. "Oh, hello Moonsliver." Tigerkit said to the queen. The Queen was pale silver with black tabby stripes, her white belly swollen with her unborn kits. "It's okay Tigerkit. I know what you must be going through. You can't wait to be apprenticed and go explore the territory. Just remember though, a little patience will be rewarded." Tigerkit purred as Moonsliver padded back to the nursery.
A commotion at the gorse tunnel woke Tigerkit. Stiff and cold from sleeping out in the open on the hard ground, Tigerkit unfurled herself and arched her back. Turning her jade-green eyes to the camp entrance, she found three unfamiliar cats bickering with Minnowstar, Moonsliver, Fawntail, Stormfang, and Meadowsong.
"Look! There is the prophesized kit now!" The first one, a dark brown tom meowed, padding to Tigerkit's side. "Tiger shall blaze through th…"
"What the… Tigerkit? Who's that? What's going on, Moonsliver?" Tigerkit turned to face Windpaw. Muscles rippled under the tom's thick white and black tabby pelt as he swung his head to fix his piercing hazel-green eyes on Tigerkit once more.
"I-I'm not sure…" Tigerkit mewed, uneasily aware of the countless eyes on her. Tigerkit's ears burned and her pelt itched. A second brown tom, this one with a harder, gold-flecked green gaze than the first tom's soft hazel, stepped foreword. "Tigerkit, I am Hawkstorm, deputy of Leopardtribe and these are our two healers, Hawkflight and Dovefeather." The tom meowed.
"Tigerkit… Spirittribe wants to meet with you."
Chapter 1
Windpaw snorted in amusement, his eyes on the gorse tunnel. "Is this some kind of joke? There's nothing special about her!" Hawkstorm's eyes flared up in rage and he loomed over the apprentice.
"Tigerkit will save the Tribes one day you good for nothing mouse brain!" Hawkstorm snarled. Anger kindled up in Tigerkit as the two continued bickering. "No… Windpaw's right. There's nothing special about me. I can't save the Tribes." Tigerkit mewed quietly.
"Of course your special. You're insightful, skilled, cautious, and brave. All the qualities a good Sharpclaw should have." Dovefeather meowed. Soon after, the three were escorted to their border, leaving Tigerkit to think about what they said.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the High rock for a Tribe meeting." Minnowstar called. Tigerkit padded to the foot of the High rock, dragging her tail through the dust. Windpaw stroked her flank with the tip of his tail tip, comfortingly.
"Newleaf brings new beginnings…and new apprentices." Minnowstar began. "Tigerkit, from this day forward, until you've earned your Sharpclaw name, you will be known as Tigerpaw. Echoscreech will mentor you." Echoscreech padded foreword and pressed her white muzzle to Tigerpaw's head. "Tigerpaw! Tigerpaw! Tigerpaw!" the Tribe chanted.
Windpaw suddenly ducked down and licked the top of Tigerpaw's head. Ears burning in embarrassment, Tigerpaw glanced up into his piercing hazel-green eyes and let out a soft purr. Windpaw, seeming as surprised as Tigerpaw, smiled and padded to where Lynxpaw sat waiting for him. The two touched noses and padded off towards the gorse tunnel, tails twining together.
Jealousy, hot as a fresh ember, burned in Tigerpaw's heart. Since her birth, Windpaw and she had been inseparable…for six moons. Now, Lynxpaw seemed to be his best friend. Perhaps, Tigerpaw thought fearfully, Lynxpaw was more than a friend to Windpaw.
Tigerpaw shook the unkind thoughts away. Even if Windpaw couldn't be bothered to stay with her on her first day as an apprentice, they were still best friends.
"Tigerpaw, you're an apprentice now!" Lionkit squeaked, racing up.
"I'm going to miss you in the Nursery." Leopardkit added.
"Why does Tigerpaw get to be an apprentice? I'm almost as tall as her an I'm a kit!" Gingerkit yowled. Tigerkit purred as Lionkit, who had been dancing around her, bustled into Jaysong. The blue-gray tom picked Lionkit up and set her on her paws, purring loudly.
"You have to promise that you'll teach me to fight and hunt, okay?"
Tigerpaw nodded absentmindedly, her eyes on Windpaw as he padded towards her without Lynxpaw. "Hey, Tigerpaw. Echoscreech wants me to show you the territory." Windpaw called. Tigerpaw nodded eagerly.
Tigerpaw and Windpaw padded side by side through the forest. Utter amazement filled Tigerpaw. She could scent mouse, squirrel, shrew, and crow, all with the enticing scent of life that the fresh kill in camp lacked. Windpaw disappeared into the brush ahead, but Tigerpaw paused to admire a holly bush. The sound of paws skittering along bark turned Tigerpaw's head. The squirrel was large and plump, surprising so early in new leaf, and was gnawing on a nut.
Tigerpaw sank to the ground and drew herself along the ground, silent as a mouse. She lifted her belly and tail so they just barely skimmed the leaves. When she was close enough to hear the scrape of teeth on the nut, she pressed her hindquarters to the ground and screwed up her muscled. The squirrel, too absorbed in it's meal didn't she her.
Tigerpaw sprang forward, knocking the squirrel to the ground and sinking her teeth into its neck. The sharp tang of warm blood shocked her as the animal went limp. "What happened?" Windpaw demanded, racing into view. "Did you catch that?" he demanded. Tigerpaw nodded and Windpaw purred. "I knew you were a natural-born Sharpclaw!"
Tigerpaw stumbled into camp, dead tired. She'd had to carry the squirrel back to camp, and with the animal almost as big as her, she had tripped and stumbled all the way. Still, the proud purrs of Swiftstorm and Meadowsong lifted her spirits as she explained catching the squirrel.