Frozen Blood- Warriors fanstory Chapter 1: First Frost 1, a warriors fanfic

„If you don't turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else's story"- Terry Pratchett

Frozen Blood

By Zundel

Forest seemed peaceful. Wind delicately ruffled leaves on trees, their rustle seemingly harmonizing with quiet lilts of birds. Sun shined between the leaves, brushwood dappled with spots of light and shadow. It all created the feeling of familiarity, a delusion of serenity.

And then it wasn't peaceful anymore.

Blood dripped from his ear, as a small kit shakily stood on his thin legs. His black fur was ruffled, and plastered with mud and blood in some places. The slightly torn call was hanging from his neck. When he opened his icy blue eyes the storm of emotion was revealed- shock, pain but most of all fear. His eyes were wide with terror as he looked up the much bigger cat in front of him. With this big dark tabby in front of him the kitten seemed even more undersized and fragile, his scrawny posture looking as if he was about to break at any minute.

Tabby looked at the kit, satisfaction clearly showing in his amber eyes. Behind him the bigger cat, grey and white tabby tom had similar expression on his muzzle.

Black kit trembled but kept his eyes fixed on a brown tabby. The thoughts of fear raced through his mind. He wanted to run but his paws felt like they grew into the ground. He wanted to jump, flee, hide somewhere or better simply disappear. But he couldn't. And then the tabby lurched forward.

"Say goodbye, kittypet" tom growled, his voice low, terrifying.

Kit felt claws tearing his pelt and fangs ripping his flesh. Suddenly everything seemed darker, blurred. He slowly felt like something from him was slipping away. His body felt heavy and numb and eyes were slowly closing.

"Stop Tigerpaw. That's enough!" Black kit snapped back to reality as another voice cut through the air. A lithe gray-blue she cat stepped in front of him, her deep blue eyes calm yet stern and sad." Warriors do not need to kill cats to win battles, remember?"

"I was just defending our territory" the tom snapped back, his voice somewhat offended.

" And you've done that. This kit has learned his lesson."

"Yeah." the tom took a step back and looked at the kit, who was scrambled on the ground. Amber eyes gleamed with morbid pride "You'll never forget me."

Despite being half conscious the kit felt pang of a familiar feeling in his chest. Hatred. Pure, violent hatred. 'No…' he thought as he struggled to raise his head a little just to send the cat in front of him an icy glare, full of the fiery emotion inside of him 'No, I won't.'.

The cats turned away and started leaving. Black kit looked after them and tried to stand up. But it felt as if all the energy left his body together with blood that was now spilling on the ground. Small tom raised himself shakily on two front legs, before collapsing, darkness covering his vision, invading his senses. And then, his fuzzy gaze met a blue gaze of greyish she-cat as she turned to face him.

She gazed at him for a moment, her eyes filled with emotions hard to describe and even harder to name. She seemed torn, uncertain. And then she looked into those blue icy eyes, now going blank and felt a pang of pain as an image of other clear blue, lively eyes flashed in her memory. Eyes that stopped shining far too soon.

"We can't leave him like this." she sad. It wasn't loud but it felt as if it silenced the whole forest. Two other cats turned around to look at her, shock and disgust clearly visible on their muzzles.

"What are you talking about, Bluefur?" Grey and white tabby hissed, squinting his eyes.

"We can't leave him." she-cat meowed firmly.

"And what else we are supposed to do?" tom snapped, impatient "He may go, squirming to his Twolegs."

" He will die if we don't help him." Bluefur insisted "The code says warriors should protect all kits. No matter where they come from."

"But he is a kittypet!" Tigerpaw hissed loudly.

" He is a dying kit. Weak, wounded and unable to protect himself" Bluefur gave a stern glance to dark brown tom and looked back at black and white cat. "Is this who you want to be Thistleclaw? Or who you want your apprentice to become?" she hissed, her voice firm as stone" Fighting with much weaker then yourself isn't a challenge worthy true warrior. Helping the ones in need however is our duty."

Without another word she turned around and walked up to a kit, who was now lying on the ground. She careful took him by his scruff, small body feeling limp and live less. She turned back and firmly walked between two toms, who both had a look of clear disapproval visible on their muzzle. As Bluefur padded forward, she heard faint rustle of leaves. She glanced aside and for a moment she thought she saw a glimpse of dappled fur, but quickly snapped back and walked faster. There was no time to loose.

Black kit slowly opened his eyes. His gaze adjusted to the mild light of… where exactly he was. He glanced around, with a pang of panic realizing that he didn't know his surroundings. It seemed to be some sort of den, but it smell strangely, a bit like some plants from his Housefolk's garden. And then his gaze stopped as it met pair of wide amber eyes.

He immediately jumped up, his fur bristling. This was shortly followed with multiple stings of pain. He glanced at his body and realized with confusion, that his wounds were covered with some leaves and some… white sticky thing? It felt weird.

The cat in front him, a small tortoiseshell she cat, looked at him in surprise.

" Hey, jumpy much?" she meowed but then her expression melted into something softer, more worried "You shouldn't jolt around like that you know? Your wounds are still fresh."

" Who… who are you?" the kit hissed quietly, his throat feeling hoarse "Are… are you going to fight me?"

Pure confusion spread across her muzzle.

" No! Why should I?" she meowed "Actually I was assisting when Featherwhisker treated your wounds. He even let me apply some herbs by myself." she puffed up her chest in pride.

Black kit looked at her, wary clear in his eyes. She was- being nice. He couldn't understand. She treated his wounds. But why? The confusion scared the kit even more than if she tried to attack him. His eyes darted around the den.

" Where am I?"

She looked back at him, her gaze turning back to sympathetic.

" In the medicine cat den of Thunderclan." when she met kit's bewildered gaze she continued "Bluefur, Thistleclaw and Tigerpaw brought you here. They sad that they found you wounded in the woods."

At this moment his thoughts raced. Thunderclan? Kit faintly recalled a big, black and white tabby saying something about Thundercaln territory earlier. Right before he was attacked by…

His eyes flashed with terror, his claws unsheathed. Tigerpaw! She sad something about Tigerpaw bringing him here. The very same cat that tried to kill him. Panic spread across his mind. He had to get out of there, now! He looked around, trying to find any possible routs of escape, but then this she-cat walked up to him.

" Hey, are you alright?" she meowed, worried and reached him with her paw.

" Stay back! Don't touch me!" he hissed, and jumped back. Then he yowled quietly as he felt the pain.

Tortoiseshell looked at him confused. " I didn't do anything…" she started but the was cut away by another voice.

" Are you alright?" the voice was soft, much as she-cat's but more frim and steady. Then young tom, presumably owner of the voice walked into the den. His fur was dappled ginger red and brown, and his eyes gleamed amber, just like she-cats. He had the most bushy tail the black kit has ever saw. He walked into the den and looked around, bewildered." Is uh… everything fine?"

" No. Not really." she cat sighted, glancing at him "The poor thing is really jumpy. I didn't even touch him and he acts as if I was a burning fire."

Tom looked at her and glanced back at the kit. His gaze softened a little, but confusion still showed. "Uh hi there… Featherwhisker sent me to check up on you two." he said slowly, as if trying not trigger black kit even more.

The small tom shifted slightly. There was two of them now. He couldn't fight them both. And all those strange names. Featherwhisker? Bluefur? With horror kit realized there must be even more cats outside. There was no chance for him to escape.

The two cats in front of him shared an uneasy glance. " So…" the tom started slowly "Wouldn't you like to… lie down, maybe?"

The black kit gave him an icy glare. " No."

" Huh, okay hmm… that's fine I guess." tome tried to put on a smile that he hoped seem sympathetic "Are you feeling alright?"

" And how can I feel alright, being kept somewhere I don't even know where by savage cats who want to kill me!" he spat, fury and desperation rising in his gut. He couldn't understand. Why were they toying with him? What did they want.

The tom seemed far too surprised to be faking. "What? No! Why would we want to kill you." he spoke, his voice softening "It was Bluefur who saved you after some cat… mangled you pretty badly. She saved you! And then Spottedpaw and Featherwhisker treated your wounds." his gaze softened as he slowly took a step forward "We don't mean you any harm."

Black kit held toms gaze. He looked for something, anything that indicated that tom was lying. And he found nothing. The amber eyes made for the earnest gaze tomkit ever saw. He sheathed his claws slowly, letting his fur fall back. "O-Okay…" He mewed quietly, his icy blue eyes still locked with warm amber ones. „I trust you." there was a moment of silence between them "B- But if you are lying to me I'm going to rip off your ears!"

Tom looked at him for a moment before letting out a warm, lighthearted chuckle. " My, that's sounds straight up terrifying." He purred smiling at the black kit who just gave him a confused glance. Couldn't he tell he just threatened him. Or was he mocking him. In case of the later one he sent dappled tom an icy glare. The other didn't' seem to mind though. He turned to spotted she-cat with a smile.

" I've got you some food too, but left it in front of the den when I heard yowls. Let me go get it." he mewed disappearing for a moment.

The she cat followed him with her gaze before glancing back at tiny kit with a small, smile. Black tom gave her merely a simple glance though. He may have trusted the owner of impressive, bushy red tail, but he still was suspicious about the whole situation. Let the she-cat now that he is still observing her, and his previous threat applies just as much t her as to the other.

Then the tom walked back carrying two mice in his mouth. He dropped one in front of spotted she-cat and passed the other in front of black kit, sharing with him yet another bright smile. "Here. I guess you must be hungry." he mewed.

Black kit glanced between him and mouse, sheer confusion in his eyes. The dappled tom tilted his head.

" You have eaten a mouse before have you?" he asked, not less confused" What do you, kittypets, even eat?"

Kit felt his fur raised on his back. Was he teasing him? " O-of course I've eaten a mouse before, you mousebrain!" he shot back, not quite sure what else to say " I- I've eaten mice much bigger than this one. I just… wasn't sure I could eat it… you know, there could be something in it…"

Tom chuckled softly. "Yeah, right…" he gave kit a long, knowing glance "Well, Spottedpaw is eating the other one right now, so I guess it's good. Go on."

His mother always told him not to eat rats that he sometimes found around the house. She said that they were full of something yucky that made them die and that he would die to if he ate them. But this mouse seemed much smaller than the rat. And it was killed by the cat, not yucky thing. So he guessed he could at least try.

The black kit warily took a bit of the mouse. He taste of blood and fresh meet as he slowly munched the piece and… oh my it was delicious. Without another word he devoured rest of the mice, while other two cats watched him wide eyes. " Whoa…" tom muttered "You… were really hungry, weren't you kit?"

He looked at him and slowly licked the blood of his muzzle looking back down. An uncomfortable silence fell between the three. But it seemed it couldn't last "So kit… I hope you don't mind me asking but what a kittypet like yourself-"

" What it means?" Kit cut dappled tom in the middle of a sentence, his voice young but sharp and demanding " That word that you keep describing me with?"

" Kittypet? That's the cat that lives with Twolegs." he answered simply.

"Twolegs?" the black kit gave him a questioning look.

" Yeah you know…" spotted she-cat cut in, waving her striped tail " Tall creatures, fur only on a head…"

Black kit looked confused for a while before his eyes widening with realization." You mean Housefloks!"

" Yeah… well I guess." dappled tom shrugged, and looked back at the kit " You live with them, and not in the forest. And you've got that thing around your neck." he mewed pointing at the collar with his paw. Kit glanced on it and glanced back at tom, challenging look in his eyes " And what's with that?"

" It's… weird." tom shrugged " It must be really annoying to hunt with it constantly hanging around your neck."

Kit looked back at his collar. It was given to him by his Housefolk. Mother sad it was a good thing to have one. But it meant being a kittypet. And that was the life he couldn't get back to anymore. He looked back at the two cats in front of him and the question rose in his mind.

" Are you… are you the forest cats?" he meowed, curiosity rising in him.

The two looked at each other and back at kit. "Well, yeah we live in the forest, alright." The she cat meowed softly.

" We are the future warriors of Thunderclan." the tom sad, proudly puffing up his chest.

Black kit looked at him in bewilderment, wary slowly overtaken with curiosity.

" What is Thunderclan? Or a warrior? And how do you live in the forest?" he mewed questions one right after another, a buzz of excitement filling his body.

" Whoa, slow down kit." tom sad, but he smiled as he mewed "One in time. Thunderclan is one of the four clans in the forest. The other ones are Riverclan, by the river, Shadowclan in the marshlands and Windclan IN the meadows. There are cats living in each one of them- those cats are called warriors…

" And you are one of them?" Black kit asked, wide-eyed.

" No, not really… at least not yet." tom answered casually" We are yet to be given our warrior names. For now we are apprentices, which means we are still training to be warriors." his smiled brighten" Warriors hunt for their clan and take part in battles. Their duty is to protect the clan and the cats that live in it."

" There are also medicine cats" the she cat added " They are meant to heal injuries and help others. Like Featherwhisker treated your wounds."

Black kit looked at them his gaze awestruck and full of wonder. Those cat lived all on their own in the forest hunting and fighting and… no, black cat though, not on their own. They lived together, helping and supporting each other. As one, great being they were able to face the dangers. They were strong together.

" That's… That sounds…" he struggled, trying to find the right words "amazing." he mewed finally. Then another question hit him, as his gaze grew puzzled again." What's it with your names though? Featherwhisker? Bluefur? They are… weird. Wouldn't Blue or Feather be good enough?"

" The names are given to you at each most important stage of your life." dappled tom stated as a matter of fact " Like, when I was born I was given the name Redkit. And then, when I became an apprentice I was named Redpaw. When I will become a warrior the leader will give me my warrior name."

" And what will it be?" kit asked, curiously.

Redpaw shrugged." I don't know. But I would be fine with Redlight. Has a nice ring to it." he sad and nodded as if agreeing with himself.

She-cat beside him chuckled. " It sounds weird." she purred and grinned, her eyes shining" I would like to be called Spottedhearth." she mewed with a dreamy voice.

" Pfft, and you call me the weird one, sister." Redpaw sounded a bit offended.

Black kit simply shook his head." Three names in a life time? Aren't you all too confused with remembering who is who to actually have time for anything else?"

"Nah, you get used to it. It's just how it's always have been." Redpaw states calmly, then gazes at small black tom as if realizing something. "Hey, what's your name, by the way? You never told us."

Black kit looked at him and the looked back at his paws. One of them was white, standing out in contrast with the rest of his black fur. " I… I'm" The kit struggled as he didn't really want to recall his name. His mother used to call him Tiny. But that's not what he wanted to be. He looked at the two in front of him. Those cats took pride in their names. They grew with them, changing and becoming something more just as they did. They resembled who they are. His name was weak… just like he was. He looked away, his eyes going dark.

Spottedpaw's face grew worried. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." she purred softly and Redpaw just nodded in agreement, giving kit a supportive smile.

Then suddenly there was a rustle. A pale grayish tom entered the den. His golden eyes were calm and soft, and he was carrying some leaves in his mouth. "Ah Redpaw. Your mentor is looking for you. Better get going or you are going to be the one cleaning elder's ticks."

" Oh Starclan, the patrol! I've completely forgotten! Thanks Featherwhisker!" Redpaw jumped on his legs and rushed towards the entrance. He turned around just to meet the black kit's gaze "See you later, kit!"

" Yeah, I guess…" kit tried to sound indifferent but something in him felt warm at that notion. His mouth twitched a bit and kit sent Redpaw his first in a very long time smile. Redpaw smiled back and was just about to leave the den, his bushy red tail rustling the leaves. And then something twitched in kit's mind as he spoke again.

" And huh Redpaw…" he said, making the apprentice gaze at him questioningly again "I… I think Redtail would be a really good name."

Redpaw stood there for a moment before smiling brightly. " Not bad." he meowed "It was nice to meet you." he added before disappearing in the exit.

Spottedpaw followed him, her gaze looking a bit unsure. Featherwhisker looked at her and smiled. "You can go with him, of course." he meowed calmly "But I really need someone to help me sort this herbs."

" Oh, I would love to." Spottedpaw glanced at him happily and immediately got to work. Featherwhisker smiled at her and looked at the black kit in front of him. "And how's our unexpected guest feeling?" he meowed lightly making a step towards him. Kit immediately tensed at this, his eyes widening. Featherwhisker noticed it, and hold kits gaze "I need to see your wounds and apply some more herbs, if we want them to heal properly. Which I assume we want." he stated calmly. Black cat gave him a suspicious glance and looked at Spottedpaw who just smiled encouragingly. He slowly relaxed and let the cat come closer to him and tend to his wounds. Kit hissed as he felt sting of pain, but Featherwhisker sad nothing to it, simply continuing his work.

" Wounds seem to heal well, though it will take some time." he meowed "You were really lucky the patrol found you when they did. Those could get infected, and that would be really messy. Or you would simply bleed out. That would be messy too."

The kit only listened half-heartedly to cat's blabbering as he thought about the events of past days. He run away, leaving the life as he knew it, met some forest cats, got beaten up, then got taken into their… clan, apparently and healed. It all was just crushing but also… thrilling. He felt both exhausted and full of curious energy at the same time. It was a strange feeling but… he liked it.

When Featherwhisker finished applying new herbs to his wounds, he put some strange seeds in front of him. " Eat those. It will make you feel better."

Kit looked at the and yet again glanced at Spottedpaw who just nodded. He could trust her right? She wouldn't try to poison him. Spottedpaw was sister of Redpaw and he trusted him with the mouse, and it was good. So it was fine, wasn't it?

Apparently it wasn't. Those seeds were probably one of the worst things he have ever eaten. He coughed and stuck his tongue out as this awful bitter taste invaded his mouth.

Featherwhisker just rolled his eyes. "Oh come one, it could be worse, trust me. The more you whine the longer it will take." he looked him into the eyes devious smirk on his muzzle "And if you don't eat those I will have to rub them into your wounds? Would you like that?"

The black kit quickly munched the seeds, without another objection. After that he felt kind of sleepy. He heard as the other tom told him to rest and spoke about something with Spottedpaw. Then his thoughts drifted away as he slowly fell into slumber.

Spottedpaw padded through the camp, carrying bunch of herbs towards the medicine den. She looked around calmly, her gaze detached as if lost in thoughts. Helping Featherwhisker was one thing, and she surely enjoyed it but recently the cat asked her if she wanted to become his apprentice and… Spottedpaw wasn't sure what she really wanted. She always dreamed big plans of being a decent warrior, fighting for what was right and protecting the clans. But then was fighting really a way to achieve it. She twitched slightly as the image of blood splattered across the black fur crossed her mind. Absentmindedly she stopped and looked around the camp. Her gaze fixed on a one cat- young dark brown tabby sitting across the camp. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she remembered the yowl of pain the small black kit let out and the dark glint of satisfaction in now pale amber eyes of the cat before her. She remembered later treating those wounds, holding back a gasp as now she could see the full expanse of them. She recalled the panicked gaze of a small kit who seemed even more tiny and fragile back then, looking at her with the same gaze as the one he had when looking at the one who hurt him. And she remembered the long dark glance the dark brown tabby sent her as she looked at him with fear In disgust when they first brought the small kitty pet into the camp. The look she gave him because she knew. She knew they were lying. She knew who was the kittypet's knacker. She saw it. She watched as the huge apprentice beat up the helpless, innocent cat. And she was terrified of what she saw. Because knowledge can be as much a blessing as a burden. And this burden could be too heavy for her to carry.

Tigerpaw raised his gaze, and as their eyes locked, Spottedpaw was almost sure he also knew. She turned her head vastly, and padded ahead, as anxiety slowly burned in her. She couldn't look on this tom now. Not on him, and not on Thistleclaw. Not after what she saw. If that's what it meant to be a warrior… to hurt the ones that could've been spared… she didn't want a life like this.

She entered the medicine cat den and gave a brief glance to a small figure curled up in a corner. He seemed so… peaceful. When the tiny tom was awake, there was always this air of unsteadiness around him. Like he was about to dash away any minute. But at the same time, there was something in his voice, in the way he looked at others that was… almost intimidating. It was strange, how despite his small body and jumpy nature the kit still managed to send others those icy glares that felt like piercing through your soul. His voice was always argumentative and sharp, something that could be as much amusing as it could be impressive. Because, even if his body trembled with fear, the voice was still cold as ice, showing not even a shred of terror.

She looked at the kit for a while when suddenly she felt something shift behind her.

"The frost has come…"

Spottedpaw jumped and looked at the speckled grey tom that was standing behind her.

" Goosefeather! What are you…?" she shook her head. There was no point in getting mad at this cat "Don't do that." she stated simply. But the blue eyes of a cat didn't even glanced at her, as if she wasn't there.

" The frost has come." he repeated, more firmly this time. "The cold is destructive, deadly. It will take many lives, and the frozen blood will wet the ground. But only the ice can battle the Tiger." his voice seemed distant, as if he was half asleep. Spottedpaw looked at him, puzzled and shook her head. Frozen blood? Ice battling the Tiger? It had no sense. It wasn't Leafbare yet, and it was still pretty warm out there. What was he talking about?

She wanted to ask, but Goosefeather already left, as if nothing has happened. Spottedpaw sat there for a moment before shaking her head and getting back to sorting herbs. It was probably another of Goosefeather mumbles. She took a side glance at the black kit, who was still sleeping at the corner and the image of those icy eyes flashed through her mind.

The frost has come she thought. She didn't know why but it felt… important somehow. This kit felt important. And suddenly, just for a moment, Spottedpaw felt that something truly big was coming. And that was yet another knowledge she had to live with.