Chapter 1
"EEEEKKK!" Silverkit shrieked as Pinekit threw a moss ball aimed directly for her head. Ducking, the moss ball soared over Silverkit's head and bounced into Cedarkit. "Oof!" Cedarkit groaned as the moss ball knocked him over. Pinekit giggled and Blizzardkit came up on Pinekit's right and nudged her. "Nice one, you knocked him off his feet!" She exclaimed. Cedarkit glared at the three she-cats as he shook moss of his ears. "Thanks a lot Silverkit! Great team work." He snapped. Silverkit giggled as Cedarkit stood up, moss hanging off his nose.
His attention snapped between the three she-cats as they started laughing hysterically. "What? What is it? What, whats so funny?" This only made them laugh harder and Pinekit coughed, she was laughing so hard. Blizzardkit tried to gesture to the moss on his nose but starting laughing agin half way through that Cedarkit sill and no idea what was going on. Cedarkit's eyes finally found the scrap of moss and blew it off his face, clearly unamused.
"What are you little rascals up to?" A deep voice sounded behind the kits. Silverkit and Pinekit whipped around to face the large dark shape of their father, Ravenfrost. "Papa!" Pinekit squealed as she and her sister hurled themselves at their father.
Swiftsong watched from afar the interactions between her mate and kits. She watched as Silverkit climbed on his back and Pinekit latched onto his tail. Swiftsong tilted her head to the side in confusion. She thought she saw a look of regret but it passed so quickly she couldn't be sure. She shook her head, she was imagining it.
To be completely honest, Swiftsong was glad the kits were playing with their father, they hardly got to see him with how many patrols he always had. She got worried for him sometimes. He hardly slept and demanded that he get the hardest and longest patrols. Ravenfrost always insisted he was fine, but Swiftsong doubted it.
Pinekit clung on to her father's tail as he swung it back and forth, screaming in delight. She could here her mother yelling for her father to stop, but Pinekit couldn't care less. Ravenfrost's tail started to slow down and Pinekit reluctantly opened her eyes. Pinekit looked up Ravenfrost's tail to his rump where Silverkit lay, eyes wide and face grinning. "That was awesome!" She squeaked. Pinekit had been so focused on not falling off, that she didn't realize that Ravenfrost was not only swinging his tail, but bounding around camp. Letting out the breath she din't realize she was holding, Pinekit slid of Ravenfrost's tail, quickly followed by Silverkit.
Swiftsong rushed to her kits and immediately started licking their heads, ignoring their sounds of protest. "Are you alright?" She asked, green eyes wide with concern. Pinekit grinned. "That was awesome!" Her fur was sticking up in every direction. Ravenfrost smiled, obviously happy about his daughter's enjoyment from the tail swishing. "Come on," he said, nodding his head to his family. "Lets have some prey." Silverkit immediately perked up, food being the one thing she enjoyed the most. She bolted past her mother as Swiftsong started to stand up and rushed to the fresh-kill pile near the middle of camp and pounced on a mouse.
Pinekit sighed. She didn't want mouse, but her sister and herself had made a deal that the first one to the pile got to choose what they ate. The black she-cat trudged over to her younger sister, feet dragging in the dirt and tail low, and plopped down to eat. Pinekit much preferred birds to mammals, especially a nice, juicy thrush that she was eying across the pile. Looking to her left, Pinekit noticed that Silverkit was chowing down on the mouse, mouth full and blood on her muzzle. Pinekit starting gulping down the mouse, she knew better than to not eat her food. When you have a sister like Silverkit, its eat quick or don't eat at all.
By the time the She-cats finished their meal, Swiftsong and Ravenfrost finished their voles a long time ago, the sun was going down over the edges of their rocky home. Silverkit yawned, exhausted from their day of playing. Swiftsong stared down at her kits with affection, but glad she finally had a break. "Come on," she said quietly. "Lets gets some sleep." Pinekit nodded, slowly standing up and following her mother. They had gotten half way to the nursery before Swiftsong realized that her silver daughter wasn't following and had to backtrack, pick her up by the scruff, and carry the sleepy kit to the nursery.
Pinekit trudged into the nursery, head held low and eyes nearly closed. Cedarkit and Blizzardkit were already in their nest, curled against their mother's belly. Swiftsong gently placed Silverkit in her nest before curling around her as Pinekit laid down next to her sister. Silverkit's soft snores were relaxing and Pinekit had almost slipped into unconsciousness when a soft whisper woke her. "Pinekit." She raised her head blinking a bit before she noticed Cedarkit staring at her. Pinekit sighed, not wanting to do anything at the moment. "What?" She whispered back. Cedarkit wiggled out from under his older sister and sat down in front of Pinekit. "When do you think you will be made a apprentice?" Pinekit sat up a bit, her drowsiness shaking off. "Ravenfrost said just one more moon!" Her excitement about her apprenticeship coming back. Cedarkit grinned. "Your so lucky. I still have three more moons! Its not fair, we should be going through together." Pinekit chuckled. "I'm older than you. So, technically it is fair." Cedarkit flattened his ears. "What ever." He muttered. Pinekit smiled, before leaning over and giving him a quick lick on the shoulder before settling back into her mother's soft fur. "Good night Cedarkit." She said sleepily.
"Good night, Pinekit."
LINEBREAKSPACEYTHING-
A dark shape slips through the shadows, blue eyes bright and black silky pelt merges with the shadows. The half moon hangs coldly in the sky, far and distant. Just like me. The shadow thought to himself. At least, that's how its suppose to be. With everything that had happened recently it was amazing he was still coming every night. The shadow looked up, noticing the break in the trees ahead and speed up to the point that he was sprinting into the clearing.
The heels of his paws slowed the shadow to a stop near another shadow, who's grey pelt was standing on end. In front of the grey shadow was a small black shadow, blue eyes cold and distant as he faced his mentor. The Black shadow sighed, before turning to the grey shadow. "Stop this, you train him all day and all night, you'll kill him before his first battle." The grey shadow turned to the other, blue eyes boiling with anger. "Don't tell me how to train my apprentice! Leave this job to the professionals." The black shadow curled his lip, revealing long sharp fangs and his claws sank into the grass. He leaned in to the point that his face was inches from the grey shadow's a growl raising in the back of his throat. "I've been here much longer than you. I suggest you pay me some respect." He hissed in a low tone, imagining how it would feel to sink his claws into the fool's neck.
"Boys please. No need to fight, your both equal here." A she-cat's voice rose up from behind them. Turning around, the toms noticed the black she-cat as she emerged from the foil of a small bush, blue eyes staring at them maliciously. "Equally stupid." She added. The grey shadow narrowed his eyes. She let out a blood curdling laugh that sent a shiver up the apprentice's spine. "Oh, honey. Don't give me that look." She leaned in, face inches from their faces. "You know you're idiots." She grinned once more before the small apprentice behind the grey shadow caught her eye. The she-cat stalked between the toms, head held high and tail swishing across the black shadow's chin. She stopped a tail-length away from the apprentice and stared down at him with icy blue eyes that could stare into your soul. She sniffed at him before turning to address the grey shadow. "hows the apprentice progressing?" The grey shadow shuffled his feet uneasily under her penetrating stare. "He's doing great. Should be a warrior by next gathering." She nodded before turning sharply to the other tom. "And you? What is happening in your Clan?" The tom lifted his head to look her straight in the eye; he had know her for quite a while, never show fear was the number one rule. "It going great...boss." He hesitated, not really knowing who to call boss right now. The she-cat raised her head, obviously glad she had been addressed as 'boss'. The shadow cleared his throat. "We have several kits that will be apprenticed in the next few moons, and an Elder that is dying. Blind and nearly deaf. Should be an easy target. Would you like me to kill her boss?" The she-cat shook her head. "No. I'll send someone else in. But I do want to know more about this kits. Are any of them black? Blue eyes? Not so blue eyes? I need to know." The shadow gulped, his tail twitching nervously. "One of them is pure black-" She cut him off. "Wonderful! I want her apprenticed to you. Do what ever it takes but I want that kit ready to join our ranks immediately." The shadow looked down at his feet and fidgeted uncomfortably. She leaned down. "Well? Did you not hear me? I said IMMEDIATELY!" The shadow jumped as the she-cat started to yell and a flash of fear appeared in his eyes. "GO NOW!" She yelled again and the shadow fled the clearing into the forest. She cleared her throat. "I think that went rather nicely."
