Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors, but I own this story and its characters.
Ch. 1
Valerie woke up and stretched out her front paws. And then she saw the fur. One paw was red, the other was white. She yowled. She looked at herself and realized what had happened. She was the girl on the clay slab. She was the cat on the clay slab. And like the girl that was her, her life was split. She ran over to a river. Reflected in the swiftly flowing water was her feline face. It was identical to the clay slab.
"Hey!" Suddenly, she was tackled by another cat. In a flurry of blue-grey fur, she wrestled with the cat. It was stronger than she was, but she was smarter. She bit hard and dug her claws into his pelt. He screeched loud enough to wake the dead, but she hung on. She wasn't afraid to hurt him. He had attacked her. She was defending herself. She finally let go, and he bolted into the forest. She sat and began grooming her soft fur. It was mostly white with some red and black, like a calico. She was a calico, like the cat on the clay slab. But then again, she was the cat on the clay slab. She suddenly heard a "Hey!" She turned around to see a white female cat with blue-green eyes. "Can I talk to you?"
"You are."
"Oh. Well then, are you a loner?"
"A what?"
"So you don't live anywhere?"
"Not now. I used to live with humans."
"With what?"
"The tall creatures that only have hair on their heads and walk on two legs even though they have four?"
"Oh, you mean twolegs! You were a kittypet, then. A house cat."
"Not exactly."
"So would you like to join my Clan? We watch out for each other, and if you have kits or get old, you will be taken care of."
"Sure."
"Follow me. My Clan is LightClan. I am Brightstar." She led Valerie into the forest. There was a stream, and around it were cats. "This is most of my Clan. Now follow me." She led Valerie onto a tall rock. "Let every cat able to catch their own prey gather beneath the Cliff for a Clan meeting!" the cat shouted.
"A loner who wants to join our Clan managed to injure Riverheart badly, and has proved that she is strong and clever. From this day until you become a warrior, you will be known as Tigerpaw, in honor of you black and orange fur, the same color as the cats of the mighty TigerClan. Sunsetsky, you are ready to have an apprentice; you shall mentor Tigerpaw."
"Tigerpaw! Tigerpaw!" the cats chanted.
"Sandkit, Goldenkit, you are old enough to become apprentices. From this day until you receive your warrior names, you will be known as Sandpaw and Goldenpaw. Quickriver, you trained Lionfur well, and you are ready for another apprentice. You will mentor Sandpaw. Silverstripe, you are young, but you are ready for an apprentice. You will train Goldenpaw."
"Sandpaw! Goldenpaw!" The cats dispersed once Brightstar had flicked her tail, and a light orange cat with blue eyes walked up to me. "I'm Sunsetsky, and first, I will show you around camp." She led Tigerpaw over to one of the caves in the rock. "This is the medicine cat's den. The current medicine cat is Eagleflight, and Stonepaw is her apprentice. They are gathering herbs right now, so I'll introduce you later.
"This is the elders den," she said as she pointed to a corner sheltered by a small cliff.
"Hello, I'm Leopardheart, and this is Darkwater," an old she cat said. She had light yellow fur with unusual brown spots. Darkwater was an old dark tabby tom with deep blue-grey eyes.
"Come on," Sunsetsky said, leading the young she-cat over to a hollow log. "This is the warrior's den, and at the other end is the apprentice den. The warriors sleep away from the water, where it is more comfortable. These are Wetfoot and Troutfin, two of our senior warriors." The toms just nodded to acknowledge Tigerpaw. One of them was grey with grey eyes, and he was the older one. The younger one was blue with amber eyes.
"Come on," Sunsetsky said. "Eagleflight's back." The two she-cats ran over to the medicine cat den. "This is Tigerpaw, Eagleflight. She was a loner, but she joined our Clan today."
"Welcome to LightClan, Tigerpaw!" the medicine cat said. Her fur was dappled black and white, and her eyes were amber. She looked a lot like a young eagle. "This is Stonepaw," she said, nodding at a young grey tom with grey eyes. He just nodded, like the older warriors had done. He seemed friendly, but shy, and he was probably busy.
Once they were back in the camp, Sunsetsky said, "Remember Riverheart, the cat you hurt? He's the deputy. He mostly just organizes patrols and hunts. He loves to hunt and fight. And this is what we call the fresh-kill pile."
Throughout the rest of the day, Tigerpaw mostly just listened to the elders' stories with the kits, Fishkit, Webbedkit, and Waterkit. That night she fell asleep next to the other apprentices.
