Chapter One: Frosty Nights

Enjoy!

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The dusk sky had just settled over camp when Frostpaw returned from hunting. She'd managed to catch nothing, while her sister, Sunpaw, had caught two mice and a squirrel. Leafshine had been disappointed in her, but had said nothing. On the way back they had walked silently and Frostpaw was relieved to finally be free of the quiet torture. Her failure had left her hungry, but she didn't feel right taking something from the fresh-kill pile when she had added nothing to it. Her mother, Shallowpool, had also just returned with her apprentice, Petalpaw, and Sunpaw was busy telling her about the hunt and her catches.

"Hey, Frostpaw!" greeted a pale grey tom cheerfully.

"Hi Stonepaw, what's up?" she asked politely. Stonepaw was one of the other Thunderclan apprentices, only slightly younger than her.

"Oh, not much. Changing bedding, patrolling borders and," Stonepaw grimaced, "picking ticks. Yuck!" Frostpaw laughed at his expression.

"Sounds like you've had an exciting day." She meowed as she stretched and yawned. "Sorry, Stonepaw, but I'm dead tired and I think I'll go to sleep now; I'm on dawn patrol." Stonepaw gave her a quizzical look.

"But you haven't eaten yet."

"Not hungry. 'Night!" She waved her tail and crept into the apprentices den. It was cold but comforting to Frostpaw in a bizarre way. She crawled into her nest and curled up, and within minutes she was asleep.

"Rise and shine, sleepy-head!" whispered a voice in her ear. Frostpaw's sleeping pale form carefully unfolded itself, and she stood up and looked at the speaker.

"Is it dawn already?" she mumbled. The calico she-cat watched her with happy green eyes and nodded.

"Yup. You slept like a kit—would've thought that you'd have been a bit uncomfortable with all that cold, but when I came in to check on you…yeah, you get the point. Anyway, hurry up before Rainsong gets impatient; you know how she is." Frostpaw nodded her silver head and followed Leafshine out of the den. Her mentor led her to a beautiful blue she-cat, with a golden, striped apprentice at her side. "We're here, Rainsong. Sorry to keep you waiting." The blue warrior simply dipped her head and smiled.

"We didn't mind. Sunpaw kept me entertained with a story about her and Frostpaw as kits—you've really got to hear it sometime," Rainsong meowed happily, flashing her golden apprentice a smile before leading them into the forest.

"So how does the story go, Sunpaw?" Leafshine asked when they were well away from camp. Sunpaw looked back at Leafshine with stunning amber-gold eyes.

"Well, I'm not the best storyteller, but Frostpaw is. Maybe she could tell you?" Her sister suggested, glancng at her with cheerful, bright eyes. Frostpaw felt her belly churn inside. Why did Sunpaw have to put the spotlight on her?

"Good idea," meowed Leafshine, turning to face her. "So how about it, Frostpaw?" The silvery-white apprentice shook her head shyly.

"I-I don't even know which story it is," she stammered, but Sunpaw smiled.

"The one about you falling into some mud when trying to impress Falconkit. Remember?" Frostpaw remembered it perfectly clearly. Of course Sunpaw'd choose that story out of them all—it made her look good and me look bad, thought Frostpaw bitterly. It'd been a normal day for the siblings: Sunkit getting all the attention, Frostkit watching and smiling. Sunkit showing off amazing talents, Frostkit watching with awe. Sunkit making new friends, Frostkit waiting to be introduced in the background. But then, Falconkit, a cat Frostkit had a crush on, came out of the nursery. Sunkit was busy chatting with Petalkit and Shardkit, so it was just Falconkit and her. They had begun to play a game when the feather they were using got stuck in an overhanging branch. Frostkit, trying to impress Falconkit, leapt for it and successfully landed in a pool of mud. Happy ending? Only for Sunkit. She ended up retrieving the feather by skilfully climbing the tree, whilst Falconkit watched with much admiration. Sunkit: 1, Frostkit: 0.

"Frostpaw? Remember?" repeated Sunpaw when she didn't reply. Frostpaw cleared her thoughts.

"Wha-oh…no I'm afraid I don't know the story you're talking about," Frostpaw lied smoothly, looking away into the trees. She heard Sunpaw brush away her reply and begin telling the horrible story to the intrigued Leafshine, and humoured Rainsong. Why couldn't she be that charming, friendly cat her sister was? Why couldn't she have confidence, talent and beauty? How come she had to be the ugy duckling when her sister was already a swan? Just then, as the patrol neared the Windclan border, she heard a faint cry. Startled, she looked forwards to her clan-mates, to see if they'd heard the noise. Too busy chatting away like queens, they hadn't, and for some reason Frostpaw didn't want to tell them. "Leafshine!" she called quickly, an excuse forming in her head. The calico she-cat turned back to her curiously.

"Yes, Frostpaw?"

"I-I don't feel too good. Could I please get a drink? I'll meet you on your way past the lake," she added, to increase her chances of being excused. Leafshine gave her a long look before slowly nodding.

"Okay, but call if you need us," she meowed, turning back to Sunpaw's story. Frostpaw smiled and snuck away silently, towards where she'd heard the cry. It was definitely coming from near the lake, so she pricked her ears and headed for it. All of a sudden a musky, rabbity scent hit her mouth and she recoiled. Windclan? She wondered as she followed it swiftly. She had to discover the Windclan cat before the patrol did, or her fame would go downhill instantly.

In her rush, she almost ran straight into an overhanging tree and had to roll to miss it. She skidded to a dusty stop, breathing heavily. The forest seemed to be waiting for her to open her eyes, as all was deadly silent. Slowly, cautiously, she peered through her eyelids and with a fright saw an unfamiliar face staring back at her. She half-shrieked, but the stranger cut it off by stuffing her mouth with his tail.

"Shhh…" he whispered urgently, his green eyes glowing with anxiety. "It's okay, I'm not here to harm you—I got stuck in this trap." He gestured to the barred, den like thing over him. "Could you…uh…help me? Please?" he added with a shy grin. Frostpaw stared at him with disbelief. What if he attacked her when let loose? She turned to run back and get Salmonstar's help, but the black tom's green eyes pleaded for her to stay. Frostpaw sighed heavily and began chewing the cord-like rope that held the cage together. It wouldn't budge.

"I-I can't!" she gasped and with a defeated voice, whimpered, "It won't cut. You're stuck." The black tom stared angrily at the bars and tried to claw through them.

"Stupid thing! I was only trying to hunt a dumb mouse-"

"You were what?" cried Frostpaw with wide icy eyes. The Windclan cat realised his mistake and cowered under her gaze. They were on Thunderclan territory. The Windclan cat had been prey-stealing. The air around Frostpaw shimmered, then tiny white particles of snow drifted downwards. The cage creaked as its bars struggled to withstand the temperature change, and cracks formed on its now-brittle surface. Frostpaw collapsed in a heap.

"Wake up! Wake up!" hissed the black tom urgently, nudging Frostpaw with his head. She stirred slightly and opened an eye.

"Huh?" she mumbled, slowly rising.

"Thank Starclan!" cried the black tom, "You were amazing! You froze the bars of that trap so I could break them! How'd you do that?" He asked with admiration. No-one had ever looked at Frostpaw like that—only Sunpaw got those looks.

"I-I did?" Frostpaw stuttered disbelievingly. The Windclan tom nodded.

"Thanks…Hey, and I'm really sorry for hunting here. I guess I got caught up with the chase, but I'll never do it again!" he meowed cheerfully. His smile was contagious, and soon Frostpaw was smiling too. "I'm Nightpaw, by the way. What's your name?"

"Uh-Frostpaw," She meowed. He was an apprentice? "So where's your mentor, Nightpaw?" she asked politely. The tom gave her a sly grin.

"Well…back at camp actually. I thought I'd take myself on a lone hunt, y'know?" She nodded. Apprentices normally weren't allowed to be by themselves outside of camp, but many did it.

"It's been nice meeting you, Nightpaw, but I have to go now. I'm meant to be rejoining my patrol by the river, and they're probably waiting for me." Nightpaw nodded, though he looked slightly crestfallen.

"So..I'll see you around?" He asked, happiness rekindling in his eyes. Frostpaw gave him a brilliant smile.

"Sure. Bye!" she meowed before racing off into the undergrowth. Nightpaw watched her go with hope that one day they'd meet again.

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Woah, super-long chapter there. Quite un-exciting too:) Anyway, just a first chapter to kick the story off. The next one's will be much better, so don't leave me! XD

Frostpaw plushies to everyone who reviews!

~Jaffa Maze