The Renaissance - Book 1: Rising Sun - Chapter 1
Well, after two (I believe) encouraging reviews, I decided to post the entire story here! I hope you like it. :)
I don't own Warriors.
Chapter One
Sunkit gazed out the nursery, her lips curled back in disgust. Rain drummed softly against the ceiling of the nursery. The melodic rhythm could have lulled her to sleep on a normal day, if it weren't for the circumstances.
Nearby, her mother, Cinderheart, was rasping her tongue quickly of a small black she-kit. Sunkit watched as her sister objected to Cinderheart's bath. "Mother! Stop it! I don't need groomed! I can do it myself!"
"Hush, Hollykit," Cinderheart silenced. "Let me clean you up! Don't you want to look presentable when you stand before the Clan for the first time as apprentices?"
Sure, Sunkit thought with irritation. If only it wasn't raining on our ceremony day! The young golden she-kit didn't fully understand her mother's worry. Once Sunkit and her three littermates were seated before Highledge and all the Clan was assembled, they would be soaked anyway.
A few tail-lengths away, Sunkit's brothers, Stonekit and Finchkit, sat whispering to one another. "I hope I get our father as my mentor!" Finchkit meowed quietly, puffing out his chest with pride.
"Well, I want father more!" Stonekit replied. The gray tom's voice was on the edge of a growl. "I'm better anyway!"
"You are not!" protested Finchkit. The gray tom's fur bristled with annoyance and he flexed his tiny claws hotly.
"Enough of this!" Cinderheart scolded, pulling away from Hollykit. This gave the small black she-kit just enough time to scramble away from her mother and seat herself next to Sunkit. "You are all equal, and you will all be fine warriors. I have no doubt that you will get the best mentors. As for Lionblaze, Bramblestar might not even choose Lionblaze to mentor any of you. He wants the apprentice training to be as fair as possible with no favorites. That's why queens don't get to mentor their own kits, you know."
When Cinderheart looked down to see that Hollykit was no longer at her paws, her ears flattened against her head in annoyance. She spotted her daughter sitting next to Sunkit and sighed. The gray queen shook her head and then grabbed the oblivious Stonekit by the scruff and brought him closer to groom him as well. Despite his protests, she rasped her tongue over his short gray fur.
Hollykit giggled and leaned close to her sister. Sunkit could feel her sister's warm breath billow against her ear. "Ha! Now Stonekit feels my pain!"
Sunkit chuckled along with her sister and edged closer until their pelts brushed. "I can't wait to be an apprentice," she confessed quietly. "It's so boring in here, plus really cramped."
The black she-kit nodded in agreement. The nursery was overflowing with kits ever since both Poppyfrost and Brightheart moved in with their litters. Cinderheart's litter alone was very large and adding two more growing young cats made it very crowded.
"The apprentices' den should be roomy," Hollykit mused. "After all, it'll only be Seedpaw, Lilypaw, and Lightpaw."
The thought of sharing a den with three other she-cats was very inviting. For one thing, her two brothers would be outnumbered, and for another, she liked the current apprentices. Seedpaw and Lilypaw were almost a moon away from being named warriors and Lightpaw was not far behind them. The story of Lightpaw always made Sunkit look upon her with sympathy.
Lightpaw was the daughter of Dovewing and an unknown tomcat, most likely a ShadowClan warrior named Tigerheart. Lightpaw had had two brothers at birth, but they had died shortly after from greencough. Her mother was devastated, but devoted the rest of her time in the nursery to preserve the life of her one remaining kit. Even though Lightpaw never became infected with the sickness and became an apprentice, some cats ridiculed her. Many called her a half-Clan cat even though Dovewing would claw their ears off if she heard them. Sunkit always found the story sad, especially since Lightpaw was one of the sweetest, kindest cats she had ever met.
Cinderheart pulled away from grooming Stonekit opened her jaws to say something. In the next instance, however, a loud yowl rang throughout the ThunderClan camp, echoing off the stone walls of the hollow. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Bamblestar's voice rung out through the camp.
The gray queen gasped. "Oh no! Bramblestar has called for the Clan! Oh, Finchkit! You're not clean yet!" she gasped. She was treating that fact as if Finchkit presented himself to the Clan with a pelt that wasn't groomed, it would signal the beginning of an apocalypse.
"I'm fine, mother!" Finchkit cried as he bounded to the entrance of the den. Sunkit and Hollykit stepped up beside their brother and gazed out into the ThunderClan camp. Already warriors were beginning to assemble before Highledge. Among them, Sunkit saw Dovewing and Ivypool sitting close to the nursery, Hazeltail and Thornclaw sitting little ways away, their tails entwined. Next to them sat Sorreltail, Brackenfur, and Birchfall. Whitewing and her father Cloudtail sat in front of them, speaking in hushed voices.
As more and more warriors poured into the clearing, Sunkit gulped. Her confidence was failing her. Earlier, she had felt like she could conquer the world, but now as she was faced with the aspect of facing her Clan, she was gripped with fear. Her brothers, however, were bouncing up and down with anticipation, showing no fear.
"Go on little ones," Cinderheart encouraged. "Stonekit, Finchkit, do not run out there! Walk proudly like warriors! Make your father and me proud!"
Stonekit and Finchkit didn't need their mother to tell them twice. The two young toms sauntered out into the camp, their heads held high with pride and their chest puffed out. Even though they tried to look calm and collected, Sunkit could see the energy rising in their eyes. The two toms didn't allow the rain to dampen their moment to shine. They were selling it. Hollykit followed them. The moment her sister stepped out into the rain, her fluffy black pelt began to be slicked to her body. Sunkit could just hear her sister complaining later that day about how wet she was.
Finally, Sunkit could no longer prolong it. She took a deep breath and searched for her father in the crowd. Cinderheart had already slipped past her out of the den to find the golden warrior. Finally, she spotted both of them, sitting right up front. Cinderheart rested her head on her mate's shoulder, and Lionblaze was gazing in her direction. His amber eyes were welcoming and gentle. He gave her a slight nod to continue. Sunkit took a deep breath and stepped out of the den into the rain.
A/N: Did you like this chapter? Leave a review and let me know! Click on my username if you've liked what you've seen here and you wanna see more like it!