Chapter 1- Prologue
"Stick and stones may break my bones, but the glares will always hurt the most."
"You are the chosen one," a sweet, melodic voice resonated through my dreams and I saw and imagine of vines, flames leaping all around them, nearly touching them, and blood running down the vines, staining their once green color into a crimson red. The bloody vines were trapping everything, it dripped down into the flames. I pried open my eyes, fear churning in my stomach. I looked around me, the queens in the nursery were all asleep, their kits lying calmly beside them, sleeping soundly, warmed by the chill of leaf-bare. Above the bracken roof of the den, I saw the sun shining, but the wind that blew around the RiverClan camp made the air chilly and my fur began to prickle.
Like always, I woke up alone and cold, shivering. I had no mother to care for me, and no cat in the clan wanted to take care of me, not even one of the queens.
I didn't understand, why did all the cats in the clan have to treat me so differently? Each day I got a beating by at least one cat. They all just hated me and I did nothing wrong. I always had scratches on me from my clanmates, I couldn't understand why they treated me like the enemy.
"Amberkit," a deep voice called out to me from outside the Nursery. A charcoal colored cat with light brown eyes squeezed in, ignoring the prickly branches that surrounded the entrance. This was one of the few cats in the clan that actually cared for me; my brother, Tangleclaw. He was one of the most precious and trusted cats in my life. Along with him was Cloudstar; the RiverClan leader, he had always treated me with kindness, and he showed compassion whenever he saw the scratches I received from the clan. And Snowheart; the RiverClan Medicine Cat. She always treated my wounds whenever I had a run-in with the cats in the clan.
"Amberkit, are you in there?" Tangleclaw asked worriedly, looking through the dim light to try and find me.
"I'm here. Sorry, I was a bit dazed," I answered.
"You're thinking of tomorrow, aren't you?" he asked with a purr.
I purred in return. Even though that was not what I had been thinking of, I was still excited. Tomorrow was the day that I would finally become an apprentice. I was glad that Cloudstar treated me equally, so I would get my apprenticeship like every other cat. Unfortunately not all the cats in the clan would be happy about it. I was worried that I would be with a cat that hates me, like all the others. Instead of learning to hunt, I'd constantly be learning how to try and defend myself from the blows of my mentor and the other cats.
But what had I ever done to them to deserve being so hated? I was born without knowing either of my parents, I only had my brother to look after me. And then as I grew up, I was showered in glares and insults. Even the other kits, who are younger than me, insult me. It hurts, the glares and the insults hurt me so much. Each one pierces me so hard. Their full hate poured onto me. Not even the wounds they inflicted on me hurt as bad as the glares or the insults, because the glares and insults dug deeper than any claws or teeth.
Come on, Amberkit, don't get like that! I thought. Remember; tomorrow I will become Amberpaw!
"Amberkit, I lost you," Tangleclaw's voice awoke me from my sudden space-out.
"Sorry," I shook the thoughts away and ducked my head apologetically.
Tangleclaw purred, but then I saw him frown. "I have something to tell you. Meet me at the river later and we'll also catch something for the clan," he told me.
"Okay," I nodded. What did he have to tell me?
"Tangleclaw, where are you?" called a voice and I recognized Ashpaw, he was Tangleclaw's apprentice. He was a couple of moons older than me and he was really hyper. He used to be like the other cats of the clan; hateful and rude. But after he got to know us better, he lightened up and started being really friendly towards us.
I wonder what Tangleclaw wants to tell me, I thought. It can't be bad, we rarely keep secrets from each other. Unless he has a mate! No... no way, no one in the clan even wanted us around so how could Tangleclaw get a mate?
I walked out of the Nursery and decided to go for a walk, not that any cat would care even if they did notice me. Cloudstar would be in his den, Tangleclaw was off to train Ashpaw and no other cats would care.
"Um, Amberkit?" a shy voice spoke behind me.
I turned around and saw Skykit, not that he was a bad cat. He was quite the opposite, he didn't hate me like all the other cats, at least I couldn't tell even if he did.
Skykit was always in the background, no cat really noticed him because he was so quiet and determined to stay out of every cat's business. He was becoming an apprentice too, so he'd be really excited.
"-you going?" Skykit finished a sentence that I was too dazed to hear.
"Sorry, Skykit, could you say that again?" I asked.
"Where are you going?" Skykit repeated his question, his voice a little stronger than before. "You know kits aren't allowed to leave camp on their own."
"Aw, come on, Skykit," I purred, giving him my super kitty look, it always worked on Tangleclaw. "Who's going to notice? Really."
Skykit ducked his head and shuffled his paws on the ground.
"Are you okay, Skykit?" I asked.
"I'm fine," Skykit replied after a few moments, shaking his head.
"Okay then," I shrugged it off. "Come explore with me."
"What!?" he exclaimed, a little bit too loud. "We're not allowed to leave the camp!"
"Shh!" I hissed, keeping my voice low. "Do you want the whole clan to hear!?"
"But, we might get into trouble!" he insisted, but he did lower his voice.
"That's the fun part of it," I purred.
Skykit sighed. "Fine. But I'm only coming to make sure you don't run into any trouble.
I nodded, that was easy. I guess Skykit wasn't like the others, he could be really kind and caring. We crept out of camp and into the dark forest.
After a little while, Skykit became fidgety. "I think we've explored enough. We should go back before any cat notices we're gone."
"But it's fun out here. Don't spoil it," I murmured a reply as we stalked through the woodlands on the East side of Riverclan territory.
We continued through the woodland area and we heard a twig snap behind us.
"IT'S A MONSTER!!!!" I howled and we spun around. Right before us stood...
Dusktail, Skykit's mother...
"Skykit, Amberkit!" when she said my name I heard the fierceness of her hatred towards me.
She grabbed me by the ear in her teeth and started dragging me back to camp, Skykit followed closely behind, his eyes full of worry. My ear hurt like crazy and I could feel the tiny droplets of blood starting to trickle down my face from the fresh wound from her teeth. Dusktail, like all the others, hated me because I had done absolutely nothing wrong.
We finally reached camp and Dusktail let me go in the middle of the clearing. My ear burned in pain.
"Amberkit, you treacherous little monster!" her voice shook with anger. "How dare you force Skykit into leaving the camp and going into the woods with you! You could have run into a badger and Skykit could have gotten hurt! Not that anyone really cares for you..." she muttered under her breath.
"I wasn't forced," Skykit tried to reason with his mother. "I wanted to go with Amberkit-"
"Don't lie for this thing!" Dusktail hissed, her voice sickly sweet as she tried to stay polite to her son.
"I really didn't-" I tried to say.
"Silence!" she snarled at me. "You don't deserve to talk!"
I fell into a crouch, staying low to the ground, my head down and my ears flat against my head in sadness. I feel the grief washing over me, but I didn't let it show. I wasn't going to show weakness to the clan.
I glanced up and saw Skykit, an apology in his eyes, he wouldn't dare try and say it out loud because Dusktail would growl at him. Then I saw Dusktail raising a paw, claws unsheathed. I sighed, she was going to strike me. I closed my eyes, ready to take the blow and head over to the Medicine Cat Den to see Snowheart.
Smack!
I heard it, but I felt nothing. Had I grown strangely immune to the pain that my clanmates brought me?
"Stop!" I heard the low growl. Nope, I would have felt the pain if I had of been struck.
I opened my eyes and looked up, Skykit was standing over me, his fur bristling. He had protected me, and I saw the scratch on his cheek, blood trickling down and staining the ground where it landed. Dusktail looked utterly dumbfounded, she had hit her own son. I saw Cloudstar leave his den and as soon as he realized what had happened, he fixed Dusktail with a cold gaze.
"Dusktail, leave," Cloudstar spoke as lightly as he could through his fury. Dusktail look at him as if she wanted to object, but she turned and slunk back to the Nursery. Cloudstar looked at me and Skykit. "Are you both alright?"
I nodded but gave Skykit a worried look.
"Amberkit, please take Skykit to Snowheart's den," Cloudstar ordered.
"Yes, Cloudstar," I nodded and led Skykit across the clearing to where Snowheart had her den.
"Thank you for before," I murmured. "I'm sorry that you got hurt."
"It's okay," he replied quietly. "You don't deserve to get hurt for something that you didn't do. It was nothing..."
We both got checked out by Snowheart and she put cobwebs on Skykit's cheek-wound and the bite on my ear. I heard her mutter something that I did not quite understand; "Lovebirds." But I shrugged it off quickly.
Skykit went back to the Nursery and I saw Tangleclaw at the camp entrance. He signaled to me with his tail and disappeared out of camp. I quickly ran to catch up to him and I followed him all the way to the river. I was glad he didn't see what happened with Dusktail.
He sat down at the river's edge and looked at me. "Amberkit," he began. "I think it's time for you to know the truth."
"What truth?" I asked, sitting down. "Is it what I thought? Do you have a mate?"
He gave me a look and I realized that I was way off the topic he was on. I dropped it, but I couldn't help the churning in my gut. What truth then? What kind of truth is there that Tangleclaw had been keeping from me?
"It's about our parents," he meowed.
"Parents?" I snorted. "Why should we care? They abandoned us, didn't they? Or died, whatever."
"You don't understand," he sighed. "I'm telling the truth. At the time that you were barely a moon old, I was at six moons. Our mother, Honeyfur, betrayed the clan."
I looked up at him, blinking. Our mother did what!?
"She fell in love with a Windclan cat called Leaftail. They secretly had me and you without the clan knowing. At first they thought I was an abandoned Riverclan kit and you, too. When there was a battle between Riverclan and Windclan, our mother left us to fight with Windclan. She betrayed our clan and fought against us, harming many of her clanmates. So now all the cats still hold that grudge against her, but on us. You look exactly like our mother, that's why they use you as the scapegoat. I'm sorry for keeping this from you, Amberkit. But you had to know the truth."
I stood there in shock for a while and Tangleclaw had a sad look on his face. How could our own mother leave her own clan and betray them? She betrayed everyone, because she had fallen in love with a Windclan warrior. But that was against the warrior code, it's not allowed. But now I understood, I finally knew what the glares were for, the hits... all of it.
Don't they know though? That kits are not always the same as their parents? I thought. Even so, I'll show them, I'll show them all how wrong they were. My new goal, is to let the clan see that I can be a loyal Riverclan warrior. The best.
"Okay. We'd better catch some fish and get ready for my ceremony tomorrow," I meowed.
"So... You're okay?" Tangleclaw asked cautiously.
"I'm fine," I replied.
"I hope you'll be okay after tomorrow," he whispered.
I wondered what he was talking about. Maybe it was about my apprentice ceremony. If it was, he didn't say it.
"Let's catch some fish," he tried to act cheerful and we crouched beside the river so he could teach me.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, join here beneath the Riverrock for a clan meeting!"
Cloudstar's call echoed around the camp and every cat gathered below the Riverrock. "Today we meet for the apprenticeship of three of Riverclan's kits; Skykit, Sunkit and Amberkit. The three of you, please come forward and sit below the Riverrock."
Skykit and Sunkit made their way to sit below the rock that Cloudstar was sitting on. I had to force my way through the crowd as many of my clanmates tried to stop me. But I didn't care if they wanted me to become an apprentice or not, the time had finally come. No more hiding out in the Nursery having to sneak out to go to the forest, no more being confined to camp to endure the pain of the claws and glares that were scorched into my fur. I was now able to be away from camp and away from the claws and the glares of my clanmates.
I ran over and sat beside Skykit, my clanmates growled their disapproval.
Cloudstar silenced them with a yowl. "Until she has earned her warrior name, Sunkit with be known as Sunpaw," he spoke. "Sunpaw has a special place in this clan. Instead of training to be a warrior, Sunpaw will train as a Medicine Cat Apprentice. Snowheart, teach Sunpaw all the skills she will need to be a Medicine Cat. One day she will take your place and will be needed."
Snowheart nodded and stepped forward to stand in front of Sunpaw. They both touched noses and Snowheart led her new apprentice into the crowd. Sunpaw was excited, I could see it in her eyes, but she tried to look dignified as she followed her mentor into the crowd of cats.
"Until he has earned his warrior name, Skykit will be known as Skypaw," Cloudstar continued. "Willowheart, you are ready to take on another apprentice. You shall be mentor to Skypaw. You have been a wonderful deputy, and I expect you to pass on all your skills to Skypaw."
Willowheart stepped forward and touched noses with Skypaw, the younger cat looked nervous. The Riverclan deputy led Skypaw into the crowd to join Sunpaw and Snowheart, leaving me below the Riverrock by myself.
It was my turn now, but who would be my mentor? Would they shun me like the others? Would they take me out into the forest and attack me? Would I be forced to learn nothing but how to defend myself against not only the other clans, but against my own clanmates as well?
"Until she has earned her warrior name," Cloudstar meowed clearly. "Amberkit will be known as Amberpaw." This was it. I looked at all the warriors without apprentices; Silverheart, Frosttail, Angelfur and Waterstream. I was sure that none of them wanted to mentor me. "I will take on Amberpaw as my apprentice. I will pass on all the skills I know to her."
What!? Wow! Cloudstar was my mentor!? I gazed up in shock as he jumped down from the Riverrock and sat in front of me. We slowly touched noses, and then I heard the shouts...
"No! No, not that thing! She can't be mentored by Cloudstar!" one cat called.
"Does she even have the right to be an apprentice?" another muttered.
"I think we should cast her out," another cat said.
"SILENCE!" Cloudstar yowled and silenced the clan. All the cats were quiet and they looked into his angry eyes. "Do you defy my judgment? Amberpaw is like any other apprentice so she shall be an apprentice to a mentor who can treat her fairly."
No cat spoke against his word. Instead, they started cheering. "Skypaw! Sunpaw! Skypaw! Sunpaw!"
The only four cats that called my name was Tangleclaw, Snowheart, Skypaw and Ashpaw, but the young apprentice was embarrassed as his mentor tried to get the other cats to say it.
Cloudstar shot a sad glance in my direction. I shrugged, it would be fine, it was always like this. I hung my head as grief swept over me, I tried to hide it, but the weight was too heavy on my shoulders. Skypaw trotted over and gave me a comforting lick on my ear. I knew he would be there for me if I needed him.
Skypaw and I left the crowd of cats that were breaking up into smaller groups and we approached the apprentices den where we would sleep from now on until we were warriors.
When I padded into the den behind Skypaw, Sunpaw ignored me completely, not even glancing at me as she left to go to the Medicine Cat Den. Tinpaw gave me a curt nod because his mother did not hate like the others, he also wasn't like the others Tinpaw headed to the edge of the den to sleep, Ashpaw was jumping all over the place, excited that I was now an apprentice. I made a nest out of moss and curled up in it, the last thing I knew, Skypaw was coming making his nest beside me and I fell asleep.