A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long long wait for this chapter (though I'm pretty sure not a lot of your read the prologue either). We got off track writing fanfiction for one or two months, but we're back (ish).
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first (real) chapter of Thundering Silence. This first chapter mainly centers on introducing each of the main characters' personality and character, while they escape from campus too see what it's like outside of ThunderClan. Remember to review or PM (PM preferably) us on your thoughts, or any suggestions about what we could add to the story! Hope you enjoy
~Aemi & Skylar
Chapter 1
Leafbreeze's POV
I woke up to the dusty smell of herbs, around 7 moons ago, I had received the prophecy from StarClan, but I still had no answers, and Sunwhisker, Hailfur, and Rockstep still held no solutions
"What time is it?" I meowed sleepily to Darkflame, who
was sorting herbs beside me.
"Good. You're awake. Its a little pass dawn, Softfeather's kits are soon to be apprenticed, and I predict Rosetail may kit soon," Darkflame informed me. Rosetail would kit soon? "I need you to make a poultice for Dewstorm. He was coughing earlier
"Okay. Has Sunwhisker named her kits yet…?" I curiously asked. Darkflame nodded, and waved his tail to Sunwhisker, protectively curling around two toms and one she-kit.
I climbed next to Sunwhisker, shaking her slightly to get her attention, "You've decided on names, I heard?"
"Huh… Wha..?" Sunwhisker mumbled. "Oh names. Of course, this little tom here," She pointed her tail at a ginger striped kit , "is called Firekit. That kit over here," she gestured to a pure white she-kit, "is called Brightkit," and, "the last one the ginger and white one, is called Larkkit."
"Those are all beautiful names," I murmured, stroking each kit on it's pelt. Though I could never have kits, I had always thought of having an own litter of my kits. No. Kits are not meant for medicine cats, it's strictly against the warrior code, I thought to myself. Still, I had always had a soft spot for kits.
"If you don't mind, I think I need a little rest," Sunwhisker closed her eyes, attempting to sound polite, though with her choice of words, it was a little hard.
"Okay," I agreed in understanding, "I'll see you later," I said and left, giving a last peer to each kit.
Outside, I saw Snowkit, Dawnkit, Ashkit, and Stonekit chasing one another around the nursery happily, like every cat had once.
Snowkit's POV
"You can't catch me, Dawnkit! Bow down to me, the mighty Snowstar!" I squealed with delight as I beat her to the top of a rock.
"Not so fast…" Dawnkit meowed and bowled me over, making me fall off the rock and she pinned me down. "I win, Snowkit! Its not a surprise anyways. Who can beat Dawnstar, leader of the best Clan in the forest?!" Dawnkit boasted, puffing out her white furry chest.
"You only pinned me down because I let you." I meowed, unwilling to admit she pinned me down, rolling my rich forest green eyes at her bright amber ones.
"Well—" Dawnkit was cut off when Ashkit and Stonekit both attacked her at the same time.
"Sneak attack!" Stonekit sang while Ashkit ran up to pounce on me. Just like that, we were in our normal teams. She-kits against tom-kits. Dawnkit and I were clever and quick, while Ashkit and Stonekit were strong, but loud.
I rolled around, crushing Ashkit. I flipped around as fast as an adder and pinned him down. I cuffed him around the ear, hard and turned around just in time to see Stonekit pounce on me. I side-stepped and I watched as Stonekit started fighting Ashkit, thinking he was me. Dawnkit and I chuckled.
Dawnkit burst out laughing and both tom-kits looked at her, me, and then each other.
"What?" Stonekit meowed, confused, "I thought Ashkit was Snowkit. Not you."
"I was, stupid furball. Side-stepped and you guys started attacking each other," I laughed. Dawnkit nodded at their astonished faces.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Ashkit whined, "I say we have a rematch. You know, one that's fair," Ashkit snorted
"We'll still win, no matter what," Dawnpaw rolled her eyes, quickly pouncing on to Stonekit, laughing. Stonekit glared at Dawnpaw, giving her the "unfair whiny" look.
Ashkit flipped Dawnpaw over to her side, and Stonekit pinned her down. Ashkit then leaped onto Snowkit, who jumped up and slashed his face with sheathed paw. Ashkit quickly forced her to the ground with his superior weight. "Hah! We won!" Ashkit and Stonekit bursted with pride.
As if I thought and surged upwards, which caused Ashkit to topple over. Catching Ashkit off guard, I pinned him down. Stonekit apparently forgot he was supposed to pin Dawnkit down and raced off her to fight me. Soon, we had Ashkit and Stonekit is a heap with me and Dawnkit holding them down.
"We win!" me and Dawnkit chorused with joy. I could feel her joy myself, as me and Dawnkit had always had that sisterly connection.
"Okay, okay, fine, you win. Now get this heavy furball off me," Stonekit grunted from his spot under Ashkit. We both helped them up and we sat around, thinking of more things we could do
"Lets go explore what's outside of this rusty old cmap!" I meowed, raising my head around, looking out.
"Yeah, okay!" Ashkit mewed excitedly, pushing his unsheathed claws down to the soft muddy Earth. He was never a leader, he was more of a follower, doing what everyone else wanted to do. That's why I had never imagined him as "Ashstar".
"Yeah! I always wanted to see the world outside," Stonekit agreed, "there must be more exciting things! I heard WindClan sleep without any shelter.!" Stonekit wrinkled his dark grey nose in disgust. I agreed with him, how could they sleep without shelter? It was absolute nonsense. Did they want to get colds
We all looked for Dawnkit, but I had already felt her worry radiating off her bright pelt. I already predicted what she would say, "But it's against the warrior code," she whined, unsure. "We would get in big trouble with Dapplestar," Dawnkit pointed out.
"Come on," I urged her, "It'll be no fun without you. These furballs do nothing but eat and sleep. We can go catch a mouse!" My eyes glittered with excitement.
"Hey!" Ashkit and Stonekit yelped in unison. "We're right here, you know? Plus, I bet we can catch more mice in a sunrise than you could in a moon!"
"Says who?" Dawnkit rolled her bright warm eyes. We all looked at her strangely. "I may not want to go, but that doesn't prove that you mouse-brains are better than me at hunting!"
"So you're really not going?" Ashkit asked, moving off the last embarrassing subject.
Dawnkit had a look of consideration cross her face, then nodded, "I'll come," Dawnkit smiled mischievously.
"Yay!" I cheered. "Okay. Here's the plan. We can sneak through—" Dawnkit cut off her sister abruptly, with a grin on her face. "Uh oh," I muttered to myself.
"If," Dawnkit added, "you all bow down to me, Dawnstar," she laughed.
My face grew red with embarrassment, because everyone knew that I would do it because we were sisters, after all.
"No way!" Ashkit and Stonekit meowed. "I'd rather have this lump of fur not come," Stonekit teased, nudging Dawnkit by her shoulders. Because of Dawnkit's small height and weight, she toppled over, glaring at her brother. "Some leader," Ashkit laughed.
"Fine. Then only Snowkit has to bow down to me… and when I'm leader, I'll be sure to pick Snowkit as deputy," Dawnkit puffed up her chest, grinning like a proud mother.
Snowkit rolled her eyes, but bow down to her, because she wanted Dawnkit to come, "Happy?" she meowed, annoyed.
Dawnkit nodded, satisfied. "So, what's our plan?" Dawnkit turned to Snowkit, Ashkit, and Stonekit
"We will sneak out from a tiny hole behind the nursery. When we get out, we will roll in some ferns to hide out our scent. Then, we are gonna catch some mice, more than Ashkit and Stonekit can handle," Snowkit sneered jokingly.
Ashkit rolled his eyes, and we slipped through the small hole, which Stonekit had got stuck in because of his large body.
The tunnel was dark and empty, and I heard Dawnkit trip a few times.
"You clumsy furball," I laughed.
"Shhhh..." Stonekit hushed, urging her to shut up.
Who died and made you leader? I thought but kept my mouth shut.
As we reached the end of the tunnel, we climbed out and dug a hole for Stonekit to get through, as he was too large to get out of the hole.
As we set foot on the soft earthy floor, the trees looming above us, and the atmosphere was much more different than our camp. The sky was clear blue, the scent wasn't all cats, but nature and rivers and wildlife.
"Okay now. Ferns, ferns, ferns." Ashkit demanded.
We sniffed around the territory, but we couldn't find any ferns. I groaned in frustration, how hard could it be to find some stupid ferns? Warriors found them randomly in their pelt but we couldn't find them where they grow?
"Hey! Can we use river water to mask out our scent? I think I hear running water somewhere there," Dawnkit pointed out, gesturing a white paw towards the sound.
Ashkit and I agreed, while Stonekit simply grunted and followed the direction of the rushing water.
"Lets find those mice!" Dawnkit squealed. We all inhaled deeply and I smelled a mouse somewhere near Stonekit.
"Ashkit and Stonekit, go the the other side. Dawnkit and I will scare it into your paws. Got it?"
Ashkit snorted, "Who made you the leader, 'Snowstar'? I say we pounce at the mouse from four directions."
"Mouse-brain!" Dawnkit cuffed Ashkit, "Or actually, what a squirrel-brain! The mouse would be smarter than you! If we pounce from four directions, I think we would end up with more injuries than that mouse," Dawnkit commented, and Ashkit even admit she was right.
We ended up going with the original plan, and we unsuccessfully caught the mouse because the mouse ran off in the wrong direction. "Mouse-dung!" Dawnkit sighed, frustrated. "I always wanted to eat fresh kill that I caught."
"Ahem, Ashkit and I would've caught it, all you had to do was scare it away. And that failed, too," Stonekit teased.
"Its okay. We can always find another mouse." I took a deep breath and I was struck with a reeking, fishy smell. The river.
Dawnkit, my sister who was quite mouse-brained sometimes, stepped her two front paws in the river, almost being rushed away. In fear, Dawnkit yelped, "Help!" she squealed, her back legs clinging on to the edge of the river desperately.
I jumped into the water with intentions on saving Dawnkit but I started drowning. Stonekit's paws reached forward, but luckily Ashkit had his paws wrapped on Stonekit's back paws so he wouldn't fall. Stonekit reached for my front paws. He caught one of my paws, but was definitely not strong enough to pull me up.
Dawnkit, was somehow still clinging to the edge of the riverbed, with most of her pelt and fur drenched under the river's current, had her eyes closing.
Fortunately, yet unluckily, a RiverClan patrol prowled to the edge of the river. A pretty grey and tortoiseshell she-cat was at the front of the patrol and did not hesitate when she leaped into the water and carried me and Dawnkit back to the ThunderClan side of the river.
"Kits?" The she-cat meowed. "What's your name?"
Dawnkit licked her front paws, then shifted them uncomfortably, knowing she had gotten in big trouble. I stared defiantly at them "My name. It's uh... uhm," my sister stammered. "Dawnkit and I am Snowkit." I finished for her.
"Willowleaf," the she-cat replied, "Why would a mouse-brained kit be wandering... and drowning?!" she said in fury. "If I was caught on your territory, your Clanmates would shed my fur off! Oakwhisker, Sapfur and I will escort you to camp. Miststorm, you could take Reedpaw and Beetlepaw to training."
"It's not her fault!" I squeaked, "I was the one who lead them out here!"
"Don't think you're so brave going after her," another warrior, Miststorm added in, "it was an equally, if not more, stupid decision to make."
With that, Miststorm stalked away with Reedpaw and Beetlepaw by her tail.
Oakwhisker seemed to easily swim across the river, as well as Sapfur, as they leaded us back toward camp the land entrance.
We were quickly greeted by Softfeather's stern but relieved look, who waved for the RiverClan warriors to go to the leader's den.
Dapplestar greeted the warriors calmly with no sense of aggression. "Oakwhisker, Sapfur, Willowleaf... I see you have found our irresponsible kits? Will you explain the story please?"
Sapfur narrowed his eyes, and meowed calmy, "that golden tabby one was seen almost falling into the river, Willowleaf held no hesitation to jump in to save her. But another mouse-brained kit, the silver and black one, also leaped in, presumably to save her sister."
"I thank you so very much for saving our kits," Dapplestar meowed thankfully, dipping her head. "Give all my thanks to Streamstar, and you three of course as well.". The three cats dipped their heads but said nothing more and stalked away back in the direction of their Clan.
Dapplestar gave me and my siblings a look. "You four are going to spend an entire 5 sunrises taking care of the apprentices, have you got that in your mouse brains?" She meowed angrily, "Take care of their prey clean their dens, anything as they wish."
That wasn't so bad, they were all nice. I thought. If she delayed out apprentice ceremony, I would freak out.
We all dipped our heads, obeying, as Softfeather turned to lecture us. "I. Want. All. Of. You. In. The. Den. Now." She seethed, and I immediately ran towards the nursery. My siblings were right behind me.
"Sunwhisker, Hazelfur, take your kits outside to play. I need to talk to these kits." Softfeather meowed.
"Okay. Come on kits, i'll teach you the hunter's crouch…" Hazelfur said. All the kits followed her excitedly, bragging that they would catch prey faster than they could say 'mouse'.
"Snowkit, Ashkit, I am very disappointed in you. You know that the warrior code doesn't allow kits out of camp. Stonekit, you too. I had always thought you were the one who could keep them in check. I guess not…" Softfeather said unhappily.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. Stonekit, Ashkit, and I all got in trouble! How unfair, why didn't Dawnkit get in trouble? I looked to Dawnkit, who had a look of confusion on her face. A moment later,she looked just as upset as we are that Softfeather punished us.
For a moment, I glared at my sister though it wasn't her fault. I guess Softfeather had favorites. Still, I felt the need to be angry at my sister.
Softfeather stalked away with her tail up, back to the warrior's den.
"Hey, little warriors!" I turned around to see my father, Eagletail, looking friendly at us.
"You're not upset?" Stonekit meowed incredulously, shifting his grey paws uneasily at the dirty earth floor. He knew that Eagletail was more relaxed and less strict than Softfeather, but he also had his limits.
"No! All kits sneak out sometime! They never get hurt, so why all the search parties and panic? Softfeather and I snuck out once together, we almost fought a ShadowClan patrol!". Eagletail said good-naturedly.
My eyes stretched wide. "You did?" I meowed in awe.
"Snowkit, always the explorer. I bet, or I know, you lead the others to the RiverClan border. And yes. It wasn't until a patrol came along that we stopped arguing, over pine trees or oak trees". Eagletail laughed.
I was surprised at how easy-going the conversation was with my father. I saw Stonekit, Ashkit, and Dawnkit pad back to the nursery, and I raced away to join them.
All of us were crushed that we had been caught, and now we had to take care of the apprentices.
End of Snowkit's POV