Chapter 2
A/N: First things first, I AM EXTREMELY SORRY ABOUT THE LATE UPDATE!
Volleyball has started, so add that to the list of things that make me a busy person.
I would like to thank my one and only reviewer, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, and especially thank you for not just saying 'great story', you critiqued my writing and gave a question to answer, and to me, as my first ever review, that's a big deal. I'll answer your question below, and its going to be long.
Bluekit and Stonekit are sort of like reincarnations, but they're not like Cinderheart. I just liked Bluestar as a character and thought that we should get to see a little bit more of Stonefur, so named them in honor of those cats. Nightkit isn't a reincarnation or named in honor, I'm not really a fan of Nightstar. And as for Rainkit; She's not named after anybody, I just thought that name fit her. Origanally, Rainkit was going to be Wildkit, a black she-kit with yellow eyes, but I thought I'd add some color to the fur colors of the four main characters, who are Bluekit, Stonekit, Nightkit, and Rainkit. And to answer your other question, I think I'm going to stick with two kits' POV's per chapter for a while at least. I'm still pretty young and It's hard for me to come up with ideas before the main plot happens, which starts around the end of their apprentice-ship. I'll be improving more because I roleplay on a different forum a lot.
On another note, I decided to change the allegiances just a tiny bit; I realized that having Ivypool as a queen would be a bit strange later on, so I swapped her out for Cinderheart. It makes more sense, anyways. And I kept Darkkit, he's just Cinderheart's kit now, along with a newly-added kit, Honeykit.
Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors or any of its offical characters. I do, however, own this plot line and any nessecary OC's.
And now on with the story!
Bluekit's POV:
"Brightheart! Brightheart!" I yelled, scampering over to the ginger-and-white warrior, who was currently looking through the fresh-kill pile.
"Aha!" She smiled in satisfaction and picked up the magpie that she had been searching for in her jaws, padding over to a spot in the shade of the fallen beech tree. Brightheart settled down and took a large bite out of the fresh-kill, closing her one eye in pleasure as it's flavor seeped over her tongue.
It seemed as if I would never get the warrior's attention, so I did what only a kit would do. I crouched down and crept over to the roots of the beech, squeezing through the small hole that only me and Streamkit knew about. Despite my sister's delicate and soft look, she was the most mischevous and reckless out of all the kits in the nursery. My brother, Stormkit, was more of the type that thinks things through and never gets in trouble. But he was the best fighter, I was the best hunter, well my hunting crouch and stealth since I can't leave camp to hunt, and Streamkit was the best negotiator. She had a way with words and could convince you to do anything.
I wiggled my body a bit more and finally reached the space between the fallen tree and the stone hollow. My eyes widened as I stared up at the tree, swirling lines engraved in it's soft bark. I didn't exactly understand what all those strange carvings meant, but I had a feeling they were special, significant in some sort of way.
I shrugged the thought off and unsheathed my tiny claws, which were suprisingly sharp despite how young I was, and hooked them into the first claw-hold. It was a struggle, climbing up the trunk, especially since I was trying not to damage the carvings in any sort of way. Finally, after slipping a few times and sadly wrecking a few engraved lines, I reached the top and pulled myself up.
I swear that you could see everything from there, even though I wasn't even close to halfway up the hollow, it was still a breath-taking view. I slowly walked over to the roots, where Brightheart was finishing her meal in the shade of. My tiny paws slid a bit on the smooth wood, but I didn't mind. Somehow I knew that I wouldn't fall, maybe it was instinct, telling me to trust myself not to stumble.
I liked those instincts, and knew they would help me when I was a warrior, proving me to be a great climber.
"Brightheart!" I yelled quickly once I reached the roots, trying to catch the she-cat's attention.
It didn't work, Brightheart continued to focus on her half-eaten magpie.
"Brightheart! Brightheart, Brightheart!" I yelled again, bouncing up and down on one of the thicker roots, shaking it. It brushed against her back and she flinched, suprised. She turned her one eye to face me, amusement glittering in her eyes.
"Now, tell me, how in the name of StarClan did you get up there?" Brightheart asked, tipping her head to the side.
"I climbed." I answered proudly, puffing out my chest and keeping my chin high.
"Well, I've never met a cat so young that could climb that high. I can already tell you're going to be a great warrior." At the ginger-and-white she-cat's praise, I lifted my chin and puffed out my chest, proud of my climbing feat. Suddenly, a yowl rang out across the hollow and I pricked my ears towards highledge, where the sound had come from. Bramblestar stood on the edge of the outcrop, amber eyes shining as he gazed down at his clan.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High Ledge for a clan meeting."
I looked over at Brightheart as she quickly finished the last few bites of her magpie and bounded over to join Cloudtail and Thornclaw, who had their heads bent close together, deep in conversation. I decided not to follow, they were probably discussing warrior things, and I didn't want to get in the way or bother them. So instead I padded over to join Streamkit, who had quickly bounded out of the nursery, ears perked.
"Did I miss anything?" The pale silvery tabby she-kit asked, panting a bit from her run.
"Nope, the meeting's just started." I answered, stifling laughter at her messy fur that stuck up at nearly every angle possible.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want. I was practicing my fighting skill with Stormkit." My ears turned towards the direction of slower pawsteps, slightly drowning my sister's words. Out of the corner of my eye I could see our brother padding towards us with calm steps.
"I was the one that won most of the time, which explains her ruffled pelt." Stormkit mewed, humor lighting his gaze as he gently cuffed Streamkit over the ear.
"Well, I did say we were practicing, mouse-brain." The she-kit licked her chest fur, trying to smooth it back into place. Stormkit shrugged and sat down on my other side, focusing his attention on Bramblestar.
"Today is one of the ceremonies that represents the clan growing stronger, new warriors being brought through the training that generations of cats have gone through before." The leader spoke strongly, gazing at two cats that were blocked from my view.
"Darkkit, Honeykit, please step forward." Jealousy burned deep in my chest as I watched two of my denmates step into the center of the clearing, pelts sleek and groomed. They're being made apprentices!
"Darkkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Darkpaw. I have chosen Brackenfur to mentor you. I hope he will pass down all he knows on to you." Bramblestar said after bounding down the rock pile that led to highledge. Brackenfur looked sruprised, as if he had no idea about being given another apprentice, but padded forward on sure-footed paws as he touched noses with Darkpaw. The newly-named apprentice's eyes were glimmering with happiness and excitement, but the emotion showed nowhere else as he cooly padded over to his mother, Cinderheart. She licked his ears as Lionblaze gazed proudly at his son.
"Honeykit, you are also six moons of age, and you are ready to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Honeypaw. Your mentor will be Birchfall. I hope that he will pass down all that he knows to you." Honeykit bounded forward on energetic paws to touch noses with her mentor, who looked even more surprised than Brackenfur had been.
"Darkpaw! Honeypaw! Darkpaw! Honeypaw!" I raised my muzzle and cheered along with the rest of the clan, even though I felt a deep feeling of jealousy inside me. I just wanted to be an apprentice so badly!
Rainkit's POV:
I couldn't help but wince as a patrol of warriors entered the camp, scratches and blood on their pelts.
"What happened!?" I yelled, concerned, as I bounded over to my half-brother, Crowfeather.
"It was just a little border skirmish, nothing that we couldn't handle." He answered, tail flicking back and forth casually.
"Those mangy RiverClan warriors won't be coming back for a while!" Boulderfoot, one of the newer warriors, agreed.
"But still, Reedwhisker gave me a nasty scratch." Heathertail complained, turning to look at a deep gouge on her side. I looked up at the wound, hissing in disgust as a small bead of blood dripped off of the tabby she-cat's fur and landed on my back.
"I think I'm going to get Kerstrelflight now." I mewed loudly, bounding over to the medicine cat's den in the crevice of one of the large boulders in camp.
"Rainkit, what do you need?" The medicine cat asked when I had entered his den.
"One of the patrols just came back, they had a fight with RiverClan!" I squeaked, bushing out my dappled fur with my tail sticking straight out. Kerstrelflight nodded and went back farther into the rock to where the herbs were kept, picking up a good-sized bundle of marigold and wrapping a large wad of cobweb around one forepaw.
"Rainkit, can carry this horsetail out for me?" the tom's voice was muffled through the herbs as he pointed to a smaller stack of it with his tail. My small paws scuffed on the ground as I bounded towards the herbs excitedly, picking up the little bundle of horsetail in my jaws. Kerstrelflight left his den with me bouncing on my paws in his trail. The medicine cat went straight to Heathertail, seeing that the gash on her side was the most serious injury on any of the cats in the patrol. He set the marigold down softly , keeping a few leaves in his mouth to chew them into a poultice. He gently smeared it onto the cut, muttering a 'sorry' as Heathertail flinched from the sting. Once the medicine had been applied, he carefully unwrapped a few cobwebs from his paw, spreading and covering them over the wound.
"There, you should be able to return to normal warrior duties in a few days. In the mean time, don't mess with it too much, and if it starts to hurt too much come and see me." Kerstrelflight finished up with the rest of Heathertail's wounds quickly and dismissed her to rest.
Soon all four cats had been seen to, horsetail used on the smaller scratches and marigold for the larger, deeper wounds that were more likely to get infected. I felt proud, being able to help for once was a good feeling. I had learned so much, about a few herbs and how to use them correctly. Everything seemed to come naturally to me, as if I was meant to cure the sick and heal the wounded. It seemed my destiny had been layed out before I even knew it, and even though I wanted to be like Crowfeather and follow in his footsteps, I had a feeling that I was destined to be a medicine cat.