The Fiercest Leopard

by Willow1720

Follow Leopardkit as she falls in love, rise in the ranks of her Clan, protects her Clan, discover the truth of her parentage, and discovers what her destiny is. The story's a lot better than the description.

3. Chapter 1: The Awakening

~Chapter 1: The Awakening~

Okay, so like I said in the beginning. I had no idea what was going on.

I had been smelling things that I somehow identified as happiness to extreme grief. I had felt the same soft yet furry feeling under me for as long as I could remember, though that wasn't very long. I had felt a humid feeling surrounding me, also for as long as I could remember. I had heard people saying things like "Oh, my they're so beautiful", or "Congratulations", or "I'm so proud of you", or even "Oh, my Star Clan, are they going to be alright?".

At one point I remember moving, as if in a trance toward something that smelled fantastic, better than catmint, but I hadn't heard of that back then. As I slowly moved towards the smell, I only half realized that I was mewling loudly while doing so, and that I was hardly moving, and that there was a mingled smell of happiness, and confusion. I only half realized these things because I was too busy thinking that my life somehow depended on me getting towards that smell. After what seemed like an eternity, I felt something big, but also gentle, nudge me towards the smell. I made a mental note to thank whatever that big thing that nudged me was, if it was alive. I moved a bit more, and soon I tasted something, something tremendous, something that I knew was probably the best thing I had ever tasted. But, I also realized something else I had smelled while trying to get to the good smell, I was now calling it.

Fear.

And then I realized something else. The fear-scent was replaced by something else. Something that was like the whole of StarClan was being lifted of your shoulders. Something that made you feel like everything, every bad thing, every worry, every suspicion, was not real.

Relief.

Why?

Little did I know I was going to find out very soon.

Then I realized another thing. Two things actually. One, that everything so far had been a big blob of realization. Two, I had felt so many things. I had smelled many strange smells, that ranged from something sweet, like plants, to something that smelled like old moss, to something that smelled like new moss, to something a bit like blood, and then to something that smelled like the good scent. Three somethings really. One was much bigger, and was surrounding most of me. And the two other things where very, very small, and they also smelled a bit like impatience. I had also smelled another thing next to me, that smelled like the good smell, too. I wondered who it was. I had also smelled many emotions, that followed by words that made me feel the same things. Like, if someone said "Congratulations", I knew something good had happened, and I was glad, but when someone said "I am so sorry.", then I knew something terrible had happened and that someone was really suffering. I had tasted the delicious, well, taste, of the good smell, that I had realized was mingled with another scent, on that was surrounding it, but it didn't stop me from getting to the scent. I wondered why. Then, I wondered why I couldn't tell exactly what any of the things I had felt, heard, smelled, and tasted were. Why couldn't I identify what they were, and were I was, why had the things that had said those things, and what was that the good smell exactly, and why did it smell and taste so good? Why couldn't I tell what they were?

Then it came to me.

I couldn't see.

It was then that an explosion of curiosity came over me. I wanted to see, I wanted to find out what the good smell was, I wanted to move, I wanted to figure out what the voices were, I wanted to find out what was the thing that had nudged,and then I wanted to thank it, I wanted find out what the things were that smelled like the good smell. I wanted to find this out and more.

But, I also felt some sort of feeling. A feeling that felt like something was dragging at every part of me, part of me that just wanted to just sink into sub-consciousness. The next thing I remember the feeling suddenly disappearing, but all around me feels different. The smells are different, and the air feels less humid. It feels a bit...cold. A snuggle down closer to the soft and furry thing that was under me that was comfortable, surprisingly. I was starting to feel a bit tired again, but I smelled the good smell again, and I started moving towards it following its scent, since I still hadn't opened my eyes. It was actually a lot harder this time, and I had no idea why. Maybe it had moved or something. But as I was struggling towards it, I felt the large, gentle thing come to me again and nudge me again, only this time it was for a really long time, until the smell was almost right in front of me. I drank the good smell and it was just as good as the first time. As I was settling down to sleep, I realized that there had been fear-scent coming off of the big, gentle thing.

And that was how it was for a really, really, long time. And the whole time, I wanted to open my eyes, more and more, but as time passed, it got harder and harder to get to the good smell, and each time, the big and gentle thing, helped me, more and more, and each time, more fear-scent came off of it, mingled along with worry. I could hardly get to the good smell, let alone open my eyes. I remember hearing a yowl at one point, saying "She's dead! Pantherkit is dead!" I was filled with grief at the time, because the smell next to me was gone, and I knew the thing that held that smell was gone, too. But I didn't have time to consider that, because, as time went on, simply breathing got harder, and I had to focus my energy on simply doing that at one point, and all hopes of opening my eyes were gone. I also remember a time when getting to the good smell was so hard that I felt something grab my neck and I panicked, scrambling, trying to wiggle free, but the thing just bit harder. The pain was was extremely intense, and all I wanted was for it to stop. I felt nothing around me, nothing for me to touch, except for the thing biting my neck, until, eventually, it let go. I expected to feel nothing around me, and I felt that for just a moment, but then I felt pressure under my paws, and then I realized that I was on the ground again, and that I was directly in front of the good smell. As I was drinking, I faintly remember there being yowling while the thing had been biting on my neck.

Then came the time when I could hardly breathe, and I had been picked up so many times to get towards the good smell, that I was used to it, but all the times after the first had been gentler, and had caused less pain, and after that I just let the thing do it, since I had to focus so much on breathing that it was pointless to fight it, and I knew I should just be thankful that it was bringing me to the good smell.

The time when I could hardly breathe, well, lets just say I panicked. It's a whole less embarrassing on my part, and that last thing I need is you guys thinking of me as I mouse-brain.

Anyway, breathing just got harder and harder, and there were times when I couldn't breathe at all, I was so exhausted from the effort. Yes, I said effort. I heard a yowl, and suddenly the sweet and herb smelling scent, the old-moss scent came into my nose. All I could hardly smell over the scent of fear and worry. I wanted to know why, but I knew it was pointless. I heard a soft mew, filled with grief. "Is she going to be alright, Beeshine?" It was a she-cat voice, and it came from the big, good smell-like scent that surrounded me and the soft and furry feeling under me, that had never left my nose.

A reply came from were the sweet, plant-like smell came from, also mingled with worry and anxiety. "I don't know, Violettail. All we can do is pray to StarClan and hope for the best."

A voice of a tom came from the old moss smell. "What good is a medicine cat who can't do the simple task of saving kits?" There was anger in his voice, but I he had just as much fear-scent as the others, if not more.

I was shocked when no anger was in Beeshine's answer. "I've done all I can, Oakplant. I can understand your worry for your daughter, but there's nothing more I can do. The kits came a half-moon too early, and that's that. Really, you should be glad that you know that Tigerkit and Raccoonkit are going to live."

Oakplant only scowled. "Well, I'd just prefer for three out of four of my kits to survive," he said, his voice cracked with grief. I felt a shift little bit above me, I think in the soft and furry feeling above me, since I knew it was much bigger than me. It kept shifting, and I heard a small whisper. "Please get well, my sweet. Someday you will meet your father, and he will be so proud of you."

It was then that I realized what had been going on while my eyes had been closed. All the fear, all the anxiety, all the worry, had been towards me. They had been so worried...all for me.

I had worried them. I had made them upset. I didn't want that. I wanted to let them know I was okay, without considering the fact that I might not be.

Ever since I had heard that whisper, I had fought to show them that I was alive. I had tried to mew, but I could hardly get anything out, and what I did was so soft that no one took notice, and if they did, it wouldn't be enough to show that I was okay. I tried to move, but I was too fixed on trying to breath that I couldn't move, and I was positive that no one saw me do anything this time. So, that left me one opinion...

Open my eyes.

For a second, a spark of excitement was in my stomach. I was finally going to open my eyes. I could finally see what was going on, what all the things I had felt where, and what kind of place I lived in. Then it quickly was destroyed by logic. I could hardly breathe, let alone open my eyes. Disappointment washed over me. All I truly wanted, was to open my eyes. And all those things, they were so worried. Then a thought entered my head. Well, just because I can't open my eyes doesn't mean I'll never open my eyes. I'll just try to get stronger to open my eyes.

And with that, my creepy breathing, moving, and eye opening training begun.

First, I had to get the strength to breathe normally, then I'd have to get strong enough to get to the good smell on my own, then I could start trying to opening my eyes. At first I had no idea how to get my breathing better. Then I realized that my breathing was a lot more slow than it was before. And, then I realized that in order to live you had to breathe often, right? So, I just had to figure out how to breathe quickly.

Yeah. Easier said than done, considering lately I had been calling breathing effort. I hardly had the energy to breathe at all, let alone normally. So how was I supposed to get my breathe going faster?

Then I remembered me getting to the good smell. I had wanted to get to the good smell, and I had. So, if I wanted my body to do something, then it would do it right? But then I remembered, as time went on, that I had wanted to get to the good smell, I hadn't been able to, and eventually I had had to be carried too it.

My heart sank. But, then I also realized, my body had tried to do it anyway, even if it couldn't do it completely. So, even if my body can't do something, it still tries. So, what if I tried doing something that my body could do, but still push it enough for me to get my breath faster?

After I thought of this, I came up with a plan. I had no idea why, but for some reason the idea came spilling out of my brain, as if it had been there the whole time, hiding, waiting for me to find it. Weird.

Anyway, I started trying to breathe a bit faster, over and over, until I was comfortable with it, and then I'd start trying a faster speed, and then when I was comfortable with it I'd try a faster speed, and when I was comfortable with that I would try a faster speed, etc. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, really. I had to find a speed that wasn't impossible, but still faster. Sometimes it seemed like I wasn't making any progress at all. And, imagine the impatience, when all you truly want is to open your eyes, to confirm that the people who thought you were dieing that you were fine. And not just that. I wanted to see so much, it hurt. I hated it when I realized how far I was from breathing normally I was.

But, trust me, I got there.

Probably around thew time I realized that the speed was hurting, but not from exhaustion, but because it was unnecessary. It was then that I wanted to open my eyes, just for them to light up. I was over-joyed, but then I realized I still had a long way to go. I had to start moving towards the good smell on my own. Well, if I wanted to open eyes, how would I explore?

Anyway, the next time the thing that picks me up to take me to the good smell bit gently into my neck, I struggled in the grasp it had on me, but I could only muster enough strength to only wave my paws a little, instead of actually struggle.

But, later on, the thing noticed me struggling, and she put me down. I took a step forward, and pulled my body lightly, and the good smell got closer. I took another step, and it got even closer. But taking those two steps, it felt like I had walked two miles. I stumbled and fell, and I felt the thing pick me up by the scruff of my neck, and gently brought me to the good smell. The voice that came from it yowled "Oakplant, Beeshine, come here!" Her voice sounded cheerful, and I wondered if it was because I had moved.

The smell of old moss and sweet herbs drafted into my nose one more, and the she-cat voice that came from the sweet herbs said "Violettail? Is something wrong?"

The voice from the good smell, Violettail, replied "No, no! The complete opposite! She-she...I think she's getting stronger."

I felt something press onto my chest. "Well, her breathing certainly faster. I think it's about normal. That defiantly good. But what is it that made you think that she getting stronger?"

"Well, I tied to pick her up so she could get milk, and she tried to do it on her own." Violettail replied.

I heard a sharp intake of breath come from the old moss smell, and I heard the familiar voice of Oakplant. "On her own? You let her try to let her get milk on her own?" he growled.

"Yes, Oakplant, I did. I let her do it on her own. She took a couple of steps, actually, before I had to pick her up again." Violettail replied sharply. "Remember, she's my kit, too."

She's my kit, too. That sentence echoed in my mind until I realized that Violettail and Oakplant must be my mother and father. Again, weird.

Anyway, I once again felt a shift above me in the soft, furry feeling under me, and Violettail's voice, once again, whispered into my ear, "My sweet kit, please be strong, and get well, and someday you will see the world you live in."

If you guessed that I tried to walk a lot farther to the good smell. then ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

After that little event, a lot of new smells came closer, from oak tree to new moss.

Once, a smell came in that smelled like a mixture between the smells of sweet herbs and plants, and the new moss smell. It came close, and a voice came from it. "Is it true, then? That, she's gonna be okay?"

I heard Violettail chuckle. "Yes, Birdpaw. She gonna be perfectly fine. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if she took your place someday. She's still very weak, and Beeshine is very old."

I heard both Birdpaw and Violettail give small laughs. "Thank you," Birdpaw said. "But...do you really mean that when you say that she may be a medicine cat?"

Violettail didn't reply until about a minute. "...Yes, I do. She-she's very weak, I don't think she'll ever become a warrior." She said this with so much sadness, that it hurt me. Then it struck me. She thought I was weak. Me. I was the one that had thought up how to quicken my breath, and I had succeed. I had almost gotten to the milk, and I was just as strong as anyone! This angered me, and the next time I went to feed, I went with the utmost speed, thinking in my mind, over and over, faster, faster, prove that your not weak!

Though, I was going so fast, that I didn't realize that the smell of milk was right in front of me until I bumped into something soft, solid, and furry. With an "Oof!", I slid back and heard Violettail giggle, and curl her tail around me, and pull me towards the milk so I could feed, and as I did, I thought, I did it! I did it! After I feeded, I thought Now...I just have to open my eyes.

Now, I know it sounds simple, but I had almost died, so that kind of added the extra challenge.

I tried to, but I was exhausted from making it all the way to getting milk, that I was exhausted. Then, suddenly, like it always had been, it was gone. But it felt cooler, and the small lights I saw from the inside of eyelids were gone. Your eyes, I thought, open your eyes. This thought jolted me back to reality from the slight drowsiness that still always remains when I feel completely exhausted and it disappeared. Without really thinking, without really considering what I was doing, I opened my eyes.

Firstly, I noticed every thing was extremely dark. I blinked. Still dark. As I laid there, trying to comprehend what I had just done, everything began to take shape. There was trees all around me, and brambles that seemed to have been there on purpose in between high bushes and trees, so that if you were standing about five tail-lengths away, you wouldn't be able to see if anything was there, even if there was light. At one spot, there was a small opening, just big enough to let a cat squeeze through. I saw that there were two large she-cats next to me, about a tail-length away. On the one to my left, I could make out that that she was a silver tabby she-cat with a white tail and paws, I could see her belly was very swollen. On the one to my right, I could just barely see that she was a gray tabby she-cat with a black tail. There was a small kit lying beside her belly, and I could tell the silver she-cat, the other she-cat, and the kit, were all all had their eyes closed. Have they not opened their eyes like me? I wondered. I looked up, and I finally saw the soft and furry feeling around me. It was a smoky black she-cat. Considering Violettail's voice had come from above me, I was willing to guess this was Violettail. When I glanced at the silver she-cat again, I noticed that there were two other cats lying next to Violettail's belly, like me and the other kit. One was a smoky black, like Violettail, and was a tom. The other was a she-cat, with a reddish brown pelt.

I looked through the small opening the circle of plants, and I saw that there was more out there. I saw part of a grassy clearing, and part of a big rock. A want to go explore came over me, and, without thinking I started walking forward.

When I realized what I was doing, I looked down. I saw two small yellow circles below me. I took a step forward. The circles went into the air, went forward, and went back to the ground. They must be the things that pulled me forward to the milk. Once again, weird.

I continued walking towards the opening and saw a huge grassy clearing, all surrounded by trees and bushes and artificial barriers made of brambles and thorns. I saw little opening in the barriers, which I thought could be good for dens I heard the rushing of a stream, and I figured it must be a little ways outside the clearing. The clearing was dotted with small bushes and tree stumps. The ground was all flat, and if you looked up, you could see the stars very clearly where there was no trees. Towards the right of the clearing, there was two huge thorn bushes, bigger than most, but in between them, like where I opened my eyes, there was a small opening, just big enough for a cat to easily get through. Towards the center, there was a stone square with another brownish reddish square inside of it with lines going through it. In the gaps in between the lines was complete darkness, and I knew it was so deep, no cat could expect to live if they fell down them. Luckily they weren't even wide enough for a kit to get through. And on the far right there was a huge rock, about four times as big as Violettail. There were smaller rocks that were a little ways away from it, and they were small enough to be able jump on, and not to big that they were too big, and it seemed easy for a cat to jump on them to get to the biggest. In fact, there was a small brown tom, staring at the sky, at that very moment.

I padded out towards the rock. The tom didn't hear or see me coming. He was too busy staring at the sky for some reason. I had no idea why. For some reason I wanted to talk to him. Maybe it was because I wanted to have some of questions answered. I don't know. I jumped onto a small, rock, and when I jumped onto another, I thought Maybe he can help me figure out what's going on. I jumped onto the biggest rock and padded towards the tom. He didn't show any sign that he even noticed I was there. When I walked up to him, I prodded him with one of my yellow round circle things. He jumped about a foot in the air, and let out a squeak. "Are-are you her ghost?" he squeaked in fear.

Before I had time to consider his question, I squeaked back "What?" I realized that I must have made the same noises as Beeshine, Violettail, Oakplant, Birdpaw, and a few others. Cool. I could talk.

I took I step forward, and he backed up bit. "Are you from StarClan? Am-am I about to die?" he stammered.

"What?" I repeated, completely bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

Soon the expression of fear that ha come across his face disappeared. "Oh. Sorry. Um, a lot of cats think you're dieing, and I thought you had died in the night, and you were coming to me from StarClan because I was gonna die," he said all in one rushed breath. Looking embarrassed, he added "I know it sounds crazy, but with times like this, really, it's possible."

"I don't now what your talking about!" I exclaimed, exasperated. I was getting tired of this "What is StarClan? Who's ghost? What do you mean?"

To be honest, I was a bit scared. For some reason, I was a bit scared of loud noise and all around unhappiness back then. Looking back, it seems a bit silly, considering what I have faced now.

Anyway, the brown tom noticed that I was scared and started relax. "Oh. I'm sorry. Hmm...This your first time out right, isn't it?" he said.

I nodded. "What is StarClan?" I asked again.

Without answering my question, for about the second time, he just said "Follow me," and jumped towards the ground and stalked off towards the small opening to the grassy clearing.

Starting to get a little irritated, I followed him, though wondering why he hadn't jumped into the air, instead of jump towards the ground. Now I know why. If he had jumped into the air, he would have been injured, since the impact from the ground would have been too much for a kit. Even then, as a kit, he was very clever. It also showed that somehow he learned his limits as kit. I twas then that I noticed a huge scar going down his flank.

Anyway, when he got to the opening, he stopped and sat down, with his tail wrapped around his paws, waiting patiently. I gave a high-pitched growl, and caught up with him, and copied him. I looked him in the eye and said simply "Explain."

He sighed. "You belong to ForestClan. We live from the Twin Trees to the huge stream, to the Orange Patch, to the Black Meadow. All the area in between, we hunt small animals so we can eat. We hunt, and then we put in the fresh-kill pile in the center of the camp." He pointed with his tail towards a spot in the center of the camp where a saw a small some sort of silvery light trickling in from the canopy of trees. I looked up. It was moonlight. The giant silver disk reminded me of the silver she-cat's shiny pelt. It looked like a good place where you could remember where to put the fresh-kill. I looked back at the tom. He continued "The queens, she-cats taking care of, or about to have, kits, and elders, old she-cats and toms, are fed first. Once they have been fed, the apprentices, she-cats and toms training to be warriors, or, a medicine cat, in Birdpaw's case, and warriors, who protect our Clan from dangerous animals, like badgers, foxes, and wolves, intruders who try to take our territory, they do patrols for hunting, so the Clan can be fed, and patrols to make sure that no cats cross onto our territory unless they have a very good reason, they teach, or mentor apprentices on how to be warriors, and all types of other jobs"

He looked dreamy for a second, not speaking, as if fantasizing about being a warrior. He obviously wasn't dreading the end of his days as a kit. Then he remembered that I was still there and said "Anyway, a she-cat is a warrior to begin with, but if they want to have a mate and kits, then when she's been expecting kits for about a moon, she moves to the nursery, where she can wait for her kits to come, since she can't do warrior duties then, and then when she gives birth to her kits, she has to wait until they're apprentices until she can be a warrior again, since the kits have to be taken care of." His whiskers twitched. "That, and someone needs to make sure they don't get int trouble. Which is our jobs." He gave a small smile.

"Kits are always waiting to be apprentices, and are always excited to be warriors. A kit's name always ends in 'kit', and an apprentice's name always ends in 'paw'. So, for example, my name is Mousekit. When they become a warrior, the possibilities of what your name is endless, really. Kits always hope to have really fierce name. I hope that one day, I'll have a name like Mouseclaw, or Mousestorm, or something like that. A ton of kits always want to be leader someday of their Clan, but only a handful take their want big. Ashstar too. He's our leader. The Clan leader is the cat who makes important decisions for the Clan, whether or not we attack another catch another Clans scent on some part of our territory, they lead us into battle, they do our warrior and apprentice ceremonies, they choose who an apprentice's mentor is, that sort of stuff. And if the leader loses all nine of his or her lives, then there's a deputy who takes their place. The deputy also organizes the patrols, helps the leader, and has a sense of respect from all the warriors. I guess you could say they're like the top warrior." He smiled. "They go to the Moonrock, a silvery rock that is said to glow in the moonlight, and when you put your nose to it, StarClan appears in front of them, and they give them their nine lives, and their new name, which basically always ends in 'star'. At least, that's what I know. The leader's not aloud to tell other cats what they see and do at the Moonrock."

"Do you ever want to be leader?" I asked.

He blinked. "No. Not really. Maybe deputy. But not leader. I just want to be a good warrior. I don't think I could take being in charge of a whole Clan. Plus, I'd freeze up when I'd speak at Gatherings." I gave him a confused look. "Oh, right, I forgot to explain Gatherings. See, we're not the only Clan. There's CloudClan, which are pretty much a bunch of stuck up. proud, mouse-brains. There's IceClan, who are pretty much a bunch of lazy cats, who will tear anyone's fur off if they try to take their food. And then there's AnimalClan, who all have ridiculous names."

"I'm sure that's not true!" I protested. For some reason I felt like defending AnimalClan.

Mousekit snorted. "There leader's name is Dogstar, their deputy's name is Deerfoot, and one of their fiercest warriors' name is Boarheart."

I stared at him. "Continue."

He smiled. "AnimalClan is pretty sneaky, and grouchy, too. Plus, they don't trust that many cats, and will fight if anyone lays a paw over their territory. Just like we have hunting territory, so do the other Clans. Sadly, the only Clan that we are close enough to have problems with are AnimalClan. They live in the huge pine forest, just beyond the huge stream, where both of our Clans get water and moss, since it has rocks and cliffs all around it where we can find it for our nests. Or, so I've heard from Whitepaw. She's one of the apprentices. Anyway, some of the Clans at times think they don't have enough territory to feed their whole Clan, usually during leaf-bare, which is a time when it's cold and the leaves of the trees are gone, and there's little fresh-kill, and white stuff called snow is everywhere."

I looked around me. It was hard to imagine snow covering the grassy clearing, and the huge rock, and all the leaves of the huge trees gone, and replaced by snow.

"The warriors and apprentices fight them and defend the territory, which is another one of the many jobs that a warrior does. But at Gatherings, the leaders tell what has happened in their Clan the past moon, since they meet up every full moon, which happens once every moon. They tell things like, if there are new warriors, if there had been a fox or something in their territory and it was drove out, stuff like that. There is no fighting at the Gatherings, but cats are still a bit mean to each other sometimes. It's not surprising. The truce made by StarClan is really fragile. When cats fight at Gatherings, it's said that StarClan cover up the moon to show that they're mad."

"You still haven't told me what StarClan is yet," I pointed out out.

"Oh, yes," he replied. "StarClan are our warrior ancestors. They live in the stars, and watch over their Clan and kin. When a cat dies, they join StarClan. It's said to be a safe and good place, where there is no border fights, no leaf-bare, no war, no battle, nothing but peace. They say that StarClan watches over us, and when they want to tell us something important, then the talk to us through our medicine cat, and ours is Beeshine. They don't only heal cats, but they have a strong relationship with StarClan. It's really cool, but I prefer fighting than healing."

"I can get that," I agreed. Thinking about it, it gave me a kind of strength, thinking that millions of ForestClan cats looking after me, making sure I was okay, and waiting for me when I die. It was a good feeling, and I suddenly knew why the warriors weren't scared to do scary things and protect the Clan. Because they had the whole of StarClan looking after them, and protecting them. From that point forward, I had an unbreakable sense of pity for those who didn't believe in the warriors that lived in the many big, bright, twinkling lights above me called stars.

Suddenly, I heard a yowl. "My kit! Where's my kit!" It didn't sound like any of the voices I had heard before. Suddenly I saw the dark gray tabby she-cat with the black tail burst out of the opening that I had first come out of. She let put a huge caterwaul. "Where's my kit? Mousekit's gone!" At that sentence, a ton of toms and she-cats burst out of one of the openings. One, a small, energetic, cream-colored she-cat with blue eyes, said "What? Mousekit's gone?", while another, a spiky dark gray tom with long claws with green eyes, said "What happened? Should I send out a patrol to look for him?", while another, a tom with brown fur, slightly big ears, and green eyes, said "What happened? If anything laid a claw on my son, I swear to StarClan...".

Then, a gray tabby tom with amber eyes and black paws, came out of the opening closest to the rock. He yowled "Enough!", and all the cats silenced. He jumped up onto the rock and yowled "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join under the High-Boulder for a Clan meeting!" All the cats gathered around the rock, which I assumed was called the High-Boulder, and some cats that hadn't come out of the openings came, some grumbling about "...middle of the night," and "...need sleep for tomorrow,". There was one, a yellow she-cat with black speckles and blue eyes, followed by a she-cat with brown fur, white splotches, and blue eyes. The yellow she-cat smelled purely of herbs, while the brown she-cat with white splotches smelled of herbs and fresh moss. I was willing to bet that these were Beeshine and Birdpaw. I noticed that Violettail had been right. I could see the white hairs around Beeshine's muzzle, and I wondered if Beeshine was the medicine cat, an elder, or both. No cat looked our way.

"Cats of ForestClan. It seems that one of Flowerwing's kits, Mousekit, has disappeared. Flowerwing, can you please tell us what happened?" The gray tabby said. His hard gaze softened when he looked at the gray tabby with the black tail. It then struck me how alike they looked. They must be littermates.

"Well, I woke up, because I heard some sort of talking coming from outside and I saw that he was gone!" The gray tabby with the black tail, Flowerwing, exclaimed.

"Did you scent anything? Anything unusual, any signs of what could have happened to him?" the dark gray tabby asked.

Flowerwing lashed her tail. "No, Spikeclaw, I didn't. As far as I know, he may as well as walked out himself! There was no other scent, no sign that anyone was there, so I have no idea what happened, thank you ever so kindly. I f there had been any sign, I would have mentioned it, thank you." she snapped.

The dark gray tabby tom, Spikeclaw, simply rolled his eyes at her rudeness. So...either she was pregnant again with kits, or she was just naturally short-tempered.

"So you mean to tell to tell us," a large white tom with bright blue eyes growled, "that your kit just magically disappeared to StarClan-knows-where?"

The gray tabby silenced him with a flick of his tail. He said "Spikeclaw, would you please set up a patrol to look around the perimeter of the outside of the camp? Flowerwing might actually might actually be on to something. Mousekit might have exited the camp on a little 'adventure' and got taken by something. Or, for all we know, he could be on that 'adventure', and we have no idea what could happen to him out there. He always does speak of being a good warrior."

Flowerwing let out a little squeak. The tom with the brown fur and slightly big ears, who wasn't that far away, pressed against her, and she leaned against him. I could see he was whispering quiet and rapid words into her ear. I couldn't hear what they were, but I had a gut feeling that they were comforting, and probably about Mousekit.

I glanced at Mousekit. "What should we do?" I whispered.

"Well," he replied, "I could get caught and be grounded to the nursery so I couldn't show you around camp for a few sunrises, or we could go and hide in woods forever and never be noticed, but still have no chance of survival, and have me never show you the camp."

We exchanged a single look. "So do you want me to get their attention, or do you?" I asked, already knowing his choice.

He shrugged. "Go ahead. I'll still be getting the lecture from Flowerwing, Hareheart, and Ashstar anyway."

I looked at him inquiringy. "Who's Hareheart?" I asked.

"Oh, the brown tom next to Flowerwing. Oh, and Ashstar is the cat on the High-Boulder." he answered. "Now hurry up, before Spikeclaw sends out that patrol."

I nodded and took a deep breath. I let out a loud, well, as loud as a kit can get, yowl and said "Hey! Everybody! Mousekit's right here!"

Everyone turned around and gasped. But I reailzed it wasn't because of Mousekit. It was because of me. I heard murmurings of "It's her," or "She's awake."

Only Flowerwing and Hareheart paid no attention to me. Hareheart exclaimed "Mousekit!" and they both ran over to him and covered him in licks, completely ignoring me.

I heard a yowl come croaky yowl come from a white tom with black speckles and yellow eyes. He looked like an elder. He yowled "Voilettail! Violettail, she's awake!"

I heard the faint muttering of "Why'd you wake me? I was sleeping." She must have been to deeply asleep to attend the Clan meeting, and the other cats must have been to busy rushing out of the oprning to wake her. I heard her gasp "My kit!" I heard the grumbling of a small she-kit and tomkit. Three cats came out of the opening that Flowerwing came out of. Violettail, flanked by the two kits that were by her belly, like me. The small black and gray tom, and the she-cat, with a redish brown pelt. The she-cat grumbled "What's going on?"

Violettail shrieked "Where's my kit?"

Ashstar pointed with his tail towards me and Mousekit, now getting lectered by Flowerwing. Violettail glanced in my direction, and shrieked "My kit!" She rushed over towards me, and it was then my turn to get covered in licks. She murmured "Are you okay?" in between licks. Her mews sounded strangely high-pitched. I nodded, realizing that I had been a little bit scared by looking at the world for the first time, and for the first time I felt completley safe. She purred too loudly to speak then. I glanced up to see reddish brown tom with blue eyes. He was missing a front paw, and had to jump a little bit every couple steps. Once Violettail looked up at him, she stopped licking me. She stared at him. Then she purred "Meet your daughter." I realized this must be Oakplant. I leaned against him, and he wrapped his tail around me and pulled me closer. I closed my eyes, drinking in both their scents.

"Well this is all very touching," snapped a deep voice. I opened my eyes and looked up to see the white tom with blue eyes that had snapped at Flowerwing earlier, Freezeclaw. For some reason, I instantly disliked him. "But I believe the apprentices need their sleep for their assesment tomorrow, and those of who are due for a dawn patrol would like some sleep also. So can we please all go back to sleep?"

Violettail narrowed his eyes. But all she did was sigh and mointened for me to follow her. Oakplant let me go from his tail, whispered in my ear "I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure Mousekit shows you the elders' den.", smiled, and walked off towards the opening the furthest back in the grassy clearing, or camp. Violettail nudged me on towards the opening she had come out of, and I followed her. "But I wanna play with Mousekit." I argued, though I was still following her. She chortled. "Don't worry, love. You can see him tomorrow, and maybe he can show you the camp." This brightened me up, and I started feeling drowsy again. I was dragging my feet by the time I got to the opening where Violettail had come out of. There lay two waiting kits staring curiously at me.

"Are you our sister?" the tom asked. I nodded. The she-cat grunted. "Well, at least your awake." She lumbered off towards the nursery. The tom looked at me sympathetically, and said said grudgingly "Don't mind Tigerkit. She's just angry that no has been paying much attention lately because you hadn't gotten up." I heard a yowl from Tigerkit indside the opening. "Raccoonkit, are you coming or not?" He looked at me regretfully, then bounded into the opening.

Violettail nudged me. "Come on, little one. Into the nursery." I looked back to see Mousekit. Most of the cats had gone back to the openings they had come entered from. I saw Flowerwing leading Mousekit back to the nursery. He saw me looking at him, and mewed "Goods night." I smiled, and went inside the nursery to go to sleep.

And with that, and adventure of two cats, and one great destiny, began.

Hey! Sorry for such the long wait, but I have been super busy with school, and I'm doing a lot of stuff after school, too, so I'm gonna be really busy for about the rest of my life. Sorry. But trust me, I have been spending all my free time on this. Hope you enjoyed it. If you did, let me know in the reviews!

Also, the chapters are sometimes gonna be a little lengthy like this one, so let me know if you like that too or not.