Alright everyone, it's time for chapter 1! Thanks to anyone who read the prologue, and LittleLeo2003, thanks so much for reviewing! So anyway, enjoy! :)

Dawnkit sighed, gazing into the stars as she curled into her mother's golden pelt. Her brothers were beside her, their silver and brown shades a blur as they snored indifferently. But she couldn't sleep. Her eyes just refused to close. It was like this every single night. Every single night, she gazed at the stars, and wondered why she always felt as if she didn't belong.

She felt a tail curl around her and almost jumped, until noticing it was only Bloomlight. Her mother's green eyes pried into hers inquisitively. "You should be sleeping, Dawnkit," she murmured sternly but in a soft mew, so as not to wake Frostkit and Airkit. "What are you thinking about?"

Dawnkit froze, not knowing what to say. Obviously, if she told her mother what she was really thinking about, she'd probably be taken straight to Dolphinheart and Glassfeather in the medicine den to make sure her brain functioned the right way. She definitely didn't think about the same things a kit should think about, after all.

Her littermates would spend the whole day pouncing on one another and battering each other, pretending they were invaders from ShadowClan. Meanwhile, she'd just sit there, staring at the stars. Bloomlight probably already had her suspicions about Dawnkit. There was no need to confirm to her that she had a brain made of feathers.

"Oh, are you thinking about your apprentice ceremony tomorrow?" Bloomlight mewed, voice more cheerful. Dawnkit exhaled, relieved. It was almost as if StarClan had given her a second chance, making an excuse for her. In all honesty, she'd completely forgotten she'd become an apprentice by next sunhigh, but she was grateful for the reason.

The ginger kit nodded quickly. "Y-Yeah, yeah, I'm just nervous…"

Bloomlight smiled. "It's normal, Dawnkit. You'd never believe how nervous I was back when I became an apprentice. Or even Rowtail, Rufflefur, and Rubypelt. They're all warriors now, but your siblings were once normal kits, just like you."

Normal kits, Dawnkit thought darkly, I know I'm not normal. I can just feel it. I feel this… This pull from the stars. Almost as if they're calling to me. Almost as if I belong there.

She took in a sharp breath, pushing away the thought quickly, and snuggling into Bloomlight's side. She belonged here. No matter what she felt, this was her home, with her littermates, her family. Not with the stars. Curling up with the tip of her tail falling softly on her nose, she fell into a deep slumber for the first time in so many nights.

"And your new name, until you become a full warrior or RiverClan, will be Dawnpaw. Rabbittuft, you will be her mentor. I expect you to pass on your bravery and empathy for your Clanmates onto this young apprentice."

With that, Dampstar leapt off the highstone, concluding the ceremony. Dawnpaw and her brothers, Frostpaw and Airpaw, were all finally apprentices now. Airpaw had chosen to train as a medicine cat apprentice under Glassfeather and Dolphinheart, for whatever reason, but at least Frostpaw would have the chance to learn alongside her from time to time. His mentor was Mountainbreeze.

Rabbittuft approached her, the she-cat's orange, white, and black tortoiseshell fur messy and disheveled as always. She may not be the most beautiful cat in the Clan, but Dawnpaw still liked her. She was more of a raw, honest-to-goodness type of warrior.

"You ready to explore RiverClan territory?" she asked, brown eyes brighter than Dawnpaw had ever seen them. The ginger apprentice remembered that she must be excited, after all, this was her first time being a mentor.

Rabbittuft lead her out of camp, and the first thing Dawnpaw felt was the force of so many scents hitting her nose at once. She paused, her breath already feeling so much lighter in the fraction of a moment. The air out here was just so much more… fresh. That was the only way to describe it. But it was also a lot colder. She fluffed her ginger fur out against the wind, jaw still agape at how different the outside world seemed.

Rabbittuft stopped ahead, and turned back to Dawnpaw, flicking her tail impatiently. "Come on! There's a lot more you have to see. I promised Mountainbreeze we'd meet up with him and Frostpaw a little deeper in the territory."

They journeyed through the thick marshlands, and everything Dawnpaw saw was either a vivid green or a dense blue. It was beautiful. She scratched her pads on a few stones along the way, and the brambles scraping the sides of her pelt were annoying, but the wild was enchanting nonetheless.

"Rabbittuft!"

Dawnpaw turned to see a pale brown-furred tom padding towards them, looking concerned. Frostpaw's silver shape showed up behind him, blue eyes brightening when he saw Dawnpaw.

"Yes, Mountainbreeze? Is something wrong?" Rabbittuft questioned, looking genuinely worried about her brother.

"We'll have to call off the tour of the territory and do it later. Right now, we need to head back to camp. Dampstar sent patrols all around the territory to alert everyone of strange rogue scents."

"Rogue scents?" The she-cat bristled, "Why do we need to rush back to camp? We can help drive them off!"

"Not with these two," Mountainbreeze angled his ears at Frostpaw and Dawnpaw. "They're fresh out of the nursery. There's no way they're ready for something like this. It's not safe."

Frostpaw seemed to be digging his claws into the ground, frustrated. "We'll be fine," he insisted, "We promise we won't slow you down. Besides, it'll be a great battling experience for us!"

Mountainbreeze cuffed him over the ear, "Are you crazy? You're not ready, and we don't know who we're up against. You might get yourselves killed."

Rabbittuft nodded, weaving her tail around Dawnpaw to guide her back towards camp. "Right. Let's go."

The four of them set a steady pace, but with how short Dawnpaw's legs were compared to the two warriors' and her brother's, she was already panting. Frostpaw fell back a little to keep up with her, whiskers still twitching in annoyance of how Mountainbreeze insisted on treating him like a kit. She smiled, touching her tail to his side affectionately. "Hey, it's okay. We may not be able to fight right away, but we'll get our chance."

"I'd like for that chance not to be moons away. If we can't fight now, what's the point of being apprentices?" Frostpaw kept grumbling the whole way back. Dawnpaw, not understanding his needless recklessness, only really listened to half of what he was saying.

By the time they arrived back in camp, it was sunset. Cats were getting in their last bits of prey and walking to their dens to sleep soon after. A few of the cats lined up for the extra dusk patrol upon Dampstar's instruction. It was probably to further inspect the rogue scents Mountainbreeze was talking about. Dawnpaw wondered who the rogue could be, and if it was really a bad cat like everyone suspected. What if the rogue was just a harmless stray who happened to wander into the wrong path?

"Get something to eat and then go rest for a while in your den," Rabbittuft mewed, "You've seen a lot today."

Dawnpaw nodded and padded into the clearing to find Airpaw standing at the fresh-kill pile with a minnow in his jaws. "Wanna share?" he asked, voice muffled. She nodded, leading them under the shade of a gnarled oak tree to eat. This tree was special to Dawnpaw, Airpaw, and Frostpaw. They'd always play here as kits and compete to see who could climb the highest. The dents of their claw marks could still be seen on its trunk, as memories of their kithood.

As Airpaw bit off the last chunk from the minnow, the ginger apprentice licked her whiskers clean and pushed herself onto her paws, bidding farewell to her brother, who headed off to the medicine den. She padded into the apprentices' den, where Frostpaw was already fast asleep, and curled up beside him. As she did every night, Dawnpaw resorted to staring at the stars instead of sleeping. She stayed there like that for a while, the calm silence of the night comforting her after the eventful day. It was hard to believe she was still just a kit just this morning, waking up in the nursery. Now, she was falling asleep as an apprentice in the apprentices' den. She was just on the brink of falling into a peaceful slumber, when…

Crunch.

Her ears perked at the sound of crunching leaves, and she turned to look at the entrance of camp. No one was guarding it tonight. So who could have made that unmistakable sound of a paw crushing a leaf? Dawnpaw paused, waiting for some cat to wake up and notice the sound. But no one did. No one except her. Her ginger fur was on end. Should I go see who it is? What if it's that rogue Mountainbreeze was talking about? What if, what if-

Crunch.

Dawnpaw waited another few moments before she finally pushed herself onto her paws, curiosity getting the best of her. Tasting the air, she felt a strange, foreign scent waft to her nose. There's no way that isn't the rogue scent.

She looked to Frostpaw, carefully making sure her brother was fast asleep before she stalked forward, as silently as possible. She stayed light on her paws, managing to avoid any dead leaves along the way. Looking up for the first time, she scanned the camp for any unusual cats. But all she saw were the resting forms of her Clanmates, fast asleep in their dens. And that's when she heard it.

Hiss…

Dawnpaw whipped her head around in the direction of the noise, ears twitching in concentration. "Who's there?" she whispered under her breath, fur spiking. This was probably the most anxious she'd ever been in her life.

She heard another crunch. Then another. And another. She kept following them quietly until they led her… outside of camp. She gasped, looking around her and realized that the landscape had changed. She was no longer surrounded by the safety of her Clanmates anymore. She was outside, in the marshes. If she got into trouble here, no one would be able to save her.

This isn't safe, like Mountainbreeze said. I should head back and get help. But she heard more than one voice in her head. If I keep following this rogue, I could have a chance of knowing who it is. If I do, RiverClan would be proud of me! I'd be so much more important. I should keep going.

She sighed, closing her eyes, and opening them again, willing herself to be more composed. She decided to go ahead. She had to be brave. She had to do this. For RiverClan.

Dawnpaw padded forward, fluffing her fur out to look more intimidating. "Who's there?" she whispered a second time.

A shadow whirred past her, and Dawnpaw swore she could feel the brush of another pelt against hers, even for a fraction of a moment. Her eyes widened, and she began breathing hard. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

Suddenly, she heard a hiss and saw blazing orange eyes in front of her, a shadow with teeth so sharp, they could rip through fox flesh. Her jaws opened wide. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a tiny, kittish squeak.

One moment she could breathe, and the next, she couldn't. The shadow was upon her, weighing her down so hard, she couldn't feel anything. Almost anything. She felt claws raking down her soft, unscarred side. Her ears hurt. Blood dripped down into her eyes. Dawnpaw prayed to StarClan for it to stop.

They must have heard her silent pleas. Because the next moment, a sharp blow hit her head and she felt herself sinking into a merciful darkness filled with stars.

And that's the end of the first chapter! I hope it wasn't too rushed, I'm trying to stretch this out as much as possible. Anyway, if you read it, don't forget to review!

- Autumn