Chapter 1

Mia wandered restlessly through the grass of the forest. It had been a few days since her parents had left her. Their names were Arrowhead and Fluffy. Her mom had raised her as a human pet, and she didn't like it. Mia had escaped from every human house she had ever been in, but was always put back in a different one. She had dreamed of escaping the house, literally. She had had dreams of being in the forest, trudging around, and catching finches.

It had been a while since her last dream. It was real this time. She was off to meet Tigerclaw, of the ThunderClan. They had met the night before, in a fight. ThunderClan was in trouble, because they didn't have enough warriors. The Leader, Bluestar, had invited her to join ThunderClan.

Mia walked merrily across the gate that had fenced her in so long. It was almost sunhigh, the time she would meet Tigerclaw. She was excited. A real wildcat! She thought. She jumped over logs and made her way through bramble. Mia made it early to the clearing where she had met the brownish warrior before. She rethought the objective over in her head again. Then she imagined the night's events in her head.

It had been dark when Mia had decided to go hunting in the woods. She had been about to cross over the fence when her friend, Smudge, had stopped her. They had chatted for a while and Mia then headed out. She had made her way to the forest, and then went inside. Mia was athletic for a she-cat, and jumped over logs and brush and came to a small clearing. Then she reenacted her dream with the finch, including losing the finch. Before she knew it, a slender body hit her, full force. Mia had been taken by surprise. She was knocked over, and hit the ground. The attacker clawed at her back, sinking their teeth into her neck. Thinking quickly, Mia relaxed, muscles smoothing. The attacker relaxed, and went to bite her neck. Mia threw the attacker from her back and crouched down, ready for the next attack. She finally got a look at her attacker. It was a black tom cat, with yellowish-green eyes. He looked dizzy, so Mia pounced on him. The cat was able to shake her off, but Mia pounced on him again. She bit him on the neck. He clawed her shoulder. Finally, they stopped fighting. Father has trained me well, Mia thought. Out of no where, two other cats bounded out of the trees. "Nice job, Ravenpaw." said a blue-gray she-cat. Ravenpaw, Mia thought. I've seen you before! As Mia pondered, a great brown tabby bounded out after the other warrior. I know you too! Mia insisted. Then she remembered the murder. She looked at the murderer, hatred in her eyes. How could he kill another cat? "Interesting job, Ravenpaw. Not bad, but it was easy conquering a kittypet." The warrior spat. "Now, Tigerclaw, watch out for the cat's dignity! Just because she is a kittypet, doesn't mean that you have to criticize." The blue-gray cat said. Mia squeaked, "But I'm not all kittypet!" The three cats stared at her. Mia stuttered, "My dad was a Clan cat, Arrowhead of ThunderClan." Tigerclaw said, "Arrowhead was the deputy before Redtail. You can't possibly be his daughter!" The blue-gray warrior stretched closer and sniffed Mia. Mia held her breath. "Tigerclaw, she might smell like kittypet, but I can smell Arrowhead's scent on her." The blue-grey cat seemed to exchange looks with Tigerclaw. "She has warrior blood in her, Tigerclaw. She rightfully belongs to our Clan. And we need more warriors." Tigerclaw looked at the warrior in disbelief. "But Bluestar, this is a kittypet! And it would be another mouth to feed." Star! Mia looked at the blue-gray warrior. It wasn't a warrior, it was a Leader! Mia tilted her head respectfully. "We should let Arrowhead's daughter decide." Bluestar said. Everyone stared at Mia. Mia held her head proudly. "I would be honored to take my rightful place in my father's Clan." Bluestar nodded. "Tigerclaw will bring you to the Clan tomorrow." Then, the two warriors left, hesitantly followed by Ravenpaw. Mia stood and stretched her numb paws. Then, she padded home.

Mia made it to the clearing. She was early, so she sat down quietly. In a few moments, her eyes popped open. "Good morning, Tigerclaw." She said to the tabby warrior as he approached. "Good, you know smell." Tigerclaw said scornfully, "But am I alone?" Mia replied instantly, "No, I smell another warrior. What is her name?" A small dusky brown she-cat emerged behind Tigerclaw. "Mousefur." She said quietly. The two acknowledged each other warmly. "Come," Tigerclaw said sternly, "We don't want to waste time." Tigerclaw hurried out of the clearing. Mia leapt to her paws and rushed after him, followed closely by Mousefur. Mia light agile body easily made it over all logs and scramble through the brush. They scrambled and leaped in a beautiful frenzy all through the forest. Finally, Mia could sense other cats. "Are we near the camp? I sense other cats." Mousefur nodded her head. "Yes, we are almost to camp. Come." And they hurried faster. They made their way over the ravine. Mia looked down and saw the ThunderClan camp. Joy filled Mia's heart. The three silent figures made their way down the ravine. Tigerclaw made his way through a gorse tunnel, followed by Mousefur, and finally Mia. Mia looked around, her eyes wide and curious. She saw many cats, all grooming each other and purring.

Mousefur answered her curious look. "At sunhigh, we cats share tongues and tell each other the news of the day." Mia looked around. The cats were starting to smell the unfamiliar scent and turned their heads to stare at her thoughtfully. Mia tried to stand proud, but it was embarrassing. Bluestar emerged from her den. Mia tilted her head in greeting. Bluestar nodded back. "How did she do?" she asked. Tigerclaw answered, "She did… adequately." Mousefur offered, "She kept up with us and she jumped over every log with ease." Mia looked at Mousefur, her eyes full of thanks. "Well, then, I will announce her arrival to the Clan." Bluestar bounded over to a smooth stone near the center of camp. In a clear cool voice, Bluestar said, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here below Highrock for a Clan meeting." Every cat assembled themselves below Bluestar. Mia sat where she was and Mousefur and Tigerclaw sat themselves behind her. Mia scanned the crowd for Ravenpaw and found him sitting next to a gray cat and a ginger cat. She saw the gray cat whisper something to the ginger cat. Mia glared at him.

Bluestar spoke. "ThunderClan needs more warriors. Never before have we had so few apprentices! So, we have decided to let Mia, daughter of Arrowhead, former deputy of ThunderClan, return to her rightful place in our apprentices." The Clan cats started to murmur amongst themselves when an outburst erupted. "She smells like a kittypet!" The voice came from a pale tabby with dark stripes. "You can tell; she has a collar!" he snorted. "Just because I have kittypet blood doesn't mean I don't have warrior blood in my veins too!" Mia retorted. "So what if you have warrior blood? Once a kittypet, always a kittypet." the arrogant tabby said. Mia snarled, pinpointed the tabby's destination, and leapt. The tabby was caught off-guard, and Mia easily pushed him over. She raked his soft underbelly with her back legs, and the tabby screeched in pain. The tabby flung her off, and sank his teeth into her shoulder. The two tumbled around the camp, scratching, biting, and clawing. Suddenly, Mia felt a tugging on her throat. Her collar! The pale tabby had taken hold of her collar, pulling with all his might, trying to choke her. Mia pulled forward, losing more and more breath, then, SNAP! Mia fell forward, her collar dangling from the tabby's mouth. "StarClan has spoken." Bluestar said, "The daughter of Arrowhead has lost her kittypet collar and is free to join the Clan." The Leader looked at Mia thoughtfully. "In the fight, you looked like one with the shadows." Bluestar murmured. Mia thought that that was of no significance, but Bluestar thought differently. "You have fought well." she said. She turned to the rest of the Clan. "From this day forward, until she has earned her warrior name, this apprentice will be called Shadowpaw, in honor of her shadow-colored coat."

She stepped back and, with the other cats, waited silently for her next move. Without hesitation, Mia kicked dirt, grass and rubble over her collar, as if burying her dirt.

Mia watched the pale tabby waddle over to what had to be the medicine cat's den. He growled and spat, angry that he had lost. Mia continued to think when a friendly voice called out.

"Hey, Shadowpaw!" Shadowpaw. The name rang in her head. She turned to see Ravenpaw, accompanied by the ginger cat and the gray cat. She looked disapprovingly at the gray one, the cat that had whispered about her to the ginger cat.

"Hi, Ravenpaw." she said, "Who are those two?" she nodded her head to the other two cats.

"Oh, that is Graypaw," Ravenpaw tilted his head to the gray one, "And that is Firepaw." He tilted his head to the ginger one.

"Hi!" said Graypaw, trying to show-off.

"Hi." Firepaw said modestly.

"Hello, boys." Shadowpaw said. "What do we do now?" It was late in the afternoon, and Shadowpaw was quite hungry.

"Oh, it is about time to have fresh-kill." Graypaw offered.

"Great, where's the fresh-kill pile?" she asked.

"Over here, let's go." Ravenpaw said before Graypaw could interrupt. He had heard what Graypaw had said during the Clan meeting. He led the way to the fresh-kill pile. He picked out a chaffinch to share, and let the others choose their own. Graypaw got a vole to share with Firepaw. Shadowpaw decided to share with Ravenpaw. They made their way to the apprentice's den, and sat in front of a tree stump that sat in front. Firepaw and Graypaw dug right in, followed by Shadowpaw, then Ravenpaw. Shadowpaw ate close to Ravenpaw's head. She glanced sideways at him, and he looked sideways at her. They ate in silence. When they finished, Shadowpaw went inside the den and looked around. It was a nice sized den, laid out with nests of moss. Ravenpaw followed her, then Firepaw, and lastly Graypaw. It had taken a while to eat, so the sun was almost out of view.

"Is it time to rest?" Shadowpaw asked.

"I think so. I'm…uhhhh…tired." Graypaw yawned.

Firepaw and Ravenpaw nodded their heads in agreement. "Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow, we will have to get up early." Firepaw said. Shadowpaw sat down on a comfy bundle right next to Firepaw and Ravenpaw. She kneaded the moss with her paws. Shadowpaw yawned, and then felt her head droop and sag. Finally, her eyes gave in to sleep.