~Chapter One~
Warm, milky scents filled Tanglekit's nose. She gave a small purr and nuzzled closer to her mother. The weight of her sister and brother crushed her, and she squirmed upward until she could breathe easily. "I like to breathe, you guys!" Tanglekit mewed loudly. Nightkit flicked her ears in reply. "Oh, quit complaining, Tanglekit! You have no room to talk!" Dawnkit squeaked. Tanglekit batted Dawnkit's ears. "And I have no room to stretch! Why don't you three go play outside if you're so energetic?" Their mother, Darkflower, teased.
Tanglekit was the first out of the nursery, bouncing on her clumsy paws and stumbling up to every cat she saw. She looked around at the ShadowClan camp, and noticed a massive cat with a pelt similar to Nightkit's. "Littlecloud!" Tanglekit bolted over to her father, who gasped in mock surprise when she flung herself right into his face. Nightkit and Dawnkit, whom had been visiting the elders, raced over to greet their father, too. For a moment, they tussled, Littlecloud pretending to surrender, when a massive tom with gray fur padded up to them. He was thin, but that didn't hide the muscles rippling under his pelt. "Littlecloud. If you're about done messing around with kits, maybe you can be of some use now." He sneered. Littlecloud got up slowly, his fur bristling slightly. "Excuse me, deputy, but these happen to be my kits."
Tanglekit tilted her head. Why don't they like each other? Without looking away from Cinderfur, Littlecloud mewed to Tanglekit and her kin, "Go back to the nursery, little ones, it's getting late." Tanglekit saw her father curl his lip slightly, just barely showing sharp, white teeth. His eyes glittered with anger, and he didn't look away from the ShadowClan deputy once as Tanglekit, Dawnkit, and Nightkit padded slowly back to the nursery. Something's not right. Why does Littlecloud show so much hatred towards Cinderfur? What did Cinderfur do to make him so mad? These thoughts and others spun around in Tanglekit's head. She wanted to know more, but Darkflower was asleep. Tanglekit curled up against her kin, listening as their breathing became slower, and steadier. She tried her hardest to stay awake, in hopes of figuring out her father's and the deputy's rivalry on her own, but gradually her eyes began to close, and she soon gave in to sleep.
Tanglekit shivered with excitement. She was finally six moons old, and Nightstar was about to make her an apprentice. Her pelt was neatly groomed, and as the young ShadowClan leader bounded up to the group of assembling cats, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Tanglekit was caught off guard when she heard Nightstar's voice, "Tanglekit, step forward." Tanglekit looked around at the cats surrounding her. Her gaze rested on her parents, Darkflower and Littlecloud, and was reassured by the pride shining in their eyes. She made her way to Nightstar, who waited patiently as she weaved between the cats gathered in the clearing. Nighstar looked down at Tanglekit with a contented expression. He then glanced at the sky, where Silverpelt was only just beginning to show as the sun set on the western horizon. "We are here today to give a Clan kit her apprentice name." He began, "Whitethroat, you are young, but you have shown great loyalty to the Clan and have become a formidable warrior. You will be Tanglepaw's mentor. Pass on everything you have learned to her." The clearing exploded with yowls of delight and cats calling Tanglepaw by her new name. Tanglepaw bounded to Whitethroat and touched her nose to his. Finally, she could serve her Clan!