A/N: Unusually long chapter for me! Don't expect the rest of them to be this long... Anyways reviews are appreciated! In fact I cannot express to you how very much appreciated they are. I will be doing review answers. When I get reviews... Thanks to Wingbeats on the Wind for Beta reading for me! Ya, I'll probably say that every chapter knowing me.
~Monster~

Disclaimer: I (of course) do not own Warriors. But I strictly claim this plot as my own! And Wingbeat's because she contributed.

Chapter 1

Silentkit opened her eyes to see sunlight pouring in through the nursery entrance. Something stirred beside her, and a little golden brown head popped up. "Hey, Silentkit," Seedkit yawned. Silentkit nodded to her brother and purred softly.
Silentkit sat next to her mother for a while and listened to her mother's breathing. The slow and rhythmic breaths calmed her. She didn't feel like getting up. She closed her eyes and tried to match the breath of her mother. The peaceful scene was instantly shattered when Fallingkit ran into the nursery.
"Guess what?" she yowled. Silentkit leaped into the air, her fur sticking out at all angles. She felt her mother raise her head suddenly.
"Fallingkit," she scolded, "You know not to run around yowling in the nursery, especially when there are younger kits about." Lightwing looked over at the white queen in the corner, whose three kits huddled closer to her.
"It's alright, Lightwing," the white queen mewed sleepily, "They're still sleeping."
Lightwing turned back to Fallingkit. "Whatever you have to say can be said outside," she meowed.
"You two might as well go out too, since you're already awake." Lightwing nudged Seedkit and Silentkit.
The two siblings got up and followed the ecstatic Fallingkit outside. The light brown tabby suddenly mewed, "I'm going to be an apprentice!"
Seedkit's mouth dropped open and Silentkit could feel a purr rumbling in her throat. "I'm so excited!" Fallingkit squealed as she bounced joyfully.
While Silentkit head-butted her friend's shoulder playfully, Seedkit whined to Fallingkit.
"Why do you get to be an apprentice and not us?" Fallingkit flicked her tail across Seedkit's nose. "Because I'm six moons old and you're only five, stupid furball," she teased.
Seedkit frowned and rubbed his nose with his paw. "You don't have to rub it in," he muttered.
Silentkit rolled her eyes, Seedkit couldn't see sarcasm even when it was right under his nose. The kit flicked her tail to get Fallingkit's attention. Fallingkit turned to Silentkit. "What is it?" she meowed.
Silentkit pointed her tail to the stack of boulders where Hawkstar addressed the clan, then tilted her head. "You want to know when my ceremony is?" Fallingkit asked. Silentkit nodded. "Tonight!" Fallingkit squealed.
Silentkit purred louder. Seedkit sat down and wrapped his tail around his paws. "The great and mighty Fallingpaw," he mewed bitterly, "guess you're really looking forward to bossing us around, aren't you?"
Silentkit flattened her ears. Fallingkit would never do that. She wanted to berate him, but Fallingkit beat her to it.
"Seedkit, what's the matter with you?" Fallingkit meowed. "You'll be an apprentice soon too." Seedkit sniffed and turned his back.
Silentkit nudged Fallingkit to get her attention again. When Fallingkit turned in her direction she pointed to the she-cat, then raised her tail higher, to about the height of a warrior. "You want to know who my mentor will be?" Fallingkit asked. Silentkit nodded again, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.
The soon-to-be-apprentice sighed. "I wish I knew. Hawkstar never tells the apprentice who their mentor will be until the ceremony. I think it's supposed to be a surprise or something," she meowed. Silentkit nodded.
Fallingkit raised her head up. "I was thinking that since this is our last day together in the nursery, we could go do all the things we've been wanting to do!" The brown tabby's blue eyes were even brighter than usual.
Silentkit's looked up abruptly. All the things they'd been wanting to do? Could they fit it all into one day? Seedkit turned around and faced them again. He glanced around and lowered his voice.
"Even go see the Thunderpath?"
Fallingkit nodded, then glanced around to make sure no other cat had noticed. "Come on," she whispered, "There's a lot to do."

The three kits crossed the camp cautiously, being careful that no cat saw their escape. Finally, they reached the thorny entrance to the camp. Fallingkit slipped through the tunnel first, closely followed by Silentkit and Seedkit. When they had cleared that, they ran from the camp as fast as their short legs would take them. Fallingkit and Seedkit jumped over a stump but Silentkit had to scramble over it. She had always been the smaller one. "Keep up, Silentkit!" Seedkit meowed.
Silentkit laid her ears back and managed to clamber over the stump. As soon as that was over, she crept into the undergrowth, keeping low to the ground so she wasn't seen.
"Silentkit?" It was Fallingkit's voice, maybe a few foxlengths away.
The dark kit stalked toward the sound, weaving through the bracken so the plants didn't make a sound. "Silentkit?" This time it was Seedkit, and he was much closer.
"I'm sorry Silentkit, I should have waited for you!" he meowed louder.
Silentkit was almost right next to him now. She glanced up and saw a tree nearby. Maybe she could climb up it fast enough so they wouldn't see her. The small, black kit crept up to the base of the tree. Her gaze flickered in the direction of the other two kits. Coast clear. She darted up the tree, fast as lightning, her claws scraping against the soft bark. "Silentkit?" Fallingkit meowed a little more loudly. "Where are you?"
Silentkit's whiskers twitched with satisfaction. They had no idea she was here. She crawled along the branch, her belly fur brushing the bark. Just a little closer, and she'd have them.
Seedkit padded right under the branch. "Silentkit?" He called. Silentkit purred quietly. Almost there.
Suddenly, the black kit leaped off the branch and plummeted to the ground. She landed squarely on Seedkit's shoulders.
"Gah!" He yowled in shock as he reared on his back legs. Silentkit jumped off of him and into the undergrowth. Fallingkit let out a mrrow of amusement. "I can't believe you fell for that again, Seedkit!" She meowed.
Just then, Silentkit disappeared into the undergrowth again. Seedkit stood up straight and shook a twig out of his pelt. "Oh yeah? Let's see you try," he meowed.
"What do you mean-" Fallingkit realized that Silentkit was gone again. "Run, Seedkit, run!" she meowed.
The light brown tabby darted away and Seedkit followed.
Silentkit poked her head up. This was one of their favorite games, hunter and prey. They would all search for each other and the one who caught the other two was the winner. It never worked very well in camp, because there weren't enough places to hide without getting under some other cat's paws.
Silentkit followed the scent trail of Fallingkit and Seedkit. Those two would usually help each other because Silentkit was the best hunter. But no matter how hard they tried, Silentkit always came out on top. They would never see her coming.
Silentkit followed their trail until she got to a muddy patch. Their scent had practically disappeared. Where were they? Silentkit sniffed the air. She looked at the ground again, and saw pawprints. Silentkit tilted her head in confusion. It wasn't like them to leave a trail, they were too careful for that. But still, if they were intent on making it easy for her, then that was their problem. She followed the pawprints until they disappeared. Silentkit shook her head. It must have been a false trail, maybe if she- Silentkit felt something heavy land on her back. "Got you!" It yowled triumphantly.
Silentkit flipped over onto her back and found herself gazing into the bright blue eyes of Fallingkit. "Ha!" the other apprentice mewed. "I win! I already got Seedkit." Silentkit nodded her head in defeat.
Just as Fallingkit was about to get up, the two kits heard voices. "They've got to be around here somewhere. Where did you say they were, Seedkit?"
Silentkit's eyes widened in alarm. If they were caught out here, they would be in big trouble. Who knew, Fallingkit might even have to wait to become an apprentice.
Seedkit's reply came through the undergrowth. "Maybe I could tell you," he hissed, "If you'd put me down."
Fallingkit jumped away from Silentkit and disappeared into the undergrowth. The pawsteps were growing closer. Silentkit looked around frantically for a place to hide. She spotted a bush nearby. It was a little scraggly around the edges, but it might be enough cover to hide her from her clanmates. The black kit raced under the bush, her paws slipping on the mud. She made it to cover just in time as the cats entered the clearing.
Silentkit looked through the branches to see four cats. One was Flamewhisker, Silentkit could just see his orange tabby paws. The other must have been Smokefur along with his apprentice, Pebblepaw. Silentkit's ears lay flat. Great, just what she needed. Pebblepaw was her worst enemy. The dark gray apprentice always thought she knew best and that she was better than everyone else. She'd always hated Silentkit. Silentkit didn't even know what she'd done to deserve it.
Silentkit sniffed the air. There was one other cat, Darkpaw, who'd never taken a liking to Silentkit either, but was never as blatantly hateful toward her.
Seedkit was here too, but it didn't take a genius to figure that out; you could here his yowls of protest a mile away. "Put me down, you big lump of fur," he hissed, "Or I'll tell Hawkstar!"
Darkpaw whirled on the little golden tabby, who was dangling from Flamewhisker's mouth. "Zip it, kit, or we'll see who's the lump of fur!"
Flamewhisker rolled his eyes and mumbled around his bundle, "Relax, Darkpaw, he's not doing any harm."
Silentkit pressed back as Smokefur padded closer to her hiding place. "Flamewhisker, why don't you take Seedkit back to camp. We'll look for the other two," he meowed.
Silentkit heard Flamewhisker mutter agreement, then caught his receding pawsteps, as well as the slowly fading complaints of Seedkit. When they had gone, Silentkit heard Pebblepaw's voice. "Smokefur, I think we should split up and look for them that way. It might go faster. Darkpaw and I will look for Silentkit, and you can look for Fallingkit."
"Good idea, Pebblepaw, I think we'll do that," Smokefur agreed.
Silentkit heard Smokefur leaving. "We'll keep looking around here!" Darkpaw called.
Smokefur flicked his tail in acknowledgement. When the two apprentices were sure that the warrior was gone Pebblepaw called out, "Ok Silentkit, we know you're here. Might as well come out and save us the trouble!"
Silentkit curled her lip. Just let them try to catch her. She backed out of the bush, pawstep by careful pawstep. Silentkit never took her eyes off the two apprentices. As she made her retreat, Silentkit noticed that Pebblepaw was sniffing the air. It wouldn't take too long for her to locate her scent. Silentkit would have to move quickly.
The black kit backed up further, then stopped. Where was Darkpaw? Silentkit cursed herself for letting the second apprentice out of her sight. She was too occupied with Pebblepaw to even notice what Darkpaw was doing. Silentkit backed up once more.
Much to her disappointment, rather than brushing against the familiar bracken stalks, she brushed against fur. Great, she thought. Just as she was about to turn around she felt teeth meet her scruff. The black kit let out a terrified hiss as she was swept into the air. Silentkit heard Darkpaw mumble around her fur, "Thought you could outsmart us didn't you kit?"
Silentkit narrowed her eyes. As a matter of fact, I did, she thought. And I'll make sure that I succeed next time. Darkpaw dumped Silentkit, none too gently, on the ground in front of Pebblepaw. "Well, well, what have we here?" Pebblepaw sneered. "A kit who thinks she's an apprentice. Well I've got news for you, Silentkit, you'll never be an apprentice."
Silentkit hissed and flashed her claws at the dark gray apprentice. "Just try to fight me," Pebblepaw hissed, "I'm the one who has training, remember?"
Silentkit wanted to rip the older cat's throat out right there, but inside she knew that Pebblepaw was right. She might never be an apprentice, and sneaking out certainly wasn't helping her case.
Silentkit hung her head and allowed Darkpaw to pick her up and carry her back to camp. Before they left the muddy clearing, Pebblepaw asked, "So, do you think you could tell us where Fallingkit is? Oh yeah, you can't." Pebblepaw laughed and raced ahead of Darkpaw.
Silentkit felt any bravery she possessed drop. Pebblepaw was right. She couldn't talk and because of it, she'd never be a warrior. It was at times like these when Silentkit wished with all her heart that she had been born with a voice. Her mother had always told her that one day, Starclan would give her a voice if she tried as hard as she could to be all she could be. At first, Silentkit had believed the stories, but as she got older, she realized that it was all a fairytale, a hopeless dream.
Silentkit was brought back to the present by a cry from Darkpaw. "Hey, wait up!" He mumbled. The dark apprentice increased his speed and the three cats were swallowed by the shadows of the forest.

A/N: Is this an interesting first chapter? Come on, you've got to love the length. Over 2,000 words! I think that's pretty cool.
~Monster~