Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.
Hi, sorry, this one took longer to upload than I thought. Been a bit busy over the past few days. Anyway, here's Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Sunlight trickled through the brambles of the den as the sun rose over the pine forest. Emberkit yawned and stretched but didn't bother to open her eyes. It was warm and comfortable inside the nursery; the perfect sleeping conditions. Breathing in the milky scents, she took pleasure in the smoothness of pelts all around her, her mother on one side, her sister on another and her brother- Emberkit stiffened. Hold on… Her mother, her sister and her- where was Adderkit? She forced her eyes open; her littermate was nowhere to be seen.
Scrambling to her paws, the she-kit stared around the den. She saw the sleeping forms of her sister and mother, their pelts merged together. Across the other side of the nursery, Applefur slept, her belly rounded with oncoming kits. Next to her was Ivytail and her two older ones sleeping soundly side by side. But still no Adderkit.
Where could that tom have got to? She asked herself. He had better not be adventuring without Birdkit and I!
Emberkit was about to leave in search of her brother when she heard movement from behind. Startled, she spun round but saw nothing. Narrowing her eyes, she turned back but hadn't even set down a paw before she heard the noise again. She turned slowly and almost didn't have time to register the hurtling grey shape rocketing straight towards her.
Adderkit barrelled into her side, sending his sister flying. Emberkit yowled in shock, waking up the entire nursery in the process.
The queens leapt to their paws, hackles raised. Emberkit and Adderkit scuffled in the centre of the den, almost colliding into Birdkit who jumped out of her nest, teeth bared.
Everyone visibly relaxed when they discovered that it was only play-fighting kits that had disturbed them and not a hoard of hungry foxes. Applefur huffed impatiently and settled down back to sleep. Ivytail and her kits yawned and watched on sleepily.
"Well, there goes my lie-in…" mewed Ivytail her eyes glimmering with mild amusement. Olivenose sighed and grabbed Adderkit by the scruff of his neck.
"Hey!" he meowed as his mother prised him from his sister.
"What have I told you about fighting in the den?! You're getting too big for that now!" she told him sternly.
"But I was just about to win…" he mewed sadly.
"Were not!" Emberkit exclaimed, shaking pine needles out of her fur, "You were just about to give up!
"No way! I had that, I'm a way better fighter!"
"No, I am!"
"No, I am!"
"No," their sister Birdkit meowed quietly from behind, a slow grin spreading across her face. "I am!"
And with that, she leapt from her mossy nest, straight in to Emberkit, the impact rolling them right out of the den. Adderkit struggled free from his mother and rushed after them.
"Don't cause too much trouble!" Olivenose called as they left. She sighed again, exchanging an exasperated glance with Ivytail. Her friend shrugged and gave her the old kits will be kits look. The queens smiled knowingly and settled back into their nests.
The sibling's scuffle took them into the sandy clearing just outside the nursery's entrance. Outside, the ShadowClan camp was kick-starting into daytime life as warriors and apprentices began to emerge from their dens.
"Get out of our camp RiverClan warrior!" Birdkit snarled swiping a paw at Emberkit, claws sheathed.
"You first, WindClan scum!" Emberkit retorted, swiping back.
"Oh yeah? Well both you ThunderClan kittypets can get out of my territory!" declared Adderkit, "by order of Adderstar!"
"But you're always the Clan Leader!" whined Birdkit.
"Anyone want to challenge me for it?!" Adderkit meowed slyly.
"You bet!" Emberkit yowled and charged. But Adderkit was ready. He sidestepped at the last second and the kit couldn't stop herself before she was sent tumbling head over tail; right under the paws of a ShadowClan warrior!
"Woah!" the warrior cat yelped, almost tripping over the russet-furred she-kit.
"Whoops! Sorry Smokefoot!" Emberkit mewed as she scrambled to her paws, green eyes wide with fear. The black tom recovered and sighed, shaking his ruffled fur. Picking her up by her neck scruff, he returned the kit to her littermates.
Adderkit and Birdkit were trying, and failing, to stifle their mrrows of laughter at Emberkit's sullen expression as she was dropped down beside them.
"I have no problem with you three playing outside," Smokefoot meowed, "but…just try and be more careful, ok?"
"Yes Smokefoot," the kits chorused.
"Smokefoot!" a yowl sounded from the other side of the camp and the kits turned to see Owlclaw, their father, running across the clearing to meet them.
"Uh-oh…" murmured Adderkit, all traces of a smile gone.
"Sorry," Owlclaw panted, "I hope they weren't bothering you." He shot stern looks at the kits; Emberkit in particular. They shrank back.
"No worries," Smokefoot replied with a shrug, "they were just being…well...kits I suppose!" With a nod farewell, the warrior bounded off to the thorn tunnel.
"Sorry Dad…" Emberkit mewed, scuffing the ground with one of dark grey paws.
"You three are getting bigger by the day," Owlclaw meowed, they were surprised to her no anger, but a note of pride softening his voice, "It won't be long now, soon you three will be off on apprentice duties; hunting, battle training…" he trailed off.
"Well I can't wait!" meowed Birdkit, "I'm going to be the best apprentice ShadowClan has ever seen and I'll complete every task I'm given!"
"Just wait till you have to clean out the elder's den!" Owlclaw teased, flicking her ear with his tail. "I've got to go on a hunting patrol now kits. Be good!"
"Wait!" Emberkit called after him as he left, "Take us with you!"
"You know I can't do that Emberkit," he called over his shoulder, "But soon!"
"Mousedung…," muttered Emberkit, "I hope he meant soon as in the it'll be here before you know it soon."
"I thought we were crowfood there for sure!" breathed Adderkit, dumping himself on the floor.
There was a rustle from behind and Emberkit turned to see Vinekit bounce from the den, followed by his sister, Frostkit. Despite only being a moon or so older, the two were much bigger than she and her littermates and would soon be apprenticed.
Emberkit felt a tingle wash down her spine at the thought of her own apprenticeship, which would only be a moon or so away now. She'd been counting down to the day for as long as she could remember.
She spanned her green gaze across the ShadowClan camp. Thickly encircled with bramble and thorn thickets, the shallow hollow was well protected from hostile enemies. Plenty of trees grew around the rim of this barrier with their low-hanging branches criss-crossing overhead, cracking the sky above into fragments of blue. During leaf-bare, they some-what provided shelter for harsh weather conditions and helped to camouflage the camp from the outside world. But it was now approaching newleaf and sunlight streamed through the pine needles leaving pretty dapple patterns on the sandy floor, save the camp centre where no branches grew far enough to cover it.
Next to the nursery stood the apprentices' den where the branches grew very low over a small alcove in the side of the hollow. The ground was grassier there so the apprentices' had a soft terrain where they practice their battle techniques. Next, the warriors den, a hollowed out area that lay underneath a large bramble bush. It faced the camp entrance, in case of trouble. All around her, cats came and went, some rushing off to patrol, some returning with their jaws filled with juicy prey to deposit on the fresh-kill pile, which stood fairly near the centre on a smooth, flat rock. She saw the ShadowClan leader, Rowanstar, deep in conversation with his mate and deputy, Tawnypelt. Blackstar, the previous ShadowClan leader, had lost his last life in a fight with a badger just after Emberkit and her siblings were born. She had heard many stories of the fierce white tom, who had done everything he could to keep his Clan strong. Emberkit would have liked to have met him. On the other side of the clearing, the elders dozed by an old tree stump, gossiping and sharing stories of times gone by.
Drifting out of her thoughts, Emberkit looked around and realized she was standing alone outside the nursery. Looking back across the camp, she spotted three of the other kits talking excitedly to Nettlepaw and Fawnpaw; the two oldest ShadowClan apprentices. Vinekit, however, was nowhere to be seen.
She bounded over, their conversation slowly merging into earshot.
"Come on," she heard Birdkit plead, "Teach us a move! Please?"
"I've almost perfected that side-roll you showed me," boasted Frostkit, throwing herself over the ground in a clumsy fashion.
"Oh yeah," laughed Adderkit, "Real perfection you got there!"
"Sorry kits," meowed Nettlepaw, "but I've got training of my own to do now; maybe Fawnpaw could teach you something." He glanced hopefully at his sister who shrugged and replied:
"Tell Dawnpelt that Ferretclaw and I will join you later when he comes back from patrol." Her brother flicked his tail and left with his mentor through the thorn tunnel.
"Ok then," Fawnpaw began, "I can teach you a hunting technique called night stalking, it's what we use to be silent whilst hunting in the darkness. So, first, you crouch low to the ground like this." She tensed her haunches and brought her body low for the kits to try and imitate.
"That's good Birdkit, but try and get a bit lower…that's better!"
"Now," she continued, "Creep forward very, very slowly keeping your wait balanced evenly, pretend you have your eyes fixed on a juicy bit of prey."
"Adderkit, it helps to roll your paws onto the ground instead of plonking them down, that way it makes less noise."
She continued the lesson in this way, giving the kits tips on their technique. They weren't the best but they all had good potential. Fawnpaw told them that, one day, they'd all make fantastic warriors. It had been a while since Nettlepaw had left and there was still no sign of Tigerheart and his patrol. Fawnpaw went off to look, leaving the kits to make their own fun.
They were deep in an intense game of Warriors and Rogues when suddenly; Emberkit heard a commotion from the camp exit. With ears pricked she turned just in time to see Shrewfoot burst through the thorn tunnel, panting and reeking of fear-scent. Warriors rushed over to her, alarmed.
"Badgers!" Shrewfoot screeched, her wails echoing around the camp.
"There's a family of badgers in our territory!"
Chapter 2 is hopefully on it's way! Please review and feel free to leave any constructive criticism that might help me improve, all advice is very much appreciated!
Thanks for reading,
-plugmonkey