Chapter One: New Home, New Hopes
Whistling birds and the soft groan of the wind shattered the silence in Jocelyn's and Shotzy's Twoleg home. They both slept curled together in an overly large round red bed with fluffy white material on the inside. Beside their bed were three small dishes. The sky blue one was Jocelyn, decorated with silver shooting stars and a sliver of the moon. The soft lighter green bowl was Shotzy's. It had little clovers in darker green scattered across it in all different shapes and sizes. The middle bowl, though, was big and silver and carried water instead of the hard pellets the others carried.
Strewn across the soft pelted floor were random toys; an occasional oddly colored pink or green mouse would appear here and there along with lone rattling balls or soft cushions stuffed with catnip. Clumps of soft ginger fur scattered the floors as well along with clumps of Shotzy's snow-white pelt.
But the soft Twoleg home... it was not where one cat wanted to be. Jocelyn prefered the outdoors over her Twoleg home any day. But what she prefered most was the cat outside of her home. He was a handsome brown-spotted tabby; an unusual pelt. His eyes were piercing green unlike her brother, Shotzy's, who were calm and relaxed. Adderclaw was his name. It used to be Adderpaw but he had been made a warrior, so Jocelyn was told. She wanted to be a warrior too, just like Adderclaw had explained. She was prepared to leave her useless life and trade it for an amazing experiance. Why have a life if you won't take risks? Jocelyn was ready for any risk thrown at her. She wanted to be with Adderclaw and she wanted to be outdoors. All of it was tempting and now she would experiance. Shotzy and her had stayed up all night discussing their plans. When they yowled at the door, their Twolegs would let them out for the morning. They would wait quietly under a bush and then say good-bye to Pumpkin and Gabrielle. Jocelyn couldn't believe that Shotzy was leaving Pumpkin for her. There was a small feeling, though, deep inside Jocelyn that told her Shotzy didn't care as much for Pumpkin as he could have.
There was a prod at the light ginger cat's side and Jocelyn looked up to meet the placid gaze of her brother. He nodded to the door and back. Jocelyn knew he wanted to leave soon; she didn't know his true intention for wanting to leave so bad with her. All the same, she shrugged it off because she didn't want to loose her brother's support.
"Come on, dogfood," purred Shotzy as he arched his back in a way only he could. It showed developing muscuals from when he and Jocelyn practiced moves that Adderclaw taught her in their Twoleg garden.
Jocelyn purred back and stretched as well before butting her head into his shoulder. "Show-off!" she teased as Shotzy shot off after her. Together they bumped into their whiny Twoleg kit and she started wailing on the floor. An older female Twoleg sprang over and clumsily open the door to shoo Jocelyn and Shotzy outside. With pleasure the two scurried out of the house, snickering when the door was slammed shut slightly. The female Twoleg was never too hard on them.
"So..." breathed Jocelyn, inhaling the uncomparable outside scent. Mouse and sparrowed flooded her glands and she felt alive and alert. Blinking her brilliant blue eyes, without a word she set off under the fence without even hiding. Shotzy followed close behind to make sure he wasn't left.
For a little while Jocelyn and Shotzy walked slowly, taking their time to explore and plot every mark in their heads. The small stream that trickled from behind a crook in a large rock... a huge tree nearly three times bigger than the biggest tree in the whole Twolegplace... even things as small as a Twoleg-made thing that had a wood stick and an bright-orange ribbon fluttering in the breeze, tied to the top.
"This way," directed Shotzy as he flashed a pair of actue claws across a fallen log. Jocelyn nodded and nosed around the log instead of jumping over it. The cool breeze carried scents of strange cats and the ginger former-kittypet picked out Adderclaw's brilliant smell among the others.
As they kept walking, a sudden thought struck Jocelyn. What if ThunderClan, Adderclaw's Clan, didn't let them join? Adderclaw said their might be conflicts...
"Let's stop for a moment, Joce," Shotzy mewed, his chest rising and falling. When his sister nodded, both cats sat down under a wilted tree. The branch of the willow were long and slender. Birds called from the top branches.
"What a pretty tree," murmured Jocelyn as she lifted her tiny nose to the sky. "If I had to have a Clan name, I wonder what if would be. Surely not Jocelynpaw." Shotzy's eyes gleamed with amusement. "I don't know." She turned towards Shotzy. "Yours would be Whitefur. Or Greeneyes. Or Calmeyes."
Shotzy purred and let his eyes close. Jocelyn wasn't satisfied with that and she let out a short hiss. "C'mon, Shotzy, we have to go to ThunderClan!"
"Why would you kittypets want to go to a Clan?" A raspy old voice came from behind Shotzy and Jocelyn. Both whipped around and Jocelyn let her long claws slid out from her paws. An old gray tom was standing before her and Shotzy. On one side of the gray tom was a dark brown she-cat with white paws. On the other was a pretty airy pale gray she-cat.
"Who are you?" snapped Jocelyn, her bright blue eyes not betraying her shivering insides.
"I am Stone Where Snakes Suns," snarled the old gray tom. He then pointed to the brown she-cat. "This is Robin Who Nests Quietly." Then he pointed to pale she-cat with his tail. "And that's Willow That Shades Us. No what do you want?" Without waiting for an answer from Jocelyn or Shotzy, he snapped right along. "You must be wondering what we are doing in Clan territory if you can set your mind on such a thing!" Shotzy flattened his ears. "But... we were here to talk with RiverClan, nothing more. You shall not repeat our presence to any cat. Understood?" Jocelyn nodded and Shotzy murmured agreement. "Good. But just to make sure..."
The cats began to close in on Jocelyn and her brother. Eyes alight with the feeling for battle, Jocelyn slid out her claws to full extent and Shotzy did the same. Here is where Adderclaw's fighting moves would get their use. Stone called out and Jocelyn charged.
But Stone was an experianced fighter. His scarred pelt wasn't there from nothing. Jocelyn was thrown back in a matter of seconds. Shotzy put up just as much effort with little progress on Robin but Willow was holding him back. Jocelyn grunted and threw herself on the pretty she-cat. But Willow's pretty pelt meant nothing. She had the same amazing moves as Stone and she flipped Jocelyn off as soon as she hooked a claw onto her.
The battle was terrible. Blinding pain seered through Jocelyn but she kept trying. Her heart pounded, fierce and fast as she tried to help Shotzy's amazing attempts.
"Watch out!" snapped a voice from behind Jocelyn. Not more cats! But if the voice wanted her to move, Jocelyn slid over. Blood welled around her tiny white paws and she whimpererd in protest.
There were fierce hisses and yowls above Jocelyn as she tried to stick out another paw to fight. There were hisses and yowls as Stone, Robin, and Willow fled but there were many cats still hissing and spitting above them. Jocelyn lifted her dizzy head to see Shotzy standing with Adderclaw and another group of cats. They were facing a well-groomed, sleek-pelted patrol. Managing weakly, Jocelyn pushed herself to her paws and limped over to her brother.
"Tidestar, those cats meant trouble," Adderclaw was protesting. Another cat at his side with a flaming pelt nodded vigourously.
"I agree, Adderclaw," the orange cat mewed seriously. "As ThunderClan's deputy, I cannot watch cats of another land hurt these two." He flicked his tail to Jocelyn and Shotzy. Shotzy ducked his head slightly but Jocelyn head her head proudly.
"Shootingflame," spat the gray tom- Tidestar, Jocelyn remembered. "My Clan can do what we want. Take the two kittypets and leave our territory immediantly!"
Not needing telling twice, Adderclaw turned and swiped his warm tail across Jocelyn's neck and lead her away while Shootingflame and another cat took Shotzy by beckoning him. Once on another side of the border, the ThunderClan cats settled down and rounded on Jocelyn and Shotzy.
"Shootingflame, Silverlake, this is Jocelyn," began Adderclaw warily. He nudged Jocelyn forward and blindly, Jocelyn stepped out to be exaimed by the two muscular toms. She felt proud and scared all at the same time. Finally, Adderclaw stepped forward to introduce Shotzy. "And this is her brother, Shotzy. They have come to train as apprentices and join ThunderClan."
Jocelyn shivered as their was a pause; Shootingflame narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth but before he could say anything, another cat pushed through the bushes. Jocelyn met the gaze of a muscular white tom with unsual and distinct amber markings around his ears.
"Amberstar!" Adderclaw gasped, his ears flattening a little.
"Jocelyn and Shotzy are both very welcome," commanded the leader of ThunderClan. Jocelyn's legs felt weak with relief and she nodded contemptly. Adderclaw joined Jocelyn, pressing his warm pelt against hers and Shotzy walked proudly with Silverlake, already in conversation about training with the sleek silver tomcat. Shootingflame kept casting her sour looks and the ginger former-kittypet hung in Adderclaw's pelt.
"I'm glad you could make it," murmured the spotted-tabby as he blinked his friendly eyes at Jocelyn.
"Me too." It felt good to let out a sigh of relief. Jocelyn was very tired and she wanted to start her training early the next day.
"Let's go to camp and we'll get you settled," Adderclaw directed as he lead her at the end of the patrol. "Jocelyn, you are strong and weak." Dismay and pleasure passed across the solemn kittypet's face. "You are strong in spirit, but weaker in battle. It will take you awhile to get used to the hard stratigies us forest cats move with. But you will learn." Sighing, Adderclaw rested his muzzle on Jocelyn's ginger head.
"All will be fine and tomorrow you will start your training and get a warrior name, Joce," Adderclaw added.
"Warrior name? I like my name!" Jocelyn blurted. Adderclaw gave her a long look and then nodded.
"You'll have both but we'll always call you Jocelyn," answered Adderclaw calmy. When he saw doubt across Jocelyn's face, he brushed it away with his tailtip. "Same with Shotzy. He will be Shotzy to us but something else to enemies."
Enemies. Jocelyn prepared herself for a forest full of fighting. She was willing to train long and hard with or without Adderclaw. Adderclaw was the reason she was brought here. But was it really just her spirit that coaxed her out into the forest? Some things were going to be uncovered this season as the cool winds of the day kissed each cat, ruffling their fur gently, and then floated away.