Okay people, we're going to do a time skip here and this is just after Emberlight's kitting, Kay?
"They're beautiful." Coalclaw said proudly. I stared over his shoulder at the newborn kits. To me they just looked like normal kits and wet normal kits at that, but I didn't want to burst his fatherly bubble, so I kept my mouth shut. "What are we going to name them?" Coalclaw asked.
"Well," said Emberlight. "I was thinking for this one we should name him Lionkit because of the way his fur sticks up." The kit she was pointing at looked a little bit like a lion except that he was pitch black. The next kit Emberlight pointed at was mostly black, but on her stomach there was a marking that looked like a four point star and right in the center there was a yellow dot. "I think we should name her Lightkit." Emberlight looked up a Coalclaw. "Do you want to name the last one?" She asked.
"We should name him Sparkkit." Coalclaw said, looking at the tiny runt. He was the smallest kit, white with red dapples down his back. There were black streaks down the back of his ears.
"Those are good names," said Morningspirit, the medicine cat who'd helped deliver the kits. "Lionkit, Lightkit and Sparkkit. They will be fine warriors someday. You should get some rest." She advised Emberlight. "Come get me is you need anything." With that, Morningspirit left the nursery.
"Come on kits, we should rest too." Dewdrop said. We clambered into our nest and settled down together.
"I wish I was an apprentice," Snowkit whispered. "It sounds like fun." I nodded eagerly as I drifted to sleep.
Six Moons Later…
"Lilypaw! Snowpaw! Lilypaw! Snowpaw!" The Clan cheered our names as I touched noses with my new mentor, Burnheart. I glanced over to Snowpaw, who was touching noses with her mentor, Beetlefur. That luck cat got to have the Clan deputy as her mentor!
"I can't believe you're apprentices already!" Dewdrop said. "It feels like only days ago you were going out intro the camp for the first time!"
"It feels like six moons to me." Snowpaw said and I laughed.
"Come on, Lilypaw, we're going patrolling with Littlestorm and Greypaw!" Burnheart called.
"Oops, gotta go!" I mewed, ducking under the lick Dewdrop put on my head. I sprinted up to Burnheart, skidding to a clumsy stop just inches from crashing into Littlestorm.
"Now that we're all here, we should get going," said Littlestorm. We were just about to leave camp when Sandpaw came skidding up to us.
"Wait! Can I come?" He asked.
Burnheart and Littlestorm looked at each other. "I guess, if it's okay with your mentor." Littlestorm agreed.
"She doesn't mind. I asked." Sandpaw darted out of camp ahead of everyone else.
"Hey, wait up!" cried Burnheart. He took off after Sandpaw and the rest of the patrol raced after him.
We caught up with Sandpaw near the Twoleg Place where I used to live. "Does anyone else smell that?" he asked.
Burnheart sniffed the air. "Kittypet!" he hissed. "We'd better drive it off. Come on." He took the lead and everyone else fell into step behind him. I sniffed the air and smelled cat, but mixed in with it were the smells of twoleg.
"Lilypaw, because you haven't learned any fighting skills yet, you need to stay back. If I tell you to get help, then you go back to camp, got it?" Burnheart said. I nodded.
"It's not like we'll need any help though," Greypaw pointed out. "I've beaten off kittypets easily before."
"There are a couple kittypets though, and I thought I detected some rouge scent too." Littlestorm said. "We should be careful."
"Look! I see the kittypets!" yowled Sandpaw. Sure enough, there were four large cats coming towards us. Three looked fat and lazy, but the fourth was muscular and scarred. He appeared to be the leader.
"Attack!" Burnheart yowled, and the patrol streaked forwards, lunging at the invaders. The rouge yowled something indistinguishable from the terrified wails of the kittypets and launched himself forwards. Though the kittypets looked terrified, they lunged forwards as well.
Though the kittypets were fat and looked like they'd never fought a day in their lives, they must have been taught by the rouge, because they were managing to hold their ground. The rouge was a brilliant fighter and Burnheart seemed to be having some trouble with him. Then I heard a terrified wail.
Greypaw was trapped beneath the paws of a kittypet. All the others were locked in combat with another cat and couldn't help her and if I ran to camp like I was supposed to, there was every possibility that Greypaw would die, so I did the idiotically reckless thing to do: I lunged into battle.
I managed to hit the kittypet's muzzle and get him off of Greypaw, but that's when I realized that I had no idea what to do next. The kittypet drew back his lips in a horrific snarl and swung one of his paws forwards. It connected with my head and then everything was darkness.
I opened my eyes in the medicine cat den. "What's going on?" I mumbled.
"You're awake!" Dewdrop cried. "Aquashimmer, she's awake!"
Aquashimmer walked over and sniffed around the back of my head where the kittypet hit it. "She'll be fine as long as she rests for a while." The medicine cat said. "I wouldn't recommend training for at least another two days."
"What happened to me?" I asked.
"You rushed into battle when you weren't supposed to, that's what happened." Burnheart said, coming up from behind Dewdrop. "What were you thinking? I told you to stay out of the fight!"
"But Greypaw was trapped!" I wailed. "I had to help her!"
"Greypaw has been in fights before; she knows how to handle herself. You, on the other paw, have no idea! You could have been severely injured. If Sandpaw hadn't managed to stop the attack when he did, you would have been crow food." Burnheart said.
"Oh," I said as I slumped back into my nest. "I'm sorry."
"Well, from what Aquashimmer tells me, you're going to be staying here for the next two days, so that should be a sufficient punishment. I'll take you battle training when you're healed." With that, Burnheart left the den.
Unfortunately, waiting for two days with no TV, game system or internet is very hard. I was bored within the first hour and was constantly getting out of my nest and wandering around the medicine cat den, to the annoyance of Ebonysong.
"Do you even know what the words "sit still and rest" mean?" she snarled, finding me out of my nest for a fourth time.
"I'm bored!" I protested.
"That isn't my problem." Ebonysong pointed out. Just then there was a rustle at the entrance and a sand colored tom poked his head in.
"Sandpaw? Have you come to visit me?" I asked, only half serious.
"Don't flatter yourself." Sandpaw shot back. "I just came to ask Ebonysong for some mouse bile."
"I wish I could help you with the elders!" I moaned. "It is way too boring here!"
"Good news, you can!" said Ebonysong.
"I thought I couldn't go out." I reminded her.
"That only applies to training." Ebonysong said. "You can still help Sandpaw with the elders."
"Figures that it'd be that wish that comes true," I muttered. Sandpaw swallowed a laugh as he grabbed the mouse bile from Ebonysong and trotted out of the medicine cat's den. I was close behind him as we raced for the elder's den.
"Oh good, you're here!" said Tigerfang. "There's a tick on my back I can't reach." Sandpaw looked on Tigerfang while I looked on Ivyfang.
"So I see you've been let out of confinement," Ivyfang said.
"Only temporarily." I responded.
"Well you'll have company soon," Tigerfang said. "Sparkkit's sick again."
"That kit's sick more often than he's well!" Ivyfang said. "No wonder he's not an apprentice yet." While I had been unconscious, Lionkit and Lightkit had become Lionpaw and Lightpaw, but Sparkkit had been deemed to sickly to be an apprentice yet. The poor kit had been so small and weak and having caught Greencough just a few days after he had been born hadn't helped. A lot of cats thought that he would never be a warrior.
"Well, maybe this time it's something different," Sandpaw suggested, but his sideways look to me told me that he knew exactly what Sparkkit had: the same persistent cough that kept him in his nest most of the time. "I think we're done here, " Sandpaw continued. "See you some other time." He said to me, and then left.
I got up and trotted back to the medicine den, where I saw Sparkkit lying in a nest. Lightpaw was near him.
"Is Sparkkit okay?" I asked her.
"He's doing a lot better!" She said "He isn't coughing so much anymore and he keeps demanding food! I think he's going to recover for good this time." I smiled at her enthusiasm, then looked at Sparkkit.
"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked him.
"Much better," He said. "I feel great! I'm going to be the best warrior ever!"
Lightpaw smiled at him. "You gotta beat me first!" She pointed out, "And you'll never do that!"
"You three, settle down and get some rest!" snapped Ebonysong. Sparkkit and I darted into our nests and Lightkit ducked out of the den and straight to the apprentice's den. My eyelids fell shut and within seconds I was sleeping.
"Hello again Lilypaw," a voice said. I blinked open my eyes to find myself back in the place where I had been taken after the car crash. The cat who was talking was Heatblaze. I tried to stand up like a cat, but couldn't. That's when I noticed that I had hands and feet again.
"I'm human!" I shrieked and leapt up onto my human legs.
"Not quite human," said Heatblaze and he waved his paw in the direction of my head and legs. That's when I noticed the cat ears and tail.
"Oh," I said. "I'm a neko."
"If that's twoleg for half cat half twoleg, then yes, you are a neko." Heatblaze said. He tried to continue, but I cut him off.
"I have a couple questions for you." I said.
"Ask away." Heatblaze responded.
"First, is my mom, my human mom, still alive?"
"As far as I know, she survived the car crash." Heatblaze answered.
I nodded. "Second question: Will I ever be human again?"
Heatblaze sighed. "You died in that monster crash. You don't have a twoleg life to return to! If we hadn't gotten you to come here, you would have just gone wherever it is twolegs go when they die."
I sighed. "Okay then, final question: Why bring me here? Why not just let me die?"
"You are part of a prophecy. You will bring peace to the Clan." Heatblaze said.
"Okay then, what's this big prophecy?" I asked.
Heatblaze took a deep breath and recited "Darkness rises from the light, only a stranger's help can stop this plight."
"Well that's helpful." I muttered. "Think it refers to anyone specific, or just something abstract?"
Heatblaze shrugged. "We have no idea. It's up to you to figure things like this out. Now go back to the Clan. We will see each other again, I hope." The scene in front of me blurred, spun, and I was falling down a spiraling tunnel that turned to blinding white and my eyes shot open. Lightpaw was standing over me.
"Hey, are you okay?' She asked.
So who thinks Lightpaw is the light the prophecy refers to?