ELITE

My name is Brookpaw, and I was an apprentice from WindClan. I had a normal life, but soon, a group of powerful rogues came to the forest. They called themselves the Elite. Every cat was afraid of them, including me.

One day I was hunting with my brother, Branchpaw, when they attacked us. "Give us your prey!" a tortoiseshell she-cat screeched. We passed them the rabbits we'd caught and they took us to their camp, which was nestled deep in the forest towards ShadowClan territory.

"What is your name?" the brown tabby tom hissed.

"B-Brookpaw," I stammered, and Branchpaw mumbled his name. The tabby tom hooked his claw into Branchpaw's pelt, and he yowled. "What? I didn't hear you!"

"Branchpaw!" my brother screeched.

"I thought so." The brown tabby paced in front of us. "My name is Mud. This is Tawny." He flicked his tail at the tortoiseshell she-cat who had taken our prey. "You will be working for us for half a moon. If you fail, we kill you. If you do everything we tell you, we will keep you for another half moon. If you pass, you'll become one of us."

That's when my life turned upside-down.

They assigned Branchpaw and I to hunting. We were lucky, because some of the other jobs they had were horrid, such as cleaning out their nests or taking their dung to the small clearing behind the camp.

Branchpaw and I were always early to bring back prey, which was good. A quarter moon passed, and they tortured us even more by clawing us, ripping our pelts, or spraining our paws.

Soon Mud killed Branchpaw out of sheer anger. I witnessed it. Mud was angry because Branchpaw had brought him a magpie and he wanted a mouse, so Tawny held Branchpaw down while Mud sank his fangs into his throat. I was horrified. I thought StarClan had abandoned me, but soon, a miracle happened.

"What have you brought me?" a silver tom named Stone demanded. "This is a robin!"

"Yes, sir, it is." I dipped my head.

"You know I don't like birds!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but there were only birds out today…"

"Mud! Tawny!"

Oh, StarClan…I said a silent prayer.

"This rat brought me a robin, and I hate birds!" Stone hissed. Tawny shook her head. "Oh, Brookpaw. I thought you would become one of us. I'm so disappointed…" She struck out at my head with her forepaw, and I tumbled to the ground.

Mud kept me pinned down, and Stone padded over to me. "Goodbye, Brookpaw," he murmured, and then dug his teeth into my throat. Blood bubbled up from the bite marks, and suddenly the world went black.

"Brookpaw?"

I glanced around to see a tabby tom race over to me. "Branchpaw!"

"Come on," he meowed, flicking his tail for me to follow him. He began leaping lightly up a pathway to the sky. "You'll never be hurt again."

I followed him to the stars.

The Elite will never hurt us again.

Rushed. Short. Sucky. Stupid.

xx-Starfall-xx