Here's the first chapter of the story! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. My algebra final is on Wednesday and I have a lot of homework to do tomorrow.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
Tigerkit couldn't stop the butterflies in his stomach. Today was the day that he and his denmates were to become apprentices. He was afraid that their ceremony would be postponed because the seven of them had all left the camp to go exploring on their own and had sent the whole Clan into a state of panic. Their punishment though had just been to be confined to the nursery for the last moon.
Tigerkit snapped back to attention as Bramblestar called him forward. He padded towards the highrock boldly and stood in front of the leader. Tigerkit was the last of the kits to get his mentor.
"Tigerkit," Bramblestar started. "From this day on until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Tigerpaw. I will be your mentor."
Tigerpaw's eyes widened with excitement as murmurs of surprise rippled through the Clan. He stepped forward and touched noses with his new mentor and walked to the edge of the crowed. Bramblestar called the meeting to an end and the Clan separated after congratulating the new apprentices.
Dewdrop, Snowblaze, and Amberfur all padded up to the apprentices and weaved around the seven apprentices. The three of them had received their warrior names two days before and had moved to the warriors den, making more room for them.
The mentors shooed them away and led their apprentices out of camp. Tigerpaw's sister, Goldenpaw, had received Squirrelflight, the deputy, as her mentor. Frostpaw had gotten Lilystem and Palepaw Seedfall, while Crowpaw got Icecloud and Heatherpaw got Cherryblossom. Hollypaw became the medicine cat apprentice with Jayfeather as her mentor.
Heatherpaw had complained about the fact that he had gotten a she-cat as a mentor when he wanted a tom. His mother, Cinderheart, had scolded him right in front of the Clan and he was so embarrassed that didn't even touch noses with Cherryblossom before sulkily padding to the edge of the clearing.
The seven cats had always been close. Their mothers had kitted at the same time and when they were in the nursery, the three queens – Cinderheart, Dovewing, and Ivypool – would all take turns watching them if one of them wanted to go on a patrol. The kits pretty much had three mothers.
After their mentors had shown them around their territory, they were brought back to camp and shown their den. All seven of them immediately fell asleep.
Grunting with effort, Tigerpaw finally managed to push Heatherpaw off of him. Heatherpaw thumped against the ground and snorted, jumping to his paws.
He sat down heavily on his haunches and glared at Tigerpaw as he got up and stretched. "What was that for?" he mewed crossly. "I was having a good dream!"
Tigerpaw snorted, fluffing out his fur. "Next time you want to dream, do it somewhere that's not on top of me!"
Goldenpaw rolled over and purred, reaching out her paw to Tigerpaw's. "I think the den needs to be bigger. We've only been apprentices for three sunrises, but we keep tripping over each other."
"Isn't that the same as when were in the nursery?" Crowpaw asked, looking sleepily at her brother and two denmates.
"Yeah, but Tigerpaw somehow got bigger already," Goldenpaw mewed.
"So has Heatherpaw!" Frostpaw squeaked as Heatherpaw stepped on her white tipped black tail. She curled it towards her muzzle and licked it gingerly, glaring at Heatherpaw, who flicked his ear apologetically.
Tigerpaw hopped to his paws. "I'll go tell Bramblestar." He turned and pushed his way out of the thorn bush and into the clearing.
Squirrelflight was by the fresh-kill pile, telling cats what patrol they would be on that day. Bramblestar was grooming himself underneath highledge.
"Bramblestar!" Tigerpaw yowled. He bounded towards his mentor and Mousewhisker flicked his ear with his tail as he passed, telling him not to yowl across the camp.
Bramblestar looked up, his tongue halfway out.
"We need the apprentice's den to be bigger," he announced.
Bramblestar's gaze drifted towards the apprentice's den where Heatherpaw, Crowpaw, and Goldenpaw were padding into the clearing. A moment later Frostpaw followed, her tail tip on a sleepy looking Palepaw's nose.
"There are a lot of you," Bramblestar mewed thoughtfully. He nodded to Tigerpaw and called Squirrelflight over. As Tigerpaw padded away, he heard his mentor telling the deputy about expanding the apprentice's den and warriors den.
His denmates were eating around the fresh-kill pile. Tigerpaw dragged a mouse from the top of the pile and settled down to eat. He scooted over as Hollypaw bounded towards them from the medicine den. She quietly murmured her thanks and began eating.
Dovewing pounded into camp yowling, with Bumblestripe and Ivypool on her tail. Bramblestar shot to his feet and ran to meet the three cats by the entrance.
"It's WindClan and ShadowClan," Dovewing gasped. Beside Tigerpaw, Frostpaw and Palepaw trembled, pressing against each other, alarmed by the fear scent on their mother.
"A pack of dogs is attacking both the Clans," the she-cat continued. Bramblestar whirled around and began calling cats to go help.
"Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Foxleap, and Moletail – go to WindClan and help them. Ivypool, Mousewhisker, Dovewing, and Bumblestripe will go to ShadowClan to help."
The two patrols raced out of camp. Tigerpaw stared after the retreating cats. "Why can't we go with them?" he protested to the Clan leader.
"You haven't learned proper fighting techniques yet," he explained. He turned to the rest of the Clan. "Be on guard in case the dogs come here." He looked back at the huddled apprentices. "If the dogs come here, I want you to go hide in the elders den. You're not to fight; if you or the elders get attacked, call for help."
As Bramblestar padded away, his head down low as he talked with Squirrelflight, Tigerpaw stalked to the edge of the camp, twitching his tail for the others to follow him.
"I think we should go help," Tigerpaw mewed.
Hollypaw's eyes widened. "But Bramblestar told us not too!"
"Tigerpaw has a point," Crowpaw mewed, Heatherpaw nodding in agreement. "The other Clans need our help; we should help them!"
Goldenpaw shifted her paws, casting a sideways glace at the Clan leader. "What if we get in trouble?"
"We won't," Tigerpaw mewed confidently, his blue eyes shining. "They'll see how helpful we are!"
"I'm not sure…," Palepaw mewed uncertainly.
"Don't worry, you'll be with me."
"What about me?" Frostpaw asked eagerly.
Tigerpaw gave them patrols. "Palepaw, Frostpaw, and Goldenpaw will come with me to ShadowClan, since that's where our parents are, and Heatherpaw, Crowpaw, and Hollypaw will go to WindClan."
"But I'm not a warrior apprentice!" Hollypaw whispered.
"We have to help Cinderheart and Lionblaze," Crowpaw mewed to her sister. Hollypaw still looked uncertain, but nodded anyways.
Tigerpaw curled his tail in satisfaction and crept towards the dirt place tunnel. They each left separately so they wouldn't be noticed.
When all seven apprentices were in the forest, Tigerpaw waved his tail for the patrols to separate. He raced towards the ShadowClan border, feeling his denmate's breath on his heels. He leapt over the border without stopping and slowed down a few tail-lengths away.
The four cats hid in a bush to catch their breath. The screeches of cats could be heard close by, accompanied by the sound of large jaws snapping. Palepaw trembled and breathed heavily. Her sister ran her tail over her flank, cooing that it would be okay.
Tigerpaw twitched his ear and crept out of the bushes, his mouth opened to locate the camp. It took him a few heartbeats to locate any scents over the strong smell of dog, but he soon found it.
The patrol of young apprentices sprinted to the heart of ShadowClan territory and broke through the crumpled entrance, yowling.
A huge dog turned on them immediately and lunged towards them. Tigerpaw dodged it, the sound of teeth snapping together making him flinch. Palepaw squealed as another dog appeared on the other side of them and grabbed her by the scruff. Palepaw's paws churned the air desperately and Frostpaw began clawing at the dog, fur fluffed up and spitting with fury.
Tigerpaw lunged at the dog's paw and bit down hard. The dog yelped and dropped Palepaw, who scrambled to her paws and moved behind her sister, clawing at a small dog nipping at Frostpaw's tail.
Goldenpaw was attacking the first dog, but her flank was already bleeding. She wailed helplessly as the dog lifted her up and tossed her away behind it. She hit the ground with a thud.
Tigerpaw screeched with rage launched himself right at the dog's face. The dog howled with pain as he dug his claws into its face and bit its nose as hard as he could. He dug his claws in harder, tail lashing to keep himself balanced, as blood filled his mouth.
The dog shook its head from side to side until Tigerpaw was dislodged. He stumbled as he landed. Before he could steady himself, the small dog leapt on top of him bit into his shoulder. The bigger dog dug its claws into his tail.
Tigerpaw could hear Frostpaw and Palepaw hissing close by. Were they okay still?
The weight of the small dog was lifted off of him and the claws from his tail removed. Tigerpaw gasped for air, blinking his eyes and turned to see Mousewhisker placing well aimed blows at the small dogs face. The dog finally gave up and pelted away.
On Tigerpaw's other side was Ivypool. She darted underneath the dogs belly and left a long scratch that blood flowed from. The dog howled and spun on her, but Mousewhisker bit into its tail. The dog gave a final howl of pain before crashing through the thorn walls, its tail between its legs.
Dovewing and Bumblestripe had come to their kits rescue. Remembering his own sister, he shot to his paws, ignoring the pain, and ran towards Goldenpaw. Tigerpaw ignored his parents protesting yowls as he ran through the throng of retreating dogs.
Tigerpaw let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Goldenpaw was still breathing. That was short lived when he saw all the blood welling up along her flank.
A black she-cat appeared at his side and picked up his limp sister. He was about to protest, but she took off towards a den covered with brambles. He ran after her.
Hope flared through Tigerpaw as he pushed his way in after the she-cat, noticing that the den smelled like Jayfeather's den. The black she-cat was crouched over his sister, chewing on some sort of herb while pressing cobwebs into Goldenpaw's bleeding flank.
As the she-cat pressed the herb into the cobwebbed spot on Goldenpaw, she mewed, "I'm Nettlefrost, the ShadowClan medicine cat." She looked up at him for a heartbeat. "You look too young to be fighting."
Tigerpaw felt his pelt ruffle more than it already was. "I'm an apprentice!"
Nettlefrost only snorted. Tigerpaw sat down and anxiously watched the medicine cat. Behind him, the brambles shivered. He whirled around, teeth bared and fur bristling, ready to attack any intruder. Instead of a dog, a ginger tom stood in front of Tigerpaw.
The tom barely looked at the apprentice before turning to Nettlefrost. "There are more cats out in the clearing for you to treat."
The black she-cat nodded. "Okay. I'll be right there, Rowanstar."
The ShadowClan leader left the den and Nettlefrost nudged Tigerpaw out as well. He held his ground and protested. Nettlefrost told him that his sister would be alright.
The ShadowClan camp was a mess. Brambles and thorn bushes were everywhere, and the ground had patches of blood. Wounded cats were strewn around the camp, and Nettlefrost wove her way around them, sniffing their pelts.
A dark brown tabby tom padded up next to him, eyeing him curiously. "Who are you? I didn't see you come with the ThunderClan patrol."
Tigerpaw lifted his chin. "I'm Tigerpaw. I came on my own."
Surprise sparked the tom's eyes. Before he could speak, a shadow loomed over Tigerpaw and a paw cuffed him roughly on the ear.
Tigerpaw's head jerked back and he saw his mother standing in front of him, fury lighting her gaze.
"What in StarClan's name were you thinking?" she hissed, her tail lashing from side to side. His father padded up next to Ivypool, his gaze dark.
"You could have been killed!" Ivypool bent down and began harshly licking her son's face. Tigerpaw let her, knowing that he had upset his mother.
Mousewhisker looked around. "Where's Goldenpaw?"
Tigerpaw's mother's head jerked up and she scanned the clearing with alarm.
The dark tabby replied for him. "If you're talking about the white-and-gold kit, Nettlefrost took her to her den."
Tigerpaw bristled. "She's not a kit!"
Ivypool's tail slapped across his muzzle, silencing him. "You've done enough for one day, Tigerpaw." She turned towards the tom. "Thank you, Tigerheart." She headed to the medicine den with Mousewhisker on her tail.
Tigerheart? He thought. He had the same pre-fix as he did.
Dovewing's scent wreathed around Tigerpaw had he felt her soft fur brush his as her tail wrapped around him and pulled him close.
"Don't take what Ivypool says seriously," she murmured, her tail stroking his spine. "She's very protective of you and your sister and doesn't want to see either of you hurt."
Tigerpaw hung his head. "I convinced them all to come and help! Crowpaw, Heatherpaw, and Hollypaw are helping WindClan. What if they're hurt?"
He felt Dovewing stiffen next to him.
"You did what?"
He jerked around at his mother's hiss. Dovewing stepped in front of him, blocking his view of his bristling mother.
"He's young, Ivypool. These things happen," she mewed.
Bumblestripe's tail curled around Tigerpaw and pulled him against his chest. Palepaw and Frostpaw were trembling underneath their father's belly, fear in their wide eyes.
"Dovewing, Ivypool," Bumblestripe mewed. "Not in front of the kits and ShadowClan."
Tigerpaw didn't even have the strength to protest, just sunk against Bumblestripe's warm fur.
"It doesn't matter where this conversation takes place," Ivypool snarled, "so long as Tigerpaw realizes that he could have possibly killed all of his denmates! We don't even know if Cinderheart's kits are okay!"
Tigerpaw could feel blackness falling in around him. He hadn't noticed till now that his shoulder was bleeding heavily, staining his fur a dark red. Tigerheart called for Nettlefrost and pushed Bumblestripe away. Tigerpaw felt the rhythmic stroking of the tom's tongue before he passed out.