Thank you all of those who reviewed to the previous chapter! Sorry about the fact that it was all allegiances. This chapter will be extra long, in my opinion of course. Enjoy!
A ginger kit padded from the woven bramble nursery and into the early dawn light, her eyes widened in joy and amazement. She jumped up in excitement and turned in a different direction.
The trees are so tall, she thought. I should have snuck out a long time ago
A few birds fluttered overhead, zipping through the sky. The little kit scurried about, trying to keep the birds in sight. Not looking where she was going, she ran face-first into the camp wall. The kit squeaked in surprise and sat down, rubbing her nose with the paw.
"Oww..." she mumbled. She got to her paws and headed back in the direction of the nursery, where her mother was. Her paws scuffled on a patch of loose sand, and she stumbled and fell in a cloud of dust, her paws splayed out uncomfortably. She cried out softly as she could, not wanting anyone to find out that she had gone out of the nursery without permission. The kit winced as she got to her feet shakily and continued on to the nursery, previous adventure forgotten as she padded to the welcoming darkness of the bramble den. She flopped down onto the soft moss next to her mother and sisters and closed her eyes. She curled up and gently placed her tail over her sore nose, falling asleep.
"Brightkit, what happened?" A voice asked as something next to her stirred. Brightkit opened an eye to see her mother, a slender golden she-cat standing above her. The queen's bright green eyes shimmered with worry.
"It's nothing," Brightkit mewed, but as she opened her mouth to speak her nose throbbed with pain.
"Are you sure, my sweet? Nothing's wrong?" Her mother asked.
"I'm fine," Brightkit insisted. "Why do you ask?"
"Your nose looks a little bit purple, as if you bruised it," her mother told her.
Purple? Brightkit thought, alarmed. She started to raise a paw to dab it, but thought better of it.
"No matter," her mother dismissed. "I thought that you and your sisters would like to go see the camp. I know how long you've been waiting! You, Flashkit and Dawnkit should have plenty of fun!" Brightkit nodded, gazing at her stirring sisters in the half-light.
But I already went outside, and got hurt! Then again, I wasn't being careful, and I'd hate to have Flashkit and Dawnkit wait longer because of me. Also, I can't back out. I've been begging to go out and see the camp for days.
Something gray moved in the depths of the nursery. Brightkit turned to the movement.
"You're taking your kits outside already, Leafflower? They're only a moon and a half old!"
"They'll be fine, Snowflight," Leafflower assured the other queen inhabiting the nursery, a hint of laughter in her voice. "You stay here and rest. Your kits will soon be here, and you can do whatever you want with them. I will do what I please with my kits, and they are going outside."
"Whatever," Snowflight shrugged. "Be on with you, sister dearest."
Leafflower nudged Dawnkit and Flashkit awake, both mewing in protest until Leafflower told them what was happening.
"I'm hungry!" Flashkit, a pale ginger she-kit with with white starbursts mewed.
"Me too!" Dawnkit, a dark ginger she-kit with lighter ginger tail-tip, paws and ear-tips agreed.
I think that you're all old enough to eat a bit of fresh-kill now," Leafflower decided. "We'll see what's on the prey pile, shall we?"
"Okay!" Flashkit squeaked as Dawnkit shrugged.
"Sounds good," Brightkit put it. "I want to try a squirrel. I heard somecat talking about them."
Leafflower nodded, and turned to leave the nursery, followed closely by Flashkit and Dawnkit.
"Bye, Snowflight," Brightkit mewed before padding out as well. She was partially blinded by the bright light, and when her eyes regained focus she was astounded to see the camp, once empty, bustling with cats. Her family was sitting by a pile of limp tails and fur.
"Let's see here..." Leafflower muttered as she nosed through the pile. She gently picked up a mouse and set it in front of Dawnkit and Flashkit.
"You two can share that."
Brightkit padded closer to Leafflower, eager to see a squirrel as her sisters tore into their morsel.
"I'm sorry, Brightkit," her mother mewed, looking over the prey. "There isn't any squirrels. You'll have to wait until a patrol comes, or eat something else..."
A fierce rustling sounded behind them, and Leafflower, Brightkit and Flashkit turned to see what it was. A few cats padded quickly into the clearing.
"That's the dawn patrol," Leafflower told them. "If I'm right, your father should be with them. Look! There he is!"
A muscular brown and orange tom was striding toward them, amber eyes shining with pride.
"Hello, Leafflower," he mewed, his voice powerful and strong.
"Hello, Thunderstorm," she mewed, nuzzling his shoulder. "Come meet your kits." She gestured to them with her tail.
His eyes brightened even more, and he looked closely at Flashkit.
"Which one are you?" he asked.
"I'm Flashkit!" she answered, puffing out her chest. "I can fight!" To prove her words, she took a few swipes at Thunderstorm's nose.
"I'm sure you can," he chuckled, moving his gaze to Dawnkit. "And you are?" he asked her tail, for she was still eating the mouse. She started at the sound of his voice. She turned to look at the large tom.
"I'm Dawnkit. Do you have another mouse? I'm still hungry."
"You ate that whole mouse by yourself?" Flashkit mewed angrily, peeking from behind Thunderstorm. She padded closer. "I didn't even get a bite!" With a cry, the ginger and white kit launched herself at Dawnkit and they tousled. Thunderstorm purred loudly and grabbed two more mice off of the pile, setting them in front of his quarreling daughters. They immediately broke apart and began munching at their food. Thunderstorm turned to Brightkit.
"And you're Brightkit, eh?" he asked.
Brightkit swallowed. "Yes," she answered.
"I'm expecting great things from you. Don't ask me why. I just have a hunch. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you became leader someday." he mewed. "Have you eaten yet?"
Brightkit shook her head, still thinking about what her father said. "No, I haven't. I wanted a squirrel, but there wasn't one."
"I can fix that!" he exclaimed. He turned his head.
"Hey! Sunpaw! Bring your catch over here! My kit's hungry!"
A ginger, white and yellow tom came padding over, lugging a large gray mass of fur. The tom's green eyes were bright.
"Hi there," he mewed around the squirrel. He set it down in front of Brightkit. "Hope you enjoy it. It's the sixth piece of prey that I've caught, and I've been an apprentice for only five days!"
"That's great," she mewed, gaze flickering from the tom to the squirrel. "It looks delicious. Thank you." She took a bite from the squirrel, enjoying the rich flavor. She tore in, savoring every scrumptious morsel.
"Well, I have to go now," Thunderstorm mewed. "I promised Sunpaw battle training. I'll check up on you all later." The large ginger tom padded over to Leafflower, licking her head. They exchanged a few soft mews, then Thunderstorm padded toward the camp entrance.
"Enjoy your squirrel, Brightkit!" he called before disappearing out of the stone clearing.
Brightkit burped contently, having finished her squirrel. She sat up, looking around for something to do. She spotted her mother eating a pigeon, a pile of feathers sitting next to her. Brightkit padded over to her, curiosity brimming.
"What are you doing?" Brightkit asked.
"I'm getting some feathers for Snowflight. Her kits are coming very soon, and I want her nest to very especially soft."
"Let me help you!" Brightkit mewed, moving closer and tearing chunks of flesh and feathers out of the bird.
"I'm fine- Brightkit, stop. Stop!" Brightkit looked up, green eyes confused.
"I was just trying to.."
"I know, precious, I know, but I don't need any help. I can do it by myself." Leafflower sighed. "You go play. I have to clean this up now." Brightkit looked behind her, ears drooping when she saw feathers and bits of meat dotting the immediate area.
"Oh. Sorry, Leafflower," Brightkit apologized. Leafflower purred, licking her head.
"It's fine. How about you go ask the elders to tell you a story? They're in the den right over there," she pointed with her tail to a log with honeysuckle vines growing on it.
"Okay," Brightkit mewed, padding over to the log. As she got closer, she saw that one end of the log was shaded by hanging plants. Brightkit stuck her through.
"Hello?" She asked into the darkness. A pair of green eyes opened, and as Brightkit's eyes adjusted to the dim light, she saw a silver and gray tom to whom the eyes belonged to.
"Hello there," he rasped in a friendly tone. "Are you Leafflower and Thunderstorm's kit?"
"Yes. I'm Brightkit."
A shape moved in the depths of the den, amber eyes opening in the dark, in possession to a scrawny reddish brown she-cat.
"Good morning, Rosethorn," the silver tom greeted. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes," the she-cat, Rosethorn grumbled. "Until this little scrap woke me up. Who is it?"
"Brightkit, Leafflower and-"
"Thunderstorm's daughter" Rosethorn rolled her eyes. "They're kind of the only kits in the Clan at the moment."
"I suppose you're right," the tom mewed, returning his attention to Brrightkit. "You can come in. Rosethorn won't bite."
Brightkit padded into the den, plant shade swishing. "Who are you?" She asked. The tom's eyes lit up.
"Of course. I'm Mumblesong. Are you here for a story?"
"Yes, please," Brightkit nodded.
"Okay.
"Long ago, there were four Clans, ThunderClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan and WindClan. They all lived together for generations, having great battles as enemies but joining sides when they needed to.
"Eventually, their territories got too small to feed everyone, so the leaders came up with a plan. They each volunteered five cats from their Clans, ones with great leadership skills, faith in StarClan and the warrior code. They formed five groups, and set off to find a new place to settle. The leaders of the groups were named Snowfall, Dusksky, Dawnblaze, Clifffang and Lightfoot.
"On the way, there was a flood, and the groups were separated. Not all of them scattered; Lightfoot's group was carried away from the others. Lightfoot, a ThunderClan she-cat with all of the qualifying qualities, was able to find a home for her cats. That home is ours. Lightfoot found the Starspring, a place to talk with our ancestors. She became Lightstar, the first leader of LightClan.
"No one knows what happened to the great Clans of old, or the other groups, but the important thing is that we are here where we belong."
"That was a great story, Mumblesong!" Brightkit mewed, eyes wide with amazement.
"Come back another day and I'll tell you about the second leader, Cloudstar," Mumblesong offered. "But right now, I think that you'd best be off."
"Thank you!" Brightkit chirped, padding out of the hollow log. She saw her mother and sisters padding into the nursery.
"Is it nap time?" She asked, bounding over to them. Leafflower nodded.
Brightkit sighed. "Can we go out tomorrow? I had a lot of fun out here."
"Of course we can," her mother purred. "But now it's time to rest. I promise we'll go out tomorrow."
Brightkit yawned, padding into the den and curling up by Flashkit and Dawnkit. She fell asleep, wondering what would happen tomorrow.
Pretty long chapter, huh? Don't get your hopes up. The others may be as long or maybe even longer, but don't count on it for most of them.
Anyways, this is the story of the leader of my forum, Brightstar. If you want to, check it out to see what happened to her, but if not, enjoy the ride!
If you spotted any mistakes or errors, point them out in a review so I can fix them. If you have any advice or anything put that in a review too. I'm always open to criticism, but try not to make soul-crushing. Check back soon for the next chapter!