Snow flattened herself to the ground, just as her father had instructed. She felt excited as she felt the dead leaves crinkle against her belly fur as she felt her whiskers skim the dirt. She pressed her ears to the floor to hear mice carefully trek across the forest floor, to hear the squirrels leap onto the trees. The sun rays shot in between the tree leaves, blinding Snow in one eye. But she didn't mind.

This was what it felt to be outside of the Ratplace, to be free, out in the open...

"Good. Very good," Her father, Shrub, instructed. "Remember, keep your tail straight. You don't want it swishing the leaves and alerting the prey."

Snow nodded obediently and straightened her tail the best she could. She could feel herself trembling with excitement; from the tip of her whiskers to the end of her tail.

"Oh, here's one..." Shrub murmured as a squirrel pounced out of tree. "Careful, remember what I told you..."

This was it. This was her moment. This was the last thing that would then make her parents fully approved of her living with the forest cats. Snow could not mess this up. She knew her fate was to be out in the open, not stuck inside a den that was infested with rats.

Snow carefully, paw by paw, padded over to the squirrel, who was obliviously gnawing at a nut. She remembered what Shrub had told her, about how to hunt. How to pounce. How to strike the killing blow. She remembered everything...she needed to remember it.

As Snow was getting closer and closer to the squirrel, she suddenly felt a surge of nausea and fear. Nausea? Fear?

Snow didn't understand. She had been practicing this very hunting crouch for the past three moons of her life. She knew it like the back of her paw, though, to be honest, she didn't quite know the back of her paw that well...was this the end?

Snow gulped and looked frantically back at her father. His eyes were kind, urging her on, yet for some reason as she turned away she could smell the small scent of I told you so.

Shaking away all her fears, Snow took a leap of faith and pounced. As she pounced her nausea reached a peaking point, but so did her ecstasy. It felt great to have the wind ruffle her fur as she jumped, and to have her claws sink into the squirrel's neck, killing it instantly.

As she trotted back to her father, squirrel in jaw, she felt pleased to see his jaw wide open. He didn't speak on the way back to the Ratplace, but neither did Snow, for her mouth was full of squirrel fur.

"Take her as our daughter?!" Snow trembled with anxiety as she saw the cream-colored leader of one group of the forest cats stare at Frost, Shrub, and her bewildered.

"Yes," Frost murmured, her eyes finding the floor. "Erm, we come from the Ratplace...our daughter here, Snow, wishes to join you and your forest cats as she wishes to live out in the open...not in a place full of rats."

The golden tabby tom, Thornfrost, Snowkit took it, sniffed the air. "That explains the crow-food smell," he mewed.

The leader's deputy, a ginger tom, growled, "What do you think, Dawnstar. Should we accept her?"

Snow prayed and prayed as the cream-colored leader, Dawnstar, awkwardly shifted around her nest. "Hmm, well, I can't say no to an extra cat...I say why not."

Snow lifted her head, her eyes shining with happiness. "You will?" she meowed breathlessly. "You surely, truly, will?" She turned towards her parents, Frost and Shrub. She dipped her head and meowed, "I will never forget either of you. You helped me get here...to live with the forest cats."

Both of her parents dipped their heads back. They turned and exited the den. For a moment, Snow felt the urge to run back to her parents and beg for them to take her back. But as quick as it came, the moment was gone.

Dawnstar looked at her mate, Thornfrost, and her deputy, Flamestorm. She also looked at the medicine cat, Leafpelt, who was quietly sitting in the corner.

"None of you can say where the kit really came from. I'm going to say Thornfrost and I were hiding her so she could get used to her surroundings, all that great stuff...Leafpelt, you will back me up." Dawnstar looked at her loyal medicine cat, who nodded back in return.

"Come on. Let's introduce you to the rest of the cats." Dawnstar meowed to Snow. Snow looked up at her new foster mother with fear in her eyes.

"Will...will they like me?" Snow anxiously asked. Dawnstar laughed and assured Snow that they would. As they walked out of the den, Dawnstar told Snow everything about the forest cats she needed to know.

The forest cats were called warriors, and they lived in Clans. This Clan was DarkClan, and it was bordered by SunClan and IceClan. Every full moon, the cats would gather at the Island and announce news about what had happened in their Clan. These meetings were called Gatherings.

"Kits train to be warriors. Once a kit reaches six moons old, they will become an apprentice. Every apprentice is assigned a mentor, who will teach them until the apprentice is ready to be awarded a new name and title as warrior."

Warrior, Snow thought. You'll be a warrior!

"Right now, we are heading to the Giant Oak. This is where I make the announcements. Crawl on my back and cling on tight - I will be leaping onto the biggest branch." Snow felt a surge of joy as the wind rustled her fur as Dawnstar leapt to the branch. Snow steadily climbed off Dawnstar and hid behind her legs.

"Warriors and apprentices of DarkClan. I have great news. Thornfrost and I are proud to announce our kit. We have been hiding her for the past three moons in order for her to get adjusted to her surroundings as a leader's kit. We have yet to name her, but I think it would be an honor to do it right now." She turned around and looked at Snow with kind eyes.

Snow peaked out at the Clan from Dawnstar's legs and gaped at the amount of cats staring right back at her. She walked out from Dawnstar's legs and looked up obediently at her.

"I, Dawnstar, leader of DarkClan, call upon my ancestors in the naming of my kits. She has learned the Clans ways and is ready to receive her name." Taking a deep breath, Dawnstar mewed, "From now on this kit will be known as Snowkit. May StarClan bless her."

"Snowkit! Snowkit!" Snowkit stared in awe as her new family cheered her new name.

Snowkit...

Even as she walked towards the nursery, ahead of Dawnstar, she could feel a twinge of guilt and regret in her heart of leaving Frost and Shrub behind.