"And I find myself here on my knees again, Caught up in grace like an avalanche Nothing compares to this love love love, Burning in my heart..." Like an Avalanche, Hillsong United

CHAPTER ONE

Warm newleaf air swept over the hollow as a breeze picked up. A leaf was picked up in the wind from last leaffall; the yellow and brown leaf landed down near a hazel thicket.

It was obvious that newleaf had arrived early, much to everyone's relief. After suffering from such a devastating leafbare, it truly was a relief to feel the warmer air. Signs of fresh life could already be seen on the trees above.

Blazekit peered outside the nursery as he stared at the leaf. He'd heard so many stories about how beautiful the trees got during leaffall.

"Hey Blazekit, what are you doing?" He turned to see Mossykit watching him curiously. He was always close to his sister. Oakkit on the other paw was a different story. His brother was a bit more violent for his liking, and often looked upon him like he was some kind of freak.

"Look at this leaf," he murmured. Mossykit's ears pricked forward as she took a cautious step towards him. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw what he was staring at. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah but…. It's just a leaf," she purred in amusement. "Come on, Whiteflower said we can explore the camp today." She nudged him playfully before bounding outside.

Blazekit looked at her in excitement; he'd only seen the camp once or twice so far. He was eager to become an apprentice so that he could do more than just explore the camp. Especially since becoming an apprentice meant that he would leave the nursery. But it also marked an important day for him and his siblings.

On the day they become apprentices, their survival will be decided by the leader. Hollystar's words still rang loud and clear in Blazekit's mind. He still didn't understand why such a fate was needed just for kits.

"Hey you two." Blazekit looked at Olivelight in surprise when she greeted them with a wave of her tail. "Make sure you stay away from Grayleaf's den. She isn't in the best of moods."

He nodded in understanding. Grayleaf was Olivelight's sister. And she was also Jayfeather's former apprentice, which meant she had all of his attitude. He could still remember that one day when she nearly bit their heads off for exploring her den.

"Thanks for the warning," he replied.

Olivelight flicked her tail across his ears before joining a patrol. Nutwhisker and Leafstorm were waiting patiently for her until she approached them. In heartbeats they left the camp to patrol the borders.

The two of them were left to explore the rest of the camp until Oakkit or Fernshadow's kits woke up. Since it was still so early in the morning, they would still be asleep. Blazekit was in no hurry to grow up. He enjoyed his life as a kit.

I'll miss spending time with Mossykit, he realized.

"Come on, there's a magpie in the fresh-kill pile!" Before Blazekit could react, Mossykit dove into the fresh-kill pile. Or what was left of it. The hunting patrol had yet to return; he had seen them leave earlier.

Blazekit flinched when Mossykit threw a small magpie at him.

"You know I prefer mouse," he told her.

"Maybe I wasn't going to eat this," Mossykit meowed with a sheepish grin.

Suddenly his ears pricked forward with interest. He knew exactly what his sister had in mind.

"Where should we hide it?" he asked as they headed back to the nursery.

"I was thinking right by the nursery," Mossykit explained. Her tail flicked over to the right side of the nursery, where Oakkit always sat to wash his fur. "You can distract him while I place move it around, to make it look alive."

He nodded in agreement before heading for the nursery. Sure enough Oakkit was already awake. His brother was busy whispering something to Whiteflower, who only seemed to half listen. Blazekit forced back a purr of amusement as he watched them. This was going to be fun.

"Hey Oakkit, you doing anything later today?" he asked, trying to look curious.

"No, why should I?" He looked at Blazekit in annoyance.

"Just wondering," Blazekit replied with a shrug. He eyed Mossykit warily as his sister started placing the magpie above the nursery towards the right. It was Oakkit's favorite spot to lay down and relax under. Blazekit forced back a sheepish grin before looking at his brother. "So do you still think we're freaks?" he asked under his breath.

Oakkit's eyes narrowed with mistrust. Blazekit only flicked his tail and stared at his brother innocently. He backed away as soon as Mossykit disappeared, giving him the signal he needed. Once the deed was done and Oakkit reached his favorite spot, everything happened almost too quickly.

"What in StarClan's name?" He nearly yowled at the top of his lungs when the magpie started moving. Blazekit couldn't help but let out a mrrow of laughter at his brother's reaction. "What sort of mousebrained trick is this?" Oakkit suddenly swatted the magpie with his claws, knocking it to the ground.

"Just a little peace offering," Mossykit purred after joining them. Her eyes were bright with laughter as she watched Oakkit's face drop to a scowl. "Come on Oakkit, it was just a harmless prank. We could be doing something worse, like putting fire ants in your nest." She nudged him playfully.

"You already did that," Oakkit muttered. He was still glaring at Blazekit, who simply shrugged once again. He was used to getting the full blame; Oakkit almost never blamed Mossykit for the pranks that she usually came up with. "Besides, you're not supposed to play with your fresh-kill."

Blazekit rolled his eyes in annoyance. It was true that prey was supposed to be eaten, not played with. But they were allowed to have some fun once in a while. Blazekit couldn't understand how he and Oakkit were related. They were nothing alike. The only similarities they shared were pelt colors, if even that.

"Oakkit is right." Blazekit and Mossykit whirled around to see Tornclaw looking down at them with disappointment in his eyes. "You've just broken the warrior code by playing with your fresh-kill. The hunting patrols had to work hard in order to catch that magpie."

He nodded pointedly at the magpie that was now covered in dust and blood. Now it was inedible. Blazekit's ears flattened in shame when he realized that their father was right. He glanced over at Mossykit when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Can we try hunting to replace it?" he asked, hope flaring in his chest. Tornclaw looked at him in amusement before flicking his tail across Blazekit's ears.

"You are clever, but I'm afraid that won't be possible until you're an apprentice," he meowed. "Why don't you take something to the elder's den instead, I'm sure they would appreciate something from the fresh-kill pile."

Almost at once Blazekit's ears pricked forward. He would ensure that the elders got fed and taken care of. And when he was an apprentice he could catch a magpie of his own. Maybe than he could replace the one that he and Mossykit had ruined.

...

Poppykit watched from the entrance of the nursery as the three kits argued. Her denmates were always noisy and arguing. But she and her sister got along perfectly fine. At least that was what she liked to believe. There were times when she and Wrenkit would fight, but that was usually over something like who was bigger or stronger.

A few more heartbeats of this went on before Tornclaw intervened. As the father of those kits he was always busy watching them. And it seemed like today was no different. Finally Blazekit stopped ignoring his brother and trotted over to the fresh-kill pile, while Mossykit helped Tornclaw carry the battered magpie away from the nursery.

Once the three were done arguing, Poppykit got bored again. She turned to see that her sister was still fast asleep. Wrenkit's tail was wrapped over her nose as she curled up beside their mother. Fernshadow was a heavy sleeper and could probably sleep through a thunderstorm, but not the two of them.

"Come on Wrenkit, everyone else is awake!" she mewed, prodding her sister with a paw. "Come on!" She prodded harder this time, and Wrenkit opened one eye before groaning in annoyance. "Do I need to drag you out of here?" Poppykit suddenly teased.

Eventually Wrenkit realized that her sister was serious. The dappled brown and white kit stretched out her paws and yawned before getting up. Wrenkit was twice Poppykit's size, towering over her like a shadow. Poppykit wished that she had Wrenkit's strength. All she could do was look up to cats rather than speaking down to them.

"I can't believe it's already almost sunhigh," Wrenkit muttered. Wrenkit's eyes widened in alarm when she realized how late it was. The sun had already risen high above the hollow. Warmth spread through Poppykit as she soaked it in.

The camp was buzzing with activity. Mudpaw was busy boasting about his training with Quickbreeze. The dark brown and white tom was so proud about having the deputy as his mentor, even though Quickbreeze had only been deputy for a couple of moons. A hunting patrol was just returning, restocking a very low fresh-kill pile. Fallenpaw and Plumpaw were busy playfighting by the apprentice's den, ignoring Mudpaw's chatter.

"Let's go see what the other kits are doing," Poppykit suggested. Before Wrenkit could argue, she was already rushing off to the elder's den. Lilyheart always told the best stories, and was the oldest cat in the Clan. She could still remember when Firestar was leader of ThunderClan, and after him Bramblestar.

Hollystar had become leader shortly after she was named deputy. Lionblaze had died a mysterious death; no one knew the truth behind it. But he had been deputy when Squirrelflight retired to the elder's den. Hollystar was Lionblaze's daughter, and Sorrelfern her sister. Ironically enough Fernshadow was her sister as well, which made Firestar Poppykit's great grandfather, or something like that.

She shook her head at the thought. It didn't matter. Firestar was just a legend now told to keep kits well behaved. Many queens wanted their kits to stop pestering them and would tell them to act more like the former leader. Poppykit often wondered why it mattered.

We're just kits, it's not like we don't get into trouble all the time, she reminded herself. Plus we'll be apprentices soon enough, and than the leaders get to choose whether or not we live. And I doubt that Hollystar will let us die. Especially given the fact that Fernshadow was Hollystar's sister.

"Hello kits, are you here to join us?" Lilyheart's gaze swept over to Poppykit and Wrenkit. Blazekit and Mossykit were already seated nearby, eyes wide with interest. For a moment Poppykit wondered where Oakkit was, but than she thought better of it. "I was just about to tell the story about the Dark Forest battle."

Poppykit's eyes widened with interest. She remembered hearing the story only once. The story had left her feeling horrified. But she was older now and could understand just how strong the Clans had been that time. They banded together in order to defeat the Dark Forest.

"Many brave cats died in the battle, but their memories will always be honored," Lilyheart explained. "I can still remember what happened to my mother when she passed away. She refused to tell anyone about her wounds, and they became infected." Her eyes suddenly grew distant as she remembered something horrible.

"Sorreltail was a good warrior," Snowstorm murmured thoughtfully. "She would always bring us extra fresh-kill when Brightheart wasn't looking."

Poppykit forced back a purr of amusement. She could picture the two cats almost perfectly; Lilyheart would often describe what they looked like. Sorreltail and Brightheart had been good friends. And they were well taken care of by the other queens until the battle. Ferncloud, the cat Fernshadow was named after, and Daisy. Those two names were well known in the nursery.

"Jayfeather used to keep a branch in the camp too," Dewstep put in. "He marked it with all of the cats that perished in the battle. It might still be here somewhere, but we never really had a need for it when he passed away."

She remembered hearing about that branch. Hollystar had asked for it to be taken away because it was too distracting. But Poppykit knew there was more to it than that. Hollystar's eyes had grown dark when she gave that order. Something about it had bothered her.

"Thanks for sharing with us!" Blazekit suddenly mewed. He was already on his paws, tail flicking from side to side with excitement. Poppykit didn't miss the look on his face; Blazekit was up to something again. After the magpie incident one would think he would learn.

Poppykit thanked them as well before backing away. She wondered what would happen when she became an apprentice, or if she even became an apprentice. The thought had only just occurred her, and she looked at Wrenkit warily. She wanted to protect her sister now more than ever.

Than she noticed something odd happening. Above Wrenkit was a strange purple light glowing and swirling around. Poppykit stared at the light in surprise. Wrenkit looked at her warily and the light suddenly changed from purple to yellow.

What in StarClan's…. Poppykit had to stop herself from yelping in surprise as the light changed colors once again. She blinked once to make sure that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. It didn't take long for her to realize that what she was seeing was Wrenkit's emotions. How is that even possible?

"What's wrong with you?" Wrenkit suddenly demanded, cutting Poppykit from her thoughts. She blinked again and the lights disappeared. Poppykit's shoulders sagged in relief; at least it didn't seem to last long, whatever it was.

"Nothing," she replied, hoping that she was right. Something in her heart told her that she was lying. This kind of thing didn't happen to normal kits, right? So why did it happen to her?

AN: So I know that it's early in the morning right now, but I couldn't resist updating. I'm up to almost two or three chapters in this already, so updates might come faster than I thought. And yes, you did just get a glimpse of what will happen in the future. Some major foreshadowing here.

QOTD: What do you think of Blazekit and Poppykit so far? There will be two points of view from each Clan by the way :)

Skyfrost14 - Thank you, I plan on updating at least once or twice a week depending on how many reviews I get ;)

boscyboo - Thank you, I always appreciate the support! :)

bellabina - Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! And I think you meant Wolfheart, seeing as he isn't leader yet. But yeah, I would consider anyone who kills innocent kits evil. Thanks again!

Lunarsparks - Thank you! I'm really excited to get it started, especially since the whole plot was just written out last night XD

Snowspider of ColdClan - Thank you, he is a bit of a jerk unfortunately. And when I was typing Quickbreeze all I could think about was Quicksilver from Days of the Future Past. He is awesome in that movie ^^

sunburstkitty - Ah, thank you... And I have a feeling that Wolfheart's going to have quite a few enemies now. Was this update quick enough? ;)