Warrior Cat Cody: Hey there, everyone, and welcome back to Warrior Cat Tales Of Virtues! I've been kinda busy with some stuff, but I'll be working some more on FanFiction. And I've been working my hardest to do so too.

So anyway, I think you might be noticing the pattern in the story now. The first two had the toms and the next two will have the she-cats. After that, it'll be reversed going from AirClan to WaterClan. And starting on the ninth chapter, it'll be the reverse of the first eight chapter; you'll find out how it works. Plus, it's inspired by the list of virtues, so it'll take around fifty-two chapters.

Now that that's done, let's get on with this chapter and on with the story!

Uploading Date: February 24, 2015

Enjoy!

...

The Mysterious Prey-Giver

"Come on, Quinceheart. Time to wake up. First day as a warrior!"

With a stretch and a yawn, Quinceheart rose from her nest and stretched. The cream-furred she-cat had just become a warrior of FireClan last night, having gone through plenty of moons to training. It had gone smoothly except on her first night, when she had been set up for a mean trick from WaterClan apprentices. But other than that, the six moons of training went okay.

Above her was Silvershade, her older sister from an older litter. The dark silver tabby cat was usually stoic, but she would open her heart and emotions to family members.

"Morning, sis," Quinceheart replied, giving one more yawn. "What's up?"

Silvershade shivered a bit, the dark stripes along her body shimmering like a fish. "Well, it's time to go hunting; we gotta find out who's been leaving food on the border lately. Anyone you wanna take with you?"

Quinceheart glanced over across the camp to where the elders were gathering. One elder came across her mind: Mossface, their grandfather from their father's side. He had always had stories and joke to tell even if they woke up the other elders.

So she mewed, "Can I go see the elders first? I wanna see how Grandpa's doing."

"Sure," Silvershade replied. "Just come to the camp entrance when you're done. I gotta go on a hunting patrol near EarthClan. Tell me how he's doing."

Quinceheart got out of the den and crossed over to the elder's den, which rested under a tree stump where a pine tree used to be. Around her, large pillars of rock towered over the camp like the pine trees in FireClan territory. Cats were busy as usual in FireClan, and that was the way she liked it.

When she got to the elders' den, the first cat to greet her was grumpy old Hawktalon. "Why do you have to disturb us this early?" he growled, turning around. "Can't an old cat get some sleep without young'uns barging in on us?"

"Sorry," Quinceheart mewed.

"Don't be," Mossface's voice spoke up, making her look at the old gray tom. "Hawktalon's been hanging around his nest ever since that falcon nearly tore his tail off. He'll be fine." Ignoring a huff from the tabby tom, he went on, "How would you like to hear a story?"

Quinceheart's tail quivered. "Yes please! But please hurry; I'm gonna go on patrol soon."

Mossface sat up and meowed, "All right then. It's going to be a story about a Clan far away from the four Clans, one called ThunderClan."

That made Quinceheart and the elders listen to this tale. The legend had been passed down from the oldest elders of the newly-formed Clans to the kits of the present day, how four Clans came together inspired by four Clans that lived by a lake.

"Let me tell you about one of their leaders, a cat named Firestar," Mossface went on. "Viperstar may say that he doesn't like kittypet blood in the Clan, but I've always not been bothered by it as long as they do their best. Anyway, Firestar had been a kittypet for the first six moons of his life before becoming a Clan cat. He eventually rose to become one of the best well-known leaders, but others didn't agree with many decisions he made."

"What kind?" Quinceheart asked, but she knew the answer.

"He let in kittypets and loners," gray-furred Plumwhisker rasped, her blind eyes shining. "I wasn't really thrilled about it at first when I heard of it. Kittypets and loners were usually never allowed to become Clan cats."

"Why should they?" Hawktalon growled. "Why can't they let us Clan cats be in peace?"

Mossface looked over to him. "Not every cat lives in a Clan, my old friend. Just like not every stripe on a tabby is the same." He turned back to his waiting granddaughter and said, "Plumwhisker is right, though; Firestar did let kittypets and loners into the Clan, but they were able to contribute to their Clan.

"Then this a lesson you must learn right away," Mossface concluded. "Ignorance is something that must be cautioned. If you want to be a leader one day, you will have to be respectful of other cats no matter their origin or ways. Do you understand?" With that, he gently licked Quinceheart's left ear, ignoring a tired snort from Hawktalon.

"Yeah," Quinceheart mewed, knowing that the old tom was right. "I'll try and remember."

Mossface nodded. "Good girl. As long as you try your best...including your patrol today." He curled up in his nest and wrapped his tail over his face. "Maybe you can catch that rogue who's been catching our food."

Quinceheart nodded and looked back out of the den. Just recently, there had been scents of another cat at the edge of their territory, supposedly stealing prey. However, instead of taking off with it, this cat seemed to be leaving the fresh-kill out in the open so that a patrol could pick it up. The other day, they had left a rabbit at the edge of the forest, and many cats were eager to get this "thief".

Gentle snoring sounds told Quinceheart that her grandfather had fallen fast asleep. With a nod towards the elders, she backed away from the elders' den and towards the camp entrance.

...

The hunting patrol wasn't going as well as the FireClan cats had hoped for. Since it was greenleaf, the trees had bright green leaves that blocked the sun, making it hard to see hawks soaring through the canopy. So Quinceheart had decided to hunt in the barren area in the forest where there used to be a volcano; the mountainside hadn't been overrun by lava for many many moons. Thus, it was safe for cats to hunt at and for other animals to live peacefully.

Anyway, Quinceheart was just stalking a mouse...though not completely focused on the mouse. She was watching a hawk on a pine tree branch spotting the mouse and flying over towards it. She remembered hearing stories of how Fire, the founder of FireClan, had adopted this kind of hunting skill from a Tribe that lived not too far away. Once the hawk had captured the mouse, it started to lift up and was about to get fully airborne when a flash of black-and-white collided with the bird and sent it crashing down into the bushes.

Quinceheart stepped back, amazed, as the scuffle continued in the brambles. Just a minute later, and there was no more rustling...at least, not from the hawk.

"Sorry about the messy kill," the loner meowed, a cheerful black-and-white tom, as he hauled himself out of the brambles. "Hawks can be pretty tough with all their talons and stuff."

"Um...who are you?" Quinceheart asked. "And what're you doing in FireClan territory?"

The loner looked around before looking back at her. "It's a nice place. I remember being here before. And my name's Darwin, by the way," he added, answering her question. "I'm only out here until my owners come back."

Quinceheart blinked. "So you're a kittypet? I thought they were all fat and lazy?"

"Don't let appearances fool you," Darwin meowed, a hint of a warning in his voice. "By the way, I don't understand the prejudice Clan cats have against non-Clan cats. We're all cats, aren't we?"

Now that he mentioned it, Quinceheart admitted that the kittypet was right. Mossface had even told her about how kittypets, loners, and rogues had their own lives and she should respect them, and she felt ashamed for hinting that Darwin was fat and lazy. She had seen the way he had caught that hawk and brought it down with him into the bramble bushes.

So she mewed, "Sorry for calling you all that. I was just amazed, that's all."

Darwin was about to reply when a loud voice called, "Quinceheart! You there?"

She turned and saw a light brown tom making his way through the brambles until he was before her. Hareclaw was a cat who had trained beside her, and she had started having a crush on him. But there was no time for thinking that, for Hareclaw had noticed the black-and-white cat before them.

"What're you doing here, kittypet?" he growled. "This is FireClan land!"

"I know," Darwin replied. "I was just catching that hawk for you guys. You looked like you needed it, after having a tough leaf-bare and all. And please be a bit more respectful about where I come from."

Hareclaw frowned. "But Dad said that kittypets were nothing but fat and lazy sacks of fox dung who lie in the sun all day."

Quinceheart winced. His father was Viperstar, the leader of FireClan; some of his prejudices must have rubbed off on his son.

This time, it was Darwin who frowned. "I just finished telling your girlfriend over here-"

"Girlfriend?" Quinceheart asked, puzzled. "What's that?"

"Twoleg word for mate," Darwin replied.

Now they understood. And then they said at the same time, "He's/she's not my mate!"

Darwin purred, "I know, I was just kidding. So anyway, I had caught that hawk for you if you wanted it; you looked like you guys were starving anyway, and you got the mouse too. But if you want me to leave-"

"Actually, why don't you come pay the camp a visit?" Quinceheart asked. Hareclaw looked around at her, surprised, and she told him, "Don't worry. If your dad doesn't like it, then we'll make sure Darwin leave the camp safely."

"Okay," Hareclaw replied with a sigh. "But if Dad tears our tails off for this, I'm blaming you."

So Quinceheart and Darwin picked up the mouse and hawk respectively while Hareclaw went back to pick up a ground squirrel he caught earlier. They made their way down the side of the dormant volcano, meeting with the hunting patrol who had hunted just below the volcano. They did question why Darwin was here, but the two young warriors explained that the kittypet wanted to come along.

Once the hunting patrol picked up their prey, they made their way down the hill and towards the clump of trees where they made their camp. But some of the cats here had already spotted Darwin, for the queens ushered their kits into the nursery, and the cats on patrol dumped their fresh-kill on the pile before confronting Darwin. Quinceheart watched the kittypet drop his catch on the pile, dropped the mouse on the pile, and walked over to the crowd to see if things would end well.

"Back from hunting, are you?" Viperstar had appeared out of his den at the foot of a rock pillar, his pale silver fur gleaming in the sunlight as he stepped forth surrounded by the cats. "And who's this?"

Quinceheart flicked her tail behind her towards Darwin. "This is Darwin," she replied. "He's a kittypet who helped us with hunting. And then...we invited him here for a visit. We were hoping that you wouldn't mind."

Viperstar looked between Quinceheart and Darwin while the FireClan cats muttered to themselves while shooting Quinceheart suspicious glances. Then the leader snapped, "Of course I would mind! Did you not know one of our rules, you two? You know how I feel about kittypets. No kittypet, loner, or rogue is supposed to set paw into FireClan."

"He said he was helping us catch prey," Quinceheart explained. "Whenever prey gets scarce at where we hunt, he finds some prey around where he lives."

"She's right, Dad," Hareclaw added. "That explains how we found that huge rabbit on our border the other day. And that's why there was a lot of non-Clan cat scent."

"Be that as it may, he's a kittypet!" Viperstar hissed. "What use can a loner do for us?"

That was when Darwin spoke up. "Sir, I know I'm not much, but I'm a cat like you. Aren't I a cat just like you?"

Viperstar looked as if he had been beaten over the head with a big paw. That was when Darwin continued his speech.

"I've been watching you, not spying on you, whenever you went on patrols," the black-and-white tom went on. "Anytime I see you encounter a kittypet or rogue, you're pretty rude towards 'em. Not your young warriors here, though; Quinceheart and Hareclaw were nice enough to escort me to your camp. They treated me better than you have treated the kittypets and rogues." He stood up and meowed, "I'm not asking you to completely change. I just wanted to tell you that we kittypets can be tough too, that we can handle some stuff on our own."

Quinceheart realized that Darwin was right. So she meowed, "He's right. How long have we warriors looked down on kittypets? I know the warrior code said to reject the kittypet life, but do we have to exclude them as well?"

Viperstar held his tail up. "Stop right there. I've heard enough," he growled at her before turning to Darwin. "How do you know so much about FireClan?"

Darwin met his gaze proudly. "I was once lived here; Poppystar had been very welcoming, for she was my cousin. And now, if you'll excuse me, I better go back home."

They let him pass, watching him go in surprise as he left. Viperstar muttered something about weird kittypets before stalking away from his Clan and to his den. Quinceheart felt better when Darwin left but not because he left. She was feeling better because she now had a new respect for kittypets. She took the hawk from the fresh-kill pile and dragged it over towards the elders' den, where Mossface was waiting for her at the entrance

"I've seen it all from the entrance of this den. And you've done good, youngster," the old gray tom meowed in approval. "I wouldn't be surprised if you became a leader one day."

To be continued...

...

Warrior Cat Cody: Done with this chapter, and I hope you like it. If there's something you don't like about it or if there's something wrong, don't be afraid to let me know. As long as you're nice about it.

Now we got through one other lesson: awareness. That is, awareness that kittypets can be just as tough as Clan cats, rogues, and loners. I was gonna put awareness for autism in this chapter, but I decided to go ahead and put that in the next chapter. You'll find out what it's about when that chapter gets uploaded.

See ya next time!