A/N: Guest, would you like them to be in EarthClan, AirClan, or FireClan?
Thank you Guest, TheWrenOfTheCarolinas, AnimeLeopard, Grayshadow Warrior, Animal4Life, and droth22 for their ocs.
The reeds of the nursery entrance rustled, and Lakepaw came stepping through with a large fish in her jaws. She dropped the fish in front of the queens, Mothstar, Pebblewing, and Lilyfeather.
"How long are you going to be in the nursery for?" she asked Mothstar.
"Well, Redkit and Wildkit were born only a moon ago, so it's going to be awhile yet," Mothstar meowed, licking the top of each of her kits' heads.
"Right, so, since I've finished my duties for day, can I tell a story to the kits?"
Otterkit's ears angled forward, and she let out a small bounce of anticipation, she loved hearing stories!
"Go right on ahead, I need a break from this one," Lilyfeather mrrowed, nudging Driftkit towards Lakepaw.
"Be sure to bring them back before dark!" Pebblewing called after them, as they started padding out of the nursery.
Otterkit turned to her brother Whorlkit, "I wonder what kind of story Lakepaw is going to tell us today?"
Lakepaw was always telling them the most interesting stories.
Whorlkit shrugged.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
They continued to follow Lakepaw, until she stopped at the high hill where Mothstar called gatherings, and announced stuff to the clan.
Otterkit stared with awe at the apprentice, when she jumped up there, and gazed down at them. She looked like she belonged up there, if Otterkit didn't know any better, she'd think that Lakepaw was the leader of WaterClan.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" the deputy, Mackerelstripe, demanded, glaring up at Lakepaw with his fur bristled.
"Get down from there RIGHT NOW!"
"But Father," Lakepaw protested, "I was going to tell the kits a story."
Mackerelstripe lashed his tail.
"You don't need to tell them a story from the top of the high hill, get down right now, or you're going to be clearing Minnowleaf's ticks, and changing his bedding for the next three moons!"
"You can't tell me what to do," Lakepaw spat, "You won't be leader until Mothstar finally dies from having so many kits."
Otterkit's eyes widened with shock, and she took a step back, she couldn't believe that Lakepaw was talking back to a cat that was not only the deputy, but also her father! She couldn't imagine herself ever talking back to Breezetail like that.
"She's really in for it now," Whorlkit whispered.
Otterkit was about to voice her agreements, when an unfamiliar scent hit her nose, it was unlike anything that she ever smelled before. Instead of the usual fish, and fresh lake scent, it was musty, like mud or something, but drier, like dust, only thicker.
"Looks like we found two trespassers," Strikeclaw growled. Otterkit turned her attention to the camp entrance, and she saw Strikeclaw, Snowcloud, and Piketail with two unfamiliar cats between them.
They were both light brown toms, Otterkit guessed that they were littermates, even though one had green eyes, and was shorter and boarder, than the other one, who had yellow eyes.
"And what are EarthClan apprentices doing on our territory?" Mackerelstripe growled, racing over to stand in front of the two cats.
"Did you hear that Mothstar was currently taking care of kits? Did you decide this would be a good time to attack us?"
"Yes, did you?" Strikeclaw demanded, flexing his claws. Otterkit felt a jolt of fear go through her for the two apprentices, she knew that Strikeclaw had a temper, but he wouldn't actually hurt them, would he?
"We uh, um-"
"You were stealing prey, weren't you?" Strikeclaw hissed.
Snowcloud rested her tail over her brother's shoulder.
"Calm down Strikeclaw, they're only young."
"Young my tail, I knew not to trespass onto another clan's territory as soon as I opened my eyes."
As angry as his still sounded though, his bristled fur started to lay flat, much to Otterkit's relief, maybe these EarthClan apprentices would live to see another moon.
"Those two minnow-brains are lucky they didn't trespass onto FireClan territory, everyone knows that clan is full of rogues who don't care about the warrior code," Lakepaw spat.
"We recently met this blind cat, and we were walking around with our eyes closed, to try and see what it was like, and we got lost," the green-eyed apprentice meowed.
"What? You couldn't scent our markers or something?" Strikeclaw asked with a disbelieving hiss.
The yellow-eyed apprentice sniffled and shook his head.
"I can't smell anything right now."
"That makes sense for you, but what's his excuse?"
Mackerelstripe flicked his tail over to the green-eyed tom.
He didn't reply, and when Otterkit looked at him, she saw why, he was looking at Lakepaw, in the same way Breezetail looked at Pebblewing.
"Well?" Strikeclaw growled.
"It was my fault, I wandered here, and he just came to get me back," the yellow-eyed tom meowed with a sneeze.
"Is that true?" Mackerelstripe asked.
The green-eyed tom nodded, though Otterkit noticed his eyes never left Lakepaw. She glanced at her, relieved to see that she wasn't staring at him in the same way, in fact, she hardly seemed to notice him at all. Instead, it seemed as though she was teaching a battle move to Driftkit. She padded over to them, deciding it wasn't good to be eavesdropping on the trespassers, it wasn't any of her business, and it wouldn't be until she became an apprentice.
"Hey Otterkit, wanna practice this new move with me?" Driftkit asked.
"I don't know," Otterkit meowed, she would like to, but her mother didn't want them to learn any fighting moves before they were apprentices, she said she couldn't risk them getting hurt, and delaying their apprentice ceremonies.
"I wasn't going to teach her anyway," Lakepaw meowed dismissively. Otterkit felt a small pang in her chest, why would she teach Driftkit but not her? Why didn't she like her? Had she done something wrong?
"Why not?" Driftkit asked, voicing her thoughts.
"Because, you're my favorite, not her."
From her spot at the fresh-kill pile, Hollypaw flicked her ears, before trotting over to them. Otterkit tried not to let her fur bristle, she didn't care for Hollypaw much, she was kind of mean, and she thought she was better than everyone else.
"I think you're just hoping to have him as an apprentice when you become a warrior next moon, but I highly doubt that will happen, there's still a lot of cats who haven't had apprentices yet, who are already warriors," she meowed.
"That's not fair! Why did your parents have to have soooo many kits anyway? Now I'll probably be an elder before I even get a chance to have an apprentice," Lakepaw hissed.
"Kits make the clan strong, don't be jealous that my bloodline practically makes up the whole clan," Hollypaw bragged.
"Come on Otterkit, let's go," Driftkit meowed, padding away from the arguing apprentices. Otterkit followed after him, she didn't feel like seeing them fight either. Shaking her head, she let out a sigh, why couldn't they save their aggressiveness for battles with other clans, instead of taking it out on each other?
"So, who are you hoping your mentor is?" Driftkit asked.
Otterkit closed her eyes as she thought about it, she knew she couldn't pick her mentor, but if she could, she probably wouldn't pick Strikeclaw, he scared her a little. Mackerelstripe was also kind of scary, but not as much as Strikeclaw. Bluefire was really nice, and she didn't care much about fighting, which Otterkit liked, Snowcloud and Piketail were really nice too, though Piketail could be a little too loud sometimes.
"Maybe Bluefire or Snowcloud," she decided.
"I hope I get Strikeclaw, he's the most fierce warrior in the clan!" Driftkit exclaimed, flexing his claws.
"But he's so scary, I bet if you step one paw out of line, you'll be clearing Minnowleaf's ticks until you're a warrior!" Otterkit exclaimed.
"I don't mind that, I like Minnowleaf," Driftkit meowed. Otterkit was about to ask how anyone could like the grumpy elder, who always complained about everything, when she remembered that he was Driftkit's father. Of course he'd like him. She then felt guilty for thinking that way about Minnowleaf, he was an elder, he earned his right to be grumpy, though, from the stories she's heard about him, he's been that way ever since he emerged from the nursery, and it's only gotten worse with age.
"Do you know what's going to happen with those two EarthClan apprentices?" she asked. With all the talks about mentoring and stuff, she had forgotten all about them.
"I don't know."
She turned her head towards the entrance of the camp, to see that the two EarthClan cats were gone, and Strikeclaw and Snowcloud were sharing tongues, while Mackerelstripe sitting in front of the fresh-kill pile, guarding it. After it was learned that Lakepaw kept taking more food than she should from the fresh-kill pile, even before Minnowleaf, the queens, and kits, had been fed, Mothstar asked for it to be guarded at all times.
"It looks like they left," she meowed.
"Good, hopefully Strikeclaw and Mackerelstripe sent them away with some scars to remember us by," Driftkit growled.
Otterkit shook her head, even though it was wrong that they had trespassed, she still didn't want them to get hurt.
"Come on, it doesn't look like Lakepaw is going to tell us a story today," Otterkit sighed, glancing over at the she-cat, who was still arguing with Hollypaw. She didn't understand why they always had to fight with each other, they were clanmates, they should be friends, or at least tolerant of each other.
At first, she was excited at the prospect of becoming an apprentice in a moon, but at the thoughts of having to share a den with those two always fighting, she wasn't so sure anymore.
EarthClan
Leader: Stonestar - thickset dark grey tom with amber eyes
Deputy: Buckwind - thin, long legged, dark brown tom with yellow eyes
Medicine Cat: Skunkstripe - fluffy black and white tom with skunk-like markings and green eyes
Warriors:
Mudfrost - brown tom with white flecks and icy blue eyes
(apprentice: Warrenpaw)
Cedarwhisker - light brown she-cat with really long whiskers and green eyes
Apprentices:
Warrenpaw - light brown tom with green eyes
Sandpaw - light brown tom with yellow eyes and really long whiskers
Queens:
Slatefeather - fluffy grey she-cat with amber eyes (mother of Mudfrost's kits, Shalekit and Flintkint)
Elders:
Dustnose - black tom with a brown muzzle and amber eyes
Kits:
Shalekit - grey she-cat with a dash of white on her face, shoulder, and a white back left paw; blue eyes
Flintkit - thick furred brown tom, with a white muzzle, chest, belly, white front paws, and a white right back paw; amber eyes (main kit)
FireClan
Leader: Redstar - red tom with yellow eyes
Deputy: Scorchpelt - light grey and orange she-cat with yellow eyes
Medicine Cat: Smokefur - dark grey tom with blue eyes
Warriors:
Blazestorm - black tom with green eyes (former rogue)
Charcoalfur - dark grey tom with green eyes (former rogue)
Antclaw - red and black she-cat with yellow eyes
Apprentices:
Flarepaw - orange tom with yellow eyes
Emberpaw - grey she-cat with yellow eyes
Lostpaw - grey tom with yellow eyes (name will be explained in FireClan's chapter)
Queens:
Sparkflower - tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes (mother of Charcoalfur's kit, Charredkit, foster mother of Sunkit)
Elders:
Firepelt - orange tom with yellow eyes
Kits:
Sunkit - yellow tabby tom-kit with white paws and green eyes
Charredkit - grey tom-kit with blue eyes (main kit)
WaterClan
Leader: Mothstar - large, thick-furred, brown she-cat, golden eyes, golden patches, webbed paws
Deputy: Mackerelstripe - blue-grey striped tabby tom with green eyes
Medicine Cat: Bramblesky - soft-furred, pale brown and white she-cat, blue eyes, feathered webbed paws, tufted ears
Warriors:
Copperclaw - large, broad-shouldered, mottled black and ginger tom, copper eyes, tufted ears
(apprentice: Lakepaw)
Strikeclaw - large, thick-furred, broad-shouldered, brown-tabby tom, copper eyes, battle scarred pelt, large paws
Bluefire - large, thick-furred, blue-sliver she-cat, blue eyes, webbed paws
Snowcloud - small, soft-furred, white she-cat, blue eyes, pink nose, tufted ears, scarred nose
Piketail - grey-tabby tom, golden eyes, mottled ginger hind paws
Milkpelt - short-furred, milky coloured she-cat, green eyes, tufted ears, short legs
Breezetail - white tom with one gray front paw; pale green eyes
(apprentice: Hollypaw)
Brookflower - dilute calico she-cat with green eyes
(apprentice: Dovepaw)
Eeltail - skinny brown tom with a long tail
(apprentice: Foxpaw)
Apprentices:
Hollypaw - skinny, dark tortoiseshell she-cat, green eyes, lean tail, nicked ears
Dovepaw - white she-cat, blue eyes, sliver-tabby stripes, feathered paws
Foxpaw - skinny, bright ginger-tabby, tom, copper eyes, scarred flank
Lakepaw - grey she-cat with green eyes
Queens:
Pebblewing - brown tabby she-cat with sleek fur; blue eyes (mother of Breezetail's kits, Whorlkit and Otterkit)
Lilyfeather - fluffy white she-cat with green eyes (mother of Minnowleaf's kit, Driftkit)
Elders:
Minnowleaf - brown tom with green eyes (father of Brookflower and Driftkit)
Kits:
Redkit - lithe, muscular, long thick-furred, red and creamy-tabby she-cat, blue eyes, tufted ears, feathered webbed paws
Wildkit - board-shouldered, white tom, green eyes, black-tabby stripes
Whorlkit - light gray tom-kit with white markings; light green eyes
Otterkit - light brown she-kit with white paws; green eyes (main kit)
Driftkit - grey and brown mottled tom with amber eyes
AirClan
Leader: Breezestar - white she-cat with blue eyes
Deputy: Cloudfoot - black tom with white paws and blue eyes
Medicine Cat: Pigeonpelt - grey tom with green eyes
Warriors:
Rockfall - black tom with amber eyes
(apprentice: Owlpaw)
Shatterwind - grey, black tinted, tom with white tail tip, paws, belly, and chest; green eyes
Apprentices:
Owlpaw - brown tom with huge yellow eyes
Queens:
Clayfur - light brown and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes (mother of Rockfall's kits, Willowkit, Icekit, Sandkit, and Cloudkit)
Coldwhisker - white cat with grey, black, yellow, and amber spots on her back; blue eyes (mother of Shatterwind's kits, Rainkit, Icekit, Blackkit, and Whitekit)
Shiverflight - beautiful grey tabby she-cat with long fur
Elders:
Robinclaw - light brown she-cat with a red belly and green eyes
Kits:
Willowkit - pale gray she-cat with amber eyes
Cloudkit - white tom with green eyes
Sandkit - ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Icekit - pure white she-cat with sky blue eyes
Rainkit - grey tom with dark grey paws and black tints
Blackkit - black tom with green eyes
Whitekit - white she cat with grey paws; green eyes (main kit)