The Shine

Author's Note
This is my sixth story (the three Rainstar's Prophecies, Pure As Snow, and The Light At the End of the Tunnel), and the protagonists are Brightheart's second litter of kits, Amberkit, Dewkit (agh, I ALWAYS call him 'Driftkit'), and Snowkit.

WARNING: DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT FINISHED WITH THE LAST HOPE. There will be many hints and spoilers, such as deaths, births, plans, and happenings. Unless you want to be spoiled, do not read. Please do not complain in the comments that you haven't read the book, and you received so many spoilers, because you have been warned.

I know that wasn't an official 'spoiler' thing, but it's the best I can do.

Enjoy!

Chapter One-Amber
I curl up next to my mother, with Snowkit and Dewkit beside me. It has been a tiring day, and all of us our exhaused. Cloudtail came to visit us, remarking with pride about how well we were coping with the stress of the recent attack.

Two moons ago, the Clans beside the lake were attacked by vicious cats from the Dark Forest, who no longer have any sense of the warrior code, and care nothing about killing. Lilykit and Seedkit told me that one of their flaws is their confidence: because they're already dead, they know they can't be killed, but they can kill us, the living. Our Clan knows that all too well.

We lost four cats in the battle, Hollyleaf, Ferncloud, Mousefur, and our own leader, Firestar. Firestar wasn't killed in the battle, no, he was killed afterwards by a falling tree branch. His death would have been quick and painless, Seedkit explained. She and her sister know a lot more about ThunderClan than we do, having been around for three and a half moons. They're half-way to apprenticeship.

It seems like moments later that Dewkit prods me awake, and gestures to Snowkit. He's already halfway out the nursery, making his way to the elders' den. We quickly hop out of Brightheart's nest, and scurry after him.

The den is empty save for Purdy, a plump tabby tom with a graying muzzle. Seedkit and Lilykit say that he used to be a loner, long before they were born, and then Firestar, the previous leader, accepted him into the Clan, especially after Purdy saved the lives of two of Firestar's grandkits, Lionblaze and Jayfeather.

"Purdy!" chirps Snowkit. "Can you tell us the story about the fox?"

"Molepaw said that was his favorite!"

"Did he now?" Purdy purrs.

"No, tell us about Hollyleaf!" protests Dewkit. "I like that one."

"What do you think, young'un?" Purdy asks me.

"I like the one where you rescued Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and the WindClan cat from the dogs," I say quietly.

Purdy chortles. "Oh, I love that one too. Now, since your sister's the she-cat, we'll go with what she wants." Snowkit pouts, but Dewkit looks happy nonetheless. "Now, we were padding away, I was with Bramblestar and Squirrelflight, an' Crow-what's-his-name, and Stormfur and Brook, and two cats named Night and Talon, who now live in the Tribe of Rushing Water, an' Tawnypelt, and then, all of a sudden, I hear something, and I turn around, and none of the apprentices are with us! So I backtrack, spot the barn, smell the mice, and think 'Huh. Those mouse-brained young'uns are probably off to catch some prey! After their father told them not to! Good thing they know about--' And that's when I realized that they didn't know about the dogs, yappity things, and I could hear a shriek right then and there, and knew that it was up ter me to go save 'em. An' so I did. When I get there that Breezepaw-what's-his-face--"

"Breezepelt?" interrupts Snowkit. Purdy nods.

"Breezepelt, then Breezepaw, he's cradling his tail which is ragged and bleeding, but I tell them that if they want to keep their whole selves, they had better get their whiskers up to this stack of hay in the barn loft, otherwise the dogs are gonna eat them whole!"

We all gasp at this point. "Who'd they get?" whispers Dewkit.

"No one," replies Purdy. "I saved 'em all."

I mew in approval. "Good job, Purdy! No wonder Brambleclaw offered you a place in ThunderClan, you're brave!"

"Aw, it was nothin'. Ol'...ol' Mousefur was....braver." Purdy sniffs, and turns away, wiping his face on his moss. Dewkit, Snowkit, and I exchange a glance. Mousefur had died in the Great Battle, as we began to call it, and we all knew Purdy really cared about Mousefur, just as Longtail, an elder who had died moons ago, when Millie's kits were just apprentices, did. Mousefur knew she was lucky to have so many cats who cared about her.

"It's all right, Purdy," I say consolingly, and Purdy looks at me with tearful eyes. "When you go to StarClan, Mousefur will be there for you. And she's with Longtail anyhow."

"Longtail," sighs Purdy. "Great cat."

"We know," Dewkit mews solemnly. "I think we should be going now. Thank you for the story, Purdy. We'll visit you again sometime!"

"All cats old enough to catch their own fresh-kill please gather here for a Clan meeting!" Bramblestar's yowl jerks us out of our sad silence, and we jump, turning. Bramblestar's powerful shoulders are silhouetted against the sunny sky, and the cats in the camp pad towards him.

Brightheart emerges from the nursery, with Daisy on her paws and Sorreltail close behind. Lilykit and Seedkit sit just outside the nursery, and so we creep towards them.

"We can't catch our own prey," whispers Dewkit. "We shouldn't be here!"

Bramblestar begins to talk. "It doesn't matter," Seedkit hisses. "He doesn't see us!"

"Shh," I hush. "We came here to listen, not chatter!"

Sorreltail turns around and gives us a look, which quiet her own kits into furious silence.

"Graystripe, Dustpelt, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go and join the elders?"

Both toms are clear as they reply, "It is."

"Your Clan honors you and all of the service you have given us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest."

"Graystripe! Dustpelt! Graystripe! Dustpelt!" chants the Clan.

"There's plenty of room," croaks Purdy, and the two senior warriors, now elders, pad solemnly after him.

"I wonder why Sandstorm didn't retire," murmurs Snowkit.

"None of our business," I reply. "It's her decision!"

"I suppose you're right," Snowkit mutters.

Lilykit and Seedkit smile at me before we all enter the nursery, and, one-by-one fall asleep in the sunhigh sunshine.

Chapter Two--Snow
"I want Mousewhisker to be my mentor," I boast, staring at the gray and white warrior.

"Well, I am fine with any mentor," Amberkit says. "Because they're all great warriors!"

"I want Jayfeather," Dewkit says quietly.

"But he's a medicine cat!" I say incredulously. "Don't you want to be a warrior?"

Dewkit shakes his head. "I want to heal, not hurt!"

"Huh."

"But you won't get to have kits," protests Amberkit. "Don't you want to help the Clan grow?"

"I do," insists Dewkit. "And I can do that by repairing them. So they can grow the future generations of the Clan. I want to be a medicine cat!"

"Deciding already?" purrs Brightheart, padding up to us.

"We want to be warriors," I chirp, gesturing to Amberkit and myself. "But Dewkit wants to be a medicine cat!"

"If Jayfeather accepts me," adds Dewkit.

"That's perfectly all right," Brightheart mews. "Now, you three, there's a Gathering tonight, and--"

"We'll get to go?" I ask excitedly. "Are we going to be made apprentices?"

"No," chuckles our mother. "You still have three more moons!"

"Lilykit and Seedkit have only two," mumbles Amberkit, scraping the ground with her claws. "I wish they would wait for us, or something."

"Anyways, what I was going to say was this; there is a Gathering tonight, and I'm going to be gone. However, Daisy is still in the nursery, and she can watch over you while I'm gone, and there are going to be warriors to protect you. Okay? So no worries."

"And," adds Amberkit. "It's the night of the full moon, so no Clan would dare attack us!"

"I don't think there are going to be any attacks for a while," Brightheart murmurs darkly.

Not that I'm battle-hungry like the evil Tigerstar, but I want to be an apprentice and I want to fight in my first battle! I'll probably never get to though, because the Clans will hold a sort of peace-truce for so long after the Great Battle. I know all Clans are still recovering, either from the deaths of their own Clan, or the injuries, or the hurt at the betrayal of the cats.

"Let's go talk to the elders," Amberkit mews. "I wonder if Dustpelt and Graystripe have any good stories?"

"Millie's there too," adds Brightheart. "You missed her ceremony, you were sleeping, but she wanted to stay with her mate."

"Graystripe?"

"Indeed. Now go see if they'll tell you something about the old forest territories."

"Okay!" I say, and bounce over towards the elders without waiting for Amberkit and Dewkit.

Millie and Graystripe are sharing tongues outside of the nursery, while Dustpelt listens to Purdy, his eyes sparkling with annoyance.

"You can't have, Purdy. Any sane Clan cat knows not to take on a badger no matter how much experience they've got under their paws! We've had many warriors die because of badgers."

"I told you," Purdy says stubbornly. "I fought one, and beat it. It lumbered away whining like a kit."

I cough. "Excuse me?"

Dustpelt looks amused, while Purdy grumbles something unintelligible.

"He says he means a badger kit," explains Dustpelt, shooting Purdy a glance.

"Uh-huh," mews Purdy.

Amberkit races up. "Brightheart says we should ask you about the forest territories!"

"Did she now?" Purdy asks. "Well, can't say I know much about 'em, how about I tell you about the time when--"

"I know about them," interrupts Dustpelt. "And so does Graystripe. Hey, Graystripe!"

Graystripe's head rises from a mass of slumbering gray fur. Millie's curled up next to him, but she doesn't move as Graystripe stands, stretches, and pads over.

"Sorry to disturb your nap," Dustpelt meows, giving a small chuckle.

"I had just fallen asleep," Graystripe replied with mock indignation. "Anyhow, what do you want?"

"These kits want to know about the old territories."

"Yes, we do!" Amberkit says, shaking her tail.

"Well," begins Graystripe. "A long while ago, ThunderClan lived in a huge forest. It was marvelous! Far back over the mountains, we lived. There was this Twolegplace near ThunderClan territory, where another Clan used to live ages before, SkyClan. We bordered RiverClan and ShadowClan, but all of the Clans' territories met at Fourtrees, which was our Gathering place. ThunderClan had the best territory; there was a sandy hollow, where apprentices trained, Snakerocks, which was infested with snakes--that's a tale for another time--and there was Sunningrocks, which RiverClan and ThunderClan would constantly fight over. There was also this huge Thunderpath, where monsters rolled across day and night. Many warriors have died on that Thunderpath...lucky we don't have such a large one here!"

"Whoa," breathes Amberkit.

"Where'd you share tongues with StarClan?" Dewkit asks.

"Yeah," I add. "Where?"

"A place far beyond WindClan's territory called Highstones," Dustpelt says. "That's also where apprentices went as a sort of ceremony, they accompanied their leader, and sometimes their mentor or medicine cat there. There was a shining stone called the Moonstone at Highstones, and that is the equivalent of our Moonpool!"

"Huh," mews Dewkit. "Interesting."

"Yes, well, now you had better get to bed," Graystripe says, glancing at the moon. "It's almost time for the Gathering!"

And with that, he wakes up Millie, beckons Purdy and Dustpelt, and follows Bramblestar out of camp.

Chapter Threee--Dew
Coming Soon!