The Lion's Claws

A Quick Word
This story takes place in the old forest, based off the old and noble ways that the warriors used to conduct themselves (a.k.a pre-kittypet invasion). I hope I stay true.

Ch. 1 - Territory
Lionkit bounced up and down excitedly, unable to be tamed. Today she and her brother were going to be named apprentices!

“Can you at least act like you’re older than seven moons?” Sparrowkit, her brother, hissed.

Lionkit gave her brother a long stare. The brown tabby’s fur was puffed slightly and his tail quivered almost without detection, but to Lionkit, she could see how exited he truly was. “Don’t be such a rain cloud,” she purred, cuffing him over the ear affectionately. “You’re just as excited as me, probably more.”

Sparrowkit shook his head free of her paw, and leapt onto her, pushing Lionkit onto her back. “I bet I’m going to be giver my warrior name in just a moon. Then deputy the next.” His pale amber eyes finally let shine the mutual pleasure that every kit shared the day of their ceremony.

“Oh yeah?” Lionkit challenged, shoving her brother off. “And how do you suppose Blizzardfur is going to react to that?” Deputies had to retire or die before they ended their reign.

Sparrowkit shook his head. “He admits what a wonderful warrior I am and steps down, just like that.”

“Oh really?” Mistheart, their mother, murmurs. Her blue eyes roll, skeptical. “How about you worry about getting your apprentice name before that?”

Hailstar’s cry sounded from the center of the camp, and Lionkit scrambled out of the nursery, squinting her eyes as the harsh light of the sun met her eyes. She and her brother padded the base of the rock where Hailstar addressed them.

The rock, or Shellrock as it was called, had been decorated with shells and feathers and beautiful stones in honor of each cat born into the Clan over the years. Hers was a yellow stone that matched the color of her eyes. It had been found by her mother when she had made her journey to the mothermouth as an apprentice.

“Today is a very special day,” Hailstar announced. “Sparrowkit and Lionkit have reached their sixth moon, and will be named apprentices today.” The RiverClan cats murmured happily but with a bit of tension, each hoping that they would be their mentor. “By naming apprentices, we show that RiverClan will continue no an remain strong.”

Hailstar swung his head over to Sparrowkit. “Sparrowkit, from now on until you’ve earned your warrior name shall be known as Sparrowpaw. Your mentor will be Tigereye.”

Lionkit burned with jealousy and envy. Tigereye had trained some of the best warriors, not to mention Hailstar himself.

Sparrowpaw padded forward to his new mentor, gently touching noses. The large black warrior rumbled softly, “Welcome, Sparrowpaw.”

Lionkit turned her attention back to Hailstar, who’s yellow gaze was burning into hers. “Lionkit, from now on until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Lionpaw. Your mentor will be Willowleaf.”

The newly named Lionpaw turned to meet her new mentor. The tall silver she-cat padded over, her eyes glowing with pride as they touched noses.

Cats cheered their names, only the smallest hint sadness tinged those who had wished to be mentors themselves.

“What’re we doing first?” Lionpaw asked Willowleaf, spinning around and around.

“Can you at least act like you’re not completely daft?” Sparrowpaw sighed, shaking his head.

Lionpaw shrugged. “Dunno. Can you go a quarter-moon without insulting me?”

“No,” her brother replied.

“We’ll be exploring the territory,” Willowleaf mewed, pulling Lionpaw’s attention back.

The new apprentice’s pelt tingled. “Will I get to see Fourtrees?” she asked hopefully.

Her mentor nodded, and they made their way out of the camp., Willowleaf padding with her usual grace while Lionpaw nearly tripped on every little anthill.

“It’s different from what I imagined,” Lionpaw murmured as they made their way to the river.

Willowleaf shot her a humorous look. “What were you expecting? It’s only the beginning of new leaf.”

The orange tabby shook her head. “It’s much better,” she amended, leaping into the water. All RiverClan cats were taught to swim by their mothers in small pools that formed on the island so this was nothing new to her, but the currents that thrashed against her muscles now made her struggle. Willowleaf offered her tail to help, but Lionpaw shook her head. Holding tail with your teeth wouldn‘t save you, only lulled you into a sense of security that relaxed you and help swim.

“Well done,” Willowleaf murmured from the shore.

Lionpaw dragged herself up, gasping for air. “Well done?” she hissed scathingly. “A couple more heartbeats and I would’ve drowned faster than a ThunderClan kit!”

The senior warrior flicked her tail, warning the apprentice not to be sound loud. “The water is colder now and stronger as it’s recently been freed from the ice. You survived the worse.”

Lionpaw flicked her ear in acknowledgement, feeling a bit better. “This is the sunningrocks, right?” the apprentice asked, noticing the warmth that the rocks seemed to emit. She leapt onto the top of the pile. The top rock was smooth and broad, and the heat it had been soaking up since sunrise now radiated wildly, scorching her pads.

“Correct. This is RiverClan’s boarder with ThunderClan as well,” the silver she-cat informed the apprentice. “Go over to the boarder and take a good sniff.”

Lionpaw curled her mouth in distaste. She could already scent the murky, pungent Clan scent already, and didn’t want to get much closer. Paw step by paw step, the tabby made her way over, trying to hold her breath until the last moment. She finally breathed the scent in, coughing a bit as the odor dashed up nostrils. “Yuck,” she murmured, padding back.

“You don’t smell to good yourselves.” Lionpaw whipped around to see a patrol of ThunderClan cats on the boarder, their pelts puffed in annoyance. At the lead was a black tom with irked amber eyes, and behind him was a white and gray tom along with a gray apprentice.

The apprentice rolled her eyes slightly. RiverClan had a rich scent of reeds and a crisp scent of running water that tingled kindly in her nose.

“Flintheart,” Willowleaf greeted the tom stiffly. “Lionpaw, this is the deputy of ThunderClan.”

Lionpaw held her even gaze, making sure her shock wasn’t betrayed by her eyes or any other part of her body. Honestly, she was worried, recalling the stories that had been passed around about him.

“Thank you for the introduction, Willowleaf,” Flintheart meowed dryly.

Willowleaf kept her green gaze flat as she responded with a shrug, “It wasn’t for you. Just teaching my new apprentice. Come on, Lionpaw.”

The two RiverClan cats departed, leaving the ThunderClan patrol scowling at nothing. They quickly returned to the bushes where Lionpaw saw the two warriors take off in the opposite direction.

“They seem friendly,” she mewed with a touch of annoyance. What had she done to ruffle up their fur?

“They’re just mad because they lost the sunningrocks,” Willowleaf chuckled, leaping off the stones. Despite the rocky terrain behind them, the ground underfoot was soft grass and between them and the boarder was a line of brambles. “The apprentice and warrior were Wetpaw and Coldthorn, by the way.”

“It wasn’t always ours?”

“No, though it was originally and will be forever on,” the mentor declared proudly. “The river used to run on the other side of the sunningrocks leaving RiverClan as the only cats who could reach it, so naturally ThunderClan didn’t care for it. Then, one particularly wet new-leaf the river looded and changed course, leaving the rocks on ThunderClan’s side of the river. They claimed it and it’s been tug-of-war ever since. But we’ve held onto it stronger this time. Hailstar is adamant on not letting them claim it ever it again,” Willowleaf informed her, her eyes drifting to the brambles that began to rattle softly.

The warrior leapt into them, hissing angrily. “Out!” she ordered with a snarl.

Bursting out of the brambles came Wetpaw, his tail tucked between his legs as he hurriedly returned to his side of the boarder.

“Bee-brain ThunderClan,” Willowleaf huffed. “Think they’re stealthy as ShadowClan.”