A Bright Star

Prologue

I stared, completely intent on what I could hear. A mouse rustled in the undergrowth, but I wasn't interested in hunting. I was completely focused on something else. I felt my fur start to rise, and I unsheathed my claws. A low rumble escaped my throat as I recognized the familiar scent: Shadow.

Chapter 1

Even as a young kit, I knew I was going to be the best warrior in all of Thunderclan. I was going to prove to Rumblestar that I could be warrior ahead of my littermates, and that I could be the most loyal, trustworthy Warrior in all of Thunderclan. And the fact that I didn't have a father that I knew of made that feeling even stronger.

I gave my chestfur a quick lick before getting ready to spring at Skykit. I knew I could win the fight we were in. Skykit lunged at me, but I was too quick. I gave a quick spring to the right and watched as Skykit landed with a thud. "Haha Skykit!" I yowled my triumph. But Skykit didn't get up. "Skykit?" I asked. "Skykit, are you ok?" I went over for a closer inspection. I sniffed her; I couldn't smell any blood. Just as I was about to go get Pebbleleaf, the Thunderclan medicine cat, Skykit launched herself at me, knocking all the wind out of me. "Haha! I may be a little slower, but I'm smarter than you, Shiningkit!" she called. "Nice one Skykit! I'll have to remember that one..." "You should, I call it Fake Death, do you like it?" "Oh yeah, where did you ever come up with that one?" I asked sarcastically. "Oh fine, but at least I came up with it!" replied Skykit. Just then my brother, Adderkit walked up. "Hey Adderkit" I said, "Hi Shiningkit" said Adderkit "You guys fought without me?" He said before lunging himself at me. Again I stepped aside and watched as Adderkit went flying bye. "Nice move, Shiningkit." I jumped as I heard the warrior talk to me. "Thanks Swiftclaw!" I exclaimed. "I have to say, you sure are a good little fighter for your size." he said. I beamed with happiness. But as I saw Skykit and her father, Swiftclaw, nuzzle each other, the pain and sadness of not having a dad returned.

"Hey, Shiningkit!" I heard my best friend, Skykit call. Skykit got her name from her light blue, sky colored, eyes. Her sleek silver pelt was nicely groomed, I noticed. "Hey Skykit," I called, "did you groom your fur?" I asked. "Well," said Skykit, "I had too. My mom said I should... she said something about my fur looking like a rats nest, and if I kept it ungroomed for too long rats would come infest me..." I laughed. "Hey! It's not funny." "Sorry," I said, "But it is kind of." Skykit snorted. "So what do you want to do?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "Let's go ask the Apprentices if they'll teach us some moves! I want to be prepared for when I'm an apprentice!" said Skykit. "That's a great idea!" I ran over to the stump where the Apprentices were practicing some fighting moves. "Hey Branchpaw!" "Oh, hey Shiningkit." "Can you show me some of your new moves?" "Oh... well I'm going out with Swiftclaw in a few moments, but I guess I could show you a couple of moves..." said Branchpaw. "Yay! Thanks!" I said. But just then, Swiftclaw called Branchpaw to go out on patrol, "Sorry Shiningkit!" called Branchpaw. "It's ok." I said. Then I saw Skykit observing some moves that Poolpaw was showing off on Grasspaw. Poolpaw reared up on his hinglegs and brought down his sheathed claws onto Grasspaw's exposed belly. Of course, Poolpaw was gentle, and he only demonstrated with Grasspaw's permission. "That's so cool Poolpaw!" I called. I decided I should try working on that move, even though I wasn't an apprentice. Afterall, it never hurt anybody to do a little extra training.

Only 1 more moon I thought, ''then I can be an apprentice. ''I was so excited about becoming an apprenctice, as was Skykit. "I can't wait to be an apprentice, can you?" asked Skykit. "Are you kidding?" I asked, "Of course I am!" I had already perfected, in my mind, the move that Poolpaw had shown me and Skykit 3 moons ago. "Shiningkit!" I heard my mom call. "I gotta go." I told Skykit. "I probably should too." she said. I ran to the nursery. I was so sick and tired of the familiar bramble walls; I wanted to sleep in the apprentices den. I sighed as I snuggled against Adderkit to get some sleep.

"I can't believe it!" I said to Skykit. "Me neither!" said Skykit. Tonight was the night we were going to be apprentices! I waited anxiously all day until finally our ceremony was to be held. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!" called Rumblestar. My fur was nicely groomed as a sat beneath the Highrock, waiting for my ceremony to begin. "Skykit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you recieve your warrior name, you will be known as Skypaw. Your mentor will be Lionfur. I hope Lionfur will pass down all he knows on to you." " Lionfur you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had recieved excellent training from Strikefur, and you have shown yourself to be Loyal and strong. You will be the mentor of Skypaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Skypaw." I saw Skypaw touch noses with Lionfur. Skypaw was so lucky; Lionfur was one of the best mentors an apprentice could ask for. I joined in with my clanmates as we proclaimed Skypaw's new name, "Skypaw! Skypaw!". I was so excited for my friend, and for my ceremony!

I was given Stripeheart as my mentor. I was so excited to start my training the next day! I went up to Stripeheart and asked him what we were going to do tomorrow. "We are going to do some fighting tomorrow." said Stripeheart. As soon as he said that, I was even more glad to have him for my mentor. If fighting was the first thing we were going to do, I knew he was going to be a great mentor.

The next day, I lept up, remembering my fighting training. I rushed out just in time; Stripeheart was just calling me for our training. I followed him to the sandy training hollow, where he told me to get ready. I felt my heart pound as I assumed my defensive stance; He lunged at me with all his force. It was a scary sight to my mentor flying at me. Just as I was wondering what to do, I remembered the old move that I had done as a kit. I took a step to the right. I saw a look of shock on Stripehearts face as he flew into the sand with a grunt. Spitting sand out of his mouth he said "Well done! I never saw that one coming. I was expecting you to try and defend." I was so happy.

But my joy was short-lived. The next thing I heard was a roar, and then I saw one thing before it all went black: I saw a giant black cat. When I woke up, I found myself sitting in the medicine cat's clearing. Or at least I assumed it was the medicine cat's clearing, because when I opened my eyes I still couldn't see. I blinked. Still, all was black. I groaned, and instantly Pebbleleaf was by my side. "Shiningpaw? You're awake!" "I can't see!" I wailed. I began to panic, how was I ever going to be a warrior if I couldn't see? "Shiningpaw, you can't see because your tail is over your eyes." "Oh..." I moved my tail. I was never so thankful for my eyes as I was in that moment. But then I remembered the black cat. I couldn't remember much about him, but he was terrifying. Plus he stank so bad, Starclan probably could have smelled him. But there was one thing about the black cat that disturbed me more than any other part about him.

"Hey!" called Skypaw. "Hey." I replied. "Are you ok? I mean, that thing hit your head pretty bad..." "I'm fine. But Skypaw? Can you help me?" "Sure! What do you need?" "I am going back to where I was when I was attaked, and I'm investigating." "But Rumblestar said that if Apprentices went outside the camp, they have to take a warrior. And besides, I don't think Lionfur would approve..." "Oh come on! It's just a small trip. Besides, I know how we could sneak out without anyone knowing." "Well... ok. I'll come, but only a short trip." ''Yes! ''I thought.

I led Skypaw out a small hole in the brambles by the Elder's den. We went to the Sandy training hollow where I last saw the cat. Fortunatly there were no apprentices out training today, so we went unnoticed. I could smell the aweful scent of the black cat that had attacked me before. "Ew! What is that!" asked Skypaw. "That's the cat that attacked me." "It doesn't smell like any clan I know." "I think it's a rog..." Suddenly a hiss came from the direction of the horrible smell. "So you don't think I smell good? Well, you Thunderclan cats, as you call yourselves, don't exactly smell good either!" Skypaw and I shrieked in unicine.The cat laughed at us, "Petty kits, always afraid of everything." "We are not kits!" said Skypaw. ''Oh no! ''I thought. ''Here comes Skypaw's temper again! She is going to get us in trouble! ''"We are well-trained apprentices, you piece of Foxdung!" "Skypaw! Calm down!" I wispered. "Well, I'm certainly not going to be mocked by this mousbrained piece of Foxdung, are you?" Skypaw lunged forward at swatted at the surrounding bushs. I heard a little cry of pain from the rogue. "Take that, you big lumbering badger! How do you like that? I am a great fighter!" "Oh? Is that so? Then lets see if you can handle me!" Suddenly the cat leaped out of wherever he was hiding. My fears came true. I wasn't sure when I woke up if I had gotten an accurate picture of this cat, but now that I saw him up close, I had been right. I was terrified, as was Skypaw. The cat prowled around us in a circle that got ever tighter. I squealed, what were we going to do! Chapter 2

Stripeheart was extremely suprised when he smelled the strong scent of rogue. But he hadn't expected him to appear so soon. Stripeheart had tried to tell Shiningpaw to run back to camp, but before he could say anything, the cat had pounced on Shiningpaw. Fortunatly, Stripheart had lugged the cat off of Shiningpaw in time. He would never let Shiningpaw get hurt. He would never let his daughter be destroyed by this rogue.

When Stripeheart had been chosen to be Shiningpaw's mentor, he had been filled with joy. Shiningpaw didn't know that he was her father, at the time of her birth things had... happened. But now he was determined that he would tell her. He'd had a heavy wait on him ever since she had been born, and he didn't want to carry it anymore. In fact, he decided to tell her right now. He set about attempting to find his apprentice. He popped his head into the apprentice den, but she wasn't there. He checked the Elder's den to see if she was listening to the elders. But Shiningpaw still wasn't there. He checked the Warrior's den to see if any of the warriors had taken her out on a patrol. He spotted Stripeheart, Lionfur, Tigertail, Mousepelt, Thrushwing, and Strikeheart's brother, Braveheart. Since none of the warriors were out, Stripeheart knew that either his apprentice was disobeying orders, or was more hurt than he realized and was still at the medicine cat's den. He ran over to the medicine cat's clearing and asked Pebbleleaf if Shiningpaw was still here. "No, she left a while ago." Stripeheart became nervous. He began sniffing around. He came close to the Elder's den and caught Shiningpaw's scent. Then he spotted a hole in the brambles. ''Oh no! ''Sripheart thought. ''She's gone off looking for the rogue hasn't she? ''He hurried out of the camp, and refound Shiningpaw's trail. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

''What are we going to do? ''I was just beginning to wonder if I was going to die before I became a Warrior when, out of nowhere, my mentor leapt out of the bushes. He took the rogue by suprise as he landed on top of him. Seeing that my mentor wasn't enough to take down this enemy, I lunged at him. I grabbed on to his hind leg and he yoweled in pain. But just as I was tasting his blood, he kicked with such force I was thrown 15 tail lengths away. He reared up on his hind legs and shook Stripeheart of. I saw Skypaw leap on the rogue, and give a triumphant mrow of laughter as she raked her claws down the rogue's back. He howled in pain, before shaking Skystorm off. He gave Stripeheart and Skypaw each a blow on the head before turning and calling out "Remember the Shadow!" and bounding away. "Shadow?" asked Stripheart. "Well, now we know, but what on earth were you two doing outside of camp without a warrior!" "Well... um... we were investigating." I said sheepishly. "You disobeyed orders from Rumblestar. You are going to have to be punished." "Yes, Stripeheart." I said. I knew I deserved to be punished, but I didn't like it. And even though "Shadow" had run away, I was sure this wasn't the last I was going to see of him, and that one thing about him was still bothering me.

"This is so unfair!" said Skypaw. I sighed, this was the 15th time Skypaw had said that. "I know," I said, "but we deserve it." "No! You deserve it!" I sighed again. This was also the 15th time Skypaw had said that I was the one who got her in trouble. "I know, and I'm sorry. There are you happy?" "Fine." said Skypaw. "But it's still your fault I'm here." We were gathering dry moss for the elder's bedding. After we were done with the Elder's bedding, we had to get the ticks out of the elders. Then we had to repair the hole in the wall by the Elder's den. We had so much work to do, I wondered if I would be able to train with Stripeheart at all.

I eventually finished all my chores, and Stripheart said that we would go hunting. "You've had enough fighting practice for today." he said. I smelled the familiar scent of mouse. I assumed the hunter's crounch and crept forward. I saw the tail of the mouse and licked my lips. I got in position to leap, before pouncing on my prey. I killed it in one swift bite, and sent a prayer of thanks to Starclan. "Well done!" Stripeheart praised.

That evening, while I was sitting by my favorite stump eating a mouse, Stripeheart asked me if we could talk. He led me behind a bush. "Shiningpaw, I need to tell you something." "Yes?" I asked. "Umm, you're doing really well with your training." He sighed. That sure didn't seem to be what he wanted to tell me. "Er... thanks." I said. "Uh, I'll just get back to my rabbit..." "Yeah. And keep up the good work."

Chapter 3

My nose was hurting after that puny apprentice scratched it. But I would get my revenge. I would get that, what was her name, Scrawnypaw or something like that. I would get my revenge. How dare she stand up to me like that! Well... at least the little brat doesn't know about my friends...

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Stripeheart and I went out for another hunting session. "What do you smell?" he asked. I opened my mouth and tested the air. "I smell rabbit." I licked my lips. The scent was mouthwatering. "Good. Now what else?" asked my mentor. I sniffed again, and this time I smelled the rank scent of fox. I growled, "Fox." "Right." I quickly added "But it's stale," I sniffed, "maybe 1 day old." "Nicely done!" We set out to catch some prey before heading back to camp with 1 rabbit, and 2 mice.

"Skypaw!" Skypaw was happy. When Skypaw is happy she is very happy. "Yes Shiningpaw?" "I caught my first rabbit today!" "Wow Shiningpaw! That's great!" I settled down at my favorite spot by the stump to eat my first rabbit with Skypaw. I was starving from all the hard work I had been doing that day, so I devoured my half of the rabbit. All of a sudden I thought of my brother, Adderpaw. He was training to be a medicine cat, and Pebbleleleaf said that he had a strong connection to Starclan. I wondered if Adderpaw had already had a dream or sign from Starclan or something.

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Adderpaw woke up to find himself at fourtrees. He saw Firestar, a Thundercland Leader from many moons ago, standing infront of him. "Adderpaw, welcome." The Thunderclan Leader said. "I have a message for you." "F For me?" Adderpaw stuttered. "But I'm just an apprentice!" "That hasn't stopped Starclan before." Said Firestar. "Darkness will come, that only a Shining Star can destroy." Adderpaw looked out at the forest. The moon was bright, but the forest was covered in darkness. There seemed to be a black mist covering the forest. Adderpaw shuttered. Suddenly everything faded and Adderpaw found himself waking up in his cozy nest. Adderpaw wondered what his prophecy had meant, and whether he should tell his mentor about it. A Darkness will come that only a shining star can destroy.