This is the first episode of In The Little Woods, written by Hollyleafiawesome.
Blurb of this episode:
Meet Lightkit and the rest of FrostClan, she and her littermate Lostkit. The two kits can't wait to be apprentices, although they both do find the idea scary. The War was lethal, taking the lives of apprentices and warriors almost every battle, which is almost every day...
Meet The Clan[]
Lightkit yawned, her eyes tired. Next to her her brother Lostkit lay, still sleeping. Lightkit stood up, she and Lostkit were the oldest out of the two litters in the FrostClan nursery.
The other kits lay with their mother, Willowpelt. Their names were Nightkit, Foxkit, and Hazelkit. Nightkit was a blackfurred tom, with a calm attitude, and green eyes. Foxkit was a tom with ginger fur, with a white tipped tail, white paws, a white muzzle, and white tipped ears. Foxkit was hyper, and strong, he also has blue eyes. Hazelkit had brown fur and green eyes.
Willowpelt looks at Lightkit, "Go on, I'll tell your mother you're outside."
Lightkit nods, "Thanks Willowpelt!"
Willowpelt smiles, "No problem!"
Lightkit pads out of the den, and into the clearing. Outside, sunlight dapples the leaves of the trees surrounding their camp. Outside cats lay, sunning themselves.
Where to? 'I c'ould go to the elders' den for a story!
Lightkit bounces happily to the elders' den, "Owlfoot, Scarredleg?"
An old tom pokes his head from the den, "Is that you Lightkit?"
"Yep!" cries Lightkit excitedly.
A she-cat pads next to him, "I has been a while!" she looks at the tom, "Hasn't it been Scarredleg?"
The old tom nods, "It has been indeed, care to hear a story?"
Lightkit jumps up and down, "Would I!"
"I believe you have heard of the war occuring at this time, correct?" begins Scarredleg.
Lightkit nods her head slowly, "Yes, but I have heard of it being bloody and terrible..."
The old tom nods his head, "And yet we can not stop the fight, StarClan knows how long it will last, but I can't help but think that it will last as long as I live. you see, when I was a young kit I was dying to know what it felt like in battle, to be able to launch an attack on another clan. Oh how far away that seems now, when I dread the thought of any cat going into a battle. There is almost always a death on one of the sides, it doesn't matter to our ancestors which."
Owlfoot sighed, "The war has been long, it was raging before I was even born. And of course by then many cat had already lost their lives. And for what reason? I don't think a cat still lives who was alive when the battle began. No-cat knows what the cause of the war was. It was probably just a border fight gone wrong, then that turned into a vicious battle, a life-or-death situation."
"I remember my first battle, I was only to fight other apprentices when a huge warrior attacked me! I ducked and scrambled, but he kept coming after me. It was our leader at that time, Scorchstar, that saved my life. He was a good leader, but old. He died a few moons after the horrible battle. It was not from a battle that he died from though, but a bought of green-cough. Sometimes that sickness is worse than the most fierce of battles between cats, it is a battle against an unseen opponent, that only the strongest can ecscape from the clutches of it." Scarredleg started, eyes clouded with the pain of the memory.
"I remember that battle, I was a young warrior at the time, fighting side-by-side with my good friend. A warrior had leapt at me, but my friend took the death-bite that was aimed for me..." The old shecat's eyes glazed over, "She was a great warrior, but she still fell at the paws of that warrior. He just grinned and kept fighting me, in the end we retreated, so I didn't lose my life like my friend did. Her name was Cherryclaw."
"Oh! I remember old Cherryclaw, always a good sport when we put thorns in her nest, would just laugh along with us, even though her pad would have a thorn I it. She was nice." Scarredleg looked at Lightkit, "You should return to your mother before she begins to worry, or even worse, gets mad at us!"
Lightkit sighs, "Yes Scarredleg." Although she couldn't help but grin at the though of Spiritsong getting mad at the two elders.
She turns and pads out of the den, past wariors enjoying a meal, they all meow in greeting. Lightkit flicks her tail in reply. She pads past Flightpaw and Clawpaw, who were tussling by the fresh-kill pile.
When she was within tail-lengths of the nursery, when Moondapple, the medicine cat, pads from her den. She was muttering something under her breath as she walks across the clearing. Her dark gray fir was fluffed up, and her green eyes were wide as she padded along.
She looks down at Lightkit, and hisses quietly, "You have an impotant life ahead of you, one that will affect us all."
Lightkit's eyes widen, and she pelts toward the nursery, scared of the medicine cat and her words.
"What is wrong young kit?" questions Lightkit's mother, Spiritsong. She is laying in her nest, grooming herself.
Lightkit pants, eyes still wide, "N-nothing..."
Spiritsong tilts her head, but continues to groom herself. "What did you do in the clearing?"
Lightkit lays down, "I went to see the elders, then i came back."
"Did one of the elders actually tell something scary?" asked Spiritsong, suprised.
"Not really." Lightkit shook her head.
Spiritsong licks Lightkit's head, "Rest, you look tired."
Lightkit nods her head, then yawns, "Thank you."
Before she fully fell asleep, she could hear Spiritsong reply, "Your welcome."
Lightkit woke up, she was in the nursery. Spiritsong and Lostkit must've been in the clearing, as she was all alone. She stood up, replaying yesterday's events.
As she pads out of the nursery, she has a sudden sickening thought, she shook her head, trying to rid it of the thought, which was about Moondapple. Was it just medicine cat things, freaking out kits with wierd prophesies, or was Lightkit actually somewhat special?
"Lightkit!" one of the apprentices, Scorchpaw. He rushes over, a broad smile on his face, in his jaws he held a large squirrel.
Lightkit looks at him, eyes wide, "Thats the biggest squirrel I've ever seen!" a smirk grew over her face, "It probably was bigger than you!" she sniffed the air, scenting that he'd eaten some of the squirrel. "You know the rules!" she hisses to him quietly.
Scorchpaw rolls his eyes, "Theres still enough for the clan."
Lightkit shrugged, "Its you who is getting in trouble for this."
Scorchpaw nods, "Well, if you eat some, then I will still have hunted for someone in the clan."
A warrior glanced at them, annoyed, "Well, someone has to eat it, before it is cold!"
Scorchpaw smiles nervously, "Yes Ravenclaw."
Ravenclaw nodded his dark-furred head, "Good, I would expect so from my apprentice." He hissed the last word, as though he hated even the idea of that. "Why are you even hanging out with kits anyway? They're idiotic mouse-brains!"
Lightkit's eyes widened, then she felt herself unsheath her claws, "Really? Right now you're acting like a mouse-brain!"
Ravenclaw looked at her, "Says the little kit who hangs out with apprentices to look cool! Besides, its not very wise to pick fights with warriors!"
"Not long ago you were an apprentice, Ravenclaw." meowed a voice from behind the, all, "And I should know, you were my apprentice."
Ravenclaw whipped around, "Songstar!"
Songstar looked at the young warrior, "Yes Ravenclaw, and you of all cats should know not to."
Lightkit of all of the surrounding cats understood the least, but she asked her leader a different question, "Songstar, will he be punished?" she didn't know who she was reffering to herself, Scorchpaw or Ravenflight, but she still asked.
Songstar looked at her, a hint of amusement in her eyes, "Its not good to call others mouse-brains!"
Lightkit nodded, "Yes Songstar." Scorchpaw's lucky Songstar didn't find out about the squirrel!
"Oh, and Scorchpaw, remember, clan first!" and with that, Songstar walked over to a group of senior warriors.
Scorchpaw's jaw dropped, "How did she..."
Lightkit shrugged, "She's leader, maybe StarClan told her."
"Maybe..." Scorchpaw watched the leader a bit more before returning his gaze to Lightkit, "What are your plans for today?"
Lightkit looked down, "I dunno, the usual kit stuff..." She looked towards the nursery, "I'll probably play with the other kits and annoy the elders." she giggled.
Scorchpaw nodded, "Makes sense..." He perked his ears, "Do you want to learn some battle moves?"
Lightkit nodded excitedly, "Yes please!"
Scorchpaw grinned, "Watch this, then copy what I do." He flattened himself to the ground, then leapt to his paws before whipping around, paws clawing at imaginary enemies.
Lightkit's eyes widened, then she nodded, "Like this?" She tried to immitate him, but ended up tripping, falling to the ground.
Scorchpaw smiled, "Don't think I expected you to get it on your first try, it is an advanced move."
Lightkit looked at him, "Really?"
"Nope." Scorchpaw grinned, "It is kinda hard though."
"Hey!" Lightkit hit him with her little paws, angry.
"What, you aren't even an apprentice yet, how could you expect that I would even consider teaching you an advanced move?"
"I dunno, I guess I trusted you!?" Lightkit muttered.
"Never trust anyone." Scorchpaw replied, eyes narrowed as he looked at the sky, "It doesn't help very much to."
"Ok..."