Book One of the Hidden Elements series. Check out this page to learn more about the characters and upcoming books! This is by Jay, (FluttershyTheAnimalLovingDreamer), please no copying ❤ ♥Santa Claws is coming to the Clans!Purry Christmas!And a happy new year!We wish you the best!♥
Chapter One - Lilackit
I felt my brother's paws press down on my small head and I let out an indignant squeal as he started squirming around. "Come on, just wake up!" He groaned.
"I'm trying to, but I can't with you forcing me to!" I grumbled, and his weight was taken off me as mother hauled him off.
"Don't bother your sister, Lightningkit." She meowed. I loved my mother, and her name was Feathergaze. I finally opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was Feathergaze grooming her fluffy black and white coat, and Lightningkit jumping around.
"I'm awake, impatient one." I said as I stumbled to my paws. I yawned and blinked a couple of times.
"Finally! We can now go and play with the other kits!" Lightningkit exclaimed. I followed him into the clear daylight, and the flowers opened up. My eyes took in every detail of the camp.
The nursery was a small but cosy den that smelled of sweet milk and innocence when you went inside, the nursery was surrounded by a bush of daffodils and daisies, a perfect decoration and sweet environment because of the sharp brambles sticking out to protect it wasn't the most safe thing for kittens to get caught into. The apprentices den was nearby, and around it were glossy-leaved holly bushes with little white flowers and bright red berries. The elder's den was in between the nursery and the apprentice den, under a cherry blossom tree. The roots of the cherry blossom tree were spread out to the side to allow a hole to be in between, and inside would be the elders eating prey and telling tales. On the left of the nursery was the medicine cat den, and all around the entrance of the medicine cat den were beautiful, blooming flowers. There was also the warriors den, with a low-hanging branch just above the top of the den. Moss and small yellow and pink flowers coated the top of the den. And at last, there was Waterrock. It was a pile of large grey stones coated with moss, and water rushing under them, pouring into a small little pond. Just beside that was a small gap between two large boulders where the leader's den would be. Waterrock was pressed against a wall of stone, with a tall, beautiful jacaranda tree beside it.
And the entrance was the best part! Two large trees stood on either side and there was a small archway of twisted grass and plants, with small flowers of all kinds of colours jutted in between. FrostClan had the awesome and safe environment for us all to enjoy.
"The game is Clan war!" Lightningkit interrupted me from my thoughts.
"Wh-what?" I asked.
"Clan war! I'm Lightningstar of LightningClan and on my Clan there is gonna be you, Bluekit, Dawnkit, and Wolfkit. Our rival Clan is PineClan and their leader is Pinestar, and on their team is Sunkit, Nightkit, Sweetkit and Snowkit." Lightningkit explained.
"Oh.. Are there any deputies?" I asked.
"Yes, you are my deputy, Nightkit is Pinestar's deputy. Choose a name." Lightningkit mewed.
"Um... Lilacpetal?" I muttered.
"Good! Now let's-"
"PINECLAN, ATTACK!" Pinekit, or should I say, PineSTAR, yowled, and his 'Clan' hurled themselves at my 'Clan'.
Nightkit bashed into me and hissed, knocking me into a nearby bush. Nightkit let out a tiny squeak and so did I, and the bush we hit darkened. "Wh-what...?" I muttered, and as I was shoved into the bush again, it turned back to normal, but the flowers opened up more and the leaves shone. What's that all about?
"Retreat LightningClan retreat!" Lightningkit yowled. The LightningClan cats and I swarmed back behind our 'leader'. He was crouched beside poor Dawnkit, who was wailing in pain. One of the queens, or more like Dawnkit's mother, came pushing through all the kits.
"Oh no! My poor little Dawnkit!" She sighed. The queen was Tawnywing, a tortoiseshell she-cat I quite liked. "Sweetkit, Dawnkit, no more rough-play with the toms." Her tail lashed strictly. Suddenly, my mother, Feathergaze, padded up to us as well with another queen, Silverdrop.
"You too, Lilackit. Lightningkit, stay with the others if you wish." Feathergaze said sternly.
"Bluekit, Snowkit, come along." Silverdrop murmured to her two she-kits. She looked up for a second. "Nightkit? Will you stay with your brothers?"
Nightkit shrugged. "Of course, my mother will come out here to get me if she wants me to stop playing." Silverdrop nodded and turned around and guided her kits to the nursery.
"Actually, I wanted to visit the medicine cat den." I blurted out. My mother looked down at me.
"Alright, but don't get under Tigerleaf's paws, and don't interrupt her for whatever she's doing it." Feathergaze meowed.
I nodded in thanks and sprinted over to the medicine cat den. I loved the medicine cat den, it was nice and peaceful inside. Inside the medicine cat den, the ground was soft, bright green grass. There was a little drinking pond nearby all the moss and feather nests for injured and ill cats, and the herbs were stored in little stones.
Tigerleaf was inside, of course. She was a ginger tabby she-cat with white paws, a white belly, and a white tail tip with beautiful leaf green eyes. She looked up and stared kindly at me. "Why, hello, Lilackit. What brings you here?" She asked me in a soft, gentle voice.
"Oh, nothing much. Just checking out what you're doing, seeing if you need any help." I answered.
"Well, thank you for checking. At the moment, I am fine, however, if you can hold these juniper berries and rosemary for me, I'll be so grateful. Thank you." Tigerleaf meowed, giving me the juniper berries and rosemary. I held it in my mouth and I noticed the strong smell drifting from the rosemary to my nose.
After a while, Tigerleaf turned around so she could collect the juniper berries and rosemary from my jaws. "Thank you!" She said.
"You're welcome," I mewed. "But I have a question for you."
"Really? Well, I'll be more then happy to answer." Tigerleaf purred, and she sat down, curling her tail over her paws neatly.
I took a deep breath. "Well.... Since I am four moons and in two moons I'll be an apprentice, could I possibly become medicine cat apprentice?" I asked.
Tigerleaf stared calmly at me for a few moments, then finally broke the silence. "Of course, but first I'll have to check with Shadowstar." She mewed. "I would be happy to mentor you in the next couple of moons."
"Thank you!" I smiled, and I was literally glowing as I left the medicine cat den.
"You're welcome!" Tigerleaf called out as I slipped into the nursery to tell my mother the amazing news.
Chapter Two - Lightningkit
My eyes slowly fluttered open, but I was greeted with darkness and blackness. I sneezed and noticed the big flower just below my nose, the petal tips brushing my nose and tickling it. It took a while for my eyes to adjust, and I felt the faint snoozing of my sister Lilackit, and my mother's, Feathergaze, tail wrapped around my sister and I. But there was a glowing light almost begging me to look at it. I turned around, and dawn light filtered the camp as the large orange sun slowly rose in the sky.
I got up silently and slowly without making a noise, stepped over Feathergaze's tail and looked behind me. Our nest was always so 'flowery' in the morning when I woke up. It was annoying. I didn't know if Lilackit was behind it or not, but I saw a green swirl come up from her paw that was poking out.
I panicked a little, and swiped the green wisp, but as my paw touched it, the wisp faded away with the air. Strange... I bolted out of the nursery, noticing how beautiful it was in the sunlight. From a distance I spotted Shadowstar talking to her deputy, Brackenfang, in a low voice. Brackenfang responded in a nod and crept in the warriors den. I ran around camp for a bit, my paws silent against the grass. I paused as I saw a few warriors slip out of the warriors den. They were Brackenfang, Forestfire, Whitetornado, Minnowcreek, and Shadenose. I noticed Forestfire stand still, legs stiff.
"Hold on." I heard him hiss. "I smell a kit." I froze, and sunk down in some plants and silently watched. "A little kit snuck out of its nursery early in the morning. Come on, let's find it and return it to its mother."
I bolted, and ran. Not that far from camp, though. I eventually reached a sandy little beach, nearby was a large river. There was also a pile of smooth, warm rocks. Water seeped through the gaps and was rushing down into a medium lake where apprentices and kits could practice swimming.
I climbed up on the big rocks and sat by the large river. I dipped my paw in it. I shivered at the bitter coldness of the water. However, I did not notice my lightning mark glow and flash and flicker a little, and some electric shocks ran through the water.
I simply sat there in shock. The water was violent enough to sweep a small kit off its paws, however I sat there. I hardly moved. I took my paw out, yet the waves continued with their thing, thrashing and swirling. I started to grow angry, when I took my paw out it was meant to calm it down. I scored marks in the sand, but yet again, an electric shock scored deeply in the sand, kicking it up and small pebbles plopped in the river.
I growled in annoyance and leapt on the rocks. Electric surges passed through the rocks again, and the stones shook violently. I leapt off them quickly and decided to walk back home. I took my first step and my paw felt heavy on the ground. Lightning passed through the grass and the ground vibrated. Birds quickly flew away. I glanced at my lightning mark and it was glowing brightly.
I muttered in annoyance, "I hate this marking.." And as I started walking home slowly, I tried my best to think of calm and positive thoughts. Soon I put down my paw and it was perfectly normal. "Huh?" I glanced at the marking on my side again. The lightning bolt was just a dull white, like it had been before. Now I could run back to camp.
I bolted and ran so fast, the wind was blowing by and I felt like I could go on forever. I soon leapt through the entrance and did another leap to make it look like I was there the whole time.
"Oh! Lightningkit! I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you!" I heard a yowl of happiness and relief as Feathergaze ran over and licked me over and over again. "It has been such a strange morning, the ground has been vibrating, and we can hear the rushing river and rattling stones from here!"
I looked down nervously, knowing that I had probably caused it. Somehow.
Suddenly, there was a deep rumble, from far away, but loud enough to be close to camp. Feathergaze yowled and scooped me up in her jaws, and the other queens did so with their kittens.
"Where's Lilackit?!" I yowled through the commotion.
"She's inside, because she was worried about you being missing!" Feathergaze called back.
"Oh.." I muttered. She eventually ran inside the nursery and put me down on our moss bedding next to Lilackit. Lilackit's eyes lit up immediately.
"Lightningkit! You're alright!" She exclaimed. Just in time as Feathergaze curled up beside us, holding us close.
After a while, one of the warriors, Owlflutter, poked her head in the den. "Everyone, it's alright. No big disaster. But I suggest you stay in the nursery until tomorrow morning. Is that clear?" She announced.
"Yes." All the queens answered. Brackenfang, the deputy, came out from behind her.
"Yes, one of our warriors will come you and tell you when to come out." He said. Everyone nodded and Feathergaze looked down at us.
"You two, fall asleep please." She mewed. We nodded and curled up.
Lilackit fell asleep instantly, but I stayed awake for a little and kicked around. Mother sighed.
"Lightningkit, are you okay?" She asked.
"No, I can never seem to sleep at night because I never run out of energy, it seems." I muttered sadly.
"Oh. Well, my advice is to think about happy things then let your eyes slowly close." Feathergaze smiled.
"Okay.." I muttered. For once, I was able to let the darkness enfold and the world to black out.
Chapter Three - Dawnkit
"Aww! Wake up, cute kittens!" A voice woke me up. I looked up and saw Petalbite, one of the warriors, standing outside of the nursery, cooing to the kits. Applebird's kits and Lightningkit immediately rushed out of the nursery. They were playing the Clan war game, the game that caused me to hurt myself because Pinekit accidentally scratched my nose. It still hurt a bit but was better.
Petalbite threw a plump mouse over to Applebird, one of her best friends. It was a really plump mouse, one of the biggest I've ever seen. Then she threw a vole to my nest, a rabbit to Feathergaze's nest, and a large fish to Silverdrop's nest. After digging into the vole, I asked,
"What do we do today?" I asked my mother, Tawnywing. Tawnywing shrugged,
"Go play a nice game with the she-kits, unless you want to have a quiet day with me." She meowed.
"I might play with the other kits." I whispered. I got up slowly with my sister Sweetkit following, and walked out of the nest and I saw Lilackit, Bluekit and Snowkit walking out together too. Sweetkit and I joined them, and soon we padded outside the nursery.
"What should we do?" Snowkit asked.
"Yeah, I'm bored." Bluekit muttered.
"How about mossball?" Sweetkit suggested, picking up a nearby mossball in her jaws.
"Why not?" Lilackit said.
I stared at the clump of moss. The moss was a bit damp, I could see, plus, it looked slightly dirty.
"THAT mossball? It looks a little... er... filthy." Bluekit said, cringing a little.
"It's fine, Bluekit!" Snowkit rolled her eyes.
"I agree, but I have a good idea for it." I blurted out. All four kits stared at me. I took a deep breath.
"Um... We can throw that mossball away and-" I was interrupted by Bluekit,
"Yes! Throw out the mossball!" She agreed.
"But then, we can make a new one with grass and we can make it look pretty. How about that?" I said. Everyone stared at me.
"Yeah! We can ask Applebird, since she's the creative one, she made a circle of feathers woven together with vines! Let's go ask!" Sweetkit piped up.
"Sounds cool." Lilackit mewed.
And we all made a new moss ball with Applebird. It was a ball of grass and vines woven together neatly. There were small white and cyan garden flowers jutted in between for a pretty feel.
We started playing, but the ball accidentally came flying out of Lilackit's paw, into a new grassy path we had never seen before, behind the flower bush.
"I'll go get it!" I yowled, bolting in. I hadn't gotten a chance to get the ball.
"No! It might be dangerous!" Snowkit yowled after me.
But I ignored her, and leapt on the flowerball. But there was a little accident, and I started rolling over and over with the ball. I looked up hazily and noticed that I was in a strange new place. There was a bush of lavender nearby, and ahead of me I saw a small, straight grassy path and at the end of it was the flower bush. And in the gape between the nursery wall and flower bush, were my friends, all peering in to see if I was okay.
"Come on in! It's great and safe down here!" I called. One by one, they all came down the path. When they finally caught up with me, they yowled in amazement.
"Wow! I didn't know this existed!" Sweetkit squealed.
"Fun new place to explore!" Bluekit squeaked in excitement.
"The back wall of the nursery is around here!" Lilackit mewed enthusiastically. We all came down to the back of the nursery wall, and I noticed a small hole. Big enough for a kit to crawl through, but small enough for no one to see it.
"A special way to get into the nursery! Look!" I yowled, flicking my tail tip to the hole.
"Awesome! This can be our secret hideout!" Snowkit's eyes shone is happiness.
"Yay!" We all mewed together.
Later, at evening, we all sat down and talked.
"I have important news." Lilackit announced, fluffing up her chest.
"What is it?" We asked.
"So, I asked Tigerleaf two days ago, and in two moons time I can be her apprentice!" She announced.
"Yay!" We all cheered. But our happiness was soon to come to an end as a screech ripped the air,
"Help! Dogs!"
Chapter Four - Sweetkit
"Help! Dogs!"
We all squealed and bolted back outside the nursery, not knowing what to do.
"Why didn't we go through the secret hole?" Bluekit hissed.
The queens immediately rushed out and I was scooped up in my mother's, Tawnywing, jaws, along with my sister Dawnkit. As we were put down in the nest and Tawnywing protectively curled over us, we tried to look over her fluffy tail to see what was going on.
There was a deep, loud snarl as a tall, brown and black dog charged in. Its sharp, powerful, yet filthy yellow teeth were bared, and its large tongue lolled out of its mouth. The dog licked its lips as he gazed at the kittens. His yellow eyes were slitted in pure hatred and hunger.
"No!" A yowl rang through the air as Dewfeather, my father, leapt on the dog with Blizzardstripe, Goldentail, and Crowheart. They started to attack the dog and I watched in amazement as they clawed, slashed, snapped and bit at the dog. The dog tried to fight back but had not much of a chance against four very strong warriors.
The dog eventually let out a whimper and limped out of the den. I saw blood seep from a wound in the back of the neck as it left.
Dewfeather stood up and began licking at a scar at his shoulder, until a large, powerful dog thrust in. Blizzardstripe, Dewfeather, Goldentail, and Crowheart thought the dog, just like they did with the other one. However, this dog was much more bigger, more powerful, and dangerous.
Dewfeather let out a cry as he was knocked off, and slumped against the floor as blood spilled out of his belly.
"No!" I cried. Tears formed at the creases of my eyes, and Tawnywing hung her head in defeat and sadness, and Dawnkit gaped in shock and horror.
"Get down from there! It's too dangerous!" Tawnywing snapped.
"Mum! Leave me alone! I must do this!" I retorted. I didn't know what I was about to do, but I knew that whatever it was, it had to be done.
"STOP!" I yowled to the dogs. I heard Nightkit snort from a distance,
"Silly kit, that's not gonna work. Dogs don't speak cat, they can't understand us!"
But in a second, the most shocking thing happened. Strong, violent winds blew straight from my pelt and hit my dog, knocking off the other three warriors attacking it. The gale was powerful enough to push the dog right out of the nursery.
The nasty beast howled in defeat and the rest of his pack followed as he charged off in the woods.
After the battle, or cats were tired, and bleeding. Most of them limped to the medicine cat den, others stayed to breathe in fresh air.
I spotted Lilackit run off to Dewfeather's body, and I stood up and came over too, with Dawnkit and Tawnywing. Dewfeather wasn't moving.
"Dewfeather?" I wailed. I nudged him softly with my paw.
"Take him to the medicine cat den." Lilackit softly mewed. "Tigerleaf would know how to treat him."
I nodded and Tawnywing crouched over Dewfeather, weeping as she picked up his body by the scruff and slowly carried him to the medicine cat den. "Urgent! Urgent injury!" I heard her shriek. I slowly turned around and returned to my nest, curled up with Dawnkit and began to cry.
Will Dewfeather make it?
Chapter Five - Bluekit
I was playing flowerball outside the nursery with my sister Snowkit, extremely bored. I eventually let go of the ball and said, "I'm BORED! Let's go do something else, something EXCITING."
"Sure! This is gonna be so much fun!" Snowkit giggled.
"What should we do?" I asked. Snowkit shrugged.
"I dunno. Sneak out of camp?" She suggested.
"Alright!" I smiled. "Race you there!"
We galloped out of territory, not a single warrior noticed us. "Looks like some kits are leaving camp without permission!" The two of us froze, and turned around to look who the speaker was. It was Sunkit, lashing his tail.
"All we're doing is checking out territory, no big deal." Snowkit muttered. Sunkit padded up to the she-kits.
"I won't tell your mother if you let me come with you!" He said. Snowkit and I exchanged glances. Should we?
"Alright." I said. "As long as you truly don't tell our mothers, and as long as you don't mess things up." Slowly, together we walked into territory. It was so exciting! Soon, we stopped at a beach with a pile of smooth, warm stones that had rushing water between the gaps that poured in a medium pond for swimming practice. In front was the rushing river.
"Awesome!" Sunkit mewed, looking around. "I've been here many times before because I've snuck out loads of times, but still!"
"Wait - who won that race?" Snowkit whined.
"A cat called No-oneheart." I joked.
"Really?" Snowkit asked, eyes big with wonder.
"I'm just kidding, silly." I purred in amusement. I noticed Sunkit was standing right at the edge of the riverbank. "Now, Sunkit, be careful before you fall in." I said.
"Don't boss me around! I'm not a kit and you're not my mother!" Sunkit hissed.
"Um, yes you are a kit! Isn't that obvious?" Snowkit giggled.
"And yes, I am not your mother, but that doesn't still mean that I can't protect you, right?" I insisted. Sunkit glared up at me.
"I'm telling you, Bluekit, and maybe you too Snowkit - I'm FINE!" Sunkit snapped, and he stepped back on a pebble right next to the start of the river. "See? Look how close I am to the river! And I'm not falling off." Sunkit boasted.
"Er, Sunkit? That's not the best idea, I definitely wouldn't do that if I were you." I muttered nervously.
"So what?" Sunkit snarled, but as he said that, the pebble he was standing on started to shift. The thing couldn't sustain his weight, and Sunkit slipped on the wet tip of the pebble and fell in the river.
"SUNKIT!" Snowkit and I yowled. I panicked. I had to think fast! Sunkit's head bobbed up at the surface.
"I... I can't.... seem..... to breathe! P-please..... get.... help!" He gasped and panted. Before thinking, I dove straight in the river.
"Bluekit, no! Not you too!" Snowkit whined.
"Hold on." I muttered to Sunkit through gritted teeth. He disappeared in the waves again, but I dove under and swam around. I eventually spotted Sunkit's sinking body, and my teeth clasped his scruff, and I slowly began to pull him out.
As I dragged him on the shore, I began to gasp and pant. Sunkit's condition was worse then mine, he was wet from head to toe and was shivering violently, his teeth chattering. His fur was soaking wet and his eyes were round with fear.
Two apprentices, who I recognised as Frostpaw and Riverpaw, bolted in view. Frostpaw rushed over to Sunkit's aid first, vigorously licking his cold body. Riverpaw came to my side and started licking me as well. When both were done, Riverpaw carried Snowkit and I and Frostpaw carried Sunkit back to camp. As we entered camp, I braced myself for the angry yowls and relieved purrs.
Chapter Six - Snowkit
"B-but SUNKIT promised he wouldn't tell you if he joined us, and we said he could as long as he didn't mess things up! AND HE DID!" I hissed.
"Still, it was your idea! Sunkit will have to apologise himself. I don't want to talk about this anymore, so goodnight." Silverdrop replied sternly, shutting her eyes and curling up, fast asleep in the nest already. Bluekit gave me one last disappointed look before getting some shut-eye.
I sighed and stared outside. I slowly got up and straightened my legs and took a few steps forward. I padded out of nursery into the fresh and cold night air, and crept out of camp back to the river. I slowly walked up to the river, the pounding rushing through my ears.
I looked down at the river and muttered, "Freeze!" Like those witch-cats from stories who mutter spells and then it happens. I placed my paw carefully on the river, and snowflakes lifted in the air as the water instantly froze and all there was, was just pure ice.
I gasped in shock, how could I manage to do this?! Do I have magic powers?! Snowflakes suddenly fell lightly around the place, and I felt the cold mist wrap around my small, fragile body. I stepped on the ice carefully, trying not to fall. Strangely, I hardly wobbled. I stood there, perfectly, like I was on normal ground.
I walked over some more, and noticed that not the whole river was frozen. I sprinted to the edge of the ice on the left, without falling, and I placed my paw over the water and it froze. I started to 'walk' on water and every step I took, the rushing of the stream stopped as the ice took over it.
I froze the other side of the river. and finally got off. As I walked on the sand, I kicked it up in the air. The sand would turn white and then fall on my coat, super cold. I jumped on other little ponds and froze them all.
As it was time to walk back to camp, it was still snowing and the ice crunched under my paws. The bitter, harsh cold winds blew past my pelt, blowing snowflakes in the air, and whirling them around, faster and faster... With a pang of fright, I realised that the winds picked up the snow and was far too violent.
I had created a blizzard.
I ran for it, literally. Without thinking, I leapt up on a tree and climbed up on it. The tree's leaves fell off, and frost coated the bare branches. But I figured, if I created the blizzard, I could surely stop it, right? I leapt off the tree branch that I was on and I scorched through the air, and fell right through the blizzard.
I whirled around and around. Normally, a kit my age would die, but the blizzard kept on going, swirling and swirling...
It finally came to a stop as I collapsed in the snow. It almost felt like the rest of the blizzard was sucking into my pelt, and the only remains left were a few snowflakes that fell on the ground. I walked back to camp, realising how deep the snow I created was, and I decided not to bring the snow inside camp, that would be worse.
I stood there silently, trying to test if I would make everything ice over again. Finally, I gave up. I felt sleepy, so I curled up, right there in the snow, and my entire body blended in, you could only see the big, beautiful blue eyes I had. I closed them and fell asleep, letting the dark take over my thoughts. I felt so safe in the snow, so happy... FrostClan had no idea what was happening, until tomorrow.
Chapter Seven - Nightkit
I swatted my paw on Wolfkit's shoulder, but the strong tom nudged me off. "Quit it, Nightkit." He growled.
"I'm not giving up." I hissed, and jumped in the air, swiping his cheek and kicking him on the side. "That's what you get."
Wolfkit gasped in shock and raised his paw to bring it down on my back, but I was too quick for him and slipped out of the way. As he growled in frustration, I caught him by surprise by jumping on his back and pushing him into a gorse bush. The leaves wilted and the thorns grew longer as black fumes wrapped around it. Strange..!
"What did you do?" Wolfkit squeaked. I smirked a little.
"I don't even know. You're free, kit." I pushed him off and he rolled over in the grass and got up, shaking thorns off his pelt. The Clan War game was still going on, and I did not notice and was not expecting Pinekit to zoom up behind me and pin me down, and I choked in shock.
"Pinekit! That's SO NOT FUNNY!" I yelled at him. Pinekit angrily glared down at me.
"Well, then stop pushing Wolfkit around!" He hissed.
"Ugh, whatever! I quit this dumb game!" I snarled, shoving him off. I had a few pains in my shoulder and side where he was gripping on so tightly.
I whipped around. Sunkit, Pinekit, and Wolfkit all had their eyes on me. I walked up straight to Pinekit's face, and when we were a whisker-length apart from each other, I narrowed my eyes and muttered evilly like a witch cat from the elders' stories.
"Misfortune I bestow on you." Pinekit stared in shock and flinched a little.
"Wh-what do you mean? Is this some kind of joke?" He asked. I nodded.
"Yes." I lied. I turned around and disappeared into the bushes and watched their stupid little game. In a few seconds, Pinekit was being chased by Sunkit to the gorse bush, and a thick tendril grabbed his leg and Pinekit tripped over. I giggled slyly. I raised my paw and as black wisps of magic swirled around it, I whispered, "Last time I checked, wolves do suffer in the wild."
Soon enough, Wolfkit was charging towards Sunkit, and the small ginger tom leapt and tackled him to the ground and Wolfkit let out a howl of pain as he squirmed around.
"Ha! I can do anything now. Let's see what I can do with Sunkit, or better yet, all three of them." Nightkit murmured to herself. She whispered, "The sun is burning hot, and that can't be that good for the wolves in the wild. And I wonder how pine trees feel about the sun's glare?"
The magic happened almost instantly, as Sunkit paused and started panting, and Wolfkit moaned and clawed at the ground, while Pinekit flopped on the grass and let the heat wash over them.
"This is crazy," I whispered, "I can do so many things!" I noticed Lilackit, Lightningkit, Sweetkit, Dawnkit, Bluekit and Snowkit walking around, talking politely. Looks like my next target...
Chapter Eight - Sunkit
I nudged Nightkit and teased, "I think Lightningkit is staring at you whenever you're not looking this way." Nightkit stared at me with eyes narrowed,
"What do you mean? Why would he like me?" She asked. I blinked at her,
"Why wouldn't he? Anyway, if he does, I'll beat him half to death. You're my sister." I rolled my eyes when saying the last half. "Plus, I can't let my cute lil sis become mates with himmmm! But why wouldn't he like you?"
"Okay then.." Nightkit shrugged and looked down. I nudged her gently,
"Stop looking so down!" After I said that, Lightningkit padded over,
"Is she okay?" He asked. I turned and snapped,
"Yeah, she's fine, why do you wanna know?!" The words blurted out. I could hear Lightningkit huff under his breath,
"Sorry for caring.." And he walked off to his sister Lilackit. Nightkit looked up instantly and muttered,
"I'm fine, I'm fine..." After that, she bounded up to Lightningkit and murmured, "Hey." I growled in annoyance and walked off, ears pricked to listen to what they were saying.
"Hey." Lightningkit responded to Nightkit. She smiled weakly and said,
"How are you?"
"Yeah, fine, how about you?"
Sweetkit seemed to notice they were getting along and she bounded up swiftly, and she begged,
"Lightningkit, can I show you something please..?" Lightningkit nodded quickly and padded off by Sweetkit's side. I bounded over to Nightkit and snapped,
"What a pathetic mouse-brain!" Nightkit stared at them in annoyance, and responded to me,
"I know." I retorted,
"Those cats don't deserve your time!"
"I barely started a conversation with him, and then Sweetkit lures him away! I need to do something about that." Nightkit hissed. I nodded,
"Please do, it'll be fun. I can help." I said. I turned my head to see Lightningkit standing right there, half a tail length away, he heard everything. Lightningkit arched his back, hissed and a crack of lightning sounded across the territory. I noticed Bluekit pop her head out of the nursery, looking annoyed. She muttered something inaudible under her breath and there came the rain and lightning. "Great, now we have a storm!" I snapped, and as the next bolt of lightning came down on the camp floor and struck the earth, my anger caused the area to erupt in flame. Lightningkit raced up to Nightkit and I and hissed,
"You two, time to go!"
"What's going on?!" Nightkit snarled as the warriors from camp circled around the fire, mouths open in shock and the queens rushing out desperately to get their kits. I grinned,
"Fire."
I padded up to the fire instinctively, "What a gorgeous fire..."
I noticed Dawnkit in the corner of my eye, and she broke my trance. I bounded over. "Come with me!" Nightkit rolled her eyes,
"What are you, a pyromaniac?" She hissed teasingly. Dawnkit looked up and mewed softly,
"O-okay." I turned to my sister, a crazy but awesome flare in my eyes,
"Yeah, I am." Not realising it was meant to be a joke. I turned to Dawnkit with a sweet and cute smile, "Don't leave my side, okay? I'll protect you." Nightkit raised an eyebrow and turned to walk away before my mother, Applebird scooped her up, not noticing me or Dawnkit.
"Huh? Oh, um, okay.." Dawnkit murmured. I pressed my flank against hers and guided her to safety. Instinctively, I knew where the fire and the fumes would go.
"Thanks." Dawnkit quietly said as she looked down. I protectively wrapped my tail around her,
"It's fine. We'll wait here until the fire has passed and the others come to get us." Dawnkit sighed,
"My mother will be worried."
"You're with me, you won't get hurt. I promise." I reassured her. Dawnkit smiled and looked up to me,
"Thank you."
I smiled sweetly and cutely yet again but I said nothing. Suddenly, Dawnkit fell down a little bit on her knees and she started to cough. I looked instantly to her, shocked,
"The fire wasn't supposed to come this way. Nor the fumes!" I realised if I left to get help, she could die, so I stayed, pressing my nose into her fur. The fire would be here soon, if there was any thicker smoke she could die. Why wasn't I hurt too?
"What are you doing?! You're gonna hurt yourself!" Dawnkit screeched.
"I'm not hurt at all. Focus all your strength on this, okay?" I said, noticing that the fire was right outside the nursery now and I got to my paws, nudged Dawnkit to the back of the den where she would be safest. I stood protectively in front of her, awaiting the fire. I noticed her eyes widen,
"H-how can you not be harmed?" She whispered.
"I don't know." I replied honestly. "I guess my promise to you is giving me strength to not breathe in the smoke? I can stop breathing if you would like me to give you more air."
"Um, I'm fire.." Dawnkit said. I nodded,
"Take in a deep breath. The fire is here now." I stood face to face with the flames and it was only a heartbeat until I was engulfed in the fire. Dawnkit let out a gasp of shock,
"W-WHAAAAAT?" I took a step out and faced her unscathed. The fire behind me exited the den at top speed and back to the entrance of camp, but this time it was leaving. I took a step forward and sat down beginning to lick her ears,
"Are you alright? Are you injured?"
"I'm okay. Thanks to you!" Dawnkit stood up and gave his ears a swift lick. "I need to go visit my mother now, she must be super worried about me. Bye!"
I stood dazed, I still felt over-protective about Dawnkit even though the danger was gone and so was she. Just to check, I stayed in the shadows to make sure she was perfectly fine.
Chapter Nine - Wolfkit
I rested my head on my paw and stared at Bluekit, who was minding her own business. She turned sharply and caught me staring at her. She pounced on me playfully and tugged at my ear. "Hey, you...!"
I chuckled and rolled out under Bluekit's weight. "Oh, chill out! I was only staring... at you." I quickly looked away to hide the blush that was getting deeper and deeper. I turned back and stammered, "Um, it was b-because you were d-doing something..?"
Bluekit blushed and playfully squashed me, sprawling out over the top of me. She was softly purring in happiness.
"It's okay." She murmured. "That's what close friends are for. They like to stare." She teased. I giggled and shook her off, mind dancing and heart racing.
"Haha, I have caught you staring at me at times." I joked. Bluekit deeply blushed,
"What would you do if I occasionally stare at you? Is it a crime? If so what is it punishable by?" She came face to face with me.
"I'm not saying it IS a crime. I'm saying that.. Well... You do it too!" I stammered. Bluekit purred,
"Alright, you caught me. I'm hungry, wanna go eat something?"
"Okay." I got up and ran out to get two mice from the fresh-kill pile, and ran back to Bluekit and dropped the mice. "We're gonna be apprentices soon! Excited?"
"Yeah! We'll be the best!" Bluekit nodded and took a bite of the prey.
I smiled, "Wonder who my mentor will be." I said.
"You'll make a good apprentice... You'll be strong... fast... clever... skilled. Maybe they won't even make me an apprentice." Bluekit frowned. I purred and nudged her,
"Aww, shucks! I'm not that great! Plus, you're awesome! Of course they're making us all apprentices."
"You're amazing... Everything they look for in a warrior. All I can do is swim." Bluekit started to shake in fear. I snorted,
"You can do FAR more then that! You practically knocked me off my feet this morning." Bluekit huffed,
"You weren't expecting it." She then giggled, "It was funny." She leaned against me, a soft purr in her throat, "You are good company, Wolfkit."
I instantly felt heat rush through my body. "Thanks... You are too, Bluekit." I murmured. I got up, instantly I regretted that as the warmth faded away quickly. "I-it's gonna be night time soon." I flattened my ears.
Bluekit crumbled to the ground and then slowly got to her paws, her eyes seeming a little sad..? "Yeah, I think I'll sleep outside tonight..."
"No! Don't. Sleep inside." I choked out.
"I like sleeping by the water, it's peaceful... Plus, no one really wants me by their side.." Bluekit murmured.
"What about Snowkit? Not even her?" I asked.
"She loves me but she can handle a nest to herself so..." Bluekit muttered. She shrugged, "Oh well, see ya tomorrow." She curled up by the small pond beside the entrance and her fur brushed out from the cold wind but her ears relaxed from the gentle ripples of the water. I sighed and prowled around the camp as the area got dim, and finally the sun came down below the horizon and the moon popped up like a shining, round and white cloud.
Bluekit slipped in the water as the moon arose, and I gazed up at the moon and the stars. I allowed the glowing light to completely engulf me. Bluekit was unconscious and while she was asleep, some water lifted from the pond and lifted in the air with Bluekit in it and formed into a ball. As soon as Bluekit opened her eyes the water crashed down and she squealed.
I perked my ears to the squeal and turned around, "Who was that?!" I asked.
"Me." Bluekit padded over, her fur drenched. She huffed and blew some fur to show her eyes. "I don't know what happened, I was just in the air and suddenly came crashing down."
"Are you okay?" I rushed up to her licking her over.
"I'm fine. Like I said, I love water. Just shocked, that's all." Bluekit purred.
"Oh.... Okay." I murmured. I walked off and sat down again on my favourite rock, and felt my body glow silver as a shooting star fly across the blue night sky. Bluekit followed,
"Isn't the sky beautiful?" She blushed as she murmured, "It reminds me of you." I blushed,
"Oh really? Thanks.." I heard a yawn from Bluekit as she curled up at the bottom of my rock.
Meanwhile I just stared at the moon, and eventually fell asleep.
Chapter Ten - Pinekit
I was in the middle of a dream, in the nursery. Silverdrop was asleep in her nest and Snowkit was just waking up, seemed to remember something, and she started jumping around. Bluekit seemed to be missing, until she came up and noticed Snowkit was staring at a certain tom cat, but the appearance of the tom kit was blurry.
"Oh, hey Bluekit. Where have you been?" Snowkit asked.
"Out." Bluekit responded calmly.
"Oh, cool." Snowkit said, her gaze drifting back to the mysterious tom-kit dreamily.
"Lovebird." Bluekit teased.
"What? No! I don't like anyone." Snowkit huffed.
"Sure, sure." Bluekit giggled. "Admit it Snowkit. I'll tell you who I like if you admit it."
Snowkit flattened her ears. "Alright." She murmured. She sunk down in her nest and opened her mouth to whisper something, but at that moment, my dream ended instantly when a kit came over to my nest and softly nudged me.
I only stirred a little, a growl rising in my throat.
"Sorry Pine, just a wake-up call." A familiar voice said. I opened my eyes and turned around. It was Snowkit! I was just dreaming about her.
"Do I have to wake up?" I asked.
"Today we're becoming apprentices." She reminded me. I immediately jumped to my paws excitedly, but I calmly said,
"That's cool."
"Yeah, I'm wondering who my mentor will be!" Snowkit said.
"Same." I said.
"I'm bored, should we play something?" She asked.
"Alright." I said.
"Hmm, what games should we play?" Snowkit asked. I wondered for a bit, but instead, I just said,
"I don't know." I was actually thinking of playing family, but never mind that. "How about a game of war?" I suggested.
"Alright." Snowkit sighed.
"You don't sound too confident." I told her. In a softer tone I said, "I'll make you my deputy."
"Okay! I'm IN!" Snowkit cheered. "I will be Snowsky."
"I'll be Pinestar." I grinned, "We need another Clan though."
"Sunkit, Lightningkit, Nightkit, Wolfkit, feel like playing?!" Snowkit called.
Nightkit and Wolfkit turned. Wolfkit slowly nodded and walked over with his sister Nightkit. Nightkit glared down at Snowkit and Pinekit, then pointing her nose high in the air, she hissed, "Fine. Looks like I'm playing."
Sunkit shook his head. "Nah, I don't feel like playing. Kits play games and we'll be apprentices today." Bluekit nudged Sunkit roughly,
"Enjoy your last game then! I'm in!"
Lightningkit nodded. "Yeah, same here."
"Okay, yay!" Snowkit squealed. "We need one more cat on our team."
I noticed that Sunkit was still watching from a distance, but I looked away from him as Lightningkit took responsibility. "I'll join." He said.
Snowkit nodded in approval and looked up to me, expecting me to start a fight.
"I, Pinestar of PineClan, declare war!!" I yowled. There was a battle cry as the two 'Clans' leaped towards each other. Snowkit pinned Bluekit down and I heard a yowl that sounded like it came from her.
Nightkit growled and leapt on me, pinning me down, but as black fumes took over her, she vanished and reappeared on the other side of camp.
I was startled, so I blinked a few times, unsure what to do I stood there, frozen. Where had Nightkit gone?
Nightkit let the black fumes engulf her and she appeared again nearby me. "Did ya miss me?" She giggled. I shrugged,
"Not really." I pinned her and gently pawed at her face. Nightkit snarled and muttered under her breath,
"Pine trees fall over sometimes, like I can imagine one falling down right now." Nightkit raised a paw and swiped my shoulder swiftly, knocking me over. I jumped back up and pushed her over rather hard. I glared at her sharply as a yowl rang across the 'battle' from Bluekit,
"Wolfkit!!"
Nightkit snarled and unsheathed her long, talon-like claws. "Don't. Make. Me." She threatened. I backed away,
"This is a game, Nightkit...!"
Nightkit circled me. "It is so, Pinekit, but this is different from the other games. This isn't like family, where we have the innocent kits. This isn't like the hunting game, where we catch fake prey. This isn't like moss ball, where we chuck a ball of moss around. This is a FIGHTING game, so we FIGHT." She hissed. "I know certain things, Pinekit. Things that not every kit knows about."
I leaped at Nightkit and pinned her, I growled, "No, this isn't family like a game. We are kin out of a game. Sure this is a fighting game, but notice the word 'game', it's not real fighting. If you think you can purposely attack a cat in a game it is foolish and stupid, it becomes pathetic when it is your kin. I don't care what you know compared to everyone else, you don't boast about it, if not every kit knows about it. It's called a secret, and you keep secrets to yourself." He snarled, "I'm not putting up with your dirt, Nightkit." He got off her and stalked off to sit with Sunkit.
Nightkit snarled behind me, "The war is OVER." Meanwhile, I noticed Snowkit laying flat on the ground, crumpled up in a ball with her hind leg oddly sprawled out. I heard Bluekit snap,
"You're NOT fine!!"
"I'm. FINE." Snowkit hissed, getting up slowly but she stumbled and fell over on her knees. I ran over,
"Snowkit... Come on, let's get you to the medicine cat den." I commented. "Lean against me." Snowkit nodded and stood up, leaning against me. I guided her to the medicine cat den, and Tigerleaf was there, sorting herbs and Lilackit just happened to be there. Bluekit was following us nervously, and Lilackit asked,
"What's wrong?" I just shrugged,
"We were playing around...." Tigerleaf soothed,
"Snowkit, I think it's just a bit sore, I can give you poppy seeds but that's all I can do, I'm afraid..." Snowkit's eyes widened,
"NO! My ceremony is SOON!" She whined, and Tigerleaf seemed to be filled with sympathy, so she said,
"How about I give you a light dose? Not enough for you to sleep but enough to help the pain."
"Okay." Snowkit whimpered. Tigerleaf nudged the two seeds forward, and Snowkit licked them up quickly. As she fell asleep, I curled up around her and waited.
~*~*~*~*
Snowkit slowly woke up and I jumped away to make it look like I didn't care much. She rolled over and got to her paws as we all heard the leader of the Clan call for a meeting. I followed and all the other kits gathered around in a muddled circle, each well groomed.
Shadowstar yowled, "It is time for four apprentices to move on from their training stage to warriors. Their mentors have taught each of them well, and with the power of StarClan I give them their warrior name. Riverpaw, from this day forth you'll be known as Riverforce. Your kindness and power is a valuable trait in FrostClan. Mousepaw, from this day forth you'll be known as Mouseleap, StarClan honours your gentleness and hospitality. Cloudpaw, from this day forth you'll be known as Cloudpelt. StarClan honours your strength and loyalty. Frostpaw, from this day forth you'll be known as Frostfeather. StarClan honours your feistiness and spirit. But as well as that there are ten kits that have reached 6 moons old, and it is time they earn their apprentice names. Lilackit, Lightningkit, Dawnkit, Sweetkit, Bluekit, Snowkit, Nightkit, Sunkit, Wolfkit, and Pinekit, do you all promise to respect your mentor and follow the warrior code?"
"I do!" All of the kits chanted.
"Then by the power of StarClan I give you your apprentice names. Lightningkit is Lightningpaw, mentored by Blizzardstripe, Dawnkit is Dawnpaw, mentored by Shadenose, Sweetkit is Sweetpaw, mentored by Crowheart, Bluekit is Bluepaw, mentored by Leafmist, Snowkit is Snowpaw, mentored by Minnowcreek, Nightkit is Nightpaw, mentored by Forestfire. Sunkit is Sunpaw, mentored by Whitetornado, Wolfkit is Wolfpaw, mentored by Dewfeather, Lilackit is Lilacpaw, mentored by Tigerleaf as she is now medicine cat apprentice." Shadowstar finished. The entire Clan cheered out the warriors' names and the apprentices' names.
"It is tradition that our four new warriors, Riverforce, Mouseleap, Cloudpelt, and Frostfeather, go on vigil tonight. A vigil is a special night when new warriors guard the whole camp for one entire night. Good luck. Clan dismissed!" Shadowstar said as she jumped down from Waterrock and smiled at the new warriors and apprentices.
Bluepaw beamed and she jumped on Wolfpaw and licked his ear, "I became an apprentice!!" Sunpaw stood still but his eyes sparkled like a fire. I just shrugged it off like it was nothing, Sweetpaw ran over to her new mentor Crowheart and screamed,
"I'll try my hardest!"
Lilacpaw squealed and started blabbing to Tigerleaf in excitement, Wolfpaw purred and leaned against Bluepaw, Snowpaw started jumping around, Dawnpaw smiled and touched noses with her new mentor, and Nightpaw calmly sat there, a smile on her face anyway.
I saw Sunpaw pad over to Dawnpaw,
"Congratz." Dawnpaw purred,
"Thanks."
And with that, Sunpaw stalked off.
This day is amazing.
Chapter Eleven - Lilacpaw
I noticed the medicine cat den, excited to sleep there for the night. It's so awesome how I'm Tigerleaf's apprentice now! I can finally help my Clanmates. I left camp to go for a walk and sat down in my special spot, where everything was nice and beautiful. There were flowers all around, and whenever I entered, more flowers seemed to grow. I heard a voice somewhere, and I turned around and walked over to the bushes where the noise was coming from.
There was Sunpaw, pawing at the dirt. "I can't love her..... I can't....." He loves someone, but who?
Sunpaw paused to sniff the air and caught my scent, and he whipped around with his eyes wide in fear. "How did you find me?!" I slipped out of the bushes.
"Oh, I go for long walks. I just happened to catch you here muttering about your 'loved one'." I explained. Sunpaw instantly turned red,
"What...?! You heard everything!?"
"Ya. Don't worry, I promise to keep your secret. Who is this she-cat?" I asked calmly.
"So you didn't hear?" He sighed in relief, "Good." He snapped, "It's none of your business! I don't love her...! I can't..."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I have no business in even knowing." I sighed as I sat down.
Sunpaw sighed, "If you became over-protective of a cat... Worrying about them every heartbeat of the day, not being able to sleep because you think they might be in danger... How you wouldn't live with yourself if they got hurt even though it wasn't your fault... Is that love?" He huffed, "What even is love?"
I flicked her ears. "I would call that... Wanting them to be safe, and I think that means... A crush."
Sunpaw sighed, "I don't know the first thing about liking a she-cat but I've heard... Liking is okay. But love is really strong that it's like a force pulling you towards them... I feel like that... I feel like Dawnpaw is the only important thing... WAIT NOT DAWNPAW.. I MEANT..."
I couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "I know, I know. Now relax, I'm a trustworthy cat, not a rumour-spreading liar."
Sunpaw looked to his paws, "Maybe it is Dawnpaw..."
"Maybe? Okay.." I muttered.
Sunpaw looked away, "What should I do about it? Run away? Die?"
"Confront her, not now, not too soon, but eventually. Admit your feelings. Maybe she'll like you back." I said.
"Why would she like someone like me... WAIT TELL HER MY FEELINGS? NOOOOO. I'm not good at that." Sunpaw said.
I nudged him playfully. "If you want her to know how you feel about her, then telling her is the only way!" I said.
Sunpaw looked at his paws, "I don't know.."
"It'll be easy, and hard." I snorted. "I haven't felt love before since I'm a to-be medicine cat. I'll never know what it feels like." I softly sighed.
Sunpaw looked at me, "You will. But it'll be more painful for you... Medicine Cats can feel love, they just can't show it. Your love will be the most painful, loving them but not being able to do anything."
"I see. Tigerleaf will go into more details later on.." I murmured.
"Yeah..." He added, "but for your sake, i hope you don't fall in love."
"I won't." I mewed.
"It happens at the weirdest of times. I thought I'd live my life without love, without a mate... I never asked for it, I never wanted it. But it came. Watch out." Sunpaw warned.
I sighed. "Okay.." I turned and walked back to camp.
Is love really that powerful?
Chapter Twelve - Lightningpaw
I padded up to Nightpaw and said, "What'd you do? Pinepaw seems like he's got some grudge against you."
"Oh, I said one little thing and he goes OFF." Nightpaw growled.
I shrugged, "He doesn't like to show it but when something happens it can seriously hurt him. But at least you admit you did something..." I looked to Sweetpaw, she waved her tail invitingly and I called back, "Coming squirrel-brain!" I purred. I turned back to Nightpaw and muttered, "Cya."
I nudged Sweetpaw and purred, "Let's go to a place where no one can find us." Sweetpaw looked at me and nodded,
"Yeah..."
We walked side by side through territory until we settled in a place that had no scent of the Clan and we thought no one would go. i looked to her, "Something you wanted to tell me?" Sweetpaw leaned in close and whispered it in my ear, I turned to Sweetpaw shocked then purred, "Okay. I accept." She licked my ear, "You're the best!!"
Nightpaw leapt into view immediately, knocking over Sweetpaw with claws unsheathed and she clawed her muzzle and flanks. "WHAT DID YOU TELL HIM?!" She shouted.
I growled, "Nightpaw, it's none of your concern. The fact you were spying was enough. Leave." Sweetpaw squirmed around, her eyes wide in fear.
Nightpaw instantly let go and looked away, tears burning in her eyes. She turned back around and sobbed, "Sweetpaw, THIS IS NOT OVER. You two gotta watch out." And with those words, Nightpaw took off into the woods.
I followed her, "Nightpaw... Why would you threaten her?"
"She said something about loving you, didn't she? Okay, I like you. There, I said it. Happy now?" Nightpaw admitted, turning and walking away as rain came and soaked her pelt.
I couldn't fight down the shock I felt.
"She never said anything about loving me...? Because I like a different cat." I murmured.
"What did she say then?" Nightpaw asked.
"It's a secret. Ya know that's why we ran off just so she could tell me??" I replied.
"I followed you because I was concerned that she was gonna ask... the question." Nightpaw muttered.
"What question?" I looked puzzled.
"Oh um.. If she likes you possibly.." Nightpaw shuffled her paws in embarrassment.
"She doesn't. I can assure you that." I huffed.
"This is awkward. I'm leaving, bye.." Nightpaw turned and walked off.
I got angry, why did she have to be so shy? I wouldn't mind if she admitted her own feelings confidently then I would too. In the distance lightning struck. But I couldn't see it. Insanity.
~*~*~*~*
Meanwhile...
Nightpaw ran off to the river and collapsed. As her body hit the sandy bank shadowy fumes came off her body and travelled through the area. Nightpaw looked deeply into the river, "I'll regret this in StarClan." She murmured as she turned around and let herself fall backwards in the river with a splash. A mysterious figure pulled her out and pinned her onto the bank so she couldn't do it again. Nightpaw looked up,
"Who..?"
Pinepaw had tears in the corners of his eyes, "Don't. You. Dare." He murmured lovingly.
(A/N Just in case you guys are thinking 'WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?', then I'm telling you that Pinepaw and Nightpaw are KIN, okay? They love each other as kin. I'm sure you love your kin, too, and would be sad if they tried to kill themselves. Just giving you guys a heads-up if you were confused. Now back to the normal story...)
"Is that.. Pinepaw?" Nightpaw asked, squinting her eyes.
Pinepaw stared her in the eye, "Why...?"
"Oh. Lightningpaw, Sweetpaw.. Yeah." Nightpaw muttered.
Pinepaw tried not to sound rude but he looked startled, "Umm.. You do know Lightningpaw likes you, right? You can see it in his eyes."
"True." Nightpaw said.
Pinepaw intensely glared, "Then why?"
"He got mad." Nightpaw said. She was tired and didn't feel like explaining.
"At you??"
"Okay.. So Sweetpaw asked Lightningpaw if they could go out for a walk, I started following them because they're always with eachother and I want to know what they talk about. Sweetpaw whispered something into Lightningpaw's ear, and Lightningpaw said 'I accept!' And it sounded like they agreed to be mates or something, so I slashed Sweetpaw. Lightningpaw told me that she didn't ask that question and it was actually a secret, I admitted that I liked him, and off I went, feeling like an idiot." Nightpaw spilled out.
Pinepaw got off her letting her sit up, "It was wrong to follow them let alone attack but... I see where you are coming from. It's good you confessed." He then pulled a weird excited face, "now you two can be mates..!!"
"What?" Nightpaw gave him an annoyed look, "Sunpaw noticed that Lightningpaw was in love with me as a kit and said that he'll kill Lightningpaw if we become mates. Plus, we're too young!"
"Doesn't mean anything when you're warriors. Plus Sunpaw ships it as much as I do.. If it happened he'll be protective over you but at the same time he'll secretly be skipping around in joy." Pinepaw said.
"Okay.. What should I do now?" Nightpaw asked.
"Give him time... Don't try to drown yourself and enjoy life, remember. We're apprentices now." He purred.
"Fine. I'll try my best." Nightpaw sighed.
Pinepaw nudged her, "Let's get back to camp."
"Okay." Nightpaw smiled. It was night time and she was eager to step paw in the new apprentice den.
Chapter Thirteen - Dawnpaw
Pinepaw was curled up in the apprentice den acting like it was no different to the nursery. However, Bluepaw squirmed and giggled in excitement. Nightpaw calmly curled up and watched the others, and Snowpaw was chatting to Pinepaw about how awesome they'll be, and I was sitting, smiling at Sunpaw and the others.
Sunpaw sat in the corner antisocially not wanting to speak to any cat nor sleep. Sweetpaw mewed, "I'll be outside if you need me."
Bluepaw looked to the entrance as Sweetpaw padded out, "That cat is so mysterious now..."
Lightningpaw defended, "She's the same Sweetpaw we always knew."
"Calm it, Lightningpaw, Bluepaw was just saying an opinion." I spoke up.
Lightningpaw winced, "Yeah. Fine."
Bluepaw looked to Dawnpaw, "It's fine, don't worry about it okay?" She then turned to Lightningpaw, "I'm sorry."
Dawnpaw sighed and got up and walked over to Sunpaw and said, "Hey, can I sit here?"
Sunpaw nodded, "Ugh yeah, sure!"
Dawnpaw politely sat down next to him, "Are you happy now that you're an apprentice?"
"I don't know. I'll be happier a warrior I suppose." He shrugged then turned to me, "How about you?"
"I'm really good about it." I said.
"That's good." Sunpaw replied.
"I'm excited." I murmured randomly.
"You'll be brilliant." The words slipped from his mouth.
I felt her cheeks go red and I looked down in modesty. "O-oh really? I won't be as good as you.." I said quietly, squeaking as the last words just popped out.
Sunpaw shook his head, "Don't be so sure..."
"I'm still sure though!" Instantly I felt like bashing my head against a tree, Idiot! Idiot! I thought angrily to myself.
Sunpaw purred, "You're so cute." After he said that his eyes widened and he walked outside only to climb a tree and mutter to himself angrily, "What the fox?! You're so cute. Why'd I even say that. I'm such a mouse-brain."
"Cute?" Dawnpaw's eyes shot open wide, she turned and slipped outside, "Sweetpaw?" She called.
Sweetpaw called back, "I'm back in here, mouse-brain!"
"Oh, whoops! Hi Sweetpaw, I'm a bit tired now and I want to wake up early for my mentor so I might go to sleep now.. I'll tell you what's the matter tomorrow morning! 'Night!" I mewed, curling up in my nest and falling asleep.
Chapter Fourteen - Sweetpaw
I padded out of the apprentice den, it was early in the morning, the sun had just risen and the sky was as blue as the river in our territory. I noticed my mentor waiting outside the apprentices den, so I turned around and started grooming my fur quickly before padding over to him. I brightly smiled, "Crowheart!"
"Hello Sweetpaw. Today is of course the first day of apprenticeship training." Crowheart smiled warmly at his me.
I purred, "Yes, yes it is. I'm so excited. These moons will be the best of my life!"
Crowheart purred. "All right, let's get started. Follow me outside of camp."
I folllowed him with a smile on my face, my eyes brighter than I was with any other cat. The smile could have been as bright as the golden sun.
Crowheart led me into territory and walked past the rushing river which was shining in the morning light, and he slipped around the corner and walked some more until he reached a beautiful place with soft sand covering the floor and flower bushes all around. It was a place I considered very peaceful and welcoming. "This is the training area of all apprentices. Today I'll not be teaching you here but somewhere else nearby." Crowheart explained.
"Okay." I purred.
"Follow me to find out where I'll be training you today." Crowheart purred. He jumped out of the training centre and walked back to the river banks with me following behind. "This is the river, where we FrostClan cats swim. And of course, we hunt fish here.. And that's what I'm teaching you today!" Crowheart meowed.
I following behind as fast as I could. "Hunting fish? Okay!" I grinned.
Crowheart purred, "There are two ways to do this, the first one being more common. You sit on the shore and make sure your shadow doesn't come over the water, that scares away the fish. Then, wait patiently for one to swim by, and dip your paw in the water with claws unsheathed and flick it up onto the shore, and bite it to kill it if you have to. Watch." Crowheart sat down on the shore and noticed a silver fish shoot by, and he dipped his paw into the water and sunk his claws in the slippery scales of the fish and flicked it up onto the bank. Crowheart twisted his head around to bite the flailing fish on the neck, finishing it off. I licked my lips. That fish looked delicious, it's scales glittering rainbow colours in the sunlight.
I smiled in amazement and said, "You're really good..!"
"Thanks Sweetpaw, now you try." Crowheart said.
I followed the instructions and focused hard and leaned over the edge, making sure my shadow didn't hit the water. Once I had done that I got ready, I followed each step with focus, time and care, but on the first shot I missed out of bad luck. I kept going with the steps until on the second try I hooked a medium-sized fish onto the bank before gently nipping it to its death.
"Great job!" Crowheart exclaimed.
"Not really, I was sloppy the first shot." I said, looking away awkwardly and sadly.
"You tried your best," Crowheart defended.
I frowned, "I hate water..."
"Well, that's a bit too bad for you because the next method of hunting fish is to stay in the water. Just stay by my side, okay? You'll be fine." Crowheart said, slipping in the water. "Come on in."
I shuddered, "Okay. Only for you, though!!"
Crowheart smiled. "You'll be alright."
"Fine..." I followed Crowheart into the water but as soon as I got in, I panicked and almost started drowning before wind exploded all around me.
All I remember was a gasp, a splash of water, and being dragged on the shore by someone before blacking out.
~*~*~*~*
I blinked my eyes awake, my fur dry from the wind.
Crowheart was standing over me. "Sorry that the first training session didn't go as smoothly as possible, next time I'll teach you how to hunt other creatures." He said.
"It wasn't your fault..." I blinked hazily but I had messed everything up. He could never like me as a friend now.
Crowheart let out a light laugh. "Don't feel bad for it, I screwed up on my first time when I was an apprentice too. Takes some time, but you get used to it."
I purred and smiled even though behind the smile it was clear I was in pain, "Okay. I believe you."
Crowheart nodded and smiled. "Good. I'm gonna get something for you to eat, okay?" As Crowheart left the medicine cat den Dawnpaw had just returned from training with her new mentor Shadenose and she noticed my tail sticking out of the medicine cat den and she rushed over. "Sweetpaw! What happened?" She questioned.
I turned to Dawnpaw and purred, "I'm fine."
"Oh, okay." Dawnpaw said.
Crowheart returned with a fish in his jaws and gave it to me. "It's salmon," he said. He gave the fish he caught to Dawnpaw.
I blushed, "For me...?"
"Yes, it's for you." Crowheart said.
I looked into his eyes but then took one small bite before pushing it away, "I'm not hungry."
"Are you sure?" Crowheart asked.
"Yeah." I looked away.
"Fine then, is it okay if I give it to my mate Applebird after she comes back from patrol?" Crowheart asked.
I winced and looked up heartbroken but still managed to smile, "Sure..."
Crowheart smiled and winked, "Thanks, you're a good apprentice." He picked up the salmon in his jaws, turned around and left.
Dawnpaw, who was sitting there the whole time, turned and asked me, "Sweetpaw, you're acting strange! The other apprentices are worried about you, last night Bluepaw said you were becoming 'mysterious'... What's wrong?"
I sighed, "I can be who I want to be. One day I'll be free. Like the wind."
Dawnpaw sighed. "Fine then. I'm going." She turned and left the den.
I sighed, what has happened to me?
Chapter Fifteen - Bluepaw
Leafmist spotted me and called out, "Bluepaw! Hey get over here!"
"Okay!" I called and padded over.
Leafmist purred, "Hunting training."
"Oh, cool. I thought I learned how to hunt yesterday...?" I said.
"You have six moons, i'm not creative enough to think of something new to teach you every day for those six moons." She replied.
I purred, "Okay. What exactly am I learning about hunting today?"
"Woodland prey."
"Oh really? Interesting..!" I exclaimed, even though I didn't really feel like it.
"I would hope so." Leafmist huffed before padding out of camp expecting me to follow.
I followed, smiling, still unsure about it. But I shrugged it off, and tried to think about the sun shining in the sky, bathing the world in its lovely, warming light.
Just to make me feel better, I snuck an extra look at Wolfpaw before following Leafmist out of camp.
Leafmist led me into the woods. "I taught you how to hunt fish yesterday, and today we're learning how to catch woodland prey. Animals like mice, rabbits, squirrels, et cetera. Animals like voles can be caught. Some voles you can find around here and some voles you can find nearby the river. Understand what I'm saying so far?" She explained.
I frowned, "Can't we hunt fish again??" I sounded miserable. I loved water. I felt like I was at my peak around it. Like I could manipulate the water to make the fish come to my paws perfectly.
"Yeah." Although I heard nothing.
"We can, but after this, okay?" Leafmist smiled. "I'll show you how you do it. See the position I'm in at the moment? This is the Hunter's Crouch. A famous and special move all over the cat Clans. You crouch like how I'm crouching. Body low, tail low. Your tail should be low enough to not be sticking out of the grass but not too low to drag along the dirt. Your front paws should be tucked under your chest and your hind legs bent, ready to leap. Make sure the wind is blowing towards you so you can smell the prey, and if the wind is blowing to them, they'll smell you. Watch."
Leafmist explained, she was already in that position as a mouse darted by. Leafmist leapt and nipped its neck sharply, killing it. "As you leap, make sure you pin down your prey completely and try not to lose it, and with a bite to the neck they'll be dead."
I tried my best to follow the instructions, although when I was tucking my paws under my chest, I fell face-first.
I attempted it again, but when I spotted a mouse, I tried darting forward but face-planted.
The mouse seemed amused by me falling right in front of it and started a small dance teasingly.
"Get it quickly when you have the chance!" Leafmist instructed.
I dashed, and when I cupped her paws over the prey, I tripped and let it go running off for its life. I moaned, "I cannot hunt woodland prey...."
Leafmist sighed. "Bluepaw, practice makes perfect. If you want to hunt fish, at least catch just one piece of prey so we can do what you desire."
I tried to hide my sorrow, "Okay.. I'll try.." I chased after the mouse and had a plan, that went against all my mentor just taught me.
I smirked, it'd work. I crawled into the bush which was next to the prey. I lifted her paw to its blind spot and struck it heavily, making it trapped in my claws. I pulled it through the bush and nipped it before carrying it back to Leafmist. "There's your prey. I think i can do this woodland hunting afterall."
Leafmist purred. "Excellent! Wanna go hunting fish now? I'll guide you to the river and then I trust you to be on your own as I bring this prey back to the elders, okay?"
I nodded smiling, "Thank you!"
I ran to the river, but as I ran it seemed like everything was in slow-motion and I could see the air as mini droplets of water. I purred in delight.
Leafmist smiled and picked up the mouse and left territory to camp. When I reached the river, I dove in, not even caring that I disturbed all the fish.
I dived under water, the waves lapping at my coat. My vision was aqua green and light danced on the sandy bottom. It was so peaceful underwater.. I noticed a school of fish swim by, the gleaming light reflecting off their silver scales and beaming into my eyes. I dashed straight at the fish, opened my jaws wide as it all happened as quickly as a sparrow taking flight, I chomped down on three fish and a metallic taste sprung in my mouth as I realised it was the fish's blood, I had just killed three fish all at once. I swam up to the shore as Leafmist just came back in. "I see you're enjoying the water," She said.
I grinned, "Yes i am!" I showed Leafmist three fish I had already caught. I jumped around in the water, little droplets of water flicking up in the air and landing on my mentor's head. I started pushing my head forwards and then backwards in a little dance, surprised to see the water go in the same way as my head. Shocked, I turned to Leafmist, "I'll be back to camp later. I'm going to hunt down near the end of the river... Is that okay?"
"It's fine, just stay careful." Leafmist said.
"I will!!" I powerfully swam down the river until I was sure I was out of sight down near the end, it was shallow so I stood on my paws and did the moving head trick over and over until the water pulling with my head got up to about my size. I gasped as it flowed over the top of me like a wave and once it reached me, it stopped and fell on top of me. I crawled onto the bank to dry off and I was startled to realise, "I can move water...?!"
"Minnowcreek, you can trust me on my own..!"
A voice yowled. Someone's here.
Then something shocking happened. The water grew bitterly cold, and ice was crawling up to the end I was of the water. It completely froze the rest of the water, avoiding me, but the ice was stuck around my paws and I couldn't move. "No!! Unfreeze i'd love to practice different things...!!!" I yowled.
Paw by paw, and pulled out each of them and put them on my ice, it was super slippery, and I quickly ran down the ice, slipping around. I tripped over a chunk of frost and started spinning round and round on the ice on my belly, my belly as numb as ever, with all four of my legs sprawled out like a star, but I only saw Snowpaw standing on the ice perfectly like she could never slip over.
"Snowpaw?! It's frozen! The water is frozen!" I wailed.
Snowpaw looked nervous. "Oh.." She leapt off the river and it started to snow.
I grinned, "You can manipulate snow!! That's it!!" I sounded like a lunatic.
"What?" Snowpaw stared at me like I was insane.
"Stare at the water and imagine it melting or do something you think you could melt the ice. Trust me!" I purred lovingly.
She leapt at the water again, and the ice thickened.
"Try MELTING it. Like stare at it intensely or something...? That only freezes it. Like look at this." i looked up at the sky and narrowed my eyes, making air bunch up and form a small water ball. I threw it at a tree and it immediately melted back into air. I turned to Snowpaw, "You're snow and ice and I'm water. We're kin... We're gifted with something..! See?"
Snowpaw stared intensely at it and the ice instantly melted. "There's a problem. I'm ice, you're water. Ice defeats water."
"Water controls ice is another problem... I can use the water to boil it and melt ice..." I frowned, "Oh well, how about you don't always freeze my domain and I won't melt your ice and snow?"
"Fine." Snowpaw said.
I purred and nudged Snowpaw, "We are so lucky... we can't tell anyone okay? They might hate us... Kick us out... Treat us differently... I just want to become a warrior but with this... There must be a reason... What do you think?"
Snowpaw shrugged. "I have no idea.."
Ice and water... Nothing can get in our way now.
Chapter Sixteen - Snowpaw
Minnowcreek looked at me, "I think when you're a warrior your weakness won't be strength but you'll be fast and agile... We'll start off with your weakness. Attack me with all your strength." Minnowcreek stood there waiting but in her eyes she showed that she would just move away so I might miss.
I stood there, worried. I faintly remembered what Bluepaw told me last night about manipulating snow, I was worried that if I were to attack my mentor I would freeze her or hurt her. Is it even possible to freeze a cat? I wondered. I leapt and crashed into Minnowcreek but before I could hurt her, I slipped off and my belly touched some snow. I jumped up and stared at it to melt it.
Minnowcreek frowned, "I thought you could do a lot better than that... Oh well, I guess we'll have to work on it. Now I'd like to see if you know what to do if a strong opponent attacks you." Minnowcreek dove at me strength in her paws.
I leapt out of the way and pinned Minnowcreek from behind, trying to keep calm as I held her down.
Minnowcreek purred, "Thats exactly right! You have your instincts and your intelligence!"
I smiled. "Thanks." I said.
Minnowcreek grinned, "Now attack me without defending with your strengths not weaknesses."
I charged up to Minnowcreek quickly and bounced on her back, pawing at her ears.
Minnowcreek shook me off, "That is terrible. You exposed your weakness and now you gave your opponent the upper paw by pinning you." She pinned me, "Use your agility. Trick the opponent and try not to go any place where your footing is unstable."
I hid my disappointment. "Oh, okay." I looked around and stared at one spot to make it look like I was gonna go there. As soon as possible, I leapt over to another part of the training area and darted all around the place, confusing my mentor.
Minnowcreek purred, "Keep going!"
I continued running around to build up my energy and as I watched Minnowcreek blink in confusion, I leapt to her and pinned her down easily when I got a chance.
Minnowcreek broke free and nodded in acceptance, "That was excellent, we need to work on your strength and you might just be ahead of all the other apprentices in fighting. I reckon we should stop now though."
"Okay!" I smiled brightly.
She guided me back to camp. "Go pick out something for yourself, you've done plenty today."
"Thanks." I grabbed a trout in my jaws and took it back to the apprentices den and dug in. It felt like I was the only apprentice back from training.
Pinepaw yawned and padded into the apprentices den before sitting in his nest, "I thought I was the only one back?"
I giggled. "Well, you're obviously not."
"Okay. Well I'm exhausted..." He yawned once more before lying down in relaxation, "What were you doing?"
"Battle practice." I meowed.
"Lucky you." He sighed, "I had to do the elder's bedding and ticks."
"Oh, why?" I frowned.
"Because it needed doing? I hear next cat on duty is Nightpaw. I don't get to do it for a long time seeing as though there are ten apprentices. I might not ever have to do it again in fact.." Pinepaw murmured.
"Good for you." I mewed. "Minnowcreek thinks I'm battle training with other apprentices. Dunno who, though."
"That's strange...." He commented, half asleep.
"She says she's gonna plan it out." I finished off my trout.
Pinepaw frowned, "I'm not going to train tomorrow, I don't care what they say." And with that he fell asleep.
"Okay.." I murmured, falling asleep next to him.
Chapter Seventeen - Nightpaw
"Nightpaw, Snowpaw, Bluepaw, Sunpaw, Dawnpaw! Time for battle training!" Whitetornado yowled with Minnowcreek standing beside him. He turned and licked Brightriver's cheek before going. "Bye Brightriver, I'll be back after." He purred.
Brightriver smiled her faced lit up with happiness like it was never leaving her, "Okay!"
Sunpaw got to his paws, "Yes! I've been burning for a fight!"
Bluepaw purred, "Let's do our best! Bye Wolfpaw..!"
Wolfpaw waved his tail. "Bye..!!" He called as he left.
Whitetornado led all apprentices in the training centre at territory. "Minnowcreek, would you like to start...?"
Minnowcreek announced, "Right now I want every cat to team up! The cat that doesn't receive a partner please stand over here."
Bluepaw turned to me, "Want to team up?"
I shrugged. "Why not?" I noticed Dawnpaw slip up to the front.
Minnowcreek announced, "Your partner will be your opponent for this battle! Dawnpaw, you get the lucky choice of being my opponent which is an excellent experience for an apprentice!" She then added, "There will be a half time mark where you switch your positions, so don't worry you all get to be defending AND offending today. But for now decide between you who does what?
Bluepaw turned to me, "What do you want to be?"
I ran through both the defending and offending positions, and I wondered which one fit me most. I said,
"Offender." With those words I leapt right on top of Bluepaw, knocking her over.
Bluepaw kicked out with her hind legs hard making me run out of breath before awaiting the next attack. I let out a gasp of shock. Who knew an apprentice like her could be so strong?!
I rolled over, wondering if I should use a trick to defeat Bluepaw. I started with my most simple trick, the black fumes covering me and I vanished, reappearing behind Bluepaw where she couldn't notice.
Bluepaw stood there in confusion... She started to panic but instinctively she didn't know how but a ball of water surrounded her that no one could break. She could breathe....?!! Before long she knew where I was hiding and she made the water disappear so she was ready for my attack, and when I leapt at her, it happens she turned around one heartbeat beforehand and ducks to one side making me miss tragically.
I let the black fumes coat her and she appeared on the side of Bluepaw, trying the trick again I was in front of Bluepaw. I already knew that she knew a few spells. In fact, I was actually well aware that I had some sort of power, but only saw it as something to use to get in front of my Clanmates.
I stared intently at Bluepaw, and my mind clicked as I remembered the ball of water around her. I unintentionally slid out her claws, leapt and slashed Bluepaw's belly, but I immediately jumped back. "Oh no! I'm SO sorry!"
Whitetornado stopped concentrating and turned around, fur flaring out as he saw Bluepaw's scratched belly. "Nightpaw...!" He hissed sternly.
"I didn't MEAN too.." I grumbled. Hello Mr. Grumpy..!
I heard Bluepaw yowl out in pain and instantly I felt bad.
Sunpaw's ears flicked as he turned to Bluepaw. Minnowcreek announced, "Training is over...!"
"It was an accident." I hissed.
Minnowcreek nodded, "Yes, Nightpaw, I think it happens and you can't help it. It was an accident and we respect that. We just need Bluepaw to get back to camp, alright? It's not your fault." She blinked warmly at me.
I smiled, "Thanks."
Minnowcreek carried Bluepaw on her back to camp, and when she got to camp Brightriver was sitting and she got up, "Dear StarClan! What happened here? I'll help you get her to the medicine cat den..."
I winced as Brighriver said that. "I... I accidentally scratched her..." I felt like a mean cat to admit that.
Leafmist and Silverdrop ran over, and Silverdrop shrieked,
"Bluepaw! OH NO!"
Brightriver sighed, "Oh well, it's not your fault Nightpaw, it's okay! It's not life-threatening or anything severe like that. I think she just needs poppy seeds and cobwebs and a couple days off training."
Brightriver sounded like a medicine cat then took it back, "Ugh... No... It's um... Up to Lilacpaw and Tigerleaf.."
Bluepaw winced, "It's okay... let's go back to train..."
"Thanks, Brightriver. And Bluepaw, it is NOT okay..!" I said.
Bluepaw looked around, "Where's... Wolfpaw?"
Wolfpaw entered camp. "What happened?!" He growled.
"I scratched her accidentally." I admitted.
"Oh.. That's okay, I guess, she'll get better.." Wolfpaw mumbled.
Bluepaw smiled and purred, "I'm fine already, Wolfpaw." She put on her bravest smile and made her look strong.
"Okay. Sure." Wolfpaw tried to smile in hope.
I sighed and sat down, and as I noticed Lightningpaw pad up to me out of the corner of her eye, I said, "I know what you're going to say, and the answer is: I didn't mean to scratch her!"
Lightningpaw shrugged, "It's fine, Nightpaw. Okay?"
"I don't know.." I mumbled.
Lightningpaw licked my ear, "Calm down." He then padded off.
I got up and grabbed a water vole from the fresh kill pile, feeling down about myself. Though I wasn't really hungry, I glumly tore a bite into the flesh.
Chapter Eighteen - Sunpaw
I padded over to Dawnpaw trying to make conversation, "Did you know how good Snowpaw was at fighting?"
"Wow, is she?" Dawnpaw smiled.
"Yeah. she's fabulous... I want to get to know her more..." I commented.
"I noticed she's always hanging out with Pinepaw and Bluepaw. She talks to the others, but those two the most." Dawnpaw blurted out. "Laughing and giggling with Pinepaw, whispering to Bluepaw. Who knows what they talk about? It's none of my business but I've noticed that and it's just simply a wonder."
"Well I'd like to become close with her... She seems nice. Don't ya think?" I tried to maybe get the idea of loving Dawnpaw out of my head.
"Ya. I'm friends with her, she's nice." Dawnpaw smiled.
I purred, "Can you help me get close to her?"
"Sure.." Dawnpaw meowed.
I nudged her, "You're the best, Dawnpaw."
"Thanks!" Dawnpaw grinned. "What would you want me to do..?" She asked.
"I don't know... Just help me get to know her?" I pleaded.
"Alright." Dawnpaw said. She tried her best to pull off a fake smile.
I looked away, "What's wrong?" Maybe spending time with her, believing she was helping me get close to Snowpaw, was a way I could protect her 24/7?
"Oh. Nothing. I feel upset because I was being really weak in battle training today." Dawnpaw murmured.
"No you weren't. I saw you." I frowned. "What's really up, you can tell me...!"
Dawnpaw stayed quiet for a few minutes, but my eyes insisted she to tell me.
She shook her head. "No thanks.." She squeaked.
"Tell me. I'm not asking again." I stood next to her, my fur brushing against hers.
"Do you like Snowpaw?" She asked.
"N-no..." I stammered.
"Okay." Dawnpaw said. "Now I can help you. So, go up to her, start a conversation!"
I frowned, "You can come with me, right?"
"Sure." Dawnpaw smiled and got up.
I padded over to Snowpaw and froze, unsure what to say.
Snowpaw smiled, "hello!!"
I murmured, "Hi... Snowpaw.."
"Hey! You're the tom I battled today in practice!" Snowpaw just realised.
I winced at the thought she didn't even know my name! "Yeah. I am."
"Sillyyyyy, that was a joke, of course I know your name!! Don't feel down." Snowpaw burst out laughing.
"Okay." I said.
"Wanna eat?" She asked, recovering from her fit of laughing.
"Meh." I shrugged, shaking off my shy mode and going normal. "Not really that hungry, just came to say you were good today. Bye." I walked off and nudged Dawnpaw, signalling for her to follow.
Snowpaw grinned, "Bye!"
I half smiled as we got away, "Okay. Well what do you think then?"
"It was alright. Why end the conversation so quickly?" Dawnpaw asked.
"Because i snapped out of it and realised she isn't all that good... She's nice and all but she wouldn't join my team. You're in my team." I smiled brightly.
Dawnpaw smiled. "Thanks."
Chapter Nineteen - Wolfpaw
I was grooming my fur in soft, long strokes, and Bluepaw ran up to me. "Wolfpaw! Wolfpaw!"
"What is it?" I looked up.
"I have tomorrow off for training... Want to go for a hunt and stay out?"
"Okay." I shrugged.
Bluepaw blinked, hurt, "You don't seem so happy?"
"I'm fine!" I objected. I can't let her know..
Bluepaw sighed, "What's up? I can sniff your bad moods out a mile away."
"I'm not telling a soul." I said,
"Tell me." She teased and started tugging my ear with her teeth gently.
"Secrets. Are. SECRETS!" I chuckled, I shook Bluepaw off and pinned her, holding my two front paws down on her chest.
Bluepaw blushed deeply but still meowed sharply, "Tell me! You can trust me with your life!"
"In a PRIVATE place." I said, going all serious.
Bluepaw nodded and guided me to her secret place before she turned around and demanded, "Spill it."
"Okay... I know it sounds strange but... I think I can manipulate the stars, control astronomical stuff.. It's weird, I know, feel free to judge." I sighed.
Bluepaw's eyes widened, "Woah. Can you show me?"
"Yeah, okay..." My body glowed silver and my eyes were as white as snow. Silver flame burst up and shot from my body right in the sun, and in a flashing white glow it was night time already. I then moved some stars around and shot them pass the moon with the movements of my head. The stars then exploded into little sparks of silver light, and turned back into normal stars.
Bluepaw gasped, "That's amazing!!" she licked my cheek, "You're special!" She then purred, "Watch this." She flicked her ears before water rushed at my back only to make a water wall right between us until it turned in a line of water quickly making circular actions around them before it rushed into the sky and turned into rain. "I manipulate water. That means I can with air, snow, ice, water... It's endless. Like you're night sky!"
"Wow.." I murmured. "Do you know any other cats with these sorts of powers..?"
Bluepaw winced, which made me feel a little confused, why did she do that...? "Ugh.. No. No I don't. Do you?"
"Nah.." I shook my head. I then heard some rustling. "What was that...?" I flattened my ears.
Bluepaw jumped up, she sniffed the air and squealed, "Unknown cat scent! Rogues!!" She admitted, "I never would do this with my clanmates... But I trust you with my life! We need to use... 'IT!'"
I jumped up and nodded, my eyes narrowed and hackles risen. "Let's go!" I jumped down from the rock I was sitting on and snarled, preparing for any attack.
Bluepaw ran over to a small pond and stood on a rock in the middle of the pond, she bared her teeth, "Come on, just try us, rats!"
Suddenly, two rogue cats leapt and then about 8 more, a scrawny brown tom leapt at me, but knowing what to do, I sliced my claws across the cat's muzzle, the scratch was shining white and a white liquid dripped from it until it dimmed and turned back to dark red, the white liquid was blood. I then slammed my paw into a ginger she-cat's shoulder that was charging to Bluepaw, sending thousands of tiny stars clinging to the ginger rogue's pelt and the stars bolted through like horrifying spasms.
Bluepaw brought up some water from the pond and growled as she used it like a whip whacking three cats off their paws. She brought it into spear-like shapes and she mildly froze them a little bit, before smashing them down wounding two of the three cats.
I gathered a group of stars and threw them around a group of cats, until the stars spun around like a hurricane of little white dots, and the it burst into silver light that enveloped the cats into the moonlight. The ball suddenly exploded, leaving the cats tired, unconscious and dizzy.
Bluepaw wrapped the rest in a ball of water and focused hard keeping them trapped in it and the water moving so they couldn't leave without hurting themselves badly.
I created a small silver wisp and waved it around the area, then manoeuvred it in front of the bubble, the cats staring after each movement. The wisp went into the bubble without interrupting. It then flew around the cats and burst into a million tiny stars that stuck to the cats' pelts, stinging their fur.
Bluepaw yowled, "Leave our territory!!" Before releasing the bubble, but built more of those spears but many small ones for every cat scaring them off.
I snarled, "And never return!" I quickly shot a single star to one of the warriors before they ran away. I turned to Bluepaw. "That was amazing..!"
She ran and pounced on me, pushing me over and she licked my cheek and ears, "You were brilliant!"
"No I wasn't! You were better." I mumbled embarrassedly.
Bluepaw got off me, "Sorry!!" She looked away, "I was terrible... My skills are sloppy..." She then turned to the pond and shaped a cat and then through a water spear at it, shattering the water. "I still need to practice. A lot."
"You were awesome." I smiled.
She purred, "Coming from you."
"We were both pretty good, take that." I purred, licking her cheek.
Bluepaw purred, "Fine..." She then collapsed, finally feeling the exhaustion. "I used a lot of power... I think I should rest... I've never used this much power before.."
"It's okay. Feel free. I'm pretty tired as well." I yawned.
Bluepaw curled into a tight ball, her fur fluffed up but it was clearly not enough to keep her warm, so I curled up beside her and asked, "Hunting tomorrow...?"
"Sure..." She murmured while she drifted off, I soundly slept.
~*~*~*~*
Bluepaw yawned and stretched her body, and I lazily murmured, "Good morning.."
Bluepaw sighed, "Morning."
"Are you okay?" I asked.
Bluepaw looked away, "Yeah... I just had a bad dream is all."
I nudged her, "What was it about? Please, you can tell me anything.."
"Oh.. Just some stupid dream... We all have powers and when we meet up.. Something goes wrong... One uses their power differently." She shrugged.
"Oh.." I frowned but he then smiled. "So, let's go hunt..!"
Bluepaw nodded but she tripped and fell over! "Whoa, are you okay?" I asked worriedly, helping her up.
Bluepaw nodded, "I feel light-headed..." She staggered around.
"Why so?" I frowned.
"I don't know.." She commented.
"Oh. I'll go catch something then." I mumbled. I streamed off into the territory, and jumped on a mouse without looking at it, I was thinking about Bluepaw. Instinctively, my claws sunk into the mouse and killed it. I looked down at my prey and huffed, "Wow.." I then grabbed it in my jaws and stalked off, until I heard a rustle in the trees. A squirrel was darting across the branches! I crouched low, then I leapt and sunk my sharp claws in the dark wood and climbed up, and leapt over the branch, grabbing the squirrel in my jaws and landing on all fours, the squirrel dead. I carried my mouse and squirrel in my jaws while walking.
"Why do I even think about Bluepaw all the time..?" I sat down at the river, the ripples of the clear blue water reminded me of, well... Bluepaw.
Chapter Twenty - Pinepaw
I sat, lonely, in camp. Until Snowpaw walked over. "Hi." She mewed.
I dipped my head, "Hello."
"What do you want to do?" Snowpaw asked nonchalantly.
I shrugged, "How about we hunt by the river?"
"Alright." Snowpaw murmured.
I padded out with Snowpaw down towards the river, where the waves glistened as the sun reflected light on the clear water.
Snowpaw jumped in the river, but the water randomly froze...! Snowpaw gasped as the ice formed around her body. She flattened her ears and dipped her head in embarrassment. "Sorry.." She mumbled.
I retorted, "Don't be sorry. I knew this. I kind of had a dream a few nights ago... So you're the snow and ice power eh'? Well matches your name. What a coincidence."
Snowpaw giggled. "I know..! My mother Silverdrop says it's because of my snow white pelt.. But I don't think so, I think mothers know these things."
"I think your pelt is beautiful. I can understand why." I smiled.
Snowpaw blushed. "Th-thank you..." She murmured. She then said laughing, "Help me out, please."
"What help do you need?" I got to his paws.
"Help to get me out of this ice!" She giggled.
I jumped onto the slippery blue ice and ran over. I grabbed her by the scruff and lifted her out and carried her back to shore.
"Thanks." Snowpaw purred. She stood up and stared intently at the ice, melting it in a few seconds. "Want to see a few... tricks?" She asked.
"Sure." I nodded.
Snowpaw grinned and then raised her paw and flicked it, a sear of ice bolting past a pile of rocks. Using her head, she trailed the snowflakes up from the tip of the ice into the air, formed it into a snowball, and it burst into thousands of mini snowflakes. The snowflakes rose up again and spun round and round in a circle, then lifted up in the sky, and made a synchronised little dance in the sky, and then the snowflakes formed into a big icy snowflake, and Snowpaw finished her trick off with swishing her tail, causing the ice snowflake vanish but explode into a sheet of white sparkles that fell on the ground and turned it to complete snow.
"Your power is gorgeous..." I gasped.
Snowpaw dipped her head in embarrassment and blushed deeply, "Oh really? Just a few snowflakes and ice, that's all..." She murmured.
"You're lucky... everyone gets gifted with these gorgeous powers that they can unlock...." I turned away, "I hate mine. It's useful, sure, but... It's nothing special."
Snowpaw sat down and curled her tail around me, asking softly, "What is your power?"
"Think of something, anything. Then plan an attack and go for it." I said.
My eyes rested on her and I analysed her, realising that she was going to slip under me and then she would swipe my front legs so I would fall over but she would slip out in time. I was prepared to snap my legs closed when she was going to dive under my belly, and then I would roll her over and pin her down.
Snowpaw then shot right under me, she raised a paw to swipe but I snapped my legs closed and rolled her over with my tail, then I leapt on her and pinned her down.
Snowpaw gasped, "How did you know..?!"
"My power is analysing. I guess it can also come under intelligence and fighting or hunting ability. It helps me in those areas." I shrugged.
Snowpaw got up and shook the snowy droplets off her pelt. "Pinepaw... Your talent is amazing..! You can save the Clan with that."
"Not really..." I muttered.
Snowpaw licked my cheek. "Yes, you totally can!" My ears perked and I licked her back. She blushed and mewed, "We're amazing, right?"
"You are... But there are other's too. I'm sure Bluepaw has powers also... I'm sorry you found out her secret like this." I meowed.
"It's perfectly fine." Snowpaw said, smiling.
Who else is like us?