Icefog's Origins

Chapter 2

A paw jabbed Icekit in the side and he jerked his head up, blinking away sleep from his eyes and he looked up to see who was prodding him. To his surprise, he didn't see anyone. Instead, he heard a voice.

"Get up, Icekit!" Icekit shook his head and sighed. Two moons since Rosetripple and Talonstalk's naming ceremony and Shimmersky had given birth to three she-kits over a moon ago. The kitting lasted for what felt like forever, and Icekit wanted to tell the queen to be quiet while the rest of the Clan tried to sleep in the dead of night. "Shadedpatch said you had to get up!"

Icekit groaned and rolled over in his nest. Now that he was older, he was moved to his own nest since he got too big to share one with his mother and siblings. "Go away, Batkit." He closed his eyes, sighing as he longed to fall back to asleep.

Batkit ran to the other side and tugged on his tail, making him sit up and hiss, pulling his tail free from her sharp tiny teeth. "Shadedpatch said you have to get up." She repeated, her blue eyes gleaming. Icekit had to admit to himself that the young kit was stubborn, but it didn't help him going back to sleep. "She said that it's time you get washed for your ceremony."

Icekit froze. "Ceremony?" He echoed.

Batkit purred with amusement. "Did you forget that cats don't stay as kits forever?" She teased and pranced around him, her eyes envious and bright. "You're being made an apprentice today!"

Icekit sighed and nodded begrudgingly. "Alright, fine." He meowed and strode out of his nest. With a jolt, he realized how much taller he was than Batkit. Her tiny ears barely reached halfway up his leg, while he could see so far over her. She craned her neck to look up at him, and he had to crouch down just to meet her gaze without seeming threatening. "Where is Shadedpatch?"

"I'm over here, Icekit." Shadedpatch's voice made him jump and he turned to see her washing Slatekit while Pebblekit groomed herself nearby. "Come over here and we'll get you cleaned up for your ceremony."

Pebblekit looked at the mottled gray queen with curiosity in her eyes. "Will Flutteringblaze be there?" She asked cheerfully.

Shadedpatch's eyes darkened and she paused in grooming Slatekit. "I don't know." She answered in a low voice. Icekit pricked his ears. "Even if he was there, you should be concentrating on who Shiningstar chooses as your mentors." She finished the conversation and swiftly went back to licking Slatekit's head.

Icekit wandered away from his mother and littermates and poked his head out of the nursery. Even though Shiningstar had yet to make her appearance on the hill, there were a ton of cats in the clearing already. Tigerflame and Leopardwave were joking around with Wetface near the medicine cat den, Ravenfoot and a dark gray-and-white tom were flirting at the fresh-kill pile, and the apprentices and elders were taking advantage of the greenleaf warmth and sharing tongues beneath an alder tree.

What if none of the cats were in a Clan? The thought intrigued Icekit, and he sat down, curling his tail over his paws as his mind wandered. What if the Clans never existed in the first place? Would there still be fights over territory and prey? Or would it be peaceful with the cats being kittypets or loners? Like all the other kits, Icekit had been told the story of the Clans when they were first formed. The ancient leaders- Seedstar, Maskstar, and Lightningstar- had founded the Clans out of wanting to take over the land that the Clans occupied nowadays. ShellClan was made by Seedstar, HollyClan by Maskstar, and SwampClan by Lightningstar. Each Clan took separate land masses and made borders to make sure there was no trespassing between rival Clans. Instead, the borders had caused many battles and costed the lives of countless warriors when fighting over prey and who stepped over which boundary. ShellClan took the dense forest and most of the moorland that was nearby, HollyClan took the pine forest and the other half of the moorland, and SwampClan got the swampland as well as some portions of pine forest.