Cinderpelt's Spirit (ART NOT MINE)

Chapter 1

"Come on Cinderkit! Wake up!"
Cinderkit hissed with frustration. Ever since she and her littermates had been born the day before, the Clan's oldest kit, Graykit, had been bothering her multiple times. Though Cinderkit could understand why Graykit wanted to play with the Clan's newest kittens. The three youngest apprentices, Sandpaw, Dustpaw, and Ravenpaw were all in the nursery with Graykit moons prior. They were all 4 moons old when Graykit was born, so Graykit had to wait moons before he could become an apprentice. Besides, a moon before the three left the nursery, Goldenflower had her kits, Swiftkit and Lynxkit. Only Swiftkit survived Goldenflower's kitting, and with the way Swiftkit was often jumpy and scared of everything, Cinderkit didn't think Graykit wanted to play with him after all. Suddenly Cinderkit scented a new cat. "Longpaw!" Graykit yowled happily, "I thought you were taking your warrior assessment." "I finished it," Longpaw replied happily, "Darkstripe said he's going to talk to Bluestar about promoting me to a warrior. You wanna see the prey I caught?" "You bet!" Graykit mewed, "Willowpelt said that Bluestar is going to make me an apprentice in a moon, so I wanna learn everything about being an apprentice!" Longpaw and Graykit padded out of the nursery. Suddenly Cinderkit wanted to follow them. Over the past two days since she and her littermates had been born, all she wanted to do was sleep, but hearing Graykit and Longpaw's conversation, she suddenly wanted to see the world for herself. She wanted her first taste of fresh-kill, and she wanted to see ThunderClan territory for herself. She heard someone yawn beside her. That must be Frostfur, Cinderkit thought to herself, smelling her mother's warm, milky scent. "Good morning, little one," Frostfur pressed her nose into Cinderkit's fluffy gray pelt, "did you sleep well?" Cinderkit nodded. "Frostfur," Cinderkit mewed, "is there more territory beyond the Clans? Are there more cats in the world?" Frostfur purred with amusement. "The world is huge, little one," Frostfur meowed, "there are cats all around us; Kittypets, rogues, loners. But ThunderClan has something some cats don't have; the warrior code. We know about StarClan, but some cats don't. Although we should respect other cats who choose not to follow the warrior code, you should always remember one thing Cinderkit; follow the warrior code, but more importantly follow your heart." Cinderkit stayed quiet for a while, and then she meowed determinedly, "I'm going to see the whole world one day. I'll go beyond Highstones! I'll go wherever I please when I become a warrior, and nobody will be able to stop me!" "Now, be careful Cinderkit," Frostfur warned her, "even if you become a leader, you can't just abandon your Clan and prance around like an apprentice. Although you have to follow your heart, you must be able to be loyal to your Clan." Frostfur licked her daughter between the ears and yawned. A few heartbeats later, the beautiful white coat was asleep. Cinderkit wanted to do everything, from becoming a warrior to traveling where no cat had ever traveled before. That's it, Cinderkit thought to herself, determined, I am going to open my eyes. Cinderkit opened her eyes. In the nursery, everything was quiet. There were 3 nests. One of the nests were empty, and Cinderkit guessed that was Willowpelt's nest. In another nest was where Goldenflower and Swiftkit rested. Goldenflower was a pale ginger coat, and Swiftkit was a small black and white tom. Swiftkit's small for his age, Cinderkit thought to herself. Cinderkit looked around her own nest. Beside her lied Frostfur and her three littermates, Brackenkit, Thornkit and Brightkit. Frostfur was a white she-cat. Brackenkit was a golden-brown tabby, Thornkit was a lighter golden-brown tabby with a pale belly. Brightkit, the youngest of Frostfur litter, was a white she-kit with ginger patches. Cinderkit quietly padded out of the nursery. She didn't want for Frostfur to know she was leaving to play with Graykit. The day that Cinderkit was born, her father, Lionheart, had brought her a juicy vole. Cinderkit was about to eat when Frostfur took it away from her kit. She scolded her mate, saying that the kits shouldn't eat fresh-kill until they're at least one moon. If Frostfur caught her eating fresh-kill, she'll be a kit forever. When she got out of the nursery, it was very bright. There was a small pile of fresh-kill. Beside it, Graykit played moss-ball with a small black tom with a white tail-tip. A few steps away, two cats, one a dark brown tabby tom and a pale ginger she-cat were sneering with disgust. "Ravenpaw should have never left the nursery," the dark brown tabby murmured to his companion, "he still plays with kits and he's always scared like them!" The she-cat nodded in agreement. That must be Dustpaw and Sandpaw, Cinderkit thought to herself. In the nursery, Graykit always talked about two mean cats that would always bully Ravenpaw. Cinderkit guessed Ravenpaw heard the two cats' comments, as he looked hurt. "Hey, shut up!" Graykit hissed, "Ravenpaw did nothing wrong. You two keep your brains in your tails." "Of course," Dustpaw purred, "the kit will always protect the other kit." Graykit protested, but both Dustpaw and Sandpaw headed for the apprentice den. Graykit licked Ravenpaw's ear for comfort and Ravenpaw flashed Graykit a grateful glance. As Cinderkit went to join the two cats, Graykit's eyes went wide with surprise. "Cinderkit!" Graykit meowed happily, "you've opened your eyes!" "Isn't she one of Frostfur kits?" Ravenpaw asked Graykit. Graykit nodded. While Ravenpaw and Graykit talked, Cinderkit eyed the small fresh-kill pile. "Can I eat some of the fresh-kill?" Cinderkit mewed hopefully. "I don't know," Ravenpaw meowed, "I don't think Tigerclaw will be too happy with that." "Besides, you can't touch a single thing in the fresh-kill pile until we show you something," Graykit meowed while choosing a mouse for himself. "Why?" Cinderkit tilted her head to one side, confused. "You need to see ThunderClan territory, before you can do stuff that a normal Clan cat can," Graykit meowed while chewing, "that will prove you are a ThunderClan cat." "I wanna see the territory right now then!" Cinderkit mewed excitedly, "show me!" "Longpaw will show you," Graykit meowed, "he showed me when I opened my eyes." "Where's Longpaw then?" Cinderkit asked Graykit. Before Graykit  could respond, Cinderkit smelled new scents. She looked behind her. One of her brothers, Brackenkit, was there, although with Swiftkit. Goldenflower was sitting, watching her son.  "Brackenkit!" Cinderkit purred happily. Brackenkit amber eyes examined his sister. "So this is where you were," Brackenkit meowed, "when I opened my eyes, I was worried, since I saw only saw Frostfur, Thornkit, and Brightkit." "Brackenkit! Longpaw's going to show ThunderClan territory to us," Cinderkit meowed, "its going to confirm our status as ThunderClan warriors!" Brackenkit said nothing, but Swiftkit shifted his paws uncomfortably. "You guys shouldn't do that," Swiftkit mewed, "you guys just opened your eyes. What if you two get injuries?" "Aw, come on Swiftkit." Graykit gave Swiftkit a friendly nudge. "I made it when Longpaw showed me camp. You made it when Longpaw showed you camp also. Surely these two will make it." Swiftkit said nothing, but his ears twitched uncomfortably. Longpaw came into the camp, carrying a squirrel that was almost as big as he was. While Darkstripe went into the warriors den, Longpaw dropped his squirrel off to the fresh-kill pile and he went to meet with the kits. Graykit flicked his tail at Cinderkit and Brackenkit. "These two just opened their eyes. Can you show them the camp?" "Sure," Longpaw meowed. The tabby stretched and he started to pad away. Graykit, Cinderkit, Brackenkit followed him. Ravenpaw and Swiftkit reluctantly followed him.