Moonstar's Journey

Chapter one

Moonkit rolled out of the nursery, out to the warm sun which lit up the camp clearing. The she-kit jumped up to her paws and gazed around at her clanmates who were sitting in small groups in the shadows, hiding from the warming sun. "Moonkit!", she could hear a cat calling her name. She whipped around to face her mother coming out of the nursery, a black she-cat with white paws. She gazed down at Moonkit with her dark blue eyes, and shortly after the queen, Moonkits siblings came out, Yarrowkit and Marigoldkit. "Don't just run off like that", Autumnstep meowed and licked Moonkit over her ear. The kit took a step back, uncoming her mothers tongue. Moonkit gazed over at the camp clearing again, her eyesight getting stuck on a large rock looking stump in the middle of the clan, on top of it, a white, semi-ling she-cat with very light gray splotchy stripes sat, the she-cats ice colored gaze fixed on Moonkit and her siblings. "I think Icestar is about to call the meeting soon", Autumnstep said and wrapped her tail around Yarrowkit and Marigodkit, licking their fur clean. "Let all cats old enough to climb the hills gather around the hill stump for a clan meeting", Icestar called out, and the cat's started to gather around the hill stump, gazing up at Icestar. "Let's go", Autumnstep said and nudged the three kits forward. Yarrowkit quickly rushed forward, her flexible skinny body making it easy for her to run around all the cats to then sit down just beneath the hill stump, her eyes filled with pride. Moonkit ran after her sister, squishing herself through the cat's. She sat down besides Yarrowkit, then gazing up at Icestar. She could then hear Marigoldkits calm breathing besides her, having her tail elegantly wrapped around her paws. "One day, you will be sitting up there", Marigoldkit whispered in Moonkits ears after Icestar had started to talk. Moonkit turned her head to her sister, who was still looking up at Icestar. With a confused look on Moonkits face, she then heard Icestar calling out Moonkits name. She quickly turned her head back, gazing up at Icestar who was looking into the young she-kits eyes. "You will from now on, until you have proven your loyalty, be called, Moonpaw, and your mentor will be Skullface", Icestar said, and Moonpaw gazed around at her clanmates, looking for the black and white tom, she could then see him padding towards her, the tom tilted his head forward and the two cats touched noses. Moonpaw followed her mentor back to the crowd and they sat down. Icestar kept on going with the ceremony calling out Marigoldpaw to become Nightmelody's apprentice, making her medicine cat apprentice, then Icestar also called out Yarrowpaw to get Halfmoon as her mentor.

The sun was high up in the sky, and Moonpaw could hear the birds echoing in the hill's. Moonpaw laid her weight on her hind legs and had her gaze stuck on an outstanding stone in the hill wall, she jumped up and elegantly landed on all fours, she turned around and lifted her head proudly up in the air. "Well done Moonpaw!", Skullface called out from the place she had jumped from. "Bet you weren't able to get that so perfectly on your first try as an apprentice!", Moonpaw teased and grinned at her mentor. Skullface chuckled, shaking his head lightly. The white and black warrior leaped up onto the outstanding cliff and landed beside Moonpaw. "What are we going to do today, Skullface?", Moonpaw asked and turned to her mentor. "We are going hunting, cause you need to practice on seeking up behind prey", Skullface said and leaped up to a smaller outstanding cliff from the hill wall, he then kept on jumping up on different cliffs until he was on the top of the hill. "I already am good at that!", Moonpaw meowed after Skullface as she steady but fast jumped up after him. Skullface took a quick look at Moonpaw before turning back his head to a small path that was going among the few bushes that were growing on the hill. The two cats started to follow the stony path, after a while Moonpaw could hear the sound of water and the Thorny fall started to appear in front of them, and the path slowly started to disappear behind them, and the ground became just cold hill ground and sand. "How am I supposed to sneak up behind a fish?", Moonpaw asked confusedly and looked up at Skullface who had stopped in front of the hill edge, the warrior had his gaze down at the thin river underneath the hill. "We're not going to fish, not today", the warrior said, but his voice was almost unbearable because of the waterfall's sound. "We are going to hunt voles, they are usually here", he said and padded away from the edge, Moonpaw followed him with her gaze as he stopped in front of a shrubbery not far away from the river on the hill. Skullface used his tail to wave Moonpaw over to him, as she had gotten over to her mentor he put his tail on her back and pushed her down into the hunting crouch. "Can you scent the vole?", he asked as he also got into the hunting crouch. Moonpaw lifted up her muzzle, sniffing the air, the scent of vole was small, but she knew it had just got more far into the shrubbery. She nodded and then slowly dragged herself forward into the shrubbery. She lifted up her tail a little so it was straight, to not make any sounds. "You have to lift your belly up to, so you don't make any sounds with that either", Skullface whispered behind her, who was still crouched at the same spot in front of the shrubbery. Moonpaw lifted up her belly and kept on crawling forward until she could see the vole, it had its back towards Moonpaw and it was eating on a nut. Moonpaw stopped for a few heartbeats, then she leaped forward towards the vole who had now realized the danger, but Moonpaw was faster and she landed with her front paws on the small animal, killing it with a quick bite in the neck. She picked the warm body up and backed up from the shruggary to find Skullface with two dead fishes beneath his paws. "You seemed to do it alone good, so I just took two fishes", the warrior said and glanced down at his prey. "You were able to catch two fishes while I was sneaking up on a vole?", Moonpaw asked surprised with her mouth full of vole-fur. Skullface nodded, giving out a small chuckle to then pick his two fishes up and the two cats made themself back to camp.