AmberBounce's Path

x chapter one x

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The grey ShadowClan deputy jolted awake to the sound of a cat yowl. He looked around, confused on who would be yowling at this time of night. He sat up, pawing his eyes a bit sleepily. It wasn't quite dawn, so every other cat was asleep in their nest.
The tom grumbled, deciding to just get to work, since he had already been awoken so abruptly—from the yowl. He padded outside the den, stretching in the moonlight. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dark, padding towards the entrance. He decided that he would patrol to see if he could find the source of the yowl.

SootHeart padded towards the Thunderpath, wanting to be sure that the yowl he heard hadn't been a cat getting struck by a monster. Being roadkill was the worst way to go, and he wanted to make sure they got a proper burial if that had happened, before they turned to crowfood.
      He approached the quite Thunderpath, opening his jaw to taste the scents. He blinked, as he tasted RiverClan in the air. How had a cat with RiverClan scent gotten over onto ShadowClan territory? Maybe it was a rouge that got the scent on them?

          His thoughts were interrupted by small mewing, that sounded similar to the kits that were somewhat recently born into the clan. He crouched low to the ground, scanning around. His eyes hit a small, skinny, orange kitten that reflected the moonlight.
He slowly padded over to the small ball of fluff. It continued to meow as he reached the small thing, blinking down at it. He mimicked what he had seen the queens do, and licked the head, as it's breathing settled to a normal rate.
He picked up the small fluffball by the scruff, trying his best to be gentle. He began to travel back to camp, moving quickly. Who knew how long this little thing had been out on it's own.

He padded into the camp, as the leader groomed his fur in the clearing, listening to their medicine cat speak to him. They had meetings often in the mornings lately, after RyeSplash kept having dreams from StarClan.
      SootHeart cleared his throat, as he walked over to the two cats, gently setting the kit down in front of them. DarkStar stared at the small ball for a minute, before looking over to SootHeart, blinking at him.

     "Where did you find a kit right after Leafbare?" He asked the tom, looking down at the ginger fluffball. "It was near the Thunderpath, all alone." He explained to the leader, looking at him in respect.
   "He, not it. He's a tom." RyeSplash corrected SootHeart calmly, as SootHeart nodded. He wasn't as trained in kits as RyeSplash was, so he hadn't wanted to assume.
       "Well, we should take him in." DarkStar decided, looking at the two for any opposition. SootHeart only nodded in agreement, knowing that the warrior code stated that all kits needed protected.
   "He looks like the cat I kept seeing in my omen." RyeSplash spoke, looking at his leader. "And was he a good thing in these omens?" The leader pried, blinking at the medic. RyeSplash simply nodded.

       "Then it's decided. This kit shall be taken into ShadowClan as if he was born here. I will announce it to the clan once the sun rises." DarkStar spoke strongly, as the other two nodded in understanding. "I will keep him warm in my den until AzureEyes is awake." RyeSplash said, picking up the small fluff, padding off.
   The two toms watched the medicine cat pad off with the new kit, processing what had just happened.  A kit that was attached to the repeated omen RyeSplash was having had ended up on their territory.

The two shook it off, as DarkStar dismissed SootHeart to go back to bed, as he could tell the tom was tired after finding the kit so early. He let him know that he would take care of patrols, as SootHeart thanked him, padding back into the warrior den, curling up in his nest, falling asleep quickly.

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"Let all cats old enough to lurk in the shadows gather around the shade rock for a clan meeting!" DarkStar shouted across the clearing, as the sun was fully risen into the sky. Cats muttered with interest on what was going on, since meetings were always for important matters only.
"Last night our deputy, SootHeart, found a kit outside, on our territory. We discussed it together, and we came to the conclusion to keep him in the clan." He said, as RyeSplash nudged the small orange kitten.

The kitten took a few steps forward, holding his head as high as he was able to, as the clan gasped and awed at the small kitten. The small kit held his head high in the spotlight of the others. He just saw this as his home after all!
"We decided to name him AmberKit, due to his fur being Amber, the color of the sap on our trees. AzureEyes, you are the only queen in our nursery. Would you be willing to take AmberKit in as your own with your other two kits?" He asked the queen, as she looked at the small kitten. She nodded at the leader, picking up the kitten, entering the nursery with him.

"Wonderful. This kit shall be accepted into the clan. Meeting dismissed!" He yowled into the cleaning, leaping off the shade rock, stretching a bit. Cats shuffled to the other dens, likely to share the news of the new kit with their den mates.
"Do you think I made the right choice, bringing the kit here?" SootHeart asked his leader, as DarkStar tipped his head at the tom, a bit confused on why he would ask such a question. ShadowClan could always use more paws!

   "What makes you ask such a outlandish question? You know as well as I do that we have been needing more paws since the losses this Leafbare." SootHeart pried, blinking at the tom, raising his eye brow in confusion.
       "When I found AmberKit, there was RiverClan scent on our side of the border." He confessed, as SootHeart looked more lost. How had RiverClan stumbled onto their territory? That was fully across the river and Thunderpath!

   The leader sighed, blinking at the strong tom in front of him, "Don't worry about it. We will keep an eye on RiverClan next gathering, and see if they mention it." He decided, pausing a bit to remember their conversation earlier this morning.
      "But you and me both know about what RyeSplash said about AmberKit. He was in his omen. Even if this kit was RiverClan, I believe his destiny lies with us. Keep this information between us two, SootHeart." The leader finished, as SootHeart nodded, and the toms went there separate ways.

     But no matter how much the tom did other things like patrol, or share tongues he couldn't get the little RiverClan scented kit off his mind. Seeing the small thing stand so proudly made his heart feel warm, even if AmberKit didn't come from Shadows, like the other kits in the clan.
      On that day, he decided to make a silent oath. He promised that he would protect this kit as his own, and take care of him as if he was his own kin. And if any cat questioned his loyalty?
Well, SootHeart would make it known to then that it wouldn't slide in this clan.

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word count : 1249