A New Dawn

Ch 1

"Come on, Lilackit! Open your eyes before Amberkit does!" Hawkkit, Lilackit's adopted brother urged.

Lilackit tucked her nose under her paw, groggy with sleep. She didn't want to open her eyes. She wasn't ready yet. Beside her, she could feel Amberkit struggle to her paws and her muscles stretching.

"Don't force them when they're not ready, Hawkkit," Lilackit's mother, Rosebloom mewed.

"But they've been sitting there with their eyes closed for ages!"

For ages? Lilackit thought irritably. They had been born only just yesterday!

"Look!" Hawkkit mewed excitedly. "Amberkit's opening her eyes!"

Her sister was opening her eyes? Already? Lilackit struggled to her paws. I wanna open my eyes and see the world, too!

Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked around the nursery. Everything was so blurry! She could see dark grey stone walls all around her. There was a hole in one of them. She assumed that it must lead to the camp. There was also an empty nest next to them. Lilackit sniffed it. It smelled warm. She could tell that some cat had been sleeping on it not long ago, but of course she couldn't tell which cat. Her sister Amberkit was a fluffy, ginger cat with large, round amber eyes. Lilackit envied her fiery pelt. It was so shiny. A bigger ginger-and-white she-cat was curling her warm body around them. She was their mother, Rosebloom. Lilackit liked her mother almost immediately. She smelled like warm milk.

Rosebloom smiled down at her kits. "You've opened your eyes!"

"That's what I said ten seconds ago," Hawkkit muttered just loud enough for Rosebloom, Lilackit and Amberkit to hear.

Rosebloom flicked her tail over his ear. "Your father Flamefeather will be so happy to see you," she continued, as if Hawkkit had never said anything. "But he's on patrol, so why don't you all go out of the nursery and take a look around the camp?"

Amberkit, Lilackit and Hawkkit all nodded eagerly and immediately turned tail and ran for the hole in the stone wall.

The three kits got their heads stuck in the hole trying to get out first. Lilackit could hear her mother purring in amusement. Then she felt a gentle push, and all three littermates tumbled out.

Everything was so bright! Lilackit had to blink several times for her eyes to adjust to everything. She looked at her sister again. In the bright, warm sunlight, her pelt shone like fire. And... like Firestar. Does that mean we're related? Lilackit suddenly wondered. She surely hoped so. She'd heard a cat talking about him right after she was born. Something about hoping that they were as strong and brave as him.

"Hello!" A pale grey apprentice was smiling at them. "I'm Greypaw. You must be Rosebloom's kits! This is probably your first time in the camp. I could show you around," she offered.

Lilackit wanted to refuse, but Hawkkit and Amberkit were nodding eagerly, so she said yes.

"Great!" Greypaw's eyes shone. "I'll show you the apprentices' den first..."

By the time they had seen the apprentices' den, (which Greypaw said they were welcome to visit anytime) the warrior's den, the elder's den (Rainleap said they could come back later to hear a story) and had a short peek inside the medicine den (it was SHORT, because moments later Duckfeather had spotted them and chased them out, saying that kits were nothing but trouble).

"Can you take us outside camp?" Amberkit asked. "No," Greypaw mewed. "Unless you want a detour of the dirtplace."

"Ewwww," Amberkit wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Lilacpaw thought it was unfair. Why did everyone except kits get to go out of camp? The warriors should bring the kits out when they could open their eyes and help them get used to the territory, since they were going to go out a lot after they were made apprentices. Which is six whole moons later, she thought gloomily.

Hawkkit yawned and looked up at Greypaw, opening his mouth to speak, but Greypaw spoke first.

"You should go back to the nursery and rest," she mewed.

"But-" Hawkkit yawned again, and this time stretching his mouth wider.

"Just go," she urged.

Tails and heads drooping, the three kits headed back to the nursery.

Rosebloom and Moonbeam were waiting for them inside. Rosebloom immediately told them to go to sleep, when they were all settled inside her nest. 

"But- don't wanna-" Hawkkit's eyelids drooped and he collasped in the nest, snoring.

"Well, I'm not tired, so let's play a game," Lilackit mewed.

As she turned to look at Amberkit, she realized that her sister was curled up beside Hawkkit, sleeping peacefully. She sighed and sat back on her haunches. She might as well sleep, too. Settling down and curling up, pressing her pelt to her mother's warm body, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.

After a several long moments trying to sleep, Lilackit gave up and slowly stood up, careful not to wake up her littermates. She realized that they had forgotten all about Rainleap. Should she wake Hawkkit and Amberkit up? But they were sleeping so peacefully... Maybe she should go on without them. She started to quietly climb out of her nest and pad slowly towards the hole in the stone wall.

But before she made two tail-lengths away from her nest, she heard something that made her freeze.

"Badger!" Lilackit recognised the voice of Sandpelt.

"Badger?" Hawkkit was the first to be woken up from the sound. Then Amberkit's head popped up. Rosebloom and Moonbeam woke up next.

"Come back here, Lilackit!" Rosebloom ordered. She obeyed. "Fall asleep now," she instructed. 

"Don't actually sleep. Just pretend," Lilackit whispered. She had to know what was going to happen next. Hawkkit and Amberkit nodded with wide eyes. The three kits closed their eyes.

A while later, they all heard Rosebloom's snoring. Lilackit peeked at her mother and Moonbeam, just to be sure they were actually asleep. They were.

"Okay! Let's go out and have a look at that badger!" Amberkit whispered excitedly. 

"Yes!" Lilackit and Hawkkit nodded eagerly. Lilackit wasn't afraid of getting caught. They would be as quiet as mice.

"Let's go out through the dirtplace, to avoid any suspicions," Hawkkit suggested.

That was a good plan. They all agreed.

"C'mon."

Lilackit and her siblings slowly, quietly headed out of the nursery.

When they got out into the camp, night had fallen, thank goodness, so they would be harder to spot. Swiftstar and Hailstorm, plus Dawnstreak, Sandpelt, Flamefeather and Violetstorm  were out of their dens. 

"I want you five to help Twilightcloud and Thunderstorm fight that badger. Sandpelt, you lead. Now go!" Swiftstar ordered.

The battle patrol hared out of camp.

"Let's go!" Amberkit whispered.

They quietly headed out of the dirtplace tunnel, Swiftstar unaware of their presence.

When they were out, The three kits paused to let the warriors run past, then wriggled their way out of the dirtplace through a small gap between two bushes and tried their best to follow the patrol's scent trail. It wasn't long before they made it to the place where the badger was. 

Every where there was the scent of fear and blood. A lot of blood. A large pool of the crimson red liquid reached the juniper bush the three kits were hiding behind.

As Lilackit peeked out from behind the bush, she saw a limp, cold, lifeless body lying on the ground, her eyes wide and her teeth bared in a snarl, as if she had been hissing in anger before she... Before she...

Died.

In front of Lilackit was the lifeless body of Twilightcloud.