The Ebony Jury (Warriors, Book 2)

Chapter 1

Hauntedkit blinked open his eyes.

He was laying in the nursery, the green moss soft beneath his paws. When he lifted his head and rested his gave on the roof, Hauntedkit saw tan stone above him. He shuffled his paws and looked back, before turning around and spotting his foster mother; Desertstorm. His foster littermates, Mousekit and Treekit were there, too, sleeping soundly at the ginger queen's paws. In one of the other nests, two across from Hauntedkit's, were three little kits called Parrotkit, Christmaskit, and Tigerkit, curled up at Leafcloud's paws. The last litter of kits, four kits called Bubblekit, Willowkit, Waspkit, and Ironkit, were sleeping next to their mother, a former RiverClan cat, Dandelion. She had lived as a rogue for a while after being falsey accused of murder, but it turned out to be a WindClan cat instead. However, she decided not to go back to her home Clan, and stayed in ThunderClan, giving herself a new name. Then, there was Flowerkit, a pretty silver tabby she-kit who Hauntedkit DEFINETLY DIDN'T HAVE A CRUSH ON. Their mother, Seedrise was still asleep, her fluffy tail curled delicately over Flowerkit.

Its nice, Thought Hauntedkit as he rested his head on his white paws. At least there's one more cat who used to be a rogue.

Growing restless, Hauntedkit scrambled to his paws, nearly slipping on the moss. He leapt over the edge of the nest, landing with a thud on the soft, sandy floor. A tiny dust cloud settled for a moment, then vanished.

Sunlight filtered through the entrance of the nursery and splashed onto Hauntedkit's pelt. He padded out, the sun warmer and brighter once he was fully out. However, there was still a little bit of shade, so he scrambled farther into the clearing. The intense light warmed his tuxedo pelt as he glanced around the clearing.

Two apprentices, Hollypaw and Featherpaw were laying near the entrance to the apprentices' den, deep in conversation. They smelled of damp moss and mouse bile. Heh. Maybe they cleaned out the elders' den. Hauntedkit thought, glancing at the elders' den. A former kittypet, Ziggy, and two other elders, Strongtail and Ratclaw were sitting, chatting through their graying muzzles. In the clearing, underneath the Highrock, the Clan deputy, Flameleaf, and the leader, Rottenstar, Hauntedkit's adoptive father, were sharing tongues and laughing. Other than that, the only other cats who were awake were four warriors, Drypelt, Mulchstorm, Yellowfur, and Grassfern. Drypelt shook his mottled brown pelt and said something that made Mulchstorm pirk her ears up. The tortoiseshell shuffled her paws, as if emberassed, as Yellowfur and Grassfern chuckled to each other.

My home is perfect, Thought Hauntedkit. As he took a step closer into the clearing, leaf-fall leaves crunched beneath his paws. Drypelt, Grassfern, and Flameleaf whipped around, bristling a little before looking at Hauntedkit with tension. Then, they looked away, disgust welling in the last of their gaze. I wish the cats were, though...

Hauntedkit knew his mother was a rogue. He remembered her name clearly: Ravenshadow. It was never confirmed by the other rogue who had brought him to ThunderClan, but he remembered her clearly, and Hauntedkit knew some of the other cats suspected it, too.

Honestly, he couldn't blame them.

Sniffing the air, Hauntedkit scented the sharp tang of rain water from the other night. He padded over to the scent, and halted when he reached a silver puddle. The sunlight reflected off of it, blasting in his face as he gazed at the cat staring back at him:

This cat was hideous. He had white markings on his eyes, but worst of all, there was no color in his eyes. It was pure white, like staring into a blizzard, and his pupils, worst of all, were tiny and slit like a claw mark. His tail had a white tip to it, as well as the soles of his paws, and the rest of his body was black like the night sky.