Warriors: A New Light (Book 1)

~ Chapter One ~

Spiritkit

Rain battered against the vine strewn branched roof of the nursery, scattered leaves from the camp's clearing being blown into the air by the wind.

Spiritkit, sitting at the edge of the den, peeked outside, the fur along her spine ruffling as a cold raindrop plopped down onto her nose. The clouds were dark and the rain was just beginning to decrease, the sun barely able to be spotted from behind the thick grey sky.

She snapped her head back in, continuing to gaze outside curiously. The tree's outside seemed to rock as the wind picked up, leaves swaying on the branches rather hurriedly. It was fun to watch the camp get thrown around by Mother Nature, but then at the same time, it scared her. Scared her that a tree might fall, or the dens might break because of the harsh wind.

Then something big and furry suddenly bashed into Spiritkit, sending both her and her unknown attacker colliding backwards into the den. Spiritkit, fear spreading throughout her body, gripped onto the shape rather tightly with her claws, unaware of what or who it was.

"Hey! That hurt!" A muffled growl made her loosen her grip, and she staggered to her tiny paws to get a clearer view of her enemy. Her brother, Soulkit, stood before her, the fur along his spine bristling. He didn't look pleased, but then, he wasn't pleased with very many things anyway.

"It wasn't Spiritkit's fault." The small, weak meow of their youngest littermate Crystalkit made Spiritkit turn, her attention fixed on the tiny pink nose poking from their mothers nest.

"All of you, be quiet!" The silent, yet harsh voice of Shadowstorm was no comparison to the sweet little 'mew' of Crystalkit. "Your mother is trying to sleep, and she obviously can't do that with you three, mewling kittens. Go play with the elders, how about? They love your company." The queen suggested much more softly. Her two sons, Owlkit and Blackkit, peeked over the edge, grinning as their mother scowled at the three.

"Yes, Shadowstorm." Spiritkit chirped, embarrassed, and turned before beginning to pad toward the entrance of the nursery. Soulkit shot in front of her, pelting toward the Elders Den. She bristled furiously, her eyes narrowed to tiny little slits. How competitive. 

"Wait up!" Crystalkit cried, bounding after the two and completely forgetting to be silent. She earned a glare from Shadowstorm, who huffed and turned away.

Spiritkit burst after them at full speed, the last remaining drops of rain battering her long fur and leaves crunching beneath her small yet heavy paws. A bird called, though seeming far and distant, as the many scents of the wild bathed her tiny tongue. Warriors, not many, whom were hanging around underneath the shelter of their den, watched the three curiously as they made their way across.

"CloudClan scum! Give LighningClan your prey. Or else!" Soulkit yowled once they were inside the den that belonged to the elders, far from the nursery. Rottingflower, who was sitting peacefully in a loaf, now looked startled, her head jerked up.

"Oh no!" She cried, shaking her head after realizing it was just the kits. "Take it, take it all!" She attempted a weak meow, before shooting Crystalkit a quick, playful wink. 

"Wake up," Rottingflower jokingly hissed, shoving her paw at a dozing Sparrowwing, who, for the record, has been sleeping all day.

Alarmed, he awoke with a jerk, before softly grunting and laying his head down on his large, brown paws, his habit for alerting to danger quickly disappearing.

"Give us all your prey!" Soulkit squeaked, taking a running jump onto the elders back. He clung on with his tiny claws, his eyes lit with triumph at such an attack.

"Ack!" Sparrowwing exclaimed, finally rising to his paws, and sending the tom-kit toppling off and onto the dusty ground once again.

"Watch out!" Crystalkit squeaked, diving to hide under the shade of Rottingflower's fluffy belly fur.

"Are you okay?" Spiritkit asked Sparrowwing, her eyes round with insecurity as she sniffed the air for any scent of blood, but there was nothing, only the few tufts of fur in her brothers claws. Soulkit has sharp claws, she'd give him that.

"I'm fine." He rasped, slightly chuckling as the old tom shook scraps of moss from his rippled claws. "My bad. Sorry, Soulkit."

The kit got to his paws, grinning wickedly before blinking fondly at the older cat. The kits gathered into a circle, sitting their rumps down. 

Rottingflower's ears suddenly shot up, her tail tip twitching with curiosity, yet her face twisted in nothing but apprehension as she lifted her nose to the air. Spiritkit felt an uneasy feeling worm itself through her belly, her sister clearly feeling the same with the look she had on her face.

"CloudClan!" The elder hissed, her eyes narrowed to slits as she slowly heaved herself to the edge of the den, poking her head outside. 

Spiritkit followed her, standing at her side as she glared out into the decreasing rain, wondering how the she-cat could tell. CloudClan? What was their neighbor doing here? Maybe a cat is in trouble! She thought anxiously.

A gray and white tom was led into the clearing by Nightfall, two other unfamiliar felines trotting behind the enemy warrior.

What are they doing here, in our camp? Spiritkit thought, immensely curious, yet somewhat fretful. This could be bad, really bad, and judging by the awfully mischievous smirks on their faces, it probably was.

"Blurryvision. What do you and your clan want this time?" The LightningClan deputy, Scarface, said cooly as he came to stand in front of the newcomers, his ears pinned against his head, and his fur fluffed up to full extent. They clearly weren't a very likeable clan.

"Scarface." The tom replied equally as cold. "I believe we have some unfinished business with your leader."

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