Warriors: The Beginning

Chapter 1

The first rays of the sun peaked out from the tree tops in a beautiful display of pink and gold and red. The fluffy clouds scudded across the amber-tinted sky by a cool morning breeze. The dew drops on the grass glinted in the light, looking as if there was a string of glowing rocks amongst the lush green grass.

A bright ray of sunlight gleamed into the nursery, waking a kit up. She yawned away her fatigue and blinked away her sleepiness.

It's a new sunrise! she thought happily. Another day spent with Ambereye!

Careful not to wake her denmates, the black and white cat skirted her way around the sleeping kits and queens and made her way out. Her first stop: the medicine den. She wanted to check if Ambereye was awake yet.

Sure enough, the grey medicine cat was already up, looking through her piles of herbs and leaves, checking for any signs of rot or desiccation.

"Ambereye!" The she-kit mewed delightedly. "Can you teach me more about the herbs?" The little kit looked at Ambereye with a pleading look.

"Oh, but your not supposed to—oh, all right. Follow me, I'll show you the simpler ones." The she-kit squealed, excitement bubbling through her body.

"Now, can you tell me what are these?" The medicine cat asked her, pointing at a pile of leaves.

"That's chervil!" she replied enthusiastically. "The herb is used to treat bellyache."

"This?" Ambereye asked, pointing to another thing.

"Easy—cobwebs, and they're used to stop bleeding."

"Good, Yinkit! Now, what's this?"

"Honey. It is used to treat sore throats. "

"Good," Ambereye smiled, proud that the little kit remembered all those. "Now, here are some more things. Mouse bile, which is used to make ticks release their grip on a cat. This is yarrow. It is used to make a cat vomit. This action expels poisons from the body." The medicine cat paused o let the information seep in.

She continued, "I'm sure you've seen these before. They're traveling herbs, which are eaten by cats before making long journies. They keep away the pangs of hunger and give a cat strength. This is watermint, another herb used to treat bellyache. Understood?" Ambereye asked.

"Yes!" Yinkit mewed, a happy glint in her eye. She really wanted to stay and learn more, but the medicine cat shooed her away with, "Go back to the nursery, Yinkit. You're mother may be worried, and I'm not actually allowed to have you here. If you're made an apprentice, you can be made my apprentice. Don't tell anyone, though." Yinkit nodded at her solemn words.

Then, the black and white kit raced back to her mother. In the nursery, none of the other kits have woken up yet. Yinkit heaved a sigh of relief and goes to cuddle up next to her mother.

* * *

Yinkit and her littermates woke up a little while after their mother. Yinkit's brother, Nightkit, had his fur all ruffled up, because he always squirmed in his sleep. Moonfur had to lick his fur back down, mumbling to herself to keep an eye on his sleeping next time.

"Moonfur!" Owlkit meowed, leaning into her mother's warm fur. "We're going to be made apprentices today!" There was a gleam of amusement in Moonfur's eyes as she watched her kits bounce around excitedly.

Moonfur brought her kits outside of the nursery, letting them enjoy the stiff breeze that sent desiccated leaves swirling around. Owlkit spotted a yellow butterfly, and all of her attention was fixed on it.

Just then, Yinkit spotted Woodstar emerging from her den, padding towards the Vine Hill.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey come stand below the Vine Hill for a Clan meeting!" The leader meowed, the familiar command ringing in the Clan cats' ears.

Soon enough, most of the Clan gathered under the Vine Hill, all of them looking expectantly at their brown leader.

"I have called you all here for a very important reason," Woodstar continued. "There is a new apprentice to be made." Murmurs passed along the cats, mumbling questioningly about who the kit was. They stayed silent, looking at Woodstar expectantly.

"Yinkit, come here," the leader finally announced. The kit made her way to the Vine Hill, happy to be receiving her apprentice name. Her littermates scowled at her in envy.

"Yinkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Yinpaw. Your mentor will be Mousefur. I hope that Mousefur will pass down all she knows on to you." Woodstar beckoned Mousefur with a flick of her black tail.

"Mousefur, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Rosetail, and you have shown yourself to be responsible and loyal. You will be the mentor of Yinpaw, and I expect you to pass on your knowledge to her," Woodstar meowed. The excited look on Yinpaw's face vanished in an instant when she realised that she wasn't made a medicine cat apprentice. The newly made apprentice looked at Ambereye desperately, but the medicine cat just flicked her ears and glanced away.

With no other choice, Yinpaw padded up to Mousefur and touched her nose with her new mentor's. Albeit her heart knew that she was destined to be a medicine cat and not a warrior, Yinpaw couldn't help but feel smug that she was made an apprentice first rather than her littermates.

"Yinpaw! Yinpaw! Yinpaw!"

Dusk came as the sun went down, casting deep shadows over the camp, where the Clan was celebrating their new apprentice. Well, I say celebrated—rather, casting scornful looks at Yinpaw and sulking in the dark.

I may have forgotten to mention something. Yinpaw was most definitely not popular among the apprentices and kits. In a way, she was loathed. They scorned her for this: Her whole left flank was charred and blackened from a previous incident, and her left eye had been left disabled. The cats resented her for that. That she was... Different.

[edited] 5/6/16