Owlflight's Kits (Book One)

Chapter One

Owlpaw turned to face his attacker, leaping at him once again. Rainpaw ducked out of the way, sending Owlpaw rolling into the stone wall of the training cave. He leaped to his paws, only to have Rainpaw crash into him from the side.

"Okay, okay! I give up!" He gasped as the smaller cat pinned him to the ground.

"You give up too easily." Rainpaw commented, releasing his friend.

Owlpaw stood and shook himself off. "Can we go back to camp yet? We've been training all day!" He asked his mentor, Moonbeam.

"Yeah, and, I don't wanna miss Shadepaw and Flamepaw's warrior ceremony!" Rainpaw added.

"Okay. Let's head back to camp, then." Moonbeam stood up, hurrying after the apprentices, who were already bounding towards the cave behind the waterfall.

They arrived just in time to hear Stripedstar calling out the familiar summons. Owlpaw took a seat between Firepaw and Rainpaw, gazing up at the MudClan leader.

"I, Stripedstar, leader of MudClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Shadepaw, Flamepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Shadepaw and Flamepaw said in unison.

"Then by the power of StarClan I give you your warrior names, Shadepaw and Flamepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Shadeclaw and Flamefur. StarClan honors your strength and your courage, and we welcome you as full warriors of MudClan."

Rainpaw was the first to yell, "ShadeClaw! Flamefur!"

The rest of the clan joined in quickly, including Owlpaw. Then, he nearly collided with Firepaw on the way back to the apprentices den.

"Watch it!" She snapped, though there was a humorous tone to her voice. Owlpaw let out a mrrow of laughter, hopping past her into the apprentices den.

He realized sadly that he couldn't curl up with his brother, Flamefur, anymore, now that he'd be sleeping in the warriors den. "Would you like me to sleep with you?" Firepaw asked, seeing how sad he was.

"Aw, wittle Owlpaw needs Firepaw to sleep with him?" Silverpaw, one of the other apprentices, teased. Firepaw glared at her, while Spiderpaw laughed.

"Shut up Silverpaw!" Rainpaw huffed, appearing next to his sister, Echopaw. Echopaw laughed at him a little, too nervous to pick a fight with Silverpaw and Spiderpaw.

"Shadeclaw is nice name." She commented, changing the subject.

"So is Flamefur." Firepaw added.

"Ehh.. I bet my warrior name will be so much better than either of those." Silverpaw said, "I'll probably become a warrior before you anyway!"

"Shut up, you foxheart!" Rainpaw snapped. "I'm trying to sleep!"

"Mouse-brain." Spiderpaw grumbled back, curling up beside her friend.

Owlpaw closed his eyes, the den finally falling quiet. Firepaw lay pressed against his side, her warm fur making him feel hot despite the coming leaf-bare. Everything was peaceful as he drifted off to sleep.

*

Owlpaw was standing in a cave lit by on odd green lamp. He looked around, jumping as he saw the shape of a cat outlined in the eerie green light. His eyes glowed an unnatural shade of blue, and his black and white fur rippled as he took a step towards Owlpaw.

"Don't be afraid, Owlpaw. My name is Thorncloud." The cat said.

Owlpaw relaxed. He had heard of StarClan's messenger, the moon cat. Thorncloud had a connection with StarClan even stronger than a medicine cat's.

"I'm dreaming?" He guessed. Thorncloud nodded. "Why have you visited me in my dreams? What's happened?"

"A great danger is coming to the clans, Owlpaw. You hold a great destiny in your paws.. The clans will not survive this battle, but I believe that you will restore them."

"What? What battle? With GreenClan? Hey!" Owlpaw began to panic as the image of Thorncloud began to disappear. "Wait! Come back! Great StarClan.. Wait!"

But the moon cat was already gone. Owlpaw's heart began to thud in his chest as all of the light began to fade. Soon, he was standing in a pool of darkness.

Images began to form, swirling white mist taking the form of a cat. The cat was white, with grey ears. Shadeclaw? The image moved so suddenly that Owlpaw nearly jumped out of his fur. It slithered away from him, through the darkness, until another burst of mist joined it, forming three smaller cats, which Owlpaw guessed were kits. They all took different colors, but one stood out to Owlpaw. It was like a smaller version of Shadeclaw, and it happily wound it's way through the other cats.

The images all faded until Owlpaw was left with only the white kit. It walked towards him, stopped, and sniffed the air. Then it flattened it's ears with a startled yelp, fleeing into the darkness.