The First Light [Warrior Cat Fan-Fiction]

Prologue

A pale brown she-cat crouched in the mouth of a tunnel leading into the hillside, the black fur on her back melting into the shadows. Movement stirred in the depths of the tunnel. Moments later, a dark tom emerged, moonlight dappling his fur and he stepped further into the clearing.

"Everything quiet tonight, Fernclaw?" the black tomcat inquired of the female sitting at the tunnel entrance.

"Quiet as a mouse," Fernclaw replied, leaning back on her haunches.

The tom nodded brusquely. "I'll be back at first light," he called over his shoulder as he headed off into the undergrowth.

"Have a nice walk, Sootstar," she meowed to the trembling ferns that had closed behind her leader; the she-cat then settled back into a crouch, her green eyes scanning the foliage.

*~~~~*

Sootstar walked with ease through the forest, nothing out of the ordinary troubling his mind. For a moment, he paused, letting the sounds of the sleeping forest calm him. The black tom was about to continue when a faint cry reached his ears. Suddenly alert with his ears pricked and eyes wide open scanning the undergrowth, Sootstar headed in the direction he thought he'd heard the noise. Moments later, the sound came again, still quite distant.

The tom opened his mouth to let the forest scents wash over his glands, but he could pick up no trace of the distressed creature. With a snort of frustration, Sootstar broke into a gallop, determined to find the source of the sound.

Several fox-lengths away, Sootstar paused again to scent the air, and this time caught a trace of an unfamiliar cat scent. He was able to pick up a faint trail and followed it almost to the border of the TwolegPlace where the scent trail faded, leaving the black cat with a dead end. He hissed to himself, and almost missed the surprised mewl that came in response.

Sootstar's head whipped around to where the noise came from and his eyes scoured the forest floor. Almost immediately he saw the tufts of gray fur gathered at the roots of the tree. As the black cat approached, the tiny kitten raised its head and blinked open piercing blue eyes.

Sootstar scooped up the kitten in his jaws and whisked around, heading straight back to camp. His pushed his way past the ferns surrounding the clearing leading to the tunnel. He passed Fernclaw still on guard duty as he headed to the Clan camp.

The tunnel opened into a cave with a hole in the ceiling that had been dug by their ancestors to let in light. Few cats were already awake and milling around the clearing as the first lights of dawn were filtering through the roof of the cave. Sootstar disregarded the strange looks he was receiving from his warriors and headed towards the medicine cats' den, a small crevice in the wall that opened to a small alcove at the side of the cave. The black tom set the kitten, who was too exhausted to protest, down at his paws.

"Grasspelt?" he called into the alcove.

"Yes, Sootstar?" came the response, as an elegant gray she-cat emerged from the den, blinking sleep out of her green eyes.

"I found this kitten abandoned in the forest," he meowed, nudging the gray kitten towards the medicine cat. "The scent of milk or any other cat on her fur is days old at least."

Grasspelt nosed the little kitten over. "She's about the same age as Hollytail's kits. You could have her nurse the kit," the medicine cat suggested, her voice muffled by the young kit's gray fur. Sootstar nodded slowly in agreement.

The rest of the Clan was beginning to stir, and more cats were growing curious about what their leader was consulting the medicine cat about. One cat broke away from the crowd and approached the pair.

"What are you going to do with it?" The white and gray tom's voice was deep and rumbled in his chest. "Adopt it into the Clan?" His tone was suspicious, as he eyed the kitten at Sootstar's paws.

"Well he's not going to abandon it back in the forest, Icyfoot," Grasspelt exclaimed indignantly.

Sootstar shook his head. "No, definitely not. We'll take her in. She's barely a moon old, if that, she won't remember any of her life as loner, and we must leave it that way. She must believe that she is Clan-born."

Icyfoot glanced at his leader questioningly. "She'll never fit in. Will you ever tell her?"

Sootstar returned the look, and shrugged. "We'll see." The black tom turned away from the two cats and leapt up on a nearby ledge and yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Rock Ledge for a Clan meeting!"