Warriors (Fanfic):Moonpaw's Destiny

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Two small she-cats were nestling in Silvertail's stomach. Her mate, a mottled dark brown tom, stood proudly beside her. "What should we name them,Smallfoot?"the weak queen asked. The handsome father looked thoughtful. "How about the brown one with spots Leopardkit, and the grayish-tan one Moonkit?"he meowed after a moment. "Those are wonderful names.", the white-and-silver she-cat responded. "I'll check on them later. Tell me if anything seems to be going wrong.", Peaceheart, the medicine cat, mewed, walking out of the warm nursery. Moonkit coughed and wriggled closer to her mother. She drifted off to sleep as the sun started sinking in the sky.

Moonkit woke as she heard one of the other queens leave the nursery den. A moon had passed since her birth. She shook the sleepiness out of her head and started grooming her fur. She let out a yawn but a cough interrupted it. After the first cough, more followed. Leopardkit sat up, clearly annoyed. "Quiet down! CloudClan can probably hear you!", her sister hissed sleepily. Moonkit scowled and did a fake cough just to annoy Leopardkit. Moonkit slowly got up and stretched. She didn't want to wake up her mother but wasn't sure if she was allowed outside without the permission of one of the queens. The indecisive kit just shrugged and slipped out of the cozy den. A cold wind greeted Moonkit as she left the nursery. She fluffed her fur up against the wind and trotted over to the fresh-kill pile in search of food. A thin vole and a small mouse sat there. Moonkit chose the mouse and hungrily bit into it. It was stringy and tasteless, but to her, it tasted like the best mouse in the forest. She suddenly couldn't breathe. She tried to say something but nothing would come out. A hoarse mew was all that was heard. She heard someone call Peaceheart and saw the graceful medicine-cat run towards her. That was the last she saw before her vision went black. She heard Peaceheart's voice when she started to gain consciousness. Moonkit felt weak and her throat felt dry. As she opened her eyes she could see Peaceheart sitting in her den pulling a thorn out of one of theapprentices' paws. "There!" mewed the medicine cat triumphantly as the thorn came out. The apprentice let out a squeal. "Lick your paw and I'll get you a poultice",mewed Peaceheart as she moved deeper into here den where the herbs were stored. She came out with chewed-up marigold leaf. "Here you go", she mewed to the apprentice. "I'll get you some poppy seeds, too". As she handed the apprentice the last of the herbs, she noticed Moonkit was sitting up, watching. "Thank goodness!" Peaceheart said as she saw the kit sitting up and healthy. Moonkit coughed and then whined at the pain of the coughs in her sore throat. "Oh, you poor thing! I'll get you some honey!" she meowed at the kit.Moonkit looked pleased as the pitying medicine cat went looking for honey in her herb stores. Moonkit yawned and shuffled in her nest. "Where's Silvertail?"she asked. "In the nursery with your littermates.", Peaceheart answered absentmindedly. "Oh! I forgot! I have to tell her that you're feeling better! She was so worried". Peaceheart bustled out of the den, giving honey to Moonkit as she went. The honey was on a borage leaf which Moonkit left plain after licking all the honey off. What did I choke on? Was it that mouse? Moonkit shrugged the thought away.

"Moonkit? Are you there?"Silvertail meowed softly. "Silvertail?" It was Peaceheart who answered. "She's asleep". Finally. "Oh, good. I was just coming to visit her; see how she's doing and all", replied Silvertail. "Yes, I know you're worried, but she's fine".

When the queen didn't drop her troubled look, Peaceheart added, "Really". "Okay, I believe you",Silvertail said at last. "Goodbye. Come get me when Moonkit wakes up".

"Will do. Bye". Peaceheart thanked StarClan the anxious queen was gone. She had been coming every second to check on Moonkit. The DeathClan medicine cat knew she shouldn't want her to not come, but Peaceheart couldn't help it. She sighed and went back to her duties.

"CloudClan, attack!",yowled Roundkit, hurtling himself onto Leopardkit. I, Leopardstar, leader of DeathClan, will not let you destroy my camp!" She stood heroicly for a moment before Roundkit pulled her down into 'battle'. Crystaltail had had kits just a few moons ago; Roundkit, Lightkit, and Sunkit. They ferociously battled Leopardkit and the-now-recovered Moonkit. "Leopardstar!",Moonkit sqeaked as Lightkit and Sunkit teamed up against her. "Moonshine!",Leopardkit lept forward onto Lightkit and started lightly battering her muzzle, claws sheathed. Moonkit used the pretending-to-be-defeated trick. She let her limbs go limp and, just as planned, Sunkit loosened his grip. Moonpaw shot forward and tackled Sunkit in a tumble of fur. She hissed and pretended to bite him on the foreleg. "Ahhh! CloudClan, retreat!"' he pretended to be in pain from the 'bite' Moonkit had given him. " That's right, you fox-hearted cowards!" Leopardkit hissed after them. "DeathClan, victorious!" crowed Moonkit. "This calls for a feast!" The two kits padded over to the fresh-kill pile where a rabbit and a couple mice lay. "Let's share the rabbit!" said Moonkit eagerly. "We can't eat all that, mouse-brain!" Leopardkit retorted. "Hmph! We could too",Moonkit muttered. "We can eat the mice", Leopardkit said. "Well, I'm going to have this delicious rabbit with the elders",said Moonkit as she hauled the rabbit towards the elders' den.

Silvertail licked the kits' fur with swift, short licks. "Mom! I told you my fur is clean! Stop licking it!", Leopardkit complained as there mother readied them for their apprentice ceremony. "Let all cats old enough to recognize prey gather here for a Clan meeting!" The familiar yowl from Darkstorm summoned the Clan under Clanrock. "Moonkit,step forward. From this moment on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Moonpaw. Your mentor will be Oceantail".

"Leopardkit, step forward. From this moment on you shall be known as Leopardpaw. Your mentor will be Cometflash. Congratulations, you two."

"We're warrior apprentices!" Leopardpaw said to Moonpaw. "I know!" she replied joyfully. "Moonpaw, we can explore territory if you're ready", said Oceantail. "Yes!"She replied.

Moonpaw crouched down and stealthily crept towards an oblivious rabbit. "Gotcha!" she said as she leaped and sunk her claws into the rabbit. She finished it off with a bite to the neck. "The prey hasn't run this well since green-leaf!" she thought as she went back to pick upburied prey. It was late leaf-bare now and the Clan was slowly starving. Any prey gathered would be a great tribute to the Clan. Moonpaw had caught a mouse and the rabbit. She proudly carried her catch to the fresh-kill pile. "Good catch",Oceantail praised her. Moonpaw only nodded her head since it was impossible to answer with her load in her mouth. As she dropped the prey, she picked a mouse for herself. "Let all cats gather under Clanrock for a Clan meeting". Moonpaw heard the familiar Clan summons and made her way under Clanrock. She saw Roundkit, Sunkit, and Lightkit in the clearing. They were being made apprentices! As the kits were made apprentices, Moonpaw finished her mouse. "Congragulations!", she mewed as the Clan was dismissed. "You're apprentices!". "We know! This is going to be so cool!" mewed Lightpaw. She bounded away at the call of Dappleheart, her mentor. "I can't wait to get started on my training. I'm going to be the best warrior the Clans have ever seen!"mewed Sunpaw enthusiactically. "Well, I'm going to be the best medicine cat the Clans have ever seen", mewed Roundpaw, who was Peaceheart's new apprentice. "I bet you guys will both do great!" mewed Moonpaw. "I'll help you find a nest in your new den, Sunpaw". Sunpaw followed her to the apprentices' den and slipped inside.