Warriors: The New Clans

Chapter One

A small kit gazes out of the nursery, her dark eyes full of starlight as she stares at the sky. Beside her, another kit lay sleeping, her breathing soft. The nervous kit stands up and pads out of the den, through the willow draped entrance, and into the clearing. She gazes up at the SmoothStone, the place where the leader will stand tomorrow as he announces two new apprentices. The kit trembles in nervous excitement. She can't get the thought out of her head...

A rustle at the entrance snaps her out of her thoughts and she pelts back into the nursery. Sighing, she curls up beside her mother's soft white fur and closes her eyes.

+++++

Light filters into the nursery through the willow curtain. I groan softly, not wanting the day to be here already. A paw prods my side relentlessly. I growl, covering my eyes with my paws.

"Eclipsekit! C'mon! It's time for us to become apprentices!" an all-too-familiar, all-too-awake, voice shouts.

"I don't wanna! I'm tired!" I whine, sitting up and glaring at the ____ marbled tabby.

Her light blue eyes sparkle with excitement. Her fur, cleaned throroughly by my mother, shines in the morning light. Sitting beside her, our mother smiles down at me. Her soft white fur feathery and her green-blue eyes shining, she looks lives up to her name.

"Your turn, Eclipsekit." she purrs.

"Angellight, you've actually finished cleaning Marblekit? Here I thought you wouldn't be finished until my kits' kits had kits!" another she-cat, Cloversplash, purrs.

Her dusty brown fur splashed with black patches makes her look almost unreal. But trust me, she's real. Her and her new litter. Three kits peek out from over her tail.

"Eclipsekit! Marblekit! Can we come, too? We wanna be apprentices, too!" a small black tom mewls, his green eyes pleading.

"Blackkit, you're not even three moons!" I purr, chuckling.

Beside him, his calico sister, Fernkit, mewls indingantly.

"But we can beat you!" she whines.

"And we're a lot stronger than you, too!" the third kit, a dark gray tabby tom, adds.

"Well, when you can knock me over, Stonekit, we'll talk." Marblekit purrs.

A rustling at the entrance catches everyone's attention. A strong, flame-colored tom pads through, his amber eyes full of pride.

"How are my little girls doing?" he beams, purring loudly.

"Eclipsekit needs bathing but she won't come over here." Angellight chuckles, shaking her head.

"Oh well.... I guess we'll just have to.... Catch her!" he purrs suddenly, pouncing.

I yelp, getting pinned. Flailing, I growl and hiss, batting him with my claws sheathed. Against my will, I am carried over to Angellight. The she-cat then proceeds to bathe me until my tortoiseshell pelt shimmers. After a few more minutes of just chatting, Angellight and Blazefire finally just "nudge" us outside. Seeing our arrival, Lionstar nods towards my parents before leaping onto SmoothStone. I watch as he takes a deep breath, his golden tabby pelt shining.

"Let all those old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath SmoothStone for a Clan meeting!" he yowls.

All around us, cats appear and gather around. Then the ceremony begins.

"Today, we have two kits who are now of age to become apprentices. Marblekit, Eclipsekit, step forward!"

Beside me, Marblekit purrs. The two of us step forward, staring up at the proud tom.