Warriors: Our Own Beginning

Chapter One

Warriors: Our Own Beginning - Chapter One

Ravenkit yawned and arched her back in a long stretch. The pale white sun of late leafbare shone weakly through the holes in the bark of the nursery, which was the second level of the LightningClan camp, known as the Hollow Tree. It was a little past dawn, and Ravenkit had woken up early. Her black fur was ruffled from rolling around in her sleep, and she quickly groomed herself.

Next to her, her littermates Bluekit and Blackkit were curled up beside their mother, Moonshade. They were still asleep, and the nursery was silent except for the occasional chirp from a bird outside. Ravenkit looked around the shadowed nursery. It was a big hollow space in the middle of the tree, with moss lining the floor. The nests were in the corner of the nursery where moss didn't cover the floor.

Ravenkit breathed in the fresh air that flowed through the holes in the bark. Her time in the nursery was coming to an end, and her heart sped up in excitement when she remembered that in two sunrises she, Bluekit and Blackkit would be an apprentice.

She quickly turned around when she heard a rustle from one of the nests. Bluekit stretched out her silvery blue paws and opened her sharp blue eyes. Blackkit's silver tipped ear twitched as Bluekit accidentally hit it with her tail. His yellow eyes blinked open and he immediately sat up.

"Ravenkit!" mewed Bluekit. "Blackkit, I had a dream!" Ravenkit pricked her ears. She loved stories. Blackkit didn't seem to be interested, but listened anyway. "I was by a river, and then I fell in! It was as if the dream was real. I could feel the water around me." She shuddered, "It was cold. But then I went under the water, and I wasn't in the river anymore. I was on the grass, with a bunch of stars above me."

Ravenkit stared at her, a little disturbed by what she heard. "That's a weird dream," she said simply, showing no emotion. Blackkit crouched down, looking as if he was unfazed by what Bluekit said.

"Do you want to play?" he asked. Ravenkit looked around, and then shook her head.

"Every other cat is still sleeping," she said. Blackkit sat up again, disappointed.

"Fine." Ravenkit blinked as more sunlight filtered through the holes. The cats were beginning to stir. Blackkit's eyes lit up.

"They're awake now!" he mewed. Ravenkit sighed.

"I know, but--"

Bluekit cut her off. "But what? You don't have to play!" She crouched down and jumped onto Blackkit. Together they rolled around the nursery, laughing and hissing playfully as they pawed each other. Ravenkit secretly wanted to play, but held her tail high.

"I'm not going to act like a little kit anymore! We're going to be apprentices soon!" she retorted, then turned her back on them. She padded up to Moonshade who had just gotten up to groom herself.

"Good morning, darling," she said warmly, flicking Ravenkit's ear with her tail. "Smokefang is bringing us fresh-kill." Ravenkit nodded. Almost at once, Smokefang walked into the den with a rabbit and a mouse in his jaws. Bluekit, who was on top of Blackkit, bounced over to him with her eyes lit up. Since they didn't have a father, Smokefang acted as a father to them.

"Smokefang!" cried Blackkit happily as he walked up beside Bluekit. Smokefang set down the fresh-kill and touched noses with the kits.

"The rabbit is for the three of you and the mouse is for your mother," he said. He picked up the mouse and padded over to Moonshade. They touched noses. Ravenkit walked over to the rabbit and glanced at Moonshade and Smokefang.

"Thank you," Moonshade murmured. "For being a father to my kits." Sadness clouded her eyes and then disappeared. Ravenkit bent down and ate her meal, wondering what happened to her real father.

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The day passed quickly. Ravenkit resisted the temptation to play with Bluekit and Blackkit, which was very hard. It was even harder when they began to play with Sparkkit and Phoenixkit, the only kits that were around their age. Sparkkit and Phoenixkit were only one sunrise younger than they were. The other kits, Twigkit, Thornkit, and Stormkit, were only about two moons old.

Ravenkit spent most of the day practicing cleaning out the moss in the nursery. She thought that it was a good use of her time, and her new mentor would be proud when they saw that she already knew how to clean out moss.

Night came, and Ravenkit was very tired. She curled up next to Bluekit and immediately fell asleep. In what felt like a heartbeat, she woke up. A pair of big blue eyes stared down at her. Bluekit was standing over her.

"Can we take a walk? I woke up, and now I can't fall asleep," she whispered. Ravenkit shrugged and yawned, standing up.

"Alright, but only for a little while," she said. Ravenkit stood up and stretched. It was still very dark, but she could tell that it was close to dawn. Bluekit led the way to the entrance. Ravenkit began to hop carefully down the branches, unsheathing her claws so she wouldn't slip and fall. It wasn't long before she was at the bottom of the Hollow Tree. The grass was tall and overgrown, and a wall of thorn bushes and stones surrounded the camp. Ravenkit looked up to see that a young warrior named Graycloud was guarding the camp entrance. She looked over in surprise when she saw Bluekit heading straight for him.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. "We're not taking a walk in the forest! Whitestar would never allow it!" Ravenkit respected Whitestar and it was her dream to become the LightningClan leader when she got older.

"What? We need to know the territory to hunt!" Bluekit responded. She scurried up to the wall and climbed quickly over the wall. Ravenkit followed her anxiously, not wanting her to get lost in the forest. She scrambled over the wall with difficulty. She was terrible at climbing, although her mother was said to be an amazing climber. When she was over, Bluekit was already hopping over stones and bushes into the deeper part of the forest. Ravenkit sped after her.

"Bluekit, stop!" she called, trying to be as quiet as possible. Bluekit stopped as Ravenkit caught up to her. "This is a stupid idea!" she hissed, catching her breath.

"I just want to see the river by the StreamClan border! Then we can go back," she said.

"You don't even know where the river is!" Ravenkit snapped. Ravenkit paused, tilting her ears toward the faint sound of rushing water. Bluekit smiled triumphantly. "But we won't know how to get back," Ravenkit protested.

"I have a good memory," Bluekit said, turning to keep walking. Ravenkit followed her, defeated.

"If anything happens, we'll be in big trouble," Ravenkit muttered.