Warriors: Quailsong's Path [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 1

⠀⠀⠀Quailkit was awoken by the bright greenleaf sun shining in through the nursery entrance. She slowly blinked open her eyes and looked around at the den. Her brother Eaglekit was curled up beside her at their mother, Mistcloud's, flank. She was the first one awake. Again.
⠀⠀⠀She had been an early riser since she started walking. But it was frustrating to her. She wanted to wake up with the rest of the kits so they could go play! The nursery had gotten a lot more empty ever since Voletail and her three kits, Redkit, Lakekit, and Sleetkit had moved out.
⠀⠀⠀The three kits had just become apprentices a moon ago and Quailkit couldn't help but feel jealous. She was only four moons old. She wouldn't be an apprentice for another two moons.
⠀⠀⠀The little Siamese kit rose to her paws, shaking scraps of moss from her pelt and arching her back into a stretch. She hopped out of the nest she shared with her mother and brother and padded towards the nursery entrance. She glanced over at the sleeping form of Lavenderpetal who was so close to kitting she looked as if she might explode.
⠀⠀⠀To Quailkit's right, she spotted Alliumspark curled up asleep with her three kits, Rubblekit, Otterkit, and Pikekit and felt a flash of excitement. There were no other cats in RiverClan she was closer with than Rubblekit and Otterkit! They were her best friends. They spent everyday together playing and talking about what they'll do when they all finally become warriors.
⠀⠀⠀Otterkit and Pikekit were not the real kits of Alliumspark and Wolfsong, however. Eeltail was their father but their mother had been a WindClan she-cat named Owlwhisker. They'd had three kits and made a deal that Eeltail could keep two and Owlwhisker could keep one. Eeltail was not a kind or amiable tom at all. Otterkit kept as far from him as possible, as he was quite selfish and proud. Quailkit couldn't blame her friend. If her father was like that, too, she'd want nothing to do with him.
⠀⠀⠀So Eeltail had entrusted his two kits with Alliumspark since her other kits except Rubblekit had all died at birth. The queen had been very devastated but having Otterkit and Pikekit to care for had helped her tremendously.
⠀⠀⠀As Quailkit was watching Alliumspark, she saw movement in the nest and Rubblekit perked up his head. The patched tom-kit's yellow gaze immediately landed on Quailkit and he smiled. He scrambled up from the nest and scampered over to her.
⠀⠀⠀"Do you wanna watch the patrols being sorted?" Rubblekit asked. For some reason, Rubblekit enjoyed watching Cloverheart boss the warriors of RiverClan around.
⠀⠀⠀Quailkit figured there was nothing else to do, though. "I-I guess," she mewed. "But shouldn't we wake Otterkit first? She'll kill us if she finds out we left the nursery without her!"
⠀⠀⠀Rubblekit nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea," he whispered back. He crept back towards his nest and poked the dark brown form of Otterkit with his paw.
⠀⠀⠀The she-kit lifted her head, her yellow-green eyes bleary with sleep. She looked up at Rubblekit questioningly. "I was trying to sleep!" she growled. She stretched her jaws into a massive yawn.
⠀⠀⠀"We were gonna go watch Cloverheart sort patrols!" Rubblekit squeaked.
⠀⠀⠀Otterkit rose to her paws and crept past Pikekit, hopping out of the nest. She shook out her sleep-ruffled pelt and padded towards the den entrance. She looked a little more energetic and excited now that she knew why her foster brother had awoken her.
⠀⠀⠀Quailkit dashed out of the nursery, not waiting for her friends. She was immediately greeted by the bright morning sun rising over the RiverClan camp. The air was warm and the trees and grass glowed golden under the sun's rays. In the distance, Quailkit could hear the familiar sound of the river trickling at the border with ThunderClan.
⠀⠀⠀"Wait up!" Rubblekit mewled after Quailkit. Him and Otterkit came into the open, standing at Quailkit's side.
⠀⠀⠀Cloverheart was seated in the middle of camp, a few warriors surrounding him.
⠀⠀⠀"It looks like we missed the dawn patrol," Otterkit murmured in disappointment.
⠀⠀⠀"What are you kits doing up this early?"
⠀⠀⠀The three of them spun around to see who had spoken to them. Quailkit was expecting to meet the gaze of an angry warrior but instead, she saw the familiar dark ginger tabby pelt of Redpaw. He was smiling at them.
⠀⠀⠀"You're still a kit, too!" Otterkit told him, her fur spiking.
⠀⠀⠀"But I'm an apprentice now," Redpaw mewed. "Anyways, do your mothers know you're out here?"
⠀⠀⠀Before they could answer, a yowl sounded across camp. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here for a Clan meeting!"
⠀⠀⠀Rubblekit gaped in excitement. "A Clan meeting!"
⠀⠀⠀Suddenly, warriors began streaming across camp to settle in front of Sagestar, the RiverClan leader. The black tom was looking a little worried as he waited for his cats to assemble. Quailkit wondered what was wrong.
⠀⠀⠀The entrance to the nursery rustled and Alliumspark poked her head out. Her mismatched gaze flashed with relief when she caught sight of Otterkit and Rubblekit. "There you two are!" she mewed. She padded over to them and Pikekit followed her close behind.
⠀⠀⠀"Can we watch the meeting?" Rubblekit asked.
⠀⠀⠀Mistcloud and Eaglekit exited close after Alliumspark. "Stop leaving the den before the rest of us are awake, Quailkit!" the Siamese queen snapped.
⠀⠀⠀Quailkit bent her head. "Sorry..." she muttered.
⠀⠀⠀Lavenderpetal was the last to leave the nursery. She wobbled over to the meeting, her swollen belly making it hard for her to walk.
⠀⠀⠀Mistcloud seated herself next to Eaglekit and Quailkit, tucking her tail over her forepaws and watching Sagestar expectantly.
⠀⠀⠀Quailkit glanced over at her brother. She could see sleepiness in his gaze but he looked excited to be watching a Clan meeting nonetheless.
⠀⠀⠀Finally, all of RiverClan was settled in front of the leader.
⠀⠀⠀"Last night, Rabbitstar and I met at Fourtrees," Sagestar began.
⠀⠀⠀Quailkit felt excitement prickle at her paws. She remembered hearing about this meeting Rabbitstar, the WindClan leader, had planned with Sagestar. She had been interested to hear what happened. Information like this didn't usually meet the ears of a kit.
⠀⠀⠀Anxiety flashed in Sagestar's gaze as he went on. "A WindClan apprentice known as Icepaw has been murdered recently," he meowed. "And Rabbitstar blames RiverClan for his death."
⠀⠀⠀Shocked and confused murmurs rippled throughout the cats. Quailkit pricked her ears.
⠀⠀⠀"She has declared war on RiverClan in revenge for Icepaw's death," Sagestar told them. The anxiety was more pronounced in his eyes now.
⠀⠀⠀"She can't do that!" Nightwhisker yowled in protest.
⠀⠀⠀"Does she have any proof it was us?" Hailclaw asked.
⠀⠀⠀Many cats began yowling out their questions and comments and raising a whole bunch of noise within the camp. Sagestar lifted his long tail for silence. Everyone became quiet almost immediately.
⠀⠀⠀"Rabbitstar has been WindClan's leader for a very long time," Sagestar said. "I'm afraid it's starting to take a toll on her in her old age. She claims she could smell RiverClan scent all over Icepaw's pelt. She even told me it was a tom." He paused. "But if I find out Rabbitstar was right and a RiverClan tom killed Icepaw, just know, your punishments could be as severe as exile. So I suggest you step forward. If anyone has any information on Icepaw's death, please come to me. Meeting dismissed." He flicked his tail and jumped down from the large rock.
⠀⠀⠀The Clan split up and immediately began talking rapidly to each other, discussing what would happen next.
⠀⠀⠀Quailkit padded over to Rubblekit and Otterkit. "We're going to war with RiverClan!" she exclaimed.
⠀⠀⠀"That is nothing to be excited about," Mistcloud said sternly.
⠀⠀⠀"I'm not excited!" Quailkit lied. This was going to be amazing! She would finally be able to fight like a warrior for her Clan!
⠀⠀⠀"Go play, kits," Alliumspark said. "Mistcloud and I wish to talk in private."
⠀⠀⠀Quailkit, Rubblekit, Otterkit, Pikekit, and Eaglekit all padded off.
⠀⠀⠀"What game should we play?" Pikekit asked curiously.
⠀⠀⠀"I want to play that fox game!" Eaglekit mewed. "Quailkit, you be the fox, and we'll be the RiverClan warriors!"
⠀⠀⠀"Why do I have to be the fox?" Quailkit asked.
⠀⠀⠀"Because you're good at being the fox!" Eaglekit told her.
⠀⠀⠀"We play this game too much," Quailkit mumbled. "I want to talk about the war with WindClan!"
⠀⠀⠀Otterkit blinked at her. "What is there to talk about? They'd never let us be involved," she said.
⠀⠀⠀"We'll all be apprentices in two moons," Quailkit reminded them. "The war will still be going on then, I'm sure. But until that happens, we should do something!"
⠀⠀⠀"Like what?" Pikekit asked.
⠀⠀⠀"We should go spy on the WindClan camp and figure out what their plans are," Quailkit muttered. "The whole Clan would thank us!"
⠀⠀⠀Eaglekit scoffed. "No, we'd just get in trouble for leaving camp," he meowed.
⠀⠀⠀"Fine!" Quailkit hissed. "Be a scaredy-mouse! Who will come with me?"
⠀⠀⠀"I will!" Rubblekit piped up.
⠀⠀⠀Otterkit smirked. "You know I'm always up for an adventure!" Sadness suddenly crept into the dark brown kit's gaze. "And maybe Owlwhisker will want to see me..."
⠀⠀⠀Pikekit glanced at his sister. "I don't want to go with you but..." He trailed off for a few heartbeats, "...if you see Owlwhisker or Briarkit, tell them I said hi."
⠀⠀⠀Otterkit nodded at the silver tom-kit. "So when do we leave?" she asked Quailkit.
⠀⠀⠀"Tonight!" Quailkit said.
⠀⠀⠀"Have fun getting in trouble, I guess," Eaglekit growled. He turned and stalked off.
⠀⠀⠀Quailkit stared after her littermate with a narrowed gaze. He was so boring sometimes. She was going to save RiverClan. Then Eaglekit would be sorry he hadn't come!