Falling Stars (A Warrior Cats FanFiction)

Ch.1

Maplekit crouched, her muscles tense as she prepared her tiny body to pounce. Her vision tunneled in on the creature in front of her, a small gray mouse snuffling through the brush. She could feel its every movement as if it were her own, every twitch of its whiskers, every turn of its ears, and the nervous darting of its eyes. Its tiny heartbeat thundered through her ears.

She was ready now, waving her striped tail through the air like a snake, and gently brushing the dry leaves behind her. She wiggled her body and leaped, soaring through the air.

"Maplekit!" A voice startled her, causing her to loose her focus and tumble to the ground. The forested area around her faded away, giving in to her real surroundings. She was in the nursery, a large hollowed out bush with feather and reed nests lining the inside. The mouse...err...moss ball lay in front of her. Maplekit's sister, Featherkit, sat in front of her.

"Shadepool told us to play outside, she wants to get some sleep," Featherkit mewed, eyeing the grumbling black queen in the corner. Her kit, Singekit, lay curled up against her, almost invisible against her mother's matching black pelt. Her tiny orange-tipped tail twitched gently with sleep.

Maplekit finally nodded and headed out of the nursery with her sister at her side, carrying the mouse...err...moss ball. The sun blinded her as she padded out of the shaded nursery, burning hot on her fur. The two kits headed into the cool shades patch of trees lining the clearing, where they could hear the loud churning of the river.

"Catch!" Maplekit squeaked, tossing the ball of moss into the air.

Featherkit squealed as it spiraled towards her, jumping in a flurry of frantic silver-and-white flecked paws, only to have it land on the ground by her tail.

She pounced on it, tossing it back into the air and sending it flying back to Maplekit. She stopped, distracted, as Thornkit padded into the middle of their game.

"She-kits can't do anything," Thornkit scoffed playfully, striding past them with his tiny, spiky tail held high. His bright green eyes, speckled with gold, were teasing and filled with amusement at Featherkit's miss.

"Oh really?" Maplekit crouched, waving her tail in the air like a snake. She pounced, tumbling into Thornkit at full speed and knocking him on his side, pinning him to the ground and letting out her fiercest hiss.

"Alright, alright, now get off of me," Thornkit laughed. She released him, allowing him to get back on his paws.

Featherkit squealed with laughter, entwining her tail with Maplekit's in an act of gratitude for avenging her. Her vibrant blue eyes glittered in the sunlight, like large blue gems.

Maplekit glanced over at their mother, Silversky, who was laying comfortably on the sunny rocks in the clearing, sharing tongues with Amberfoot.

Their dad, Suntail, was setting out on a hunting patrol with a few other cats Maplekit didn't recognize, his golden fur gleaming in the sunlight. She wanted to be just like him when she grew up to be a warrior.

Cats bustled everywhere along the RiverClan clearing, some sharing tongues in the patch of sunny rocks by the elder's den, and some joining hunting parties and training with the apprentices. The clan leader, Stormstar, sat atop the pile of large boulders in the center of the camp leading up to his den, his silver and white splotched fur gleaming in the sun and his tail wrapped neatly over his chest. His broad shoulders were relaxed and his dark blue eyes were filled with pride as he watched his Clan below him. Maplekit loved RiverClan, it's sparkling rivers curling through the territory, and eating an occasional bite of fish instead of her mother's milk. It was perfect here. She didn't understand why the other Clans would want to live anywhere else but here.