Warriors: Shooting Star Book #1 A Star Is Born (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 1

Wolfkit looked down at his sister, Foxkit, sadly. She had been coughing badly not long ago. They were only a few days old and Foxkit was stuck in the medicine den, being tended to by Halfmoon and Lightpaw. Foxkit was suffering from kitten cough. Hazelnose was speaking to Halfmoon and Goosetail, Wolfkit's father stared down at his only daughter. Wolfkit wanted his sister to feel better so they could play. They both had just now opened their eyes and the first thing Foxkit could see was inside the medicine den and only the trees outside.

"Come on, Foxkit," Wolfkit nudged her slightly, "let's go play!" Foxkit tried to respond, but she was stopped with another bit of coughing. Wolfkit lowered his ears.

"Wolfkit!" the silver tom turned to see Sparrowkit standing at the entrance to the medicine den. Her green eyes glowing. "Let's go play outside and give Foxkit some space!"

Wolfkit looked to his sick littermate, then made his way out and followed Sparrowkit to her sister, Hazelkit. The creamy she-kit got up when she saw the two come up.

"What the game?" Wolfkit asked excitingly.

"We're going to play hunter and prey!" Sparrowkit answered happily.

"How play that?" Wolfkit tilted his head to the side.

"Me and Hazelkit are hunters and you're a squirrel," Sparrowkit explained, "you run and we try to catch you." the brown white bellied she-kit then jumped in to a crouch, her tail high and flicking playfully. "I'm gonna catch you first!"

"No, you won't!" Wolfkit bounded away, faster than he expected. Bramblepaw and his littermate, Berrypaw were sitting outside the apprentice's den watching. He could feel their surprised and impressed looks as he ran off. Sparrowkit tried keeping up, but she was too slow.

When looking back Wolfkit noticed Goosetail leave camp with a flick of his tail. Not looking where he was going the silver kit bumped in to the reddish brown tom, Adderstar. The leader looked down at Wolfkit with amusement in his amber eyes. The small silver kit looked up at the leader with terrified amazement, but immediately stood up tall and puffed his chest out.

"Well, for a short one, you're very fast, Wolfkit," Adderstar complimented. "now why are you running so fast?"

"Sparrowkit is hunter and I'm squirrel," Wolfkit mewed, "she a bad hunter."

Sparrowkit flicked her tail angrily, glaring across the camp at the tiny tom. "You're too fast!" she complained. Wolfkit tilted his head at her. He thought squirrels were fast and so were warriors. Was he not supposed to be a fast warrior?

"Either way," Adderstar interrupted the situation, "you're getting bigger by the day, just like your father, speaking of which, where is Goosetail?"

"He went out camp," Wolfkit answered, pointing his tail to the entrance of the ThunderClan camp.

Adderstar sighed frustratingly and shook his head. "He's supposed to be going on a border patrol with Twitchwhisker soon!" the leader stormed off out the camp, leaving a confused Wolfkit.

"Come on, Wolfkit!" Sparrowkit yelled. "Run so I can catch you!"

Wolfkit thought for a second and decided to run a little slower, since every cat thought it was too amazing for him to be using it for nothing but play time. He continued running and calling out Sparrowkit's inability to catch a squirrel until he tripped and rolled in to the bracken. He could hear the concerned gasps of the apprentices. Shaking burr off his head Wolfkit looked up to see a pair of amber eyes. About to bolt away screaming, Wolfkit saw the eyes were attached to a dark grey tom with a stripped tail.

The warrior looked down at him with much disinterest. A glare that made Wolfkit lower his ears and quake. Was this warrior mad at him? Did he land down here while he was resting?

Finally, the warrior picked Wolfkit up by the scruff and stormed back inside the camp, where Sparrowkit, Hazelkit, Bramblepaw, and Berrypaw stood waiting. The warrior dropped Wolfkit down in front of them and flicked his tail as the little kit turned to look back at him.

"What do you think you were doing?" The warrior asked, glaring down at the silver tom.

"I and Sparrowkit playing hunter and prey." Wolfkit mewed.

"Sparrowkit and I were playing hunter and prey!" the warrior snapped. Wolfkit jolted at the anger in the warrior's voice.

"Sorry, Glaregaze," Sparrowkit stepped in front of Wolfkit, we didn't know he'd fall in."

"See that it doesn't happen again!" the tom, named Glaregaze, flicked his tail and headed off to the fresh-kill pile.

Wolfkit glared after him, but snapped out of it when Sparrowkit wanted to continue playing. Hazelkit joined in too, but she stopped when she saw Hazelnose come out the nursery and walk up to the playing kits.

"Time to sleep, Wolfkit," the queen purred.

"Don't want to sleep now!" Wolfkit complained. "Wanna play!"

"It's time for all good kits to go to sleep." Willowsigh, Sparrowkit and Hazelkit's mother, a beautiful tortoise-shell and white she-cat. She picked Hazelkit up by the scruff and went in to the nursery.

Wolfkit looked to the medicine den as Hazelnose picked him up and headed in to the nursery. Bellowvoice left the den, leaving his mate, Lambpelt with the queens. Hazelnose lied down and wrapped her tail around Wolfkit, shutting her eyes and falling asleep. Wolfkit tried getting closer to his mother's stomach, but without Foxkit next to him, it felt cold.

A pained cry of desperation woke Wolfkit, the sunset shinning through the trees in to the nursery. Wolfkit looked up to see Hazelnose wasn't there. He got up and looked out the entrance to see Hazelnose was at the medicine den, wailing like a lost kit while Lightpaw tried to make her feel better. Halfmoon walked out with Foxkit dangling in her mouth. Wolfkit lowered his ears as the last tan pelt of his sister disappeared with Halfmoon in to the forest. She wouldn't be apprenticed with him now.

Sparrowkit walked up next to the silver tom and put her tail on his back. "I'm so sorry, Wolfkit,"  she mewed.

"I wanted her to go hunting with me..." Wolfkit sighed. He walked to Hazelnose's side and prodded her flank. She looked down, the hurt still in her green eyes. She then wrapped herself around her last kit and held him for what felt like eternity.