Cinder

Chapter 1

      Cinderkit snuck through the bushes, her fur on end, slowly making her way through the forest. She saw the lake shimmering in the distance, a big black blob that reflected the light of the dying sun. She knew she had to hurry up her exploration before anyone noticed she was gone. Creekpelt, her mother, had been asleep in the nursery when she had snuck out. The other queen, Leafstrike, had also been asleep with her two kits, Hawkkit and Talonkit. Cinderkit found herself beside a river, its depths roaring lightly. She walked over and dabbed her paw into the water, jumping back with a squeal of delight. Tomorrow was going to be her apprentice ceremony. She knew if she got caught Falconstar might delay her ceremony, but she was too eager to go out on her own. As she continued to explore, she smelled something fishy, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She let out a squeal as a huge weight shot onto her back, pinning her to the ground. She wiggled, trying to free herself, panicking.
"Why are you on RiverClan territory?" The cat hissed in her ear.
"I-I was just exploring." Cinderkit stammered. She felt the claws sheath, and the weight vanished. She spun around, widening her eyes. Behind her was a smaller cat with muscular shoulders. He was a brown tabby with glowing amber eyes. A snarl curled his lip.
"You're just a kit!" The cat exclaimed.
"Not for long! My apprentice ceremony is tomorrow!" Cinderkit retorted. She felt slightly relieved that she hadn't been spotted by a more fierce warrior. The cat's eyes narrowed and she noticed a glimmer of amusement in their depths.
"You're lucky I won't report you to Thornstar, but you're just a kit, so you're no threat." He meowed.
"Am too!" Cinderkit protested, fluffing out her fur. The cat let out a mrrow of amusement.
"You're nothing but a speck of gray fur!" The cat said. Cinderkit growled, but it caught in her throat and sounded more like a squeak. "You'd better go before you are spotted by someone not as nice as me." The cat meowed, trying to hide his amusement. "But if I see you here again I will report you." He said. Cinderkit nodded, fear making her paws weak.
"T-thank you." She stammered. The cat nodded curtly before turning. "Wait!" She called. The cat turned his head. "I haven't introduced myself; I'm Cinderkit." She said. The cat narrowed his eyes.
"The name's Snakepaw." He said before he vanished into the reeds. Cinderkit was left staring after him. She turned and slowly slunk back into WindClan territory. The vast moor lay before her, the grass rippling like waves. The sun was slowly sinking further into the sky, and Cinderkit found herself running. She snuck back into camp, tiptoeing into the nursery. To her relief, everyone was still asleep. Cinderkit let out a little purr as she curled into Creekpelt's belly.
"And where were you?" Came a condescending voice. Cinderkit jolted, finding herself staring into a pair of hostile amber eyes.
"Nowhere Hawkkit, I was just out in camp." Cinderkit said. Her tail tip twitched. Hawkkit was two moons younger than him, the leaders son, and she hated every hair on his pelt.
"I know you're lying. I should report you to Falconstar." He mewed.
"What, you going to be a tattle-tale and run straight to your dad." Cinderkit mocked. Hawkkit bared his tiny white teeth. "If you tell him, anyway, I'll tell the entire clan you're in love with Heatherfall." Cinderkit threatened. Hawkkit's fur bristled.
"You wouldn't!" He exclaimed.
"Try me." Cinderkit challenged. Hawkkit bared his teeth before he turned his back on her with a huff. She let out a purr, saticfied, before she fell asleep.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, join here for a clan meeting." Falconstar called. Cinderkit sat underneath him, tingling with excitement. Creekpelt sat beside her, looking ready to burst with pride. Cinderkit looked over and spotted her father, Patchfur. He sat a little way off. Cinderkit felt a prick of sadness. Patchfur hardly paid her or Creekpelt any attention. Even when Cinderkit's littermates died, he hardly seemed to care, only visiting rarely, and Creekpelt had to mourn on her own. She met his eye, but he simply stared through her as if she didn't exist. Creekpelt caught her gaze, and her eyes darkened. Cinderkit tried to ignore Patchfur as Falconstar stepped forward.
"Cinderkit, until you become a warrior, you will be Cinderpaw." Cinderpaw repeated the name in her head. "Morningsun, you are a young warrior and ready for your first apprentice, so you will mentor Cinderpaw. Pass on all your skills to her." Cinderpaw turned as saw a beautiful white and ginger she cat with light amber eyes walking toward her, tail held high with pride. Cinderpaw scamped over to her and touched noses to her mentor.
"I will teach you to become an amazing warrior." Morningsun meowed. Cinderpaw blinked happily. The clan started to disperse, leaving Cinderpaw with Morningsun. "Go and meet your denmates and make a nest. I'll show you the territory later." She meowed. Cinderpaw nodded before scurrying to the apprentices den, her fur quivering with excitement. She pushed her way in and saw two of the apprentices, Splashpaw and Graypaw, curled up together. Splashpaw lifted her head and mewed a greeting.
"We made you a nest already." She meowed, flicking her tail at the pile of moss beside Graypaw. Cinderpaw thanked her before tucking into her nest and purring with satisfaction.
             "Thank you!" Cinderpaw meowed, tucking in deeper, excitement squeezing her chest. She was gonna train to become a WindClan warrior!

      Cinderpaw carried the fresh moss into the elders den, ducking below the gorse bush that shielded them from the wind. She set down the moss and watched the elders, Specklefur and Fuzzyclaw, as they were discussing past events.
       "I remember when they made Mudstar deputy don't you?" Fuzzyclaw was meowing in a raspy voice.
        "Oh yes. I don't even know why Eaglestar ever chose him as deputy. Anyone with eyes could see that he was bad news." Specklefur added. Cinderpaw shuddered from ears to tail. She had heard many stories of the treacherous ThunderClan leader. He lead with nothing but fear. He forced his lead with tooth and claw. At least, those are the tales she had heard. She knew that he was always terrorizing other clans and forced his warriors to be loyal to nobody but him. She heard nursery tails about the days of old when ShadowClan was the most feared clan in the forest, and ThunderClan was nothing to fear.
        She had heard the days when Brokenstar had lead ShadowClan and driven out WindClan. Those were the days when they were feared and powerful. The days of Firestar leading ThunderClan  were peaceful, and even Bramblestar tried to keep the peace. But that would not last. Now ShadowClan was nothing to fear, and often kept to themselves and tried not to create conflict, while ThunderClan is now the opposite. Cinderpaw had heard that Eaglestar, who was a noble yet naive young leader had chosen Mudstar (then Mudthorn) as deputy. Mudthorn had always been an ambitious and powerful warrior, as well as cunning. He was brutal in battle and wanted nothing but for ThunderClan to be a fierce and feared clan. He mocked Firestar for being peaceful and friendly, and vowed to make ThunderClan feared, unlike ShadowClan. (Which He always openly mocked.)
         "Good thing Falconstar knows how to deal with him, and we always have our guard up Incase he decides to attack." Fuzzyclaw said. Cinderpaw ducked into the den with her moss and made two new nests for the elders.
       "Thank you young'n." Specklefur rasped. Cinderpaw ducked her way out of the den, still chilled as she pictured the powerful ThunderClan leader, and what horrors he could put upon the clan she loved dearly.