Warriors - Times of Anarchy (Book 1, The Flame)

Chapter 1

"Four... threetwone hereIgo!" squeaked rapidly Blackkit, revealing his eyes from his tiny paws and blinking them. Perking his ears and creeping around, he was attentive for any little movement that could reveal his littermates'- ouh, a leaf!, he thought, pouncing on the attractive fluttering leaf that had passed in front of his nose, smiling triumphantly and then remembering that he was playing hide-and-seek...

Letting go of the leaf and perking his ears up, he heard a soft giggling nearby. With a mischievous grin, Blackkit crawled to a bush that was rustling with laughter and pounced on it with a mighty roar that sounded more like a mouse's squeak.

Landing on Honeykit's shoulders squarely, he laughted triumphantly at his catch. Taken out of his triumph as Honeykit squeaked in alarm and flipped on her back, Blackkit escaped being crushed by leaping off his catch. "I won, I found you!" he exclaimed, swatting at his sister who stuck out her tongue in annoyment at her brother.

"You still have to find Treekit, Bluekit and Solarkit, mousebrain!" said Honeykit, ruffling her fur that was dusty from lying in the dirt. Blackkit sniffed, rolling his eyes and hushing his tone. "Let's ambush them. Honeykit, you'll be Wishstar and I'll be Wyverncry. Proudclan won't be so brave when we'll attack them!" yowled Blackkit back, charging in the center of the clearing followed by his tumbling sister. "Shhh!" he said as she giggled, shushing her in silence. The clearing was quiet, apart from the snore coming out from the elder's den and the whistling of the wind. It was early in the morning, and most of the clan was warm in their woven reed beds.

Yet, not far away, the sounds of pawsteps could be heard and Blackkit smiled triumphantly at finding the location of the hidden kits. "That way," he mouthed to Honeykit, creeping clumsily towards the sound, which stopped as they neared.

"Halfclan attack!" called Blackkit, running and tripping into a sandy clearing. Solarkit, Bluekit and Treekit had been hiding in a bush silently, but Blackkit hadn't been fooled and had smelled them. Blackkit and Honeykit assaulted the three older kits with front paw blows and by grasping onto their pelts with little thorn-like claws.

In the heat of battle, he let out a roar, even if impressed by the much larger kits about five moons older than him. Finally, Honeykit and Blackkit were exhausted, and the three other kits were still standing and giggling to each other. "Seems like Halfclan didn't win again, eh?" mewed Treekit, making a face. Halfclan never won, unless if it was Ruinsclan caught stealing food.

"We'll win next time!" said Honeykit, proud of her clan. They might not be as strong as Proudclan, or sly as Ruinsclan, but Halfclan was the best clan to her opinion, and she'd never deny it. They stayed together as a tight family, from the smallest kit to the strongest warrior, and would never need anyone's help.

"That's the spirit!" mocked Solarkit, rolling his eyes. He then looked down at them, and smiled. "Well, I'll give you credit, you found us," mewed the golden kit who always held his nose high. Bluekit trotted to Honeykit, nuzzling the younger kit. "Yeah, let's stop this talk about the clans, it doesn't matter, you fought with everything." she meowed to Honeykit, who purred in agreement. Blackkit, stuck out his tongue and pointed it with a tiny unsheathed claw, making Treekit and Solarkit burst in laughter. It was Bluekit's turn to roll her eyes.

"Come on, let's go back to the nursery, the clan's surely awake with all the sound we made." she said, skipping towards the main camp clearing, Honeykit scrambled after the tall gray she-kit. Solarkit and Treekit talked to each other, following their sister, and Blackkit trailed after them, still thinking.

Would Halfclan always lose?

Ruinsclan was weak, but they were a tie most often. Proudclan was another matter though, they had so many cats and they were all so strong they could have overpowered both Halfclan and Ruinsclan a long time ago. So why hadn't they?