Warriors: Sisters Of Light And Shadow

Chapter One •The Ceremony Of Apprenticeship And Leaders•

Gingerkit crouched down low, her long fluffy tail slowly swishing over the dirt, her green eyes focused on the brown tabby prey. She padded slowly forward, reaching up to pounce on her catch...

"Gingerkit! Get back to your den immediately!" A stern voice meowed, making both kits obediently turn around.

"Yes, Birdsight." Gingerkit bowed her head to her mother. Casting a quick glance to her sister, who wouldn't look her in the eye, she stalked back to the small cave she called her den.

Why can't us siblings play together? Or any kit, for that matter? Gingerkit hated the leaders' rules. Curling back into her mossy nest, the she-kit cursed Glisteningstar's name under her breath. That stuck-up furrball only cares about herself.

She could never say that aloud, though. She would be demoted to a good-for-nothing slave. Why do we even keep the disabled and traitors around? If I was leader, the disabled would be sent into the wild to fend for themselves, and the traitors would be killed.

"Gingerkit?" A soft squeak of a voice made the tabby's head shoot up. She let out a sigh of relief as Tabbykit padded in through the back entrance of the den.

"Tabbykit!" Gingerkit meowed excitedly. She calmed herslef down, knowing if she was loud enough, the entire camp could hear her. "We're having our ceremony today." Her pelt bristled in excitment.

"I know..." Tabbykit's voice was barely a whisper. "I... I don't think we'll be training together...."

Gingerkit tilted her head. "You want to be a healer?" She meowed questionly. "That's awesome!"

Tabbykit shoke her head furiously. "No... Gingerkit... I'm half-blind..."

Gingerkit's green eyes widen. No. Tabbykit can't be a disabled. She's too sweet and innocent to be. It has to be a joke. But as Gingerkit stared intently into her sister's matching green eyes, the she-kit realized how clouded her right eye was getting. "Does... Does Birdsight know?"

Tabbykit nodded solemnly. "She's gone to tell the leaders right now." Sadness clouded her pine-colored eyes as she bent her head. "I guess this is goodbye."

Gingerkit nuzzled her sister lovingly. "No way, we're still best friends, Tabbykit. No disability is gonna change that!" Inside, Gingerkit was screaming at her ancestors. How could you do this to her?

"But, we're different ranks." The brown tabby's voice had become hoarse. "You have to boss me around, I have to do what you say."

Gingerkit placed her fluffy tail on her sister's back. "Then I order you to forget about ranks!" Gingerkit snarled. "That code can go to the Dark Forest and die for all I care."

Tabbykit's eyes widen in shock at her harsh words. Before she opened her mouth, a shadowy figure padded to the entrance of the cave. Tabbykit instantly hid in the secret entrance.

"Gingerkit, find Tabbykit and the slaves will get you ready for your ceremony." Birdsight's voice called down. Gingerkit dipped her head in understanding to her mother.

"C'mon, Tabbykit, let's get ready!" The two she-kits chased eachother out of the den, and they came to a halt when they spotted Twistedfoot, Leafwing, Missingtail, Cranecall, Nofoot and Deafear outside waiting for them.

Three other kits bounced around the slaves, pelts glistening in the morning sunlight. A gray tom-kit on the other paw, sat there looking at nothing. He was fully blind. A snowy-white tom raised his head.

"Oh, hey..." He paused, not knowing our names. "My name's Whitekit, I just found out these are Creamkit, Orangekit, and the new slave." He spat out the word 'slave', but none of the slaves, nor the gray tom or Tabbykit, flinched.