Warriors #1: Kittypet Clanborn

Prologue

The full moon was shining bright in the sky as a large group of cats began their travel through the forest for the full-moon gathering. A fluffy gray and white she-cat watched sadly as the cats began to disappear through the gorse tunnel to leave their home for the night.

A handsome flame-colored tom passed by the pretty she-cat, who was watching all of the cats leave from the nursery. He turned to her and gave her a kind nod.

"Goodnight, Mistpelt," the tom meowed to the young cat, raising his tail up in the air in farewell.

Mistpelt nodded back. "You too, Firestar."

Firestar gave Mistpelt another farewell flick of his tail before joining the rest of the Clan to lead them away.

As the last cat's tail disappeared through the gorse tunnel, Mistpelt sighed and finally looked down to the lovely kit she had given birth to just a couple of moons ago. The kit lay sleeping, nestled deeply into her mother's flank.

Suddenly overwhelmed with love for the tiny little scrap, Mistpelt wrapped her tail around her kit and gave it a gentle lick on its small head. The kit was a tabby-and-white she-kit with hazel eyes, which were very rare for a cat to have. A chill had run down Mistpelt's spine when she met her daughter's gaze for the very first time, almost being able to recognize her own mother's soft gaze there. And in the night they always looked as if they were glowing. 

Any cat would easily be captivated by that gaze of hers, Mistpelt thought. I certainly have quite a few times.

Soon after Mistpelt had given birth to her daughter, she had been left to be the only queen in the nursery, so she had felt very separated from the rest of the Clan lately. While her kit gave her all the happiness she could ask for, she almost wished she could share her happiness with other queens. 

And now, Mistpelt felt even more alone than ever, considering ThunderClan had just left for the Gathering, an assembly that took place between all four Clans, and they wouldn't be back until the moon was high in the sky.

Now that ThunderClan was gone, everything was quiet. Mistpelt couldn't hear any scampering from the camp clearing, and the nursery was completely silent as she continued to sit there alone. For some reason suddenly feeling not at ease, the gray and white queen let out a sigh and bent her head down to dig her muzzle into her kit's soft fur.

For once, I'd actually like you to be bouncing off of the den walls, to distract me, Mistpelt joked to herself. It's not always a good thing when the camp is this quiet.

Mistpelt's suspicions were almost answered for her. She lifted her head from where she had been nestling her kit as a strange scent suddenly flooded through her nose.

Mistpelt narrowed her eyes and gaped her mouth open, listing off possibilities of what she could be smelling in her head.

It certainly couldn't be any Clan cat - it wouldn't make any sense; Clan cats would either be gathered at Fourtrees or guarding their camps. And it didn't smell like a rogue or kittypet, either.

That means... Mistpelt thought nervously, this is some other creature. But what is it? A fox? A badger?

She sniffed again and stood up in her nest.

"Mother?" Mistpelt's kit squeaked as her small body was suddenly detached from Mistpelt's flank. "What's the matter?"

Mistpelt didn't answer. She couldn't, as she was suddenly overwhelmed with fear. She had finally realized what she had been scenting, to her dismay.

A Twoleg!

Mistpelt began to shiver with fear, as she knew that a Twoleg could be as scary or dangerous as any furry creature. She had never encountered one before, and she had been very thankful of that up until now.

What could a Twoleg be doing in ThunderClan territory? Mistpelt wondered to herself, unsheathing her claws and gritting her teeth together. She even felt a growl rising in her throat.

Her heart began to beat faster and faster as the scent got stronger and stronger. She nearly held her breath as she realized she could hear distant footsteps coming from behind the nursery where she had been resting.

I have to warn the rest of ThunderClan!

But, before she could do that, the nursery's roof was ripped open. Mistpelt stared up wide-eyed to see that it was indeed a Twoleg, its horrifying hairless face staring down at her and her daughter. Although she was used to the forest looming over her, this creature seemed as tall as any tree she'd ever passed. The scared mother instinctively wrapped her tail tightly around her kit and began to slowly back away towards where the nursery entrance had been.

Then, without hesitation, the Twoleg reached in and grabbed Mistpelt. She scratched and clawed at the Twoleg, but it wouldn't let go of her no matter how hard she tried. Its grip seemed to become tighter and tighter the more that she fought. Then, as Mistpelt had feared, the Twoleg reached down and grabbed Mistpelt's little kit. Mistpelt almost felt her heart break as she heard the kit mewl with fear.

Mistpelt hissed and attempted to rake her claws down the Twoleg's arm. Let her go, you piece of fox-dung!

Mistpelt attempted to whip her head around to see if she could call to any cat in the camp to come and help her, but to her dismay, she knew that she was already too late. Although she could hear the fearful yowls of some of her Clanmates, the ravine was becoming lost to Mistpelt's view.

She saw two of her Clanmates, Brightheart and Sootfur, burst from the camp entrance, yowling and hissing as they got closer, but the Twoleg seemed to notice and broke into a run.

"It's not worth it!" Mistpelt yowled out, not even knowing if Brightheart and Sootfur could hear her anymore. "Save yourselves! I'll be okay!"

Mistpelt growled with all of her might and continued to claw at the Twoleg, but became weak with exhaustion and grief as it carried both of them away from the ThunderClan forest.