Moonstar's Rise

Chapter 1

"Wake up, Moonkit." Moonkit heard the familiar voice, and she groaned, turning over as she tried to block the voice out.  "Wake up!"

Moonkit's eyes opened to find her brother, Owlkit, staring at her.

"Finally! You're awake!" he exclaimed. "Let's go play!" He began to bounce up and down with 

"I'm too tired," Moonkit replied, resting her head on her paws once again to try to get some sleep. Her brother was always in the mood to play, and she never got to relax.

 Silverwhisker turned to Owlkit. "Let's stay inside for now," she instructed him

Moonkit wondered if her mother had always acted overprotective. Maybe there was a time when she allowed others to have freedom. Silverwhisker was always worried about Owlkit and Moonkit, and at times, Moonkit had caught her crying in the corner of the den. 

 "Can we hear another story about Father?" Owlkit asked. As much as her mother acted depressed, her mother told great stories.

Moonkit stood up, sitting beside Owlkit. A good story would surely brighten her mood.

  "Well I don't know," Silverwhisker admitted, looking away.

"Please!" both Moonkit and Owlkit pleaded. It was the one time Moonkit ever agreed with her brother on something.

 "Well okay," Silverwhisker sighed. Her expression quickly changed from a frown to a smile, and she began the story.

 "So the dogs were closing in on me and Reedfur," she told the two. "Any moment they would strike! I stood in fear, knowing it was the end. Suddenly, Reedfur leapt onto the leader of the pack. The other dogs tried to knock Reedfur off, but he was too clever. He scared all of the dogs out of their wits and sent them running away! Later, he was crowned as a hero!"

Moonkit looked at Owlkit. His green eyes were intently fixed on Silverwhisker, and he seemed to be very interested in his mother's story.

"What happened to father?" Moonkit asked. She knew she asked this question a lot, but her mother never gave a good answer.

Silverwhisker looked down. "Err...like I said. He went missing one day."

Moonkit raised her eyebrow, detecting a lie. Silverwhisker had told her plenty of times that Reedfur had gone missing, but Moonkit still didn't believe her. What was she hiding?

"Are you sure he went missing?" Owlkit asked. "Tell us the story," he pleaded.

Silverwhisker shook her head,  then paused. "I guess you're old enough to hear now," she said, looking at her two kits. "Anyway, you kits were just born when he went missing. He said goodnight and when I went to see him in the morning, he was gone." 

"Just like that?" Moonkit asked. She had expected a better story from her mother. Not two sentences.

Silverwhisker didn't reply. She nervously turned towards the entrance of the warriors den.

 "Um.... How 'bout you kits go play with Honeypaw and Foxpaw?" she suggested.

 "But they're almost warriors!" Owlkit complained. "Can't we go out to the forest?"

"No!" Silverwhisker hissed. Anytime the forest was mentioned, her attitude quickly changed. She slowly calmed down, relaxing her shoulders. "I'm not going to let you leave my sight."

 Moonkit was always curious why her mother was so protective. What had happened to her in the past?

 "Go play with the apprentices," Silverwhisker instructed.

As Moonkit walked out of the nursery, Owlkit stopped her from going towards the apprentice den. Slowly, he let out a smile.

 "Let me through," Moonkit grumbled.

"We're not going to play with the apprentices," Owlkit told her. His smile suddenly grew bigger. "We're going to go out to the forest!"

 "But you heard Mother," Moonkit complained. "We need to stay in camp. What makes you think we could last two seconds in the woods?"

 Owlkit paused, then raced off into the forest. Moonkit rolled her eyes, chasing after him.

"Owlkit, it's too dangerous!" she called. "You'll get your pelt ripped off in a matter of minutes!" she hissed, finding him near a small den.

Owlkit ignored her, inspecting the den. "Look at this, Moonkit," he said, crawling into the den. "We could have our own clan in here!" he exclaimed.

Moonkit froze, looking at the den. Something didn't seem right about it. It seemed too small for a normal den, and it was too big for one cat. "Owlkit," Moonkit began. She gasped as she heard a growl. "It's a badger set," she squeaked.

"RUN!" Owlkit hissed. Immediately, Owlkit and Moonkit began racing through the woods as an angry badger chased after them, growling.

"We're not going to outrun it," Moonkit told Owlkit as the badger came closer. She gasped as it latched onto Owlkit's tail, making her brother screech in pain.

"Don't you mess with my brother!" Moonkit spat. She leapt onto the badger, gasping as she was pulled off. She froze, spotting a second badger. Owlkit dropped down beside her, and the two slowly sat, shaking, as two badgers circled around them.

"Wh-What are we going to do?" Owlkit's voice quivered.

Moonkit shut her eyes, waiting for the badgers to strike. Suddenly, she heard a yowl, and she opened to find a fox kit standing in front of Moonkit and Owlkit.

"Get out of here!" the fox spat at the badgers. The badgers immediately ran off, leaving Owlkit and Moonkit alone with the fox.

"We're dead," Moonkit murmured. She wondered if it would be better to be killed by a fox or a badger. It would obviously be a fox now.

"Who exactly are you?" Moonkit asked.

"I am--" The fox pricked her ears. Moonkit did not understand how she knew cat language. It seemed she could speak it perfectly. "My mom's coming! I have to go!" the young kit told them.

Owlkit slowly stood up, staring at the bush the fox had disappeared through in awe.

"Are you okay?" Moonkit asked.

Owlkit stood frozen and speechless.

"Let's go home," Moonkit instructed.

Together, Owlkit and Moonkit headed back towards the den, the sun shining in the distance.