Warriors: The Prophecy of Fire

Chapter One

Hawthornekit stirred, her tiny pink mouth opening in a yawn. She felt her littermates, Silverkit and Brushkit, stretch beside her. They had been born a few days after the lake had thawed, giving Reedheart plenty of fish. She was now a little over a moon old and had her eyes set on being the best warrior her clan had ever had. 

"Reedheart!" Brushkit mewed, tugging on her ear with his teeth. "I'm hungryyy!" Reedheart sat up and leaned down, licking Brushkit roughly on the head.

"What have I told you, little one?" She said, her voice stern but her eyes glistening in amusement. 

"Not to wake you up before the morning patrol," Brushkit responded.

"That's right. Now tell me, has the morning patrol gone out yet?"

"No, Reedheart," Brushkit said sheepishly.

"Well, I guess since I'm up I'll go get you something from the fresh-kill pile." Reedheart stood up and left the den, grabbing a small fish and bringing it back to the den. The three kits excitedly started eating, gobbling down the whole fish in a matter of seconds. Reedheart mrowwed in amusement. Behind her, Featherstep stirred. She had just had her kits, Twigkit and Dovekit, a quarter moon ago. They were still nursing and their eyes were barley open. Feeling their mother move, the kits stretched and started nursing. When they were finished Featherstep curled around them and started licking them clean. Hawthornekit stood up, her eyes glimmering with excitement.

"Come on, let's go play! Race you!" she said, darting out of the den. Her littermates followed close behind, racing her to the end of the camp. Hawthornekit won by a long shot and slid into a young black apprentice, his fur covered in white specks. His eyes shimmered in amusement as Hawthornekit looked up at him, her eyes wide in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry, Nightpaw!" Hawthornekit exclaimed as her siblings caught up and started mrowing in laughter, seeing what their littlermate had done.

"No harm done," said Nightpaw, shaking out his fur. He was about 6 moons older than Hawthornekit, he was only in the nursery for a few days until after she was born until he became an apprentice. "What are you guys up to?" Nightpaw said, his eyes still shimmering.

"I," Hawthornekit said proudly, "just beat them in a race. By a long shot."

"It wasn't fair!" Silverkit protested, "You had a head start!" 

"Well," Nightpaw said seriously, "I guess there's only one way to know for sure. Run to that tree over there and back," he said, gesturing with his tail. The kits eyes narrowed in concentration as he started counting down, "Three, two, one, go!" he shouted and the kits raced off, tails flying behind them. Brushkit got the early lead, his paws barley touching the ground as he sprinted across the grass, but Hawthornekit soon caught up, her paws moving so fast they were a blur. She raced around the tree and turned back, her ears flattened against her head. Right before she reached Nightpaw, she dragged her paws through the dirt, slowing herself down. Soon after Brushkit reached them, and then Silverkit. She was out of breath and sat down, her tail wrapping around her legs. She had always been the littlest, but she was never disheartened, always brave and ready to face whatever came her way. 

"Well," said Nightpaw, his voice full of obvious amusement, "It's pretty obvious that Hawthornekit is the winner." He said, mrowing with laughter. Hawthornekit raised her head high, her eyes full of pride. Hawthornekit glanced at Brushkit, she saw him glaring at her, his pelt bristling and a low growl forming in his throat. When he saw her looking at him, his pelt smoothed out and the growl ceased, but she could still see his eyes glistening in jealousy.

"Nightpaw!" a dusty brown tom called out. "Time to go hunting!" 

Nightpaw stood up, "Good race, guys!" and he raced after the tom, "Coming, Hawkheart!" Hawthornekit watched as he raced out of sight, glad that she had ran into him. She turned back to her littermates.

"Let's play fox! Brushkit, you be the fox and me and Silverkit will fight you off!" Brushkit narrowed his eyes and swished his tail.

"Grrrr," he growled. "I'm a big bad fox and I'm gonna eat you up!" Silverkit let out a fake shriek of fear.

"Oh no, Hawthornekit! What should we do?"

"Let's get that evil fox," Hawthornekit said with a grin. She crouched down and pounced on Brushkit, and they started rolling around. He pushed her off and Silverkit leapt, landing on his exposed belly. She started clawing him, her claws sheathed. He rolled over so he was on top of her, pinning her down. Hawthornekit took her chance and raced over, gently nipping his shoulder. He turned around, distracted and Silverkit darted out from beneath him. Hawthornekit jumped on top of her brother, pinning him down. He struggled but she held strong, until he finally stopped flailing about.

"Fine, you win," he said, his voice full of disappointment.

"Oh cheer up," Silverkit said. "It was two verses one. Of course we won!"

"That's true," a voice purred. They looked up and saw Sunpelt, their father, looking down at them proudly. "But the three of you have some great moves! You are going to be amazing warriors one day!" Hawthorne smiled up at the yellow tom.

"I can't wait!" He mrowed in amusement. 

"It's still a few moons, young one." He said, "But you'll be an apprentice before you know it." The kits nuzzled Sunpelt, feeling his long yellow fur cover their tiny heads as they leaned into him. "I have to go hunt now, little ones. Go run back to the nursery, I'm sure your mother's worried. The kits pull away and race back to the nursery.

"Reedheart!" Silverkit calls out. Reedheart looks down at her.

"Yes my dear?"

"You'll never guess what happened today! We were playing fox and me and Hawthornekit beat Brushkit!"

"Yeah!" Hawthornekit chimed in, "And I won a race. Twice! Nightpaw judged the second one!" Reedheart purred.

"I'm so glad for you, my kits. Did you keep Nightpaw for too long?"

"No," Brushkit said, "He had to go hunting after."

"That's good. There's no such thing as too much fish," she purred. "Come here," she said, pulling her kits in close. She started licking them, smoothing out their tangled fur. "Now, go over to the elder's den. I'm sure Ravenwing and Fernfoot will have some stories for you." The kits agree and head off to the elder's den. They walk in and see Ravenwing and Fernfoot sitting up, chatting. They see the kits stumble in and their eyes light up.

"You guys here for a story?" Fernfoot asks, her green eyes shining.

"Yeah!" The kits respond enthusiastically. 

"Come close, young ones." She said, pulling them in close, "This is a long one." The kits curl into her soft, calico fur and listen intently as she begins her story. "Many moons ago, when I was still an apprentice, there were two-legs in this forest." The kits eyes widen as she goes on, telling them the story of getting the two-legs out of their forest. By the time she's done, the sun is setting and it's getting dark. "You kits better get to the nursery before dark or Reedheart will start to worry."

"We will," the kits agreed. "Thank you for the wonderful story!" Fernfoot purred.

"Of course." They started off to the nursery and curled up next to Reedheart in the nest.

"Stay here," she purred, "I'll go get us some fish." She heads over to the fresh-kill pile and brings a silver fish, placing it in front of the kits. "Eat slowly this time, then you might actually be able to taste it." The kits start nibbling at the fish, purposely getting barely any fish in their jaws. "Not that slowly," she said annoyed, "you know what I meant. Come on." The kits glance at each other, amusement in their eyes. They eat a little faster and finish off the fish. When they finish it's pitch black and the moon is high in the sky. "Time for bed, little ones." Reedheart said, pulling the kits in close. They fall into a deep and peaceful sleep, worn out from their adventures.