BEHOLD! I've written a story about cats! I don't wanna spoil anythin' so i'll stop this here >.<











Barkkit exploded from the brambles at the edge of camp, tossing a round pebble across the icy camp floor to his brother, Elmkit. The light brown tabby tom with darker legs and white toes and underbelly darted toward the pebble, but a long-furred pure white she-cat slapped it away from him. Her name was Silkkit.



“HEY! No fair! You’re quicker than I am!” Elmkit hissed as he half-ran and half-slid around the slightly bigger kit, shoving it away and darting in front of his denmate. He chased the pebble to swat it whenever it slowed down. He let Elmkit swat it away to keep it away from Silkkit and her brother, Storkkit. Barkkit and Elmkit’s sister was quietly watching the game from near the nursery. She was a pretty white she-cat with brown tabby patches and periwinkle eyes.



Suddenly, Storkkit bowled over Barkkit. He squeaked and shoved his dark brown forepaws up at the big white tom kit. He kicked Storkkit’s chest, keeping him up long enough for him to slither away and continue chasing the pebble. He kicked Silkkit away with his hind paws, faceplanting on the pebble and knocking it across the ice to Elmkit. He jumped over the pebble in surprise.



“Storkkit! Silkkit! Get over here right this instant!” a very fluffy white person stepped out of the nursery.



Instantly the two white kits broke away from the game, fluffing up their fur as they walked over to their mother. She started to mutter inaudible things to her kits while she groomed them.



“Barkkit and Elmkit, please come here.”



Barkkit blinked in surprise as he walked over to his light brown mother with white flecks, Deerspring.



“Mom, what do you want?” Barkkit blinked up at his mother with round, amber eyes. The havana brown’s tail twitched.



“I want you to look nice for Silkkit and Storkkit’s apprentice ceremony.



Elmkit’s eyes lit up with rage.



“Why do they get to be apprentices and we don’t?” He stamped his foot on the icy ground.



“Yeah, why do they get to be apprentices for us?”



“Because they’re 6 moons old now. You’re still only 4 moons.”



Barkkit snorted as his mother started to groom down his sleek dark brown fur.



“Why isn’t Trilliumkit being groomed?” He mewed as his mother licked his forhead.



“I already groomed her while you were playing.”



“No fair...” Elmkit muttered.



Just as Deerspring finished grooming her sons, a large and muscular snowshoe tom emerged from a hole in the camp’s wall, onto a rotten pine branch that was draped atop a mossy boulder.



“All cats old enough to hide in the shadows of the night gather below the Mossy Rock for a Clan meeting!”



“Come along, kits.” Deerspring whisked her three kits to the back of the gathering group. Silkkit and Storkkit walked over to the front of the crowd. Their mother, Whitecloud, murmured something to them.



“Don’t talk or squirm, kits.” Deerspring whispered.



“Today is one of the most important days for the Clan...”



Toadstar, the leader, started. “The naming of two new apprentices!”



Silkkit and Storkkit’s eyes lit up, looking hopefully at their mother. She nodded.



“Silkkit, Storkkit, step forwards.”



They both obediently stepped forwards.



“Storkkit, you have reached the age of 6 moons, the time of becoming an apprentice. From this day forwards, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Storkpaw. Your mentor will be Pinebranch. I trust her to pass down her excellent problem solving skills to you.”



A dark ginger she-cat stood up, walking over to the white tom kit and putting her nose on the orange blot in the middle of Storkkit’s forehead. The two then padded to the rim of the group, sitting down.



“Silkkit, you have reached the age of 6 moons, the time of becoming an apprentice. From this day forwards, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Silkpaw. Your mentor will be Flameblaze. I trust him to pass down his outstanding fighting skills to you.”



A bright ginger tabby tom with a tan underbelly jumped up, weaving through the crowd and touching his pink nose to the majestic she-kit. They walked next to Storkpaw and Pinebranch and sat down.



“Clan dismissed.”



The cats instantly broke up, some of them turning to their deputy, Ravenshade for orders. Others gathered into groups and exited camp while still a few others went to the dirtplace or some of the apprentices went into the elder’s den.



Barkkit, Elmkit, and Trilliumkit all stood up and followed their mother to the nursery. The sun was setting, turning the sky ablaze with a burning orange color.



“Go to bed, kits. You’re old enough to sleep on your own so I’ll be sleeping in my old nest.”



“Mama, I want to sleep with you...” Trilliumkit whimpered.



“I’m sorry, sweetie. But I don’t want you waking up if the dawn patrol sweeps by.”



She lowered her head. “Okay...”



Deerspring veered off towards the warriors’ den, disappearing into the shadows.



The kits blinked at eachother before hopping into the nursery and into their nest. It seemed pretty empty without Silkpaw and Storkpaw. But Mistystream and her 4 kits were still there. Barkkit blinked at the light blue gray she-cat curled around her fourth-of-a-moon old kits.



He yawned and closed his eyes. drifting off to sleep.








Barkkit woke up in the middle of the night. He blinked and looked around. The night air chilled his fur. He prodded his brother.



“Elmkit...” he whispered. “Wake up!”



“Wha..?” He yawned. Trilliumkit was fast asleep.



“Come on!”



Elmkit carefully got up. Barkkit got up just after him. He led the way out of the nursery, skittering over to the brambles at the edge of camp before ducking under them. Elmkit’s breath was hot on his tail.



They popped out the other side.



Snow and brambles were spread across the ground along with a few wilted ferns.



Barkkit’s eyes were wide with awe, staring up at the tall pines. Some of the pine needles   drifted onto his nose.



“Wow!” he breathed, his eyes swimming with starlight. “It’s huge!”



Elmkit’s breath was taken away.



“Come on, Elmkit!” Barkkit bounced between the bushes, sinking into the snow. He pranced around excitedly, Elmkit following close behind.



Suddenly a silent, dark shape swooped down. Pain shot through Barkkit’s flanks as talons scraped them. Another set of cruel, hooked claws sunk into the ShadowClan kit. He screeched as yet another pair or smaller claws hooked into his hind leg. Barkkit kicked. He felt the talons falter but then tightened again, squeezing the breath out of him. Then the claws let go and sunk into him again. One pair or talons sunk into his eye, scraping across it. He got a quick glance at whatever was attacking him before he drifted into blackness.








When he woke up, he was in the medicine den. The medicine cat, his mother, and Trilliumkit were all anxiously standing over him.



“Hnnngggh..?”



“Shhh. Don’t try to talk.” a soothing voice said. He guessed it was the medicine cat, Lakeflower. He could only feel a dull, throbbing sensation through his body. His vision was blurry. He thought he could pull his mother closer so he put out his paw, but it only grasped thin air.



“Don’t move, either.” He could make out the quiet, silky mew of his sister.



He started to get dizzy so he put down his head on a wad of moss, gaze wavering before his eye closed, blackness engulfing his vision.








He opened his eye, staring around the blurry den.



“See’s you’ve finally came to, kit!” a raspy voice sounded from across the den.



Barkkit could just barely make out a black smudge on the other side of the den. He blinked.



“The name’s Crowcall. I suspect you’re Barkkit?”



Barkkit slowly nodded. “H-how d-did you k-know?” He choked out. For some reason it was hard to speak.



“The whole clan knows, buddy.”



Instantly, his ears grew hot. He sheepishly looked down at his paws. He quickly changed the subject. “W-where’s Elmk-kit?”



The elder blinked, his yellow eyes darkened and started to cloud with sorrow. “Ummm...” he paused as if to seach his mind for an answer that wouldn’t upset Barkkit. “He’s not here right now. I think he ran away after the owl attacked you.



Barkkit’s eye clouded with confusion and grief.



“Doesn’t he still like ShadowClan?”



“Mmmm... I think he just got scared. RiverClan or ThunderClan will probably find him and retrieve him.”



Then a dilute torbie she-cat walked into the den, carrying a bundle of herbs in her jaws. Trilliumkit was bouncing at her heels.



“Oooh, what does that purple one do?”



“I hps cts go t sleep,” She mewed over the herbs. She then dissapeared into the herb store, still with Trilliumkit excitedly bouncing after her.



Barkkit had never seen his calm, shy, level-headed sister so excited.



Ever since Barkkit’s accident, Trilliumkit had taken an interest in herbs.



“Lakeflower?” Barkkit mewed.



Her pretty head popped out of the den.



“What?”



“Will I be better by the time I’m 6 moons old?” He said with a tilt to his head.



She sighed. “I’m not sure, Barkkit.”



He blinked and turned away, his amber eyes clouding in disappointment. “Okay..”



Then Toadstar entered the den. “Lakeflower? Will you be able to make it to the gathering tonight?”



“Of course, Toadstar. Should I join the party right now?”



The sun was already sinking below the horizon. The cats would be on their way to the gathering soon.



“Sure.” He backed up out of the den. Lakeflower followed.



Barkkit blinked as his sister lumbered towards him. slumping down next to him and setting her head on his flank.



“Goodnight, Barkkit.”



“Goodnight...” He yawned and closed his eyes, sinking into the darkness.








By the time Barkkit woke up, a faint golden light shone through the entrance of the den.



Have I really been asleep that long?



He blinked and looked around. No cat was in sight. He swatted at a brown spider scurrying across the floor.



He sat in boredness as the sun went down, no cat to talk to or play with, unable to get up just yet...



Then Lakeflower burst into the den, her lips bubbling and her eyes almost pure black with how wide her pupils were. Her flanks were heaving and she was trembling, some of her fur dropping onto the ground.



“The blood moon!”