Heart of the Clan

Chapter 1
Silverkit let out a squeak of excitement as the cats of IceClan ran around, scaredly. A patrol of some foolish apprentices had led the fox that had strayed onto their territory to their camp. It had broken in, through the thorn barrier. "I bet I can fight that fox off!" she declared to her sister, Sunkit. "No, you won't!" squeaked her sister but she had already headed out of the nursery.

The fox was sitting in the clearing, it's head swerving around, looking for an easy target. Silverkit braced herself as the fox scampered up the ramp, toward her. Her mother, Lilyheart was calling her, but she ignored it. The fox stopped in front of her, it's eyes glistening with the hunger for cat. She got into a battle crouch that Snowpaw had taught her.

Silverkit leaped but the fox lashed out a paw, which blew her backwards. She shook her head and looked up to see the fox towering over her. It struck her eyes with a claw and she scampered toward her mother, who was still calling her. "Mommy! My eyes hurt!" she wailed. "Hold on! Let me get Sweetflower," but the medicine cat apprentice was already in the nursery.

Chapter 2
After what seemed like nine lifetimes of waiting, Sweetflower stroked her head with a paw. "Wake up, dear.." Silverkit heaved herself to her paws and opened her eyes. "Why can't I see?!" she mewed, shyly. Sweetflower sighed. "Oh Silverkit…I'm afraid that you are blind. The fox struck you in the eyes, and--" "Blind?!" wailed Silverkit. "How will I be a warrior?!"

She heard a snort of amusement coming from the entrance of the nursery. Silverkit recognized her father, Duststar, by his scent. "You won't be a warrior." Her father had never liked her, but had liked Sunkit better. She heard a wail of protest coming from the other side of the nursery, and recognized Treekit by his voice. He sulked over to her and looked at her.

That night, she had felt empty, because she knew that since she couldn't see, she would have to train as a medicine cat, and she couldn't have a mate or kits. Silverkit closed her eyes and opened them into a world of trees as far as she could see. This must be StarClan! decided the young kit. She walked along and saw a glimmering figure in the distance. Silverkit ran toward it, and recognized the cat as Willowstar, the leader of IceClan who had died one moon after she was born.

"Good-bye, Silverkit," mewed the leader as she awoke into a world of dizzying blackness. I have a destiny as a medicine cat, like Willowstar told me! thought Silverkit. I gotta tell Duststar and Sweetflower! She erupted out of the nursery and rushed straight toward the den smelling of herbs. "Sweetflower!" she called as she rushed in. "Shhh!" hissed the tabby-and-white she-cat. "I'm preparing Amberleaf for her vigil, and you made me drop the pine sap!" "Amberleaf is…dead?" mewed Silverkit in a small voice.

Chapter 3
Silverkit burrowed her nose into the former medicine cat's pelt for the last time before the elders would bury her. "Hey, Silverkit!" she recognized Treepaw's voice, and his scent grew stronger as he rushed up to her. "You'll be an apprentice soon, right?"' "Probably a medicine cat apprentice, though," she muttered, as she turned to face him. "That's better than moving straight to the elder's den, isn't it?" he joked. She muttered an agreement and headed toward where the fresh-kill pile was. "Wait!" called the brown apprentice.

"What?" she called across her back.

"Uh…" he sounded embarrassed, as if he had not planned for her to answer. The two cats had always had feelings for each other, though, Silverkit knew that now, they couldn't be mates... ''Unless we went against the Warrior Code--No! We couldn't do that!'' She snapped back to reality as her mother's warm scent flooded her nose. "Is something wrong?" meowed her Lilyheart's soothing voice. "Everything's wrong!" The words flowed out of her mouth, like Sweetflower had described Whispering Falls, where medicine cats shared tongues with StarClan.

"The Warrior Code doesn't shape our lives..." mewed her mother, softly.

"But.." Silverkit tried to find an argument, but couldn't.

Chapter 6
"Silverpaw! Sunpaw!" The Clan's cheerful joy for the two new apprentices rang in Silverpaw's ears. She was apprentice to Sweetflower, and the half-moon was in a few days.