The Beginning

This story is written by Nightfern, and is part of the Moonlight Series. Go here to go to ThunderClan's Alliances.

Chapter 1~ All
"Quick!!!!" yowled Cloudclaw. His shining white pelt bristled with alarm as he dashed to Fawnpelt's den. The aroma of burdock root hit him as he crashed into a sleeping Fawnpelt.

"What is it? Is ShadowClan attacking? Did you get a message from StarClan?" she murmured, half asleep, her brown belly softly falling as she slept.

"FEATHERFOOT'S HAVING HER KITS, AND IT'S GONE ALL WRONG!!" shrieked Cloudclaw. Fawnpelt jumped up, grabbed some raspberry leaves, and dashed to the nursery. Featherfoot lay on the damp moss, panting and squirming in pain. Her swollen belly was damp and bloody. Goldenflower had heard the commotion in the warriors den and ran to the nursery to see her sister. Nightfern followed.

"Help!!" shrieked Featherfoot as a painful spasm corrupted her body. Her green eyes were filled with pain. "But... her kits are not due till next half moon!" gasped Goldenflower as Featherfoot's shrieks cut the air.

"Here, here, eat some raspberry leaves," encouraged Fawnpelt.

"You're doing fine. Cloudclaw licked his mate's head frantically. A spasm crossed Featherfoot's tortoiseshell body, and she let out a wail. A small kit dropped onto the moss.

"A tom!! Here, lick him, Featherpaw!" ordered Fawnpelt as Featherpaw, the medicine cat apprentice entered the nursery, looking worried. "Bravepelt, Rainfur, and Lionleaf went on dawn patrol." Nightfern said as Featherpaw feed Featherfoot raspberry leaves. Featherfoot looked exhausted. She had stopped wailing, but her eyes were still filled with excruciating pain. Cloudclaw let out a wail.

"Stay with me, Featherfoot!" he cried. "Our kits will be wonderful."

"She'll live," said Fawnpelt, though she did not sound certain. "That was her last and only kit." As Featherfoot chewed some poppy seed, she looked more comfortable, and Goldenflower let out a gasp of relief.

"Firepaw and Sandpaw, clean out this moss and fetch some more." Firepaw and Sandpaw nodded and stalked out of the nursery. The other queens arranged Featherfoot in a comfortable position as the single kit began to suckle. He was a handsome dark grey tom with long fur. Featherfoot and her single kit were safe.

Chapter 2~ Hollystar
Hollystar padded out of her den and into the clearing. The apprentices were in the elders den cleaning their ticks in the elders fur. Hollystar could hear Specklefoot's cranky meowing as she scolded Swallowpaw for missing a tick on her shoulder. Hollystar stifled a laughing meow of amusement as she had a flashback of her apprentice days. The clan had many new kits, and Heatherleaf and Darkfur's kits were old enough to be apprentices. She leapt onto Highrock, and let out the familiar yowl.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join us for a Clan Meeting!" she cried. Snowkit, Birdkit, and Eaglekit proudly stalked out of the nursery. Heatherleaf probably knew it was time to apprenticed them, thought Hollystar. Snowkit's gleaming white fur stood out sharply against Eaglekit's unique brown and white tabby pelt, and Birdkit's light brown tabby coat. All three kits were beautifully groomed, but Eaglekit obviously did not want his mother's through cleaning process. He pawed at his head till it was fluffy again. Hollystar had thought long and hard about their mentors, and she had chosen them already.

She called to Birdkit, and she obediently padded forward.

"From this day, forward, until she has received her warrior name, this apprentice will be called Birdpaw. Her mentor will be Nightbreeze." A black cat with grey paws at the bottom of the clearing looked delighted as she called him forward. Birdpaw touched her nose to his shoulder.

Eaglekit became Eaglepaw, his mentor Leopardfoot. Snowkit became Snowpaw, and was apprenticed to Nightfern. Nightfern touched noses with her new apprentice, and quivered with delight.

"I also have 3 new warriors to name," announced Hollystar. The cats in the clearing all looked surprised. "Reedpaw, Dawnpaw, and Swallowpaw." The three apprentices looked astonished as she called their names and silently walked forward. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan even at the costs of your lives?" asked Hollystar.

"I do." said Swallowpaw, his green eyes only showing the excitement in him.

"I do." murmured Dawnpaw, her muscular tabby body quivering.

"I do." nodded Reedpaw, his broad brown face solemn.

"Then now I announce you warriors. Swallowpaw, you will be Swallowflight. Dawnpaw, your new name will be Dawnfrost. Reedpaw, you are now Reedtail. Your courage and loyalty can match no other, and I proudly announce you as the newest warriors of ThunderClan." said Hollystar. "Swallowflight, Reedtail, Dawnfrost, Birdpaw, Eaglepaw, Snowpaw!!!!" the clan cheered. "You will keep vigil tonight." she added.

Chapter 3~ Snowpaw
Snowpaw barely contained a furious snarl as she spat and turned to face her attacker. A slender brown tabby shape flew into her, knocking Snowpaw head over heels.

"ThunderClan?!" spat Snowpaw as she leaped into the air gracefully and landed right on the shoulders of her attacker. Snowpaw recognized the lithe, athletic body. Who was it? Snowpaw sheathed her claws and asked, astonished, "Birdpaw?" Her sister sat down let out a raspy purr of amusement.

"Why, you little..." Snowpaw was lost for words.

"Nightfern asked me to ambush you. She wanted to see what your reflects were. You knew I was ThunderClan!" said Birdpaw. A beautiful silver shape emerged from the shadows of the thick ferns.

"Snowpaw, let's go collect fresh-kill for the clan. You have not collected a mouse in some time..." murmured Nightfern. Snowpaw's thick white pelt burned with shame. Nightfern was right, of course. Snowpaw had been having a difficult time lately catching mice.

"Birdpaw, you can go to the training hollow with Nightbreeze," said Nightfern, sounding brisk. "Snowpaw, come with me. We are going back to camp and get some fresh-kill for Featherfoot. Do you see how much that little Pantherkit eats? More than Stormfall, even!"

Nightfern trotted through the woods, and Snowpaw followed. Nightfern caught 3 mice and a thrush. Snowpaw caught one blackbird and a vole. Snowpaw had missed a single mouse by hesitating to long, but Nightfern was delighted by how much they had caught together. They finally reached camp. As they dropped the fresh-kill in the fresh-kill pile, Fawnpelt raced out of her den, and into the elders den. Warriors crouched outside their den, terror in there eyes.

"What's going on???" exclaimed Nightfern. Her sister, Amberheart, answered her.

"Greenflower has blackcough!" shuddered Amberheart.

"Oh, no!!!" shrieked Nightfern. It hit Snowpaw in a instant. Blackcough was stage 3 of the whitecough and greencough infection. It was very rare. Blackcough was contagious and spread like a wildfire. And there was no cure.

Chapter 4~ All
A yowl erupted from the nursery. Featherpaw and Fawnpelt raced to the den. Featherpaw was holding poppy seeds, and Fawnpelt was carrying raspberry leaves. Greenflower looked healthy again, thanks to Featherpaw. He had found the correct mixture of catmint and horsetail to cure the dreaded blackcough. So what was all the commotion about? thought Nightfern. Suddenly it hit her. Spottedstripe's kitting! The she-cats have been having tons of kits. She ran to the nursery as quickly as she could. Spottedstripe was squirming in her moss bed, but her eyes fluttered every few seconds. Her beautiful golden pelt was matted with thick scarlet blood. As Silvercloud watched, she let out a groan as a painful spasm erupted from the tip of her ears, to the end of her black-tipped tail. Leopardfoot lay at her side, murmuring comforting words in to ear.

Spottedstripe's Point of View

Spottedstripe yowled in pain. Suddenly an achingly familiar smell enveloped Spottedstripe.

"Roseflower?" she breathed. "I''m here." murmured the voice comfortingly.

Roseflower was Spottedstripe's mother. She had died on patrol when a badger had slain her and Tallpaw, an apprentice on his warrior assessment.

Fawnpelt, Nightfern, Leopardfoot, Featherpaw, and all the other cats watching her kitting seemed to fade and their open mouths made no sound.

"You're doing fine," Roseflower gently placed a silver and gold StarClan fish in front of Spottedstripe.

"Eat this. It will help you," she whispered. Spottedstripe could see her clearly now, a faint, slender dark red shape.

Spottedstripe groaned and shrieked as another spasm took over her body. Gritting her teeth, Spottedstripe snatched up the beautiful fish and pushed it into her mouth. The delicious, peaceful taste made Spottedstripe purr hoarsely. Suddenly, she yowled in pain as a rippling moved her. She let out a chilling wail, and was forced back to reality. A kit fell into the moss.

"A tom!!!" cheered Featherpaw triumphantly. The pain eased for a moment, but another painful rippling passed through her body. Letting out a yowl, another kit fell into the moss.

"A she-kit!" purred Leopardfoot hoarsely. The pain was gone now. Featherfoot padded up to Spottedstripe and purred,

"Well done! That was a easy kitting compared to mine. I almost died." Pantherkit sniffed curiously at the kits and asked "Can I play with them yet? Mistkit, Crowkit, and Sorrelkit are getting to big for me now!"

His blue eyes were round and innocent. Willowfern licked the top of Spottedstripe's head and said, "What will you name them?"

Her two kits, Meadowkit and Duskitm looked solemn. Spottedstripe looked at the tom suckling at her belly. He was a dark chocolate tabby with icy blue eyes and a small white underbelly. He was huge compared to his sister, a pretty fluffy silver and white tabby.

"The tom will be called Hawkkit, and the she-kit Ivykit." As she said that, Ivykit yawned and opened her tiny pink tongue. Spottedstripe was exhausted, but it was all worth it. The Clan had 2 new kits. And she had a son and a daughter.

Chapter 5~ Hollystar (By Ottersplash)
Hollystar came out of her den, the lichen hitting her face. The young leader walked over to the apprentices den and watched the young fearless cats roll and tumble around outside. Hollystar let out a mrrow of laughter as Snowpaw practiced her battling skills on Birdpaw. Hollystar turned her attention to the two older apprentices, Firepaw and Sandpaw. They are ready to be warriors, thought Hollystar. The young leader sat on the sandy ground and watched the two apprentices practice their fighting skills on themselves.

Sandpaw stopped. "Let's pretend that you're a ShadowClan warrior and I'm a ThunderClan warrior!" exclaimed the young cat.

Firepaw nodded, flame tail lashing. Hollystar thought long and hard about it and thought that tomorrow after the apprentices go out hunting, she would announce the new warriors. The next day, Hollystar padded out of her den and walked straight to the apprentice den, when suddenly, a slender tortoiseshell shape flew right in front of her. The two cats ran into each other.

"Oh, sorry Hollystar. I was just going over to the nursery to check on Featherfoot," the she-cat breathlessly said. Hollystar looked at the she-cat.

"That's OK, Goldenflower, move along," replied Hollystar.

Goldenflower skidded off to the nursery to see her sister. Hollystar let out a mrrow of laughter.

That cat is so close to her kin, thought Hollystar. The leader padded to the warriors den to speak to Lionleaf and Flamefoot. Lionleaf and Flamefoot both bowed their heads respectfully to their leader.

"Good morning Lionleaf and Flamefoot, I would like to speak to you two in my den now..."

The two cats did as was told and headed to the leaders den. When the three cats arrived at Hollystar's den, the black cat sat in her comfortable bed of dry moss.

"Lionleaf, Flamefoot I want to know your opinions on having a warrior ceremony for both your apprentices. I think they're ready," explained Hollystar, hoping they would agree. The two warriors looked at each other, then looked at Hollystar.

"We agree," replied Lionleaf.

Hollystar nodded. "We will have the ceremony after the apprentices go hunting."

Lionleaf and Flamefoot both got up and walked out the den entrance, shaking some of the moss off their broad heads. The next day, Hollystar padded out of her den, stretching her sleek black body, her grass green eyes fixed on the gorse tunnel. The leader caught sight of Lionleaf and his apprentice, Firepaw. The dark gray tabby was holding some mice in his powerful jaws. Hollystar noticed the bright ginger apprentice's mouth was full voles and mice. After a couple of heartbeats, Flamefoot and Sandpaw followed them into the gorse tunnel. The dark ginger tom fixed his gaze on the black leader. Flamefoot's flame paws took him over to the fresh-kill pile where he dropped a couple of prey and took two steps away from the fresh-kill pile and headed towards his stunning black leader. The pale ginger apprentice, Sandpaw, trotted over to Hollystar with her mentor.

"They are ready. Sandpaw and Firepaw have done well with their hunting, tracking, and scenting skills. Lionleaf and I were impressed."

Hollystar jumped on Highrock and took her position.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting," Hollystar waited for all the cats in her Clan to settle down beneath the Highrock.

"Firepaw and Sandpaw," she yowled.

The two young cats raced to the foot of Highrock. Hollystar jumped down from Highrock and stood in front of the soon-to-be-warriors.

"Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend your Clan at the cost of your life?" The two cats stared at each other,

"I do," replied Firepaw. "I do," purred Sandpaw. "Then I, Hollystar, leader of ThunderClan herby declare you both warriors of ThunderClan."

"Firepaw, you will be known as Firefur." Firefur nodded in acknowledgment.

"Sandpaw, you will be known as Sandpool." Sandpool purred in agreement.

The crowd began to grow alive with cheers and chants.

"Firefur, Sandpool, Firefur, Sandpool!!"

Hollystar joined in the cheering.

"Now to finish with the ceremony, you must keep vigil all night in silence." muttered the leader.

Soon after, Hollystar hauled herself back onto Highrock and screeched for silence.

"We will also be welcoming four new apprentices, Crowkit, Ripplekit, Mistkit, and Sorrelkit." The four kits jumped out of the nursery, full of pride.

Hollystar took the time after her meeting with Lionleaf and Flamefoot to talk to Leafblossom, the kits' mother. She stood proudly at the edge of the nursery, golden tail curled with delight, while her mate Whitetail sat looking at his kits. Hollystar called to Crowkit. He padded forward, his smoky grey pelt trembling with delight.

"From this day forward until he receives his warrior name, this cat will be called Crowpaw, his mentor Heatherleaf."

Heatherleaf stepped away from the sea of cats and went over to her new apprentice and touched noses. Her pretty light brown tabby pelt was raised. Hollystar announced the other three kits and made them all apprentices.

Ripplepaw's mentor was the deputy, Stormfall. Sorrelpaw's mentor was Pinecone. Mistpaw's mentor was Goldenflower. Mistpaw, Sorrelpaw, Ripplepaw, and Crowpaw. The four new apprentices walked over to the apprentices den, while Firefur and Sandpool went over to the padded to the camp clearing to sit vigil.