FOREVERCLAN
LEADER: Icestar- Blue-grey tom with dark, stormy grey eyes, lean, thin, but large compared to other cats
DEPUTY: Doeleap- Soft-furred shorthair cream she-cat with white paws and soft, doe-like, big brown eyes
apprentice, Fallenpaw- light brown-colored she-cat with cream colored underbelly and paws, has amber eyes
MEDICINE CAT: Shinepool- elderly silver she-cat with blue eyes so deep they look like an endless abyss
apprentices, Dewshine- medium-sized golden she-cat with dark, leopard-like spots, has moist yellow- green eyes
Gorsepaw- small, grey tom with heather colored eyes and white paws
WARRIORS:
(Toms and queens without kits over 12 moons old)
Thunderbird- Black tom with orange eyes, very large and broad-shouldered
apprentice, Riverpaw- A silver she-cat with pepper-like black spots, has green eyes
Crowflame- Black tom with amber eyes
Whiteleaf- White she-cat with green eyes
Smokeheart- Grey tom with white stripes and amber eyes
Firestripe- Ginger tom with green eyes and grey stripes
Mistlight- Grey and white she-cat with grey eyes
Dustwind- Light grey tom with silvery green eyes
Stagstep- Dark brown tom-cat with soft, doe-like brown eyes
apprentice, Snowpaw- Black tom with white paws and green-blue eyes
Echoleap- Grey she-cat with silver eyes and stripes
Flowerfur- Cream-colored she-cat with dark brown paws and blue eyes
apprentice, Flamepaw - ginger tom with white stripes and green eyes
Fawnheart- Cream-colored she-cat with white under-belly and mottled brown spots and brown doe-like eyes
apprentice, Birdpaw- Dark brown tom with blue eyes
Shadowpelt- Dark grey tom with black stripes and green eyes
apprentice, Blizzardpaw- white she-cat with ice blue eyes
Spiderfur- Black tom with grey spots around his face, amber eyes
apprentice, Sunpaw- golden tom with amber eyes
Iceflower- Snowpaw's mother; blue-grey she-cat with silver eyes
Brownfur- Light brown tom with white spots and amber eyes
Heatherfoot- White she-cat with grey paws and heather eyes
Firestep- Ginger-pawed white tom with grey eyes
CROOKED-FATES:
(Cats that can't be full-fledged warriors due to "problems")
Tanglefoot- Clumsy, dust-colored tom with pale grey eyes, is blind
Brokensong- White she-cat with grey stripes and pale grey eyes; is blind
Silentwind- Black tom with a bright, cheery blue gaze; is mute
QUEENS:
(She-cats with kits)
Shimmermoon- Silver she-cat with blue eyes; mates with Crowflame
Kits (second litter): Mistkit (silver she-cat with green eyes)
Mintheart- Black she-cat with green eyes; mates with Thunderbird
Kits (third litter): Jaykit (blue-eyed black tom), Ravenkit (black she-cat with green eyes), Hawkkit (silver and black tom)
Frostface- White-faced grey she-cat with blue eyes; oldest queen; mates with Firestripe
KIts (second litter): Leafkit (brown, ginger,and white she-cat with amber eyes)
Nightsnow- Black she-cat with white, snow-like drips spots, has pale grey eyes; mates with Spiderfur
Kits (first litter): Greykit (dark grey tom, silver eyes),Blackkit (black tom with white spots around his blue eyes),Shadowkit (dark grey tom with grey stripes, green eyes)
ELDERS:
(Toms and she-cats over a certain number of moons)
Crookedheart- grey tom-cat with black spots and blue eyes
ROUGES:
(Cats that left or were exiled)
Blizzardpelt- Thin, ragged white she-cat with a missing eye
Ashwing- Black she-cat with dark grey stripes and soft green-blue eyes
Raccoonstep- Black-and-grey striped tom with white paws and muzzle, and white-tipped bushy tail
Blazepelt- A ginger tom with black paws and amber eyes
Chapter One:
Leaf
CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
The dry grass underfoot crackled and broke with every light step she took. She winced when rocks got lodged in her soft pawpads, but she didn't break stride as she watched her apprenticed siblings trot by through the bramble tunnel and out of the camp. Their mentors smiled at them, avoiding her gaze.
Leafkit wasn't envious. She had heard everyone talking. There was just something... off with her, and that was the reason she couldn't be an apprentice. She never complained. She had wished for a long time as a kit to become a strong, able warrior... but that fire had gone out. She was 7 moons old, and her siblings, of the same age, were excellent apprentices. She wasn't.
But what was the matter? Why was she excluded? Leafkit had heard her parents, Frostface and Firestripe, whisper about it deep into the night: about how she was different, there was something wrong with her. She was smaller than other cats. Despite being apprentice age, she still looked like a 3-moon old kitten. She had to stay in the nursery, due to the fact everyone was scared she would be caught and eaten by a hawk, due to the fact no one thought she'd amount to anything beside a Crooked-Fate.
Leafkit trotted sadly over to the Crooked-Fate den, and laid outside it. She listened to the inhabitants like she did everyday. There was Tanglefeet, the 13-moon old tom who was blind and extremely clumsy; there was Brokensong, the sweet white she-cat, aged 12 moons, who was also blind, and Silentwind, the mute 16-moon-old black tom. She smiled when she heard Tanglefeet and Brokensong banter... it made her happy to know that even cats who were different were mostly the same as normal ones.
"Do I hear someone outside?" came the soft voice of Tanglefeet.
Leafkit froze up, mostly out of excitement. It was time for the game.
"Hm..." whispered Tanglefeet, pulling his head out of the den, which was just a marigold tree with some bushes around the open gap at the bottom. He sniffed in a long, deep breath, and said, "Leafkit! Are you ready?"
"Yes," Leafkit said happily.
Tanglefeet smiled and said, "Rules the same as always. Brokensong and I will try and catch you while you run around the camp, Silentwind will keep score with his tail. And tell us who wins at the end."
"Yes!" Leafkit said, crouching and wiggling her rump, tail swaying. Her multi-colored pelt caught the Greenleaf light. "Go!"
Brokensong was the first to move. Her white ears swiveled, following Leafkit's rustling as the kit jumped from the Crooked-Fates den to the warriors', paws slipping.
"Hey!" hissed Crowflame, his black pelt glistening. "Don't-"
But Leafkit had already dashed into the sandy den, knocking into Dustwind, a rather grumpy and venom-tongued young warrior.
"Hey!!!" the tom hissed, his dusty grey-yellow fur matted from just waking up. He swiped a paw at Leafkit, but she had already moved out of the way and out of the den. Tanglefeet was waiting just outside, and clamped his paws over her.
"Gotcha!"
Silentwind whipped his tail in a way of saying, "Tanglefeet, 1. Brokensong, 0. Another match?"
Brokensong's blind eyes glittered and she said, "Why don't we take this next one into the forest?"
Leafkit shook her head. "We're not allowed out there alone.." she said.
Brokensong sat down, like a kit having a tantrum. "Fine. But tomorrow, I'll get you,"
Tanglefeet grinned. "You can try, but I'll win again!"
Leafkit laughed, and ran up to give each of them a lick. Silentwind gave her a couple of licks back, and nudged her along to do other things. She trotted over to the medicine cat den, which was set in the cliff face overlooking the rest of the forest. Inside, it smelled of herbs and bitter flowers.
"Hi, Gorsepaw! Where's Fallenpaw and Snowpaw?"
Gorsepaw glanced around, and grinned a wide smile. "Um.. hi..." he stuttered, and Dewshine, the other medicine cat apprentice, gave him a rough nudge. Something was burning in her eyes. Gorsepaw cleared his throat, and the red blush that had appeared on his face disappeared. "Oh. Hello, Leafkit."
Leafkit smiled back, and he ducked his head to hide his embarrassment.
'Mind if I wait here for them?" Leafkit asked, and sat down on the ground when Dewshine nodded. "Isn't there going to be a warrior ceremony today? For Birdpaw and
Dewshine nodded. "Icestar's gonna do it when the other apprentices get back. How's your brothers and sisters?"
Leafkit glanced up. "Well... Blizzardpaw and Flamepaw are doing okay."
"I meant your warrior siblings."
"Oh! Heatherfoot and Firestep? They're great. Heatherfoot said she'll be becoming a queen soon. I can't wait to see her move in so I can see her more often!"
"Whose the lucky tom?" Gorsepaw inquired. He was shifting herbs around.
"Obviously Shadowfur. Heatherfoot's had a crush on him since day one." Leafkit smiled. "I hope that one day, that I grow a little bit and can have kits myself. But... it seems unlikely."
Gorsepaw glanced at her, a bit of sorrow in his eyes. "You know, if I wasn't a medicine cat, I would be with yo-"
Dewshine hit him hard on the back of the head with a paw. "Shush," she said.
Leafkit grinned. "That's nice to know..." she glanced outside, where storm clouds were starting to gather, and the patrol was coming back home, their fur slick with river water and their mouths full of prey.
