Here is the first chapter of a joint story @Chickero and I are writing. It is set in ThunderClan after The Last Hope. Enjoy! Allegiances:
Sunlight warmed Sunkit's pelt as he padded through the long, soft grass. He stumbled, he felt tired. So tired... He let out a little wail. Why am I here? Then the scents came, wreathing around him, a soft voice telling him he was special. So very special... "Get up lazybones! Are you a dormouse or what?" His sister's mew tore into Sunkit's dream as she landed on top of him. "Oooof!" Sunkit gasped. Shaking away the shreds of the dream he had so often, he retaliated. Slamming all four paws into Mistykit's chest, he hurled her off. She thudded into the solid, grey tabby body of their mother. "Stop messing around." She chided sleepily, and swept them into the curve of her body with her fluffy tail. Sunkit and Mistykit squeaked with alarm and pounced over it, tumbling out of the nest onto the moss-covered floor. Sunkit scrambled to his paws and looked around the bramble nursery. The pale light of dawn was seeping through the walls, dappling the creamy pelt of Daisy, the horseplace queen, as she dozed in the warmth of her nest. Deeper into the shadows, he could see the grey queen Dovewing lapping sleepily at the pelts of her young kits, Sparkkit and Blizzardkit. He shivered as a chill peirced his downy fur, and peered at the bramble curtain, shielding the Nursery from the rest of the hollow. Mistykit got there first, and thrust her head through the tendrils. Sunkit barrelled into her and the two kits tumbled out onto the frosty grass. "Run, ShadowClan fleas!" Mistykit yowled, leaping onto her brother, and the two kits tussled together, rolling into the sandy centre of the stone-walled hollow. Sunkit squeaked with alarm as they tumbled into the paws of a golden tabby warrior. Lionblaze purred and swept his tail around his kits, drawing them away from the other warriors' paws. Sunkit sighed with relief. "Thank you, Lionblaze!" Lionblaze nosed them both in turn. "Be careful, now." "We will!" Sunkit squeaked. Suddenly he felt a heavy weight on his back, pressing him into the dust. Alarmed, he flipped over to see Mistykit's aquamarine eyes glinting with amusement. Lionblaze leaned over to him. "Let yourself relax." He whispered. Sunkit knew better than to question an experienced fighter. Despite having heard, Mistykit crowed with triumph. "And throw her off! You can do it!" Sunkit thrust his legs upward, flinging her off. "Pounce on her!" "Go for her leg and overbalance her!" "That's not fair," Mistykit complained, "You're only helping him, and everyone knows you're special." "Well..." Sunkit thought his father shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah! You're special! I have the best father ever!" Sunkit yowled. "Nobody else has a father more powerful than StarClan!" Mistykit boasted. "Ssh, kits." Lionblaze looked faintly embarrassed as some of the others began to stare. "It's very cold out here." He was about to pick them up and carry them into the nursery when a voice yowled his name from under the Highledge, the rocky outcrop where Bramblestar, ThunderClan's leader, stood to call the Clan together. Lionblaze bounded over to where Squirrelflight, the dark ginger deputy, had summoned him, leaving his son and daughter outside the nursery. Sunkit gazed around the stony hollow. Few warriors had ventured outside that day, even with the sheer cliffs, carved by twolegs many moons ago, to keep out the cold. Greystripe was padding over to the fresh-kill pile. He had retired to the Elders' den after the great battle four whole seasons ago, leaving his mate Millie as a warrior. "And make it a dry one!" Sandstorm's yowl sounded after him. The frail, pale ginger she-cat had retired at the same time as Greystripe and was the grumpiest cat in the Clan, second only to their other denmate Dustpelt. The meagre heap he approached contained two soggy voles and a squirrel. One of the voles was swiped by Brightheart, the ginger-and-white she-cat who had a horribly scarred face on one side from a fight with a savage dog pack before the Clans lived around the lake. She took it over to the trunk of the tree which helped form the Warriors Den and had fallen into the hollow during a storm. Her mate Cloudtail padded over to her, his long, white fur unkempt. Sunkit looked the other way to see Rosepetal leap to her paws, the gentle dark cream she-cat was Daisy's daughter. Her mew of greeting heralded the arrival of a hunting patrol coming through the bramble tunnel. Thornclaw and Spiderleg came in empty-pawed, but Mousewhisker was carrying a finch. He deposited it on top of the remaining mouse, and Sunkit heard Thornclaw report that it was no good, and all the prey was hiding from the frost. "It's so empty." Mistykit's whisper sounded from beside him. His green gaze met her sky-blue, and she flicked her tail. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "If you're thinking what I'm thinking." He replied. "But what will they say if they catch us?" "They won't. Because they won't catch us. And they'll be proud, won't they? Because we'll be hunting for our Clan! Just imagine what Lionblaze will think. And Cinderheart!" Sunkit knew that it meant everything to his sister to impress their mother. Just like he looked up to Lionblaze as the perfect father, Mistykit adored Cinderheart and was determined to prove herself worthy of being the loyal she-cat's daughter. "I suppose." Sunkit knew he sounded doubtful, but his sister was already scampering over to the thorn tunnel. He quickly caught up with her and planted himself in her path. "Hey!" She squeaked indignantly. "Not that way, mouse-brain!" He reprimanded. "What do you think Rosepetal's going to say if we just trot out in front of her?" "Right." Mistykit looked faintly embarrassed for a heartbeat or two. Then she looked up. "Then how are we supposed to get out? We can't exactly scramble under the barrier!" Sunkit thought for a second. "We could use the Dirtplace." He suggested. Mistykit stared at him as if he had turned into a dead badger. "No way! I am not stinking of that place for a moon!" Sunkit sniffed. "Do you have any better ideas?" "Yes!" Mistykit snorted, sitting down and wrapping her white-tipped tail over her paws. Sunkit sat down as well. "Let's hear them, then." Mistykit tipped her head to one side. "We could sneak out of that corner of the camp there." She flicked her tail towards a place that was filled with brambles and weeds and too overgrown to use for anything. A shielded tumble of rocks provided an exit. Sunkit made a disgruntled noise and stood up. Mistykit bounded in front of him and swished her tail into his face. "Stop it!" He hissed. "This is serious!" "Oh, fine." Mistykit mewed. Then she took the lead, "follow me." Sunkit nodded and the two kits streaked towards the tumble of stones, keeping low to the sandy floor and close to the shadows made by the tall stone walls. When they reached their chosen exit Mistykit scrambled up the pile of stones first. Sunkit jumped at the clatter some of the loose ones made as they slipped under her paws, but she seemed unconcerned as she stood at the top of the ridge, trees and bushes and the bramble wall rising up behind her. She stretched out one paw to him. "It's easy! Come on!" Sunkit scrabbled up behind her and together they pushed past the ragged edge of the bramble wall. Out of the shelter of the stone hollow, the ground felt strange, littered with twigs and leaves, unlike the smooth stone of the Camp. The gentle breeze was strengthening, too. Sunkit supposed it was a good thing, as the rattling branches would hide their footsteps from any prying cats, but he couldn't suppress a shiver. Next to him, Mistykit fluffed out her fur. She put one snowy paw forward onto the frosted leaves. "Let's do this." Sunkit nodded to her and they sped off into the forest. They headed up over a muddy rise, feeling the faintly warming sun blocked out. Huge, mossy trees rose up beside them, and ferns and bracken arched over their heads. Pale light filtered through the grey-brown canopy, dappling the dusty ground. Frozen leaves crackled underpaw and the ice-rimmed undergrowth trembled in the breeze. Corners of grey sky were visible between the bare branches, stripped of their leaves by the cruel claws of leaf-bare. Everything was dulled in colour, the frost draining it of all life, and Sunkit was becoming ever more acutely aware of the biting cold. After a while he realized his sister had stopped. "It's all so big." Mistykit mewed, awed. "Of course it is, mouse-brain!" Sunkit flicked his tail over her ears. "We should be hunting, let's go!" She shook her head, as if clearing her thoughts, and he saw her sky-blue eyes flicker with determination. Then he heard rustling and a cry of "Mouse dung!" Sorreltail's patched pelt flickered through the trees, followed by a mew of "Bad luck!" Sunkit recognised the voice of Whitewing. Another hunting patrol! He thought in alarm, I must have been stupid to think Thornclaw's was the only one! He dived under a rowan bush for cover, and felt Mistykit trembling beside him. His heart was thudding, and Sunkit felt they might hear it in RiverClan. The ground was sheltered under the glossy evergreen, and the cold, soggy leaf mulch, mingled with mud and oozed in between his claws. "Let's try the Sky Oak." Sorreltail's voice was only tail-lengths away, and Whitewing's muddy paws were visible through the bush's canopy. "Okay, maybe there will be squirrels looking for acorns." The younger warrior sounded doubtful, but soon both sets of pawsteps faded away into the rustling leaves. When the sounds of the patrol faded, the two siblings dragged themselves out again. "That was close!" Mistykit gasped. "Too close." Sunkit agreed. "We'd better be more careful!" She nodded her assent and they padded down the slope, away from the two warriors. They reached a shallow clearing and Sunkit parted his jaws to catch prey-scent, the way Lionblaze told him to do it, and all the tastes of the forest flooded in. He caught the aromatic tang of one of the herbs Ashkit was always watching Jayfeather, the Clan's cranky medicine cat, carry about. Ashkit... would his brother be angry that his littermates had gone hunting without him? Sunkit hoped not. It wasn't normally Ashkit's way to get cross. Besides, he had never shown as much interest in hunting or fighting as his siblings. Closing his mouth, Sunkit turned to his sister. She inclined her head further into the trees. "I'm going to go that way." She mewed. "You can stay here if you like, but make sure you know where I am. I'll meet you here at sunhigh." With that, she sprang over a small branch, through some clumps of shrivelled bracken and out of Sunkit's sight. He watched the place where she disappeared for a while, as the fronds stilled. It was the first time Sunkit had truly been alone, and he didn't like the feeling. The wind picked up and he felt its icy chill pierce his downy fur, making him shiver even more. He had to admire his sister's courage, padding off all on her own into the shadowy trees. Steeling himself, he pushed his way deeper into forest, opening his mouth to catch scents. When nothing yielded and he was about to give up and go to find Mistykit, another scent wafted over. Warm and fresh. The smell of prey! Sunkit thought excitedly, looking around. Careful not to disturb it, he spotted a finch, pecking stubbornly at a brave worm. Fixing his eyes on the small bird, he crept forwards, too intent on his quarry to notice the first freezing flakes begin to fall.
