Coldest Night

Chapter 1

The sun rose and thin beams of warm greenleaf light filtered through the grasses and bracken covering the Thunderclan apprentices' den. The noises of the forest filled Sunpaw's ears as the birds began their morning song. The rising of the sun marked his very first day as an apprentice, in only a few moons, he would be made a warrior and be given a new name under the glittering light of Silverpelt.

Sunpaw sat up and stretched his hind legs, shaking the dew drops from his orange and white pelt. He heard a stirring from across the apprentices den and looked over to see Sharppaw, a dark brown tabby, roll over lazily, trying to block the sun from his green eyes. He stalked over and batted Sharppaws head playfully, with claws sheathed. "C'mon you lazy furball! It's time to go, Foxheart will be waiting for you" He meowed. Sharppaw groaned and sat up.

While they were not littermates, Sharppaw and Sunpaw's mothers kitted at the same time, they had grown up together in the nursery and were as close as brothers would be. Sharppaw shoved awake his sister, Lightpaw, who was still sleeping. She looked very similar to her brother, except her front left foot was bright white as snow. Although they had wildly different personalities, Lightpaw and Sharppaw got along pretty well, but Sharppaw's feisty spirit led to many wrestling matches between the two of them.

Lightpaw jolted up, having been rudely awoken from her deep sleep. "Get up Lightpaw, you'll wake the whole forest with your snoring," Sharppaw teased. "it's time for training anyway." Lightpaw got up slowly. "Whatever, Sharppaw, let's go." She replied, grumpy as ever.

The three young apprentices pushed their way through the torn tunnel, Lightpaw in the lead with the others trailing behind, murmuring softly to each other.

Arriving in the hollow, Thorntail, Darkear, and Foxheart were waiting for them.

Thorntail was a powerful senior warrior, with a white coat and light brown patches. He had been known to be strict with his apprentices, but understanding; a perfect match for Lightpaw.
Darkear was the mentor of Sunpaw, his first apprentice. Darkear's pelt was black with white patches on his chest and face. He was swift and intelligent. Foxheart was an older but mischievous she-cat, and the mentor of Sharppaw. Her playful nature caused some cats to not take her seriously, but all her apprentices thus far had turned out to be strong and fearless warriors.

Thorntail was the first to speak. "Today we'll begin by taking you around the edges of the territory, then split up to train you separately." Sunpaw felt like he could hardly contain his excitement, My very first training session! He kneaded his paws into the ground anxiously.

The three older warriors led them along the Windclan border, refreshing their scentmarkers as they went. "Make sure to familiarize yourself with the scents of the borders, take a moment to really get used to the smell." Foxheart meowed. The apprentices stood with the jaws parted, taking in both the Windclan and Thunderclan scents. The warriors led them farther away from the lake, reaching the far border of Thunderclan before heading back down along the Shadowclan border. Once they had reached the point they began at, each pair went off alone to begin their own training.

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Sunpaw opened his jaw slightly, tasting the air. "I think I smell a vole." Sunpaw mewed. "Very good, can you pinpoint exactly where it is?" Darkear spoke in a low voice, as to not disturb his apprentice's potential prey. Sunpaw concentrated for a moment before pointing with his tail to a small vole, nibbling on a blade of grass near the roots of a tall oak tree. "There." He meowed, focused. "Good, now watch me, and do as I do." Sunpaw watched as Darkear lowered his weight to his haunches, crouching so his belly nearly touched the soft forest floor. Dropping into a crouch as well he prepared to pounce on the little rodent, he licked his lips hungrily and kicked off, landing with a heavy thud onto the ground just in front of the vole. The vole quickly scampered away and Sunpaw sat up. "I thought I had it!" He growled, frustrated. "Don't worry, Sunpaw, it takes practice." His mentor rested his tail on Sunpaw's shoulder comfortingly. "You did well, you just put too much weight on your front paws, try and keep it all in the back paws." Darkear meowed patiently. "Can you scent anything else?"

Sunpaw sniffed the air, jaws open, but caught no prey scent. "I don't smell anything." He stood up grumpily. "Really?" Darkear raised his head and smelled the air. The forest was silent except the rustling of the trees in the wind and the gentle song of birds overhead. Sunpaw spotted a rabbit a few foxlengths to the right of him and silently crouched, preparing to pounce. He leaped and this time caught the rabbit between his front forepaws, swiftly biting into its neck. "Good eye, Sunpaw!" Darkear exclaimed warmly. "Let's get that rabbit back to camp."

The Thunderclan camp was peaceful as always, most of the clans warriors were either on patrol or hunting. The queens, a golden tabby named Finchtail and a tortoiseshell she-cat named Petalflight lay in a sunny patch of camp, sharing tongues and watching after their rambunctious kits. The Thunderclan medicine cat, Pinefur, a black tom, was busy sorting herbs in his den, and the clan leader Moonstar, a grey-furred tom with white paws and ears, was speaking to Pinefur in a voice low enough that Sunpaw couldn't hear their conversation.

"Why don't you take your rabbit to the elders and then you can pick something out for yourself, you did well today." Darkear flicked his tail towards the elders' den. Sunpaw nodded and carried his rabbit off to the elders before running back to the fresh kill pile and choosing a chaffinch for himself. He padded over to his friends, who were already eating outside of the apprentices den and sat next to Sharppaw, who was tearing away at a rather fat vole. The three friends ate their prey hungrily and listened as each of them shared the highlights of their training session. "Foxheart and I practiced fighting after we split up." Sharppaw purred happily, apparently having had a good time. "Lucky," Lightpaw complained, licking her paws clean after finishing her squirrel, "all me and Thorntail did was talk about the warrior code, I didnt get to hunt or fight or anything."

The young cats talked for a while longer until the moon had risen and the warriors of starclan began lighting the dark sky above them before returning to the apprentices' den to sleep.

Sunpaw lay in his soft bed of moss and closed his eyes, he had a good feeling about the days that lie ahead of him.