The First to Fight the Storm

Chapter 1

The moon rose over the highrock. It was the night of a new moon, where Willowkit got her name from Starclan. She stood next to Scorchkit, her first brother, and wondered if her other brother Thunderkit was watching them from Starclan. Standing next to her brother, Scorchkit, she looked small. She was small. She was smaller than most kits. But now she was an apprentice. Willowpaw. Her brother: Scorchpaw. Her calico pelt, bristled with excitement as she tried to sit as tall as she could.

"Willowpaw, your mentor will be Swallowtail. I trust that she will teach you well." RedStar called from the highrock. She looked at Swallowtail. The almost white cat looked back at her with a smile.

"Scorchpaw, your mentor will be Eagleheart." The black apprentice looked amazed that he had been chosen to be the deputy's apprentice. The deputy motioned for him to come sit next to him.

Suddenly Redstar, Willowpaws leader who had been giving her and Scorchpaw their names, turned to face the path from the nursery. "Silverkit. Nice of you to join us." Heads turned as the gray she kit slowly trotted up into the clearing and sat beside Willowpaw.

Silverkit was Eagleheart and Eveningsea's beautiful daughter. She was seen as a vision, since she had survived the fatal Greencough in the middle of leafbare. MountainClan saw that as an omen from Starclan; a survivor.

"Silverkit," Redstar began, calling the attention back up to the apprentices. "You will now be known as Silverpaw. Your mentor will be Spiritcloud." Silverpaw managed to keep a straight face as she walked over to the black she-cat. One of the newer warriors, Spiritcloud, looked as if she was going to explode from being Silverpaws mentor.

Redstar announced the end of the naming ceremony and then leaped down to Eagleheart. But before they left, she turned, and whispered something to Schorchpaw.

"Willowpaw." Willowpaw turned to see Swallowtail right behind her. "Let's start training at sunrise. Meet me at the highrock."

"Yes, Swallowtail." she said, then trotted off to meet her new denmates.

As she peeked in, they hadn't noticed her yet, she saw that the apprentice den was nice and cozy and the apprentices chatted happily.

"I promise you it's safe."

Willowpaw whipped around to see Silverpaw, who trotted up like the most graceful swan.

"I know. Just checking." Willowpaw muttered, feeling her pelt grow warmer. Slverpaw giggled, then said, "I heard that my brother, Wolfpaw, is the best apprentice. He's also the toughest! The rest of the apprentices let him be their leader. I'll tell him you're my friend and he'll leave you alone. Just watch out for Deerpaw, He follows Wolfpaw around everywhere." Willowpaw couldn't believe what she was hearing. Silverpaw called her a friend!

Willowpaw watched as Silverpaw trotted into the apprentice den. She followed. Sitting around a small fire was Deerpaw, Rubypaw, and Sunnypaw. Scorchpaw was also there. As she walked up next to Silverpaw she saw all of the other apprentices' eyes on her and Silverpaw.

"Welcome Silverpaw, Willowpaw. I'm Sunnypaw. I am training to be a medicine cat. This is the apprentice den." Sunnypaw was a tabby she-cat. She looked smaller than the rest of the apprentices.

"Hello Willowpaw and Silverpaw. I'm Rubypaw. I'm training to be a warrior and so are the rest of us." Rubypaw was a white she-cat with gray spots on her head and back.

"New apprentices. Welcome. There haven't been many of those in the past moons. I'm Deerpaw. Nice to meet you." Deerpaw was a brown cat with a dark brown patch over his eyes and nose. Lighter patches of fur created small circles on his pelt.

Rubypaw looked at the nests, and then back at them. "Ah. Nests. Willowpaw, if you want you can share my nest tonight. Scorchpaw is staying with Deerpaw. Silverpaw, if you want to stay with Wolfpaw, he's in his cave."

"That would be great, thanks." She said, in a small voice.

Suddenly the draped leaf vines that were covering the entrance to Wolfpaw's cave shivered and parted as the gray apprentice stepped out.

"Welcome new apprentices. I have already met Scorchpaw, but Willowpaw, you seem like a great cat already." Wolfpaw looked at her with a smirk. "Silverpaw. How are you? Glad to be an apprentice now?."

"I'm great, Wolfpaw."

"I remember when you first ran in here saying that you were an apprentice. You were only three moons old." He said, smiling.

"And then Eagleheaert rushed me back to the medicine den." Silverpaw's face fell. "Since I was still recovering from Greencough."

There was a moment of silence, before the leaf vines to the entrance of the apprentices den rustled and Duskshadow trotted in.

"It is well past moon high. Shouldn't you all get some rest? You're keeping the whole camp awake." He said with a stern glance at all of them. "Rubypaw. Meet me at the camp entrance tomorrow. I want to take you on the dawn patrol."

"Yes Duskshadow!" Rubypaw yowled.

"Seriously, get to bed!" He said and went back to the warriors den.

"I hate dawn patrol. I was planning to sleep in tomorrow." Rubypaw sighed and slumped down into her nest. The rest of them copied, and were soon sleeping softly.