Warrior Cats: Skyfall

Chapter 1

Skykit was dreaming. His paws thrummed on the hard ground as he chased a rabbit across the moors, his pace growing quicker.

A few more tail lengths and I've got it! Triumphantly, the pale grey tom leaped through the air, and smacked his paws down on.. white fluff?

"Skykit, keep your paws off my tail!" Whined a she-cats voice.

The young tom opened his eyes to find himself in the nursery. A stench of dry bedding blocked Skykit's nose, and he wished he were back in his dream again. Then he realised it was someone elses special day.

Skykit scrambled to his paws and stood on his hind legs while he shook his littermates awake. 

"Stripepaw is going to get his warrior name today, wake up," he said happily, dropping back on all fours as Gorsekit and Mousekit started to yawn and stretch. "I bet its going to be something cool, like Stripeclaw!"

Gorsekit sleepily dragged himself out of his nest. 

"Is he taking us to see the forest?" He asked, blinking the sleep from his eyes, and shaking his pelt. "I want to see the forest." 

Then Mousekit too emerged from the nest Ashwing was sleeping heavily in. "No, mouse-brain! Stripepaw is getting his warrior name," the white she-cat explained, exasperated. "Don't you listen to anything Skykit says?"

Skykit didn't have time to waste, he didn't want to miss the ceremony. 

"Ashwing, please wake up," He begged. "We don't want to miss Stripepaws naming ceremony!" 

The older, grey and brown tabby she-cat twitched her ears, before stretching her paws out of the nest and yawning. 

"You haven't disturbed Willowstripe, have you?" She asked sternly, yet amusement sparkled in her eyes. "She's close to kitting, she can't be disturbed from her sleep." 

Mousekit shook her head, and Gorsekit followed along. 

"Good," Ashwing said, satisfied. She stood up from her nest and padded to the entrance. "We can go and wait now, if you'd like, it's already dawn. Sunnystar said she'd hold the ceremony at dawn."

Skykit's eyes lit up at the suggestion, and he raced out of the nursery, not waiting to see if his littermates had bothered to follow him. He ran round the corner of some ferns, and bumped straight into a tortoishell cat. 

He squeaked in surprise as he landed on the floor. Mousekit skidded to a halt beside him, closely followed by Gorsekit. 

"Sorry, Leafshine! We're on our way to see the ceremony!" Said Mousekit, he tail twitching excitedly.

Their older sister shook her head, bemused. 

"You should be more careful. What if you ran into Icesight?" Leafshine teased, "He wouldn't be too happy with you, I don't think." 

Skykit winced, shivering at the thought. Icesight's really mean.. he could claw my ears off! The yellow eyed tom shrieked further into his pelt at the thought. 

"Keep moving kits, come on," mewed his mother from behind. "We need to catch up to Gorsekit."

Skykit looked around, puzzled, and Mousekit started to move forward awkwardly. I didn't realise Gorsekit had carried on without us.. The pale grey tom felt guilty, but quickly covered it up. Gorsekit was with Mousekit. 

Suddenly teeth hooked into his scruff, and he mewled in indignation. 

"You need to get a move on or your littermates might leave you behind next time." Ashwijg hissed through her mouthful of fur. Wait, she hissed? 

"It's not my fault Mousekit doesn't wait for Gorsekit!" Skykit protested, as he swung in the jaws of his mother. But he'd already been dropped roughly onto the ground,and Ashwing had sat down with Gorsekit a few tail lengths away and wrapped her tail around him.

Mousekit shot him an apologetic look, and quickly scampered off to join her mother. 

Why did that happen? Glumly, Skykit shifted his paws, and looked around for Stripepaw. 

Just then a voice rang out from the flatstone. 

"All cats old enough to run on the moors, gather beneath the flatrock for a clan meeting!" Yowled Sunnystar. 

Skykit watched, alone, as the Lightclan leader continued to adress her clan. As the other cats gathered around, the young kit wondered why it was called the flatrock. It wasn't really flat  it was a huge stack of stones placed on top of each other. To get up you had to hop from one ledge to the next, like a rockfall waiting to happen. 

Before long, the ceremony was over and Stripesplash was padding away, towards his clanmates. Skykit shuffled awkwardly on the edge of the clearing but eventually trotted over to Gorsekit, Mousekit and Ashwing with his tail high. 

For the rest of the day, it was awkward for Skykit, but no cat mentioned Ashwings sudden hostility. He soon forgot about it himself, as he drifted into sleep with his littermates squashed into the nest around him.