Shimmerdust's Quest

Chapter One

Shimmerkit bounced around the nursery looking for somecat to play with. Her shinning gold fur ruffles in the dawn and she pokes head in the camp seeing Wintersnow entering camp with Bloodscar and Salmontooth and bounces over. Even if she was three moons old , she wanted to play like she was one.

Wintersnow looked at her "Greetings Shimmerkit, what may you need?" she asks finishing putting her fresh kill on the fresh kill pile and looking at Shimmerkit.

"Can you play with me? Im bored!And no cat would want to play with me. I know you! So I thought I would ask you!" Shimmerkit smiles and twitches tail excited.

Wintersnow sighs looking down ,"Sorry Shimmerkit , everycat is busy right now, even I. Maybe you could grab a moss ball and pretend to hunt. And wait till the apprentices come back. Have to finish hunting , when I come back ill play with you." She touches noses with Shimmerkit and walks out of camp with Salmontooth and Bloodscar again.

Shimmerkit sighs sadly . No one wanted to play with her , everycat was busy with all the new apprentices.If she played with the knew born kits she would get snapped at. Her mother had died when she was little. Wintersnow had always seemed like a mother to her even at times like this, but she didn't feel like waiting, she felt like seeking out adventure, she felt like being the best kit in the clan.

As she looked around camp she saw the leader , Skystar. A tall white she cat with huge claws and teeth sharp as a badgers claw, her eyes clouded as her deep blue piercing eyes stung anyone she looked at. She was talking to the deputy , Honeycrisp. A golden she cat with blazing orange eyes ,looked like her gaze would start a fire, and her fur was colored dark red , which made it seem like she just had a battle with ten foxes. Shimmerkit hid behind the fresh kill pile and looked at the two. They were the only cats around , and there smell was sharp knowing they were close by .

As she scents a decaying robin and she rubs it on herself to hide her scent as she races quickly across camp into a holly bush. The thorns hurt ,but she wanted to catch something to show the other kits. She was the oldest but she wanted to show them that being in camp was boring . As she looks at the cats she scents as Wintersnow had just left with her patrol . Then she bursts out of camp, exploding through the entrance as quietly as possble . As she races through the forest checking the scents around her she scents a baby bunny. As she goes into a hunting crouch she untheashes her claws and faces downwind just like she had practiced many times on a moss ball with Wintersnow. As she inches closer she wiggles her haunches ready to pounce on the bunny.

"I thought you liked Shimmerkit's mom. Isn't she your friend? Isn't she everyone's friend? I don't want to keep her from knowing." Salmontooth meows quietly near a stream Shimmerkit was by.

"Yes,but she is..." Bloodscar replies but suddenly goes quiet.

As Shimmerkit pounces on the rabbit butting its neck quickly as she silently thanks Starclan and picks it up, she hears the conversation and wonders where her mom really was , and why her dad had a hunting trip but never came back. Maybe they were mousebrained . She quickly runs back to camp with her prey hearing pawsteps coming towards her. She hopes she had heard the rest of the conversation but it want worth getting caught.

As she enters camp she hides in a bush near the nursery she sees Wintersnow by Skystar and Honeycrisp . She flattens her ears and quickly buries her bunny and slips through into the nursery and yawns stepping out letting her acting skills . Skystar says looking mad ,but not as furious as Wintersnow,"Where have you been Shimmerkit?" . Skystar sounded calmer than she looked.

Shimmerkit yawns with a very tiny hint of guilt "In... The nursery." sits down her ears slightly starting to flatten her ears.

Wintersnow hissed " We checked in the nursery ,you weren't in there when we checked." Her icy eyes glared with fire.

Skystar said," Honeycrisp and Butterflyfur went looking for you. " She said getting closer to Shimmerkit.

Shimmerkit meowed challengingly, "Just because I was in the for.... Nursery doesn't mean you need to send a patrol after me, although I like the attention." Tries to pull a joke to drag there attention away from her.

Skystar says firmly "Don't play that game Shimmerkit , go to the nursery, your band from coming out of the nursery for a quarter moon. Wintersnow and Bloodscar will be watching you." She turns to Wintersnow . "You will be excused from your duties or you may switch with Bloodscar."

Wintersnow nods her head and looks firmly at Shimmerkit and mumbles "I thought you had died out there. " She nuzzles Shimmerkit in the nursery.

Shimmerkit sighs , she didnt want this , this was the opposite if what she wanted. She heard rustling and stopped and her and Wintersnow looked at the patrol .

Honeycrisp meowed looking at Skystar ,"We traced her back to camp.. You must have seen...." notices Shimmerkit and nods and flicks tail at Bloodscar and they pad in camp and towards Skystar . As, she gets held by the scruff firmly, she gets mad and starts kicking her legs as she sees Bloodscar head towards the nursery. Wintersnow puts her down in a nest and sighs murmuring to herself and sits down next to Shimmerkit.

"I'm sorry Shimmerkit, it's ,..." Wintersnow begins but is cut off by a yowl and paws pounding into the camp. Bloodscar looks up and stands up quickly.

Phoenixpaw bursts in camp panting as Skystar and Honeycrisp look up. Phoenixpaw pants her ear,leg, and flank bleeding "Help! Leafclan attacked! They are fighting over the forest cave!" She passes out as blood circled her hind leg and flank.

Wintersnow and Bloodscar get up and as Skystar calls for Littleshine. As Shimmerkit pads to the entrance of the nursery with Wintersnow to see Phoenixpaw and a couple warriors with them. As Littleshine and her helper Spottedtail took her to the Medicine den the band of warriors including Skystar and Wintersnow were gathered.

Shimmerkit hides behind Bloodscar and asks shyly," What's going to happen to Wintersnow? Is she going to get hurt?" She shifts her paws uneasly.

Bloodscar replies softly," It all depends on how she fights, but no I don't think so." She brushes her tail on Shimmerkits flank. She didn't buy it, she needed to help her clan! But how?

As time passed no other warriors or the leader had came back. Shimmerkit glances at the kit-sized crack in the pine covered nursery and bramble walls . She sighs, how can she help? Maybe she could find out why they are fighting then try to solve the problem from there? She sighs and sits by the entrance. Why did it get quiet? How could everyone be so calm? Except for Hilljumper, he was pacing by the camp entrance.

Bloodscar closes her eyes thinking. As Shimmerkit slips back quietly she squeezes through the crack through the den. Looking back she sees Bloodscar still closing her eyes. She sighs and turns back around and follows the closest scent of the patrol she could find. She blazes into a run and doesn't look back. She had to find out why Leafclan would out of the blue attack Shadeclan and end the fight.