Warrior Cats: The New Course (STILL UPDATING)

Chapter Eleven

I'M. ACTUALLY. DOING IT. (look at the picture above). It won't be out anytime soon because I just started this book after all, but I'M 75% SURE I AM WRITING Dewstar's Darkness!

Dewkit's flank heaved as he settled down into his nest, his belly full from prey he had just eaten. It was dark, almost time to sleep, and Silverleaf had just told the kits to settle down with her in the nursery. Ravenkit tried to insist that she was energetic and didn't want to go to the nest already, but after Icestar reminded her that she was on the verge of having her future apprentice ceremony revoked from all the troublemaking she'd caused, she had instantly sprung along with Silverleaf.

Silverleaf pulled Dewkit in close as the two settled in. He hated to admit it, but nothing felt better than the comfort of his mother's warm fur. Ravenkit would tease me if she ever found out! he thought, burying his nose into her silver pelt, already embarrassed by just the thought. Ravenkit slumped down on his tail, clearly not ready to sleep yet.

"Have you got any stories?" muttered Ravenkit. "I'm not sleepy yet."

"I'd tell you one, but Shadekit hates being disturbed from his sleep," whispered Silverleaf with a humorous purr.

Ravenkit puffed. "Oh, he's just sleeping! Come on, tell us!"

"Would you like to hear one, Dewkit?" Silverleaf asked.

He thought for a moment. "I guess so."

"Then, this is a story about Icestar and Dewstar," she told them, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's no elder's tail, you see. It's a true story."

"You mean Icestar's brother?" Dewkit murmured, knowing that Dewstar is where he got his name from. I've never heard too much about him, thought the kit, But I've been told that I looked like him once before. He gulped. And that he was evil.

Silverleaf gave a small nod. "Yes, Dewstar is your kin. He died the day you were born, too, during the Dark War." Her voice got lower as she spoke. "This is a story that's important to remember, despite the bloodshed, despite the wars . . ."

"Wars?" whispered Ravenkit, eyes sparkling.

Their mother shook her head. "War is no exciting event. It is brutal. Many lives were lost among the Clans from the wars, and it is something we all want to never face again." She looked down to the two of them. "That is why I think it's important to tell you, so that every future warrior will know the importance of avoiding it. After all, no cat is born with a bad heart."

"But Dewstar was," murmured Dewkit, remembering once the taunts he received from Bloodpaw and Shadekit.

I'm not only kin to a murderer, but I share his name!

"Dewstar was a good cat," Silverleaf said. "But he let himself be misled."

"So what is this story?" Ravenkit asked, turning onto her back so that her belly faced the den's ceiling. "A story about good and bad, Icestar and Dewstar! I can't wait to hear it." Her black kit-fur was not as neatly groomed as Dewkit's. After all, she could never hold still when it was her turn to be groomed, and so she always managed to escape Silverleaf's nightly grooming.

She tucked both kits closer to her belly and Dewkit accepted the warmth of his mother and sister. "When Dewstar was young he was just like Icestar. But soon, both of them came across a situation where he had to make the decision of being good or bad."

"Obviously Dewstar chose to be bad," snorted Ravenkit.

"Oh, he did, but he was left with not much of a choice," Silverleaf said firmly. "And Icestar was at a loss himself. They let themselves be led by their dreams and eventually started to be driven by fate. It's something no cat has to do—we all should choose for ourselves of how our lives will be on our own accord."