Warrior Cats: The Winding Path (Book 1)

Chapter 1 (Sagekit)

"Come on, Timberkit, hurry up!" Nightkit called to her brother. Sagekit was already tucked under the bramble hole the kits had found when exploring camp. A few heartbeats later Nightkit squeezed through the prickly brambles beside Sagekit. The three siblings had used this hideout to watch Clan meetings and ceremonies.

"I'm stuck!" Sagekit's ear twitched as he heard Timberkit's call from the back of the bramble hole.

"I'll get him," Nightkit mewed and she backed up in the hole. When the two kits found the spot, they had been searching for a way to sneak into the apprentices' den to play a spying game. Sagekit had been the one to first discover it. It had been a narrow tunnel between the bramble wall of the apprentices' den before the three kits widened it. No other cat had discovered it yet, not even the apprentices who slept within the bramble walls.

Timberkit squeezed through the hole and crawled up to the front. He poked at the hole in the bramble tendrils, parting it so he could look through.

"Just because I let you go first doesn't mean you can take my spot, Timberkit!" Nightkit's voice came up from behind them. The black she-cat squeezed in beside her brother and she peered through the small opening.

Sagekit shuffled to the side, ignoring the thorn that snagged into his ginger fur. "You two sure know how to be loud," he teased jokingly. Timberkit raised a paw and cuffed him on the ear playfully.

"Shh! It's starting!" Nightkit mewed. Instantly the three kits fell into silence and their curious eyes watched through the brambles. The Clan had gathered beneath the Highledge, a tall rock where the ThunderClan leader addressed the Clan. A cluster of warriors, apprentices, and elders were gathered beneath the rock, their round eyes gazing up at their leader, Spiderstar. The ThunderClan leader, cleared his throat and addressed the Clan.

"There's dad!" Nightkit mewed as she gazed across the clearing. Nightkit looked just like their father, Spiderstar. She had the same sleek black pelt and curious green eyes. Blazetail, their mother, teased that she not only picked up his looks, but also his stubborn and quick-witted personality. 

"Cats of ThunderClan! As you know tomorrow is the night of the Gathering," Spiderstar's gaze swept across the clearing of cats. "I will be taking Blacknose, Tanglebush, Goldenpaw, Rattail, Adderpaw, Cinderdapple, and Willowwhisker. The rest of you must stay back and defend the camp," Spiderstar's words rang out throughout the clearing. "Clan dismissed!" The large black tom leapt down from the Highledge and disappeared into the leader's den with Blacknose following close behind.

"Cool! A Gathering!" Timberkit mewed. The bracken-colored kit squirmed out from between his two siblings and Sagekit closely followed. Lastly, Nightkit backed her way out of the brambles and a pulled a thorn that was trapped in her fur. Sagekit did the same; he spat the tiny thorn at the den and shook his pelt.

"I can't wait until we're apprentices and we get to go to Gatherings," Timberkit mewed as he dragged a thorn from his fur.

"Me too! I always hear Goldenpaw and Adderpaw talking about hunting and battle training! Adderpaw even said he saw a real ShadowClan cat," Nightkit mewed, "and it wasn't even at a Gathering!"

"Was it a patrol?" Sagekit asked, now interested.

"Yeah, Adderpaw said they were even more cold-hearted than the stories. He met an apprentice and two warriors! Real ShadowClan warriors, ones who've trained in the shadows." Nightkit crouched down and stalked toward them; her green eyes glinted like two full moons. "They crawl in the darkness, stalking any ThunderClan cat, even if their on their side of the border. They have claws like no cat has ever seen and hearts like the cold leaf-bare. They slither through the shadows until..." Nightkit trailed off before leaping towards her littermates.