Lightstar's Life - Crystal Chen (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud .TXT) 📗

to have as my mentor. But the pale brown tom padded up with out protest, leaning down. I forced myself to touch noses with him. Then it was all over, and we backed up into the crowd. The MoonClan cats opened their jaws and picked up a hearty chant:

“Lightpaw! Frostpaw! Lightpaw! Frostpaw!”

When the noise slowly died down, Flamestar continued on and reported SunClan scents along the border and other SunClan news. I didn’t hear all that he said because I really wanted to share tongues with Frostpaw.

“Great StarClan!” she mewed once I’d reached her. “Our father and the deputy is gonna mentor you!”

“Yeah.” I mewed lamely. “Don’t mention it.”

“Why?” the gray she-cat mewed in confusion, “It must be awesome to be mentored by your own kin!”

“Yeah.” I mumbled, “Totally awesome.” With that I padded away, wishing that Flamestar had chosen someone else.ancing at Frostkit, I saw that, she too, e as my mentor?

Frostpaw caught up though, worry reflecting on her face. “What’s wrong?” she mewed, “Is it because he’s our kin that you don’t want him to mentor you?” I shook my head, “No, it’s just…” My voice trailed off, recalling the reactions he’d given me when I first met him.

“Just what?” Frostpaw mewed quietly.

“Well,” I mewed quickly, “I don’t think he likes me all that much.”

My den mate’s jaw dropped like a stone. “Of course he loves you!” she exclaimed, a bit too loud, “He’s our father! father! Great StarClan, what were you thinking?” The gray tabby padded off, letting her words sink in. I frowned with annoyance and went to find Shadeblaze. He was crouching at the warriors den, staring intently at an ant.

“Uh…Shadeblaze?” I mewed carefully, “Can we start training?” He looked up at me, eyes glinting. “Of course, Lightpaw.” He meowed, getting to his paws. “Come on.” He instructed, padding toward the sandy hollow. Excitement suddenly welled up inside me; I couldn’t wait! Bounding after my father, I thought, this is way better than being a kit!

Night quickly fell, but I was wide awake. All the new information bubbled inside me, and I felt especially proud because I had overheard Shadeblaze telling Flamestar that I was a natural born hunter. Walking back into camp, I had proudly carried two plump squirrels in my jaws. Shadeblaze had only caught a small vole.

Also, I had been on my first patrol, lead by Thrushthorn, with Shadeblaze, Frostpaw, me, and another warrior named Sedgetail. Sedgetail was getting old; he’d move to the elders’ den sooner or later. I scented SunClan just across our border, and yuck! Great StarClan, it was smelly! I’ll never forget that scent.

I was exhausted after all the tiring training. New scents, borders, hunting and fighting skills, all that. Stumbling towards the nursery, I was jerked awake by Frostpaw’s amused mew, “Lightpaw, we are apprentices! Not kits. C’mon, we sleep in the apprentice den now, remember?” I nodded wearily and swerved in the other direction, passing out before my head touched the soft moss.

New kits

Morning came before I knew it. “Lightpaw!” Frostpaw’s voice mewed urgently. “Come on! We’re going out for dawn patrol.” I jumped up, alert. “Who’s coming?” I mewed.

“The usual.” The gray she-cat answered, “Thrushthorn, Shadeblaze, but Sedgetail moved to the elders’rouching at the st us and our mentors.”

“Let’s go then!” I mewed excitedly, “Maybe this time we’ll run into a SunClan patrol!”

Frostpaw laughed, “I hope not.” She followed me out of the apprentice den, and I scanned the camp for the patrol. Suddenly a loud yowling broke out, causing my fur to bristle. Cats came rushing out, meowing in alarm. Then a voice rose above the others:

"Specklemist is kitting!”

I recognized the screeching yowl of our medicine cat, Sorrelsky, from the nursery. All heads turned to the noisy den, and some rushed forward to help. Another piercing caterwaul split the daylight, and I felt my neck fur rise in aggression. I stole a glance at Frostpaw beside me, and her expression read, what is going on? I flattened my ears to my head, trying to block out the painful screams. Finally the shrieking died down, and all that could be heard was the mewling of newborn kits. The bristling Clan relaxed and once again, went back to its duties.

“C’mon, Frostpaw!” I mewed, bounding off. She shook her head and followed, casting one last worried glance at the nursery.

“Hey, you two!” Shadeblaze’s voice meowed loudly behind us, “You’re going on dawn patrol with me and Thrushthorn! Wait up!” I rolled my eyes and Frostpaw giggled. We waited for the warriors to catch up and bounded off again, out of the rock-hidden entrance to the Clan.

“Hunt if you can.” Thrushthorn told us as we trotted into the wilderness. The River was coming up, and we’d have to swim. Personally, I liked water, cold or warm. Frostpaw disliked getting her paws wet, but it was crucial for a cat to learn the ways of the forest and the river. This is why we hardly starved. In leaf-bare, the river froze and it was hardest to hunt fish, though under the thick ice there were multitudes, swimming carelessly. In new-leaf, all prey was abundant, but it was the time of most wars between the two Clans.

Letting my jaws hang ajar, I suddenly scented mice. Plump and ripe. Immediately I dropped to a crouch and let myself glide silently over the forest floor. Tracking the prey more by scent then by sight, I pinpointed the place and leaped. With great satisfaction, I felt a warm, furry creature wriggling under my paws. I bit its neck and it grew limp.

“Great catch!” Frostpaw mewed. “I want to do that!”

Shadeblaze eyed my mouse with envy, “Yes, yes. Good job.” But I could tell he didn’t mean so. I shrugged auching at the warriors den, stafter she did. SunClan patrol.

Thrushthorn, sensing our suspicion, opened his mouth to taste the air. A scowl formed across that battle-scarred face. “They are on MoonClan territory!” he hissed, bristling, “Drive them out!”

Heart pounding in my ears, I crouched and sniffed the air. We were downwind. Good.

I felt movement behind me and spotted Frostpaw, out of the corner of my eye, crouched just behind me. Thrushthorn stationed himself just beside me, and Shadeblaze took the rear. The SunClan patrol neared, their foul smell nearly overwhelming my senses. Every muscle in my body tensed to leap. I unsheathed my claws and felt them itch. At last, these razor-sharp weapons could be used properly.

On Thrushthorn’s tail flick, we yowled and attacked.uching at the warriors den, stafter she did. SunClan patrol.  Thrushthorn, sensing our suspicion, opened his mouth to taste the airarriors on the enemy patrol. With a war cry, I leapt onto Frostpaw’s attacker’s back. He yowled with pain as I clung on, digging my claws into flesh. Suddenly he rolled and twisted, and I had to release before I got squashed into crow food. Thorn-sharp claws dug into my own back, and with a yell I spun around to face my attacker. Shockingly, this cat was an apprentice, about my size. His eyes were narrowed into slits and his neck fur bristled aggressively. I bared my teeth in anger and faked forward. Thankfully, the tom didn’t anticipate my move, and I got to aim a swipe at his flank, then his muzzle. He yowled and ran off, dripping blood. I tensed and scanned the gruesome clearing. No more SunClan cats, fortunately. Frostpaw limped up and mewed, “Thanks for helping me. You fought well.”

“And you.” I mewed in reply, letting my fur flatten. The gray she-cat dipped her head in thanks and shook her pelt, sprinkling blood. “Overall,” she mewed, excitement re-entering her voice, “That was awesome!” I grinned and laughed, agreeing totally. “Where are the others?” I mewed.

“Don’t know.” She turned and squinted, searching the brambles for the other two MoonClan warriors. “Yeah, seriously. Where are they?”

I padded around the battleground, sniffing every inch to see if they left any scent. Thrushthorn seemed to have sprinted straight back to the MoonClan camp. “Probably for reinforcements.” I mewed to Frostpaw, “but where could Shadeblaze be?”

Then finally, at the far end, I caught a whiff of our father’s rank smell. “What could he be doing there?” Frostpaw wondered aloud, “It seems like he was heading to SunClan territory.”

Just as we suspected, Thrushthorn had run back to camp for reinforcements, but we didn’t need any. Shadeblaze, no one knows. “Maybe he ran off, too scared to fight.” One of the warriors sneered. I felt Frostpaw’s fur bristle with anger, but steered her away before trouble broke out.

“Let’s go.” I mewed, gently leading her to the fresh-kill pile. I chose a squirrel and Frostpaw picked a magpie. We settled down close to the apprentice den and ate in silence, replaying our first battle over and over in our heads.

After a delicious meal, I groomed my fur and trotted toward the nursery. I wanted to see those newborn kits.

“Hi, Sorrelsky.” I mewed as I approached. “Good afternoon, Specklemist.”

Specklemist lifted her head and meowed weakly, “Hi, Lightpaw. Come and take a look.”

I padded into the nursery. It looked just as it had when I was a kit. Peering into a moss nest, I spotted three puny clumps of fur, one black she-kit, another white, and a dark brown tom tumbling around beside their mother’s warm stomach.

“What’d you name them?” I wanted to know.

“The black one is Pepperkit and the white one I named Mintkit, and the tom, named by Sparrowpath, Swiftkit.”

“They’re beautiful.” I murmured before padding out, wondering who would mentor these newcomers.

Traitors

The Gathering at Twinstones would take place next moon high. I remember as a kit that Echoflower was informing about it. Both of the Clans would meet there every moon, and there was no fighting. Echoflower couldn’t come because she needed to tend to Frostpaw and me. But now we were old enough to qualify to go to a Gathering! I couldn’t wait for Flamestar to choose. I wondered if he’d choose me or Frostpaw, but I kind of doubted it because we were only apprentices for half-a-moon.

That evening I was crunching on a tasty finch, and was pretty surprised to find Flamestar himself approaching me.

“Hi, Lightpaw.” He meowed formally, then, jumping straight to the point:

“I would like you to join us for the Gathering next moon high.”

I was speechless. “B—but what about Frostpaw?” I stammered.

“She won’t accompany us, but you can tell her all about it when you get back.” With that, he turned and padded away without giving me a chance to answer.

“Echoflower!” I ran immediately to the warriors’ den. The striped white and gray she-cat lifted her head, meowing a welcome when