Unity - Chapter Two

Larkkit, Leapkit and Lightkit sat, beaming, on the large boulder at the edge of camp, all three of them practically glowing with excitement. Sagekit grinned back at them from her place among the gathered cats, her tail high.  
Halfstar stood at the peak of the High Rock. Her pelt gleamed in the morning sun, lighting up her white and grey fur with lines of gold. She eyed the crowd of ShadowClan cats serenely, her tail raised for silence.  
“Today, we celebrate our young cats as they move into apprenticeship,” she said, her voice carrying over the clearing like the flocks of ibis that flew across the forest each day. “These three kits,” she gestured to Lightkit, Leapkit and Larkkit, “have recently reached six moons of age, and are ready to begin their training.” 
Yowls of congratulations rose from the crowd, the loudest of which coming from the squeaky voices of Sagekit, Briarkit, Flowerkit and Seedkit.  
Halfstar raised her tail again, and the cheers faded away into silence. Finally, she turned to the three kits seated at the far end of the rock. Larkkit quivered with excitement, his tail sticking straight up, and his sister, Lightkit, was beaming as though all the prey in the fresh kill pile had been presented at her paws.  
The ShadowClan leader smiled in amusement at the three kits, before settling her gaze on Lightkit. The mouse-brain tabby she-kit squeaked slightly as Halfstar beckoned her forward, before leaping up and trotting toward the peak of the rock to stand beside the white-grey shecat.  
“Lightkit,” Halfstar began, smiling. “Do you promise to obey your mentor and serve your clan alongside your fellow apprentices?” 
Lightkit bounced on her paws a little and nodded vigorously.  
“Do you promise to respect your elders and warriors and uphold the warrior code as it is taught to you?” 
“Yes!” 
Halfstar turned to the many cats gathered beneath her, her gaze flicking over each one before resting on the mahogany-brown tabby she-cat at the back. “Dappledwing,” she said, gesturing for the warrior to stand. “Do you promise to faithfully train this apprentice in the ways of the Clan, to teach her the warrior code and the skills that will one day help her serve ShadowClan?” 
Dappledwing beamed, her tail and ears held high. “I do.” 
“Then from this moment on, until she earns her warrior name, this young apprentice will be known as Lightpaw. May StarClan light her path.” 
Cheers rose up from the crowd, rolling over the gathered cats and echoing throughout the trees. Lightpaw glowed with pride, her furry chest puffed out as she licked the ShadowClan leader's shoulder respectfully and bounded over to join her new mentor.  
“Lightpaw! Lightpaw! Lightpaw!” Sagekit and Briarkit yowled in unison.  
The ceremony repeated for Larkkit and Leapkit, the two toms smiling with the same joyful energy as their sister. Leappaw earned the role of medicine apprentice, joining the smiling Harrowflight (Sagekit was very surprised to the see the grouchy old tom so happy) while Larkpaw was apprenticed under a mottled mouse brown shecat named Tawnybriar.  
Sagekit cheered for them until her throat hurt, her chest puffed out with joy for her friends.  
After a long time of lingering around in the crowd, being congratulated over and over again by the senior warriors and meeting their new denmates, Rosepaw and Thornpaw, the three new apprentices trotted out of camp with their menors, and Sagekit and Briarkit were left alone with the moss-ball, the other kits curled up in the nursery with their mother. Sagekit and her sister batted the clump of moss at each other, watching the sun go down.  
"That'll be us in half a moon,” Briarkit comented, pouncing on the ball as it flew a little to her right. She flicked it back with her tail, the ginger splotches on her pelt catching the sun and lighting aflame.  
“Ugh,” Sagekit moaned. "A whole half a moon? I cant wait that long!” 
Briarkit rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, Sagekit!” She caught the mossball in her fluffy paws and batted it back toward her. “We've already waited five and a half moons. We can wait another ten sunrises or so.” 
Sagekit flicked her tail. “I can't” 
Her sister laughed and pounced on her, sending Sagekit topping over into the soft grass and soil. “Hey!” she mewed, batting Briarkit's muzzle with a little white paw.  
“You can,” said Briarkit matter-of-factly. “Mouse-brain.” 
Sagekit pressed her paws on Briarkit's chest and pushed her sister off her, before pressing even harder until Briarkit was sprawled below Sagekit. “Fox-snout.” 
Briarkit glared playfully at her. “Sand-snorter.” 
“Feather-head.” 
Her sister stuck her tongue out and Sagekit laughed. “Oh shush.” 
Sagekit looked up at the camp entrance that Larkpaw and Lightpaw had disappeared behind only an hour ago. “Who do you think we will get for mentors?” She asked.  
Briarkit strained her neck to loo behind her – a very impressive feat, considering she was lying in a heap beneath Sagkit's paws. “I want Hollyrose,” she said. “She's cool.” 
Sagekit laughed again and tilted her head at the golden tom cat talking with Halfstar. “I want him,” she said flicking her tail in the toms direction. “Lioneye.” 
Briarkit wrinkled her snout. “Halfstar's mate? The deputy?” 
“Why not?” Sagekit shrugged.  
Her sister squeaked a chuckle. “Bleh, he's so boring! I mean, seriously, do deputies even have time eat?” 
Sagekit rolled her eyes. “Of COURSE they do! And being his apprentice would be fun.” 
The tortoishell she-kit beneath her paws rolled her eyes and wriggled out from underneather her, tossing the moss ball into Sagekit's face. She growled playfully and threw it back.  
The two kits played and played and played. Played until the sun meandered beneath the horizon, until the many warriors in the clan were curled up in their nests, until Riverstorm returned from her patrol and found them still up and ushered them to bed.  
Sagekit crawled into her nest with her fur messy and her heart floating in the clouds. Half a moon until she was apprenticed. Half a moon.  
She couldn’t wait.  
 
 
Sagekit lay awake, watching the stars through the canopy of leaves that formed the nursery. Her mother, Riverstorm, was asleep beside her, curled around her and Briarkit with her tail over her nose.  
Half a moon.  
Half a moon until she was apprenticed.  
A. Whole. HALF A MOON.  
AAAAARGH.  
She buried her muzzle in her fluffy paws. Did she really have to wait a whole half-moon?  
She sighed. The nursery was…eerily empty, now that Larkpaw and his siblings were in the apprentice den instead, and the only other cats sleeping in the nests beside her were her mother and sister. Of course, there were also Seedkit and Flowerkit, and their mother - Featherfall – but they slept at the back of the den. It was weird to see her friend’s old nest empty; weird not to have the comforting warmth of their fur throughout the night.  
She missed them. 
And now she had to wait forever before she could spend time with them again.  
Although she had tried several times, Sagekit rested her chin on her paws and closed her eyes, hoping to sleep. But a few minutes later she’d opened them again, feeling no more tired than she had before.  
She rose to her feet and stretched. She’d go for a walk. Maybe that would calm her down.  
Careful not to wake the sleeping cats in the den, Sagekit slipped out of the nursery into the cold night air. 
She padded to the long slope that made the entry and exit to the ShadowClan camp, the quarter-moon gazing down at her from the sky, bathing her fur in a faint silver glow. Technically, she wasn’t supposed to leave camp, but Sagekit had never been one for following the rules, and besides, it was SO BORING here. She wouldn’t go too far. Just to Eagle Pine and back.  
A few minutes later she was padding through the thin pine forests of the ShadowClan territory, following the shadows. ‘Oh,’ she thought. ‘Larkpaw has already had a tour of the forest. He’d know his way around perfectly by now.’  
Now she was even MORE jealous.  
She had just come within sight of the huge tree called Eagle Pine, when she heard a voice, and froze.  
“…know that,” it hissed. “But we can’t wait that long. You have to convince her.”  
“Wrenstar is a peaceful cat,” mewed another cat. “She’ll never agree.”  
“Well, we can’t just sit by and wait forever,” snapped the first voice. “You’ll have to find another way.”  
Sagekit stepped forward, her paws silent on the marshy ground, and squinted into the dark.  
Two cats were sitting face to face at the base of Eagle Pine.  
‘That’s weird,’ she thought. ‘I didn’t think anyone was awake.’ She sniffed, but the scent around them was different to the other ShadowClan warriors. 
‘Oh,’ she realised suddenly. ‘They’re not from ShadowClan. They’re warriors from another territory.’  
‘But which one?’ She sniffed again, but she’d never learnt the scents of the other clans.  
Sagekit squinted further. They were both she-cats, one black, one pale brown with darker splotches. ‘What are they doing here?’  
“We’ll need more encouragement,’ snapped the black cat. “Wrenstar won’t agree to this based on the word of my patrols. Something more needs to happen.”  
The brown she-cat lashed her tail. “We don’t have time to orchestrate anything like that,” she flicked her tail in the direction of the ShadowClan camp. “We already failed to persuade him to join the cause. We can’t afford to fail again.”  
“You said he’d be back.”  
“I never said soon.”  
The two cats surveyed each other for a long moment, tension radiating from their pelts. Honestly, the brown she cat was glaring so hard at her companion, that Sagekit was surprised the black cat didn’t burst into flames.  
“Do you have any ideas?” asked the black cat after a heartbeat, backing down.  
The brown she cat twitched her tail thoughtfully. “Maybe…”  
She was about to continue, but Sagekit had stepped backward onto a twig, and it snapped under her paw. A loud, horrifying crack split the air. Sagekit froze.  
The cats whipped around in the direction of the noise, hissing. Their eyes landed on the quivering form of Sagekit, peering out of the bushes with wide eyes.  
The brown cat curled her lip and opened her mouth to say something, but Sagekit was already darting in the direction of the camp.  
She skidded across the marshy ground, scampering around corners at lighting speed. Her pelt was barely a blur of orange, white, and brown she flew past, through the forest, over the brook and down into the ShadowClan camp. Sagekit flickered away into the nursery and curled up, quaking, in the comforting warmth of Riverstorm’s fur.  
‘What was THAT?!’ her mind screeched. ‘Who were they? What were they doing? What were they planning?’  
Sagekit didn’t know. She had absolutely no clue.  
All she knew, was something was happening. Something far too big, and complex, and dangerous for her to ever be able to understand.  
She burrowed her face in her mother’s fur, and closed her eyes, trying to keep her tears from falling as she drifted off into uneasy sleep.
Chapter 1: https://blogclan-2.fandom.com/wiki/Chapter_1_-_Unity