Dark and Light

## Cats

Leader: Whiskerstar- A Strong, beautiful shecat with energetic green eyes. 7/10 lives left. She became leader after Oakstar.

Deputy: Greyflight- A strong tom with blue eyes. He became deputy after Brackenfang

Medicine cat: Glowingtip- A grey tom with white fur-tips. He has flame color eyes.

Medicine cat apprentice: Littlepaw- A brown shecat who is smaller than usual.

**Warriors:**

Lilytooth- A pure white shecat with stunning blue eyes. Slightly deaf in both ears.

Falconfoot- A brown tom with one white splotch over one paw. Has dark, dark brown-black eyes.

Mousetail- A tan shecat with a tail that is furless at the tip from a battle as an apprentice. Green eyes.

Cloudlight- A light-grey-white tom with brownish-orange eyes.

Frenzypelt- A tortoiseshell female with strange eyes- One eye green, one eye blue. Fun to be around.

Blueflower- A grey-blue shecat who has purplish-black eyes.

Twitchmoon- A pure white shecat with a grey underbelly. She has a twitching disorder and one blind eye.

**Apprentices:**

Birdpaw- A blueish-grey shecat with a yellow muzzle and blue eyes.

Snowpaw- A pure white shecat with stunning, flame-color eyes.

Vinepaw- A dark-grey shecat with brown eyes

Slickpaw- A Plain orange tom with brown eyes.

Gingerpaw- A ginger-color shecat with strange, pale eyes.

**Kits:**

Mistykit

Shadowkit

Mintkit

Fernkit

Grasskit

Badgerkit

Brightkit

**Queens**

Squirrelstep (Kits- Mintkit, Badgerkit, Fernkit)

Owlwhisper (Kits- Mistykit, Shadowkit, Grasskit, Brightkit)

## Prolouge

Soft heartbeats, booming in my small ears. Warm milk flowing. It was all calm.. all calm... I never wanted to move. I never wanted to stop drinking the mildly sweet liquid, never wanted to stop hearing the heartbeats.. I could hear the cold winds blowing outside my welcoming log, my mother making small, happy grunts.

I slowly opened my eyes as they resisted. For the first time I saw the black pelt of my mother, the dark surrounding log, my one sibling tucked close beside me. This.. This is what I wanted. My life was perfect. Nothing to kill me, harm me, forever warm from my mother's thick, rough pelt. I kept suckling the warm milk.

Though I didn't know, many didn't like badgers. Many. Wolves, small critters... And last those cats. Those cats who gang up on badgers who simply are hungry for full filling maybe honey, or some tasty roots- But right now, all I knew is the delicious scent and taste of milk, my mother's rough pelt...

I, in the midst of sleep, appeared alone. A cold tundra, freezing cold, still unable to walk. All frightening, I could feel frost forming on the tips of my rough pelt... No. I zipped awake. All was well again. But... What was that?

## Chapter 1- Capture

"Come on, Juumbak, Liyian" The mother badger lumbered on, trying to lead her cubs to food. She needed to teach them. I, Liyian, scrambled to her again, Juumbak rushing behind. As we walked, she stopped. The mother badger nosed a mushroom. "This is a whitecap mushroom. Very good for young badgers to eat." She gruffed.

Although the teaching was boring, it was helpful and somewhat a bit interesting. Very soon, mother had taught us everything we may need to know. Roots are good for eating, if your strong enough you can chew oak nuts into a paste and rub that on wounds to help infections stay away.... All that sort of thing. She said she'd only teach us to hunt once we get older. "Mother! Mother! Look what I found!" Juumbak cried with joy as he came running, as fast as his stubby legs allowed, with a fruit clamped in his impressive jaws. "Good job, Juumbak. Let's get back to the log, no?" The mother grunted. She had worry in her voice, which confused both Juumbak and I. But it was too late. Cats crept out of the bushes, around four, making aggressive snarls and hisses.

The mother, quite a bit bigger than the biggest cat in the group, stood over me and Juumbak. Her body was tense as a white shecat leapt, turning me and my brother into helpless little rabbits for them to kill. But, our mother, who had gotten rid of the white cat with ease, came running back as fast as she could. All the remaining cats seemed stunned. Our mother was a particularly large and strong she-badger. One ran at her again, and this time, while they were in a stumbling, growling bunch, a flamey-color tom ran at me and Juumbak. He took me up, me struggling, while Juumbak ran over to mother. The cats, not strong enough to beat our mother, yet too fast for her, fled, me held by my scruff.

It was as scary as the dream I had, long, long ago.

## Chapter 2- Speech

I was roughly set down, whimpering. They were all talking.. I couldn't understand them one bit. It was all to scary. But finally a cat jumped up. She was a huge, beautiful shecat with firm muscles. She kept saying words.. What were they.. I was constantly in confusement. Then all the cats let out a cheer or irritated grunt as I was carried to a walled den. A well-groomed, attractive shecat who was watching two kits stumble and play was seen the minute I was set in. She, as if she were my own mother, brang me closer, Her warm embrace was wonderful. She groomed my unkempt fur. Her heartbeat was soothing yet different, I loved the soft booming of my mother's heart yet she had a soft, quiet heartbeat, that was quicker.

She was a kind mother who completely was ignoring my difference. Yet all the other kits looked at me in fear. I was bigger, stronger, wider.. I couldn't understand what was wrong with that... Nobody mentioned it other than the kit's fear of me. Perhaps, though, maybe they had just been instructed to not say anything... It was all too much to handle. I was lonely. The only one who would directly 'meow' at me was my mother. I wondered if my mother would teach me what they were saying.

Soon, One day, my mother picked me up. She took me to a darker cavern in camp. There sat a tom, grey with with white fur-tips, and a small she-apprentice who was dark brown, near black. They both turned to us when we came in, and they began their nonsensical meowing.

I sat there maybe ten minutes before the grey tom looked at me again, staring me straight in my deep, very dark green eyes. His eyes were orange and flame-like as he stared at me piercingly. His flame-color eyes soon dragged back to my mother, who made a nod. He nudges a plant next to me, and signaled eat in badger. I was confused. How would he know badger? Oh well. I took the herbs, noticing a strange, drowsy feeling. I realized this was Sassafrass leaves; My old mother taught me these would knock out any badger or cat.

In my sleep, I stood in a huge field. Then the medicine cat appeared from the outskirts, walking to me. He spoke badger fully in the dream. He explained every detail of cat talk- This tom was very connected to StarClan. Soon, I awoke, trying to speak cat as they stared at me expectantly. "H-H-Ello." I stammered slowly. They smiled.

## Chapter 3- Apprenticeship

"Na-na! Badgerkit can't catch me!" A kit screeched with laughter. "Not fair Shadowkit! I no fast!" I whined, lumbering after the speeding kit. "Badgerkit, Even if you could knock me out, You could *never* Catch me!" Shadowkit mocked. I stopped chasing him, realizing he was right. If only I was faster. But maybe if I don't chase him... I waited. Shadowkit seemed a little surprised. The tom ran at me, and as he came- *WHACK -* He was knocked back. While he had been running at me full force I had swatted him hard. He whimpered, paw on his nose. I smiled, beginning to walk back to my mother, Squirrelstep, When Owlwhisper stepped in front of me. She nudged me outside where the leader called. It was crowded and noisy, and in the front was Mintkit and Fernkit. They seemed proud and as if they were being congratulated. I whimpered, small, round ears down, being nudged to the back of the crowd, where My mother, Named Squirrelstep, settled beside me.

"Mintpaw, Fernpaw!" The crowd chanted. My sisters had changed names? Why? Fernpaw walked over to her mentor, Lilytooth, and Mintpaw walked over to her mentor, Frenzypelt. I didn't understand. What are 'Mentors'? 'Apprentices'? Mintpaw and Fernpaw, who hadn't mainly been the best sisters, gave indignant looks to me. I whimpered, walking to the nursery.

I swatted at Shadowkit grumpily. He had been bullying me much too much recently. This was the last whisker. He seemed afraid as I bore my teeth- Much bigger than his- at him, muscles tense. I didn't care. "You look like a monster, Badgerkit!" He cried, ears flattened. I stopped. Monster? A monster? Am I a monster..? I flattened my eyes, slowly creeping back to Squirrelstep.

I spent the next month being gloomy and Shadowkit being a bother, until one strange near-sunhigh my mother swiped her tounge all over me gently, until I was cleaned fully. My rough pelt, unlike other cat's pelts, Didn't glimmer or be slick. It all happened.

"Your mentor will be Falconfoot." Whiskerstar called. As I walked to touch noses with Falconfoot, cats cheered, "Badgerpaw!" I noticed only half the cats cheering my name. Squirrelstep cheered the loudest.

I walked into my new den. My sisters completely ignored me, and so did some others. Only Slickpaw and Birdpaw paid attention to me. This wasn't as fun as I'd like.

## Chapter 4- The Challenge

"Badgerpaw is so slow. She could never catch me." Snowpaw and Gingerpaw were gossiping. "Shadowpaw *is* right. She's like a monster!" I could overhear slightly, and growled in discontent. They noticed, and as if afraid, slipped away to a corner away from me.

Shadowkit had recently became an apprentice, and that made everything worse.

"Hey Badgerpaw, betcha can't catch me!" Shadowpaw scree-ed. "Yeah right. I could catch you anytime." I scoffed angrily, chasing after him. "Well then! I challenge you to catch the fastest, tree-climbing animal ever. The squirrel!" Shadowpaw laughed. He knew that badgers didn't honestly ever try to catch such from their speeds and tree-climbing. "Alright, I will!" I snarled. "When hedgehogs fly!" He spat.

I walk around in anger and depression. I had been out all day looking for a squirrel, and the once I found one, I failed at catching it. Although, I told myself I'd not stop looking until I get that squirrel, even if I become a full-grown badger before I do! My black fur was continuously ruffled and on end in anger, and I finally caught a familiar aroma. Squirrel! I sniff the air, getting into my awkward yet efficient hunting stance, and tried to hunt like a cat towards the squirrel. Yet, it seemed not to work like as well as when a cat hunts like a cat, for the squirrel noticed me the minute I got a heartbeat away from jumping it. I sighed, knowing I'd never be able to hunt a squirrel like this. Though, I could use intelligence to catch it..! I began gathering all sorts of random things. Rocks, moss, old chunks of bark, anything that caught my eye. Then I began creating. Digging a deep hole with my superior paws, I then covered it with moss and leaves. Classic! Then I snuck a few sharp rocks down in the whole to wound it at first. Finally, I put a few good-looking nuts on the hidden trap. Then I hid nearby, watching intently.

A squirrel jumped down gracefully, staring at the nuts cautiously. Dusk was appearing and the squirrel wasn't comfortable as it slowly crept to the trap. Finally, it picked up a nut, and as so, the squirrel dove down into the trap, nearly dying from the hard, sharp rocks that stabbed into it's body. I make my way down, putting the squirrel out of it's misery. I pick it up, climbing out of the trap with a few stumbles, and walk to camp, dusty and dirty and covered in pride.

"Ha!" I brag to Shadowpaw, throwing it in his face. He was stunned. "How!?" He meows in surprise.

"I seem to be intelligent." I answer with success.

## Chapter 5- Love

I walk around the forest. Most of the time I wasn't supervised by my mentor, who had the strange idea I didn't need it like other apprentices. Suddenly, I sniff the air from an extremely strong scent. Then, I begin to follow the strange, familiar smell. I look around a patch of ferns and bushes, and see another badger, Who was busy knawing on a large root. He was the first male badger who wasn't my brother I'd ever seen.. My rough fur went on end, and a strange feeling went over me. I began to walk back to camp, my mind staying all over that badger.

~WIP~