Blind

BLIND

## Chapter One

Cloudkit nudged his sister, Icekit. "Let her take some time, Cloudkit," mewed Cloudkit's mother, Frostwing. This was her second litter, so she had experience on kits. "Why doesn't she open her eyes? I'm bored," Cloudkit complained. At this, Icekit suddenly opened her eyes.

"I opened my eyes! You happy!" Icekit growled. "Learn to be patient, stupid brother." Cloudkit stepped back. "Now, now, Icekit, that's no way to treat your brother," said Frostwing sternly.

"It's not my fault I yelled at him! Can't he just stand some boredom? It's not like I will die if I don't play with him!" Icekit screamed. The kits' father, Dusttail, ran into the nursery. "What's going on?" Dusttail asked. "Icekit started yelling at me because I just nudged her once! Just *once*! Why can't she shut up?" shouted Cloudkit.

"Why can't you just be patient?" Icekit muttered. "Junipernose!" Frostwing called to the medicine cat. She came over. "Don't just stare at me. Don't just tell me you didn't hear that screaming!" exclaimed Frostwing. "I just thought I was imagining the screams, I guess. So what do you want me to help you with?" asked Junipernose.

"Duh! Do you know how to stop this? It didn't happen last time!" demanded Dusttail. Junipernose blinked. "Oh! Well, um..." the medicine cat trailed off into deep thought. Her eyes started to become round with worry. She seemed to whisper something to herself, though no one heard.

"Frostwing, Dusttail, I-I just don't-I'm sorry," Junipernose stammered. "Let's pull you two over and have a talk, shall we? The kits mustn't hear."

Frostwing looked a bit puzzled as she stared at the kits. "I'll have Moonfall take care of them," said Junipernose, reading Frostwing's thoughts(Moonfall was another queen in the nursery). She said some orders to Moonfall, and she snuck the parents out of the nursery.

Icekit, though she didn't hear what they were going to do, followed them. Dusttail turned around and spotted her right before Junipernose could say anything. "Icekit! We're having a private talk here. Go back to the nursery," he said. Icekit continued to sit there like a statue.

Frostwing pushed her kit a little bit, but Icekit didn't budge. Moonfall had to come out to pull the naughty into the den. The parents turned back around and focused on Junipernose.

"Why are you so grumpy?" asked Cloudkit back in the nursery. "Why can't you learn not to bother me?" Icekit groaned. Moonfall dragged Cloudkit away. "I know it's not your fault, Cloudkit. But in these situations I think it's best just to leave your sister alone," Moonfall whispered. Cloudkit nodded.

Dusttail, Junipernose, and Frostwing returned into the nursery. Dusttail asked Junipernose, "Did you tell the leader yet?" The medicine cat shook her head. "I didn't want to bother Robinstar. But I see that I must report this to him now."

## Chapter Two

Cloudkit went over to Moonfall's kits. "What are their names?" he asked. "The silver one's Silkkit, the blue gray one is Stonekit, and the black one is named Nightkit," answered Moonfall. "They're one month older than you."

The kit squealed. "Silkkit, Stonekit, and uh," Cloudkit began. He looked up at the queen. "Nightkit," she whispered. "Silkkit, Stonekit, and Nightkit!" exclaimed the white kit. The three, who were playing with each other, faced Cloudkit. "Can you guys play with me?" he finished.

Stonekit looked at his littermates, and nodded. "We were just playing Chase the Tail. Wanna join?" asked Silkkit. "What's that?" Cloudkit questioned. "It's where we chose a cat. For example, we chose Stonekit. Then the other cats form a line. The first cat in the line, let's say you, goes up to Stonekit and tries to tag his tail. If you succeed, you go to the end of the line. But if 20 seconds pass and you don't tag Stonekit's tail, you become the cat to be chased," explained Nightkit.

"Sounds fun! Let's play," squealed Cloudkit.

Later, Frostwing, Dusttail, and Moonfall joined the game. Since they were bigger and faster than the kits it wouldn't be fair for them to play, so with the three parents they played another game.

Icekit didn't care that they were having fun without her. But soon she got bothered from the noise. "Quiet it down over there!" she ordered. The seven playing cats immediately dropped their volume, knowing that Icekit might throw a fit if they shouted any longer.

***SIX MONTHS LATER***

"Icekit,you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Icepaw. Your mentor will be Crystalpelt. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you," announced Robinstar.

"Crystalpelt**,**you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Lionclaw, and you have shown yourself to be courageous and loyalty. You will be the mentor of Icepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her," the leader finished.

Icepaw stood still, refusing to touch noses with her new mentor. But someone pushed her up towards Crystalpelt, and the apprentice had no choice but touch noses with Crystalpelt.

Robinstar gave Cloudkit the mentor of Larkflight, naming him Cloudpaw.

## Chapter Three

"We're going to explore the territories first," Crystalpelt said. She walked a bit, but then she stopped, realizing that Icepaw wasn't following her. She came back to where Icepaw was standing, and started to drag the apprentice.

"This is the border between our Clan, CinderClan, and StreamClan--" Crystalpelt began. But she was cut off by Icepaw running away from her. She chased after her apprentice, but she was too slow. Icepaw had crossed the border. "Icepaw! Don't you know--" Crystalpelt started, but she was cut off again. Icepaw turned around, and simply mewed, "Yes, I know not the cross the border."

A patrol of StreamClan came. "Intruders!" one exclaimed. "Please don't attack! See, Icepaw here just became my apprentice a few moments ago. And she's really naughty," explained Crystalpelt anxiously. "Fine. But don't do it again," said one.

A cat from StreamClan's patrol whispered into the ear of the last cat who spoke. "Yes, yes, that's right. We need to give one, or both, of you a minor punishment to teach you not to do this again," he meowed. "Hold that apprentice still. The mentor says she's naughty, so you better do it hard."

The two other cats on the patrol ran over and pinned Icepaw down before she got a chance to react. The speaker walked over slowly and raised a paw to Icepaw's eye level. He touched his paw to Icepaw's right eye. She flinched. He growled, and unsheathed his claws, his paw still on Icepaw's eye.

The two cats holding Icepaw down released her, and Icepaw yowled. "What did you do to her? You said *minor*!" shrieked Crystalpelt. "In StreamClan that is minor. A major's even worse," he explained. With that said, the three StreamClan cats walked away.

Crystalpelt looked at Icepaw. "What were you thinking? Now your eye is all bleeding and I bet you're half blind now!" she shouted. But Icepaw didn't seem to care. She unsheathed her claws and dug it into her mentor's fur.

Crystalpelt yelped, her pelt bleeding. She quickly ran back to camp. "Robinstar! Robinstar! Icepaw needs another mentor. Now!" she screamed. Icepaw came out of the trees and into the clearing. "Scared of me, sweetie?" she asked. Whispers went around about her sassy comment, but now that I'm thinking about it, they might've actually been whispering about Icepaw's disappearing eye.

"Don't you 'sweetie' me! Robinstar, get rid of her! She is a kit that should've never been born!" exclaimed Crystalpelt. The cats around gasped. "Crystalpelt! How dare you say that to your apprentice? You know as well as I do that the quote you have spoken means Icepaw is more dangerous and evil than Brokenstar. And in this Clan, that is the rudest thing you could ever say here!" shouted Robinstar.

"Actually, no. The rudest thing you could say here is saying that you, the leader, is mange-ridden. And Brokenstar is long dead, anyway" corrected Crystalpelt. "You know what I mean! Now, I should never have to speak about this problem to you. Do you understand me, Crystalpelt?" demanded Robinstar. Crystalpelt nodded.

"Now you, Icepaw. May I ask how you got your little eye make-up?" the leader asked. "She--" Crystalpelt began. But Robinstar lashed his tail out, and he said, "Silence."

"I wandered into StreamClan territory," Icepaw answered. "Do you know how your mentor got that scar?" he questioned. "Oh, she was just scratched deeply by a branch. How clumsy she is," Icepaw lied. Hearing this untrue statement, Crystalpelt stared at Icepaw in horror. Icepaw saw her mentor's eyes, and she just smirked at her.

## Chapter Four

"I, Robinstar, leader of CinderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Icepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" asked Robinstar. This was what he must say to every apprentice in the Clan, even though none of the sentences he had just said was true.
She has not trained hard, and she still doesn't know the ways of the noble code. "I do," lied Icepaw. "I know you are lying, but keeping you apprentice is more cruel. By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Icepaw, from this moment you will be known as Iceheart. StarClan honors your um, what good traits do you have? Uh, confidence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of CinderClan."
"Iceheart! Iceheart!" shouted the cats. When Robinstar stepped down from the rock, he walked up to Iceheart. "Go hunting," he ordered. "I want you out of CinderClan camp."