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| - I yawn, stretching my aching muscles. My bed of moss never looks more inviting than it does when I'm not meant to be in it. Back in Thunderclan, I always used to bag the sleeping spots with the most moss, and nobody used to notice. Everyone was too concerned with getting a spot closer to the center, with the senior warriors. "Morning, Bramblekit." I mew off-handedly, my vision blurry. The dark brown tabby by my side hisses loudly. "I'm Hungerstrike, you mousebrain." he mews coldly, before stalking out of the warriors den. I mutter an apology, although I am not sorry. It's not my fault that he looks almost exactly like my old Clanmate. A smoky black she-cat greets him the moment he steps out of the entrance, and a couple more she-cats crowd shyly behind her. I have never been popular like that. I don't want to. Not now that I have Brightheart. "Fine, be like that." I mumble, but inside I'm embarrassed. Brightheart and I agreed to mention ThunderClan as little as possible, and here I was reminding my new Clanmates that I came from another clan. Thinking about them hurts a lot, anyway. When the dog pack attacked, we were the only survivors. Unless you count Tigerstar and his alleys, which you don't. "Good morning, Cloudtail." a lithe black tom sneers. I see a malicious gleam in his eyes as he watches me groom my fur. "Greetings, Sunstep." I reply. There are yowls of amusement from all around the den. "Can't you remember any names at all? I'm Stealthstrike. Want me to help you remember?" he mews quietly. Before I can reply, his teeth have closed round my throat. Drops of blood splash to the floor. "Repeat after me. St-eal-th-st-rike." he mutters slowly. Hate blazes in his huge amber eyes. He reminds me a lot of Darkstripe, only Darkstripe never attacked me like this. "Cr-ow-f-oo-d." I stutter. I will not give in to this piece of fox dung. He reminds me so much of Darkstripe; outside he's tough, inside he's bluff. His grip tightens. "You might have been nice and cosy in your old Clan, but you're lucky we took you in. You're an outsider now. Get it?" he hisses. "Yes, Stealthstrike." I gasp. Because I do get it. I am still an outsider, and I always have been. Ever since my mother gave me away. "Good." he lets me go. I hear murmurs from around the den, mostly about "kittypet fluff". Brightheart's single eye is huge as she takes in my wounds. (We decided to change her name from Lostface after Bluestar died. She is much, much more than a missing face.) "Why do you all hate him?" she whispers. As if on cue, a short-haired white she-cat pads into the warriors den. I recognise her as Whitefur, the medicine cat who healed the wounds I received from the dogs. "Because he's the one in the prophecy." __________________________________________________________________________ I hate the way that SunClan treats the territory like it's their own. The way they strut across our camp, parade up our High Rock, bask on our Sunningrocks... it makes me sick. Apparently, Brightheart and I don't have any right to the territory any more. We're part of the Clan as what they call "pris-fighters." It means we're allowed to carry out duties but are to be treated as prisoners. We can't go wherever we want without permission- and, of course, no cat wants to grant us permission. Especially to Brightheart, who is what they call "disabled." To me, she's more able to all those SunClan mousebrains put together. Even worse that that is the way they haven't bothered to care for the bodies. I climbed a tree last sundown to find the body of Sootkit, her mouth still wide open in a never-ending yowl of terror. Brightheart ran wailing to me yesterday upon finding Dustpelt and Fernpaw, both scarred almost beyond recognition, lying unmoving by Sunningrocks. Their tails were still entwined. "Juniperfoot, Eaglecry, Cloudtail and Largeheart... I would like you to go on a patrol. Cloudtail, show the others the boundaries and the best hunting places." a pale gray she-cat with one white paw calls. "Okay, uh... what's your name? Oh, yeah, Lightningstrike. Maybe Brightheart could lead another patrol; it would be quicker." I suggested. The she-cat glares venomously at me. "The half-faced warrior has no place outside the nursery." she hisses. "But I'm not expecting kits!" my mate exclaims. "You can care for Morningrise's kits." Lightningstrike snaps, and turns to go. "She can fight! She can fight well!" I call desperately. Lightningstrike looks at me, interest gleaming in her icy cold amber eyes. This interests a few more SunClan warriors, who gather round us eagerly. "Then she can demonstrate her skills by all means at the Clan Meeting at sundown." she replied. Brightheart shoots me a look of horror. We both know that she couldn't fight a mouse on a good day. "I can't. Fight, I mean." she admits. "Get to the nursery then." Lightningstrike has this look in her eyes, like she knew all along that Brightheart would never fight. "Come on, puffball. We're waiting." a huge ginger tom snarls. Sighing, I lead them into the forest. __________________________________________________________________________ "Welcome, SunClan, to the first clan meeting in our new territory." Stormstar calls from the Highrock. His dark gray fur lay flat against his skinny frame. Dull gray eyes matched his fur. I closed my eyes and remembered my kin, Fireheart, and how his flaming pelt had brushed backwards in the breeze as his glittering green gaze made us shiver. In comparison, Stormstar could have been a rock. I close my eyes and imagine that ThunderClan is still with us. I can almost scent Ashpaw as he teases Bramblekit with one of those leaves that make you itch like crazy. I can practically see Sandstorm as she nuzzles Fireheart affectionately, her gaze as warm as a greenleaf morning. When I see Bluestar, she is no longer a dishevelled old loony but a strong, proud young warrior watching over her Clan. I can almost hear Cinderpelt's panicked voice as she limps around the camp, scolding naughty kits about deathberries. Then I open my eyes and only SunClan are there. Mangy, skinny intruders who think they own the world. "I asked you a question." Stormstar is growling. I look around to see who he is talking to, then realize that he is talking to me. "I didn't hear you." I mew. "Explain who are enemies are." he speaks slowly, like he's explaining something to a half-witted kit. "Well, there are four clans. There used to be ThunderClan but they were killed by dogs. The other three are RiverClan, WindClan and ShadowClan. They are your rivals. RiverClan live by the river, and they will fight you a lot for the basking rocks. It's called Sunningrocks and there have been many battles over it. They can swim like fish and apparently they enjoy it, too. Don't ask me why." I begin, although I don't want to explain anything to these cats. "They swim? What weaklings! We'll kill them in no time when it comes to battle." Hungerstrike calls. SunClan yowls in agreement. I roll my eyes. These cats think they're so amazing, but they've never had proper rivals. I've seen their fighting skills, which they flaunt so openly, and a Clan kit could beat any of them. "Then there's WindClan. They hunt rabbits in the moorlands and are unbelievably fast. They're proud but they're friendly, too." I mew. "Easy prey. We'll beat them like kits if we fight. Unless they run away like cowards, which they must do a lot." another voice calls. More yowls of agreement. "The third Clan is ShadowClan. They have the smallest territory, and it's all marsh and undergrowth. Their stalking skills are above average." I finish. "Well, we're evidently the dominant Clan then. We hunt, we fight, we stalk, we fish... SunClan has a new home at last." Stormstar announces. He doesn't realize that being able to catch a mouse on a good day doesn't count as hunting, and defeating enemy kits doesn't make them amazing fighters. Catching a salmon now and again isn't exactly an unimaginable feat for RiverClan. And stalking a deaf pigeon isn't hard. This is the extent of what I have seen SunClan do. "ThunderClan must have been the weaklings, yes? The cowards." Stealthstrike taunts. "They were the fighters." I mew, but that only brings on purrs of laughter. They are mocking what I have known all my life. Anger boils up inside me. Arrogant fox dung! If only I could tell them that ThunderClan could throw fireballs, claw through Twoleg monsters and fly. That'd take the purrs right out of their mouths. Then I realize that there is a Clan that could work magic. A fairytale Clan, sure. But if ThunderClan believed it then SunClan should. "Actually, there was a fifth Clan. StarClan. They could walk in dreams and descend from the sky..." "Sure. Of course they could, you little liar. Now, for the acceptance ceremony." Stormstar interupts me. No cat believes me here - except, of course, for Brightheart. And she knows better than to protest that I'm telling the truth. "I, Stormstar of SunClan, call upon the stars of the night to look upon this warrior. He is in need of a home and we are welcoming. Cloudtail of ThunderClan, do you agree to give up your ThunderClan name?" he mews. "No!" I exclaim. "Then from this moment on, you will still be known as Cloudtail. Cloudtail, do you agree to become an official warrior of SunClan?" he sounds nervous, although he must have done this a hundred times. "Yes." I long to tell him no, I am always loyal to ThunderClan. But if I do then they will kill me. That or I'll die of cold. I wouldn't mind if it weren't for Brightheart, but she's here and I can't give up when she needs me. "Cloudtail of SunClan, you show promise in fighting. Do you agree to give up your hunting life and devote yourself to fighting?" he mews. I think of the satisfying crunch of flesh and bone, the adreline of hunting prey. "I do." "Cloudtail, Fighter of SunClan, do you promise to never leave your Clan?" Stormstar sounds like a kit, asking his mother not to leave him. Squeaky, unsure and pathetic. "Yes." "Cloudtail, forever Fighter of SunClan, you have not yet confirmed a mate. Do you wish to propose to her on this day?" he asks. My eyes drift to Brightheart immediately. Her bright blue eye shines brighter than the stars of Silverpelt. Her ginger patches gleam like fire, contrasting amazingly to her snowy white fur. Her pelt is as soft and as groomed as a kit's. Then I see the other she-cats. I see their filthy, ungroomed fur which I hear them claim to be "spotless" and "shining." Dull, boring eyes that only ever shine when they're being mean. Pathetic flowers arranged round their ears in a vain attempt to look pretty. What sane cat wouldn't agree with my choice? "Brightheart, will you be my mate?" I mew clearly. I can see warm, loving joy in her single eye and I wish that I could make her happy like this all the time. But the happiness does not last long. Yowls of rage fill the camp. Claws tear at my pelt, and deflecting them only brings on more attackers. Shrieks of abuse match the scent of threat that SunClan is giving off. Cats push forwards towards us both, driving us apart. "No!" I yowl, lunging for my mate. The cats pull me back, and teeth close round my throat, forcing me to slump to the floor. "Why can't we be together? I love her!" I cry over the roar of hatred. "Silence. SILENCE!" a sharp cry interupts the chaos. Stormstar has spoken. "Great. Now can some cat please explain why I can't be mates with Brightheart?" I mew. "It's one of the rules. I told you this during the story. Weren't you listening?" he hisses. Of course, I wasn't listening, but I'm not about to tell him that. "Yes, of course I was. But my memory isn't great." It's true; Brightheart and Fireheart always teased me about my memory. One minute, I remember something. Then something more exciting happens and what I was meant to remember disappears into the air. "Come times early, come times late, disabled cats may not take mates, for fear their kits will carry their curse and the Clan will be filled with fighters worse. Sun decreed that when he first made SunClan, in the old territory at Sundrownplace." Stormstar explains. "But Brightheart isn't disabled!" I protest. "Well then, let's see her fight." Lightningstrike mews, a glint in her amber eyes. She knows perfectly well that Brightheart cannot fight. "Fight who?" I look around. No cat moves. "Fight you, of course." I can see Brightheart's breathing has become uneven. Her fur stand on end. She stumbles towards me, her eye glazed over. I notice her fur has fluffed up, and one of her cuts has started bleeding again, and her belly is a bit swollen, and her legs are all swollen too. I look down and realize that I look the same- dishevelled and broken. "Pack, pack. Kill, kill." she mews, delirious. The shock of today's events has forced her back into the nightmare-like state that she assumed after the dogs ripped her face apart. "No, Brightheart. Not pack. Not kill. It's okay, I promise." I try to reassure her. "Fight her!" Stormstar orders. I can tell that he is thirsting for entertainment more than anything else. Well then, I'll give him entertainment. I'll give him more entertainment than he asked for... ______________________________________________________________ "...he attacked the leader, Lightningstrike! He must be the cat in the prophecy. It makes sense." I awake from my poppy-seed induced sleep, my vision still hazy. Whitefur is muttering urgently to Lightningstrike, and her words are the first thing to greet me on waking. "What prophecy?" I hear a rasp that is unmistakably Stormstar. This satisfies me. Attacking the leader was foolish, but it has got him in the medicine cat's den. Which he deserved. "The brightest cloud will destroy the wrong, and the forest of Clans shall be blessed with song! The prophecy that weird old badger told us before we left!" Whitefur mews. She doesn't know I'm awake, but I'm listening intently. The brightest cloud... I'm Cloudtail, and Brightheart is.. well... Brightheart. So we'll destroy the wrong. The wrong must be SunClan, or they wouldn't be so worried. But what could the song mean? What can we do? I know that StarClan is just a happy story for cats to cling onto, but medicine cats are generally right about prophecies. "Shush, you fluff-head. He'll hear." a high-pitched, frantic voice that could only belong to a queen almost makes my aching head split. "Get some rest, Morningrise. Your kits are due any time tomorrow, and you know perfectly well that once those kits are born, you'll have trouble sleeping. Anyway, it might damage the unborns if you don't rest." Whitefur mews soothingly, although her words would probably make the frantic queen more nervous than before. I wonder why they're letting a queen hear their oh-so-dreadful curse. Then again, who cares? This can't be their worst wrong. "And you know perfectly well that it doesn't matter if one of them dies. All of them die anyway before they're warriors except the strongest one. Just like either Blackpaw or Racepaw will tomorrow. Just like all my littermates did." a sad, sad mew makes the other cats uncomfortable. "Our ancestors decreed it long ago, Morningrise. Would you ignore them to just keep your kits?" Lightningstrike hisses. "What d'ya mean?" I mumble, unable to resist asking. There's a yowl of shock, and herbs are bundled down my throat. Sleeping herbs, again... __________________________________________________________________________ "May all cats of SunClan gather beneath the Tall Rock!" Stormstar yowls. Cats pour into the area immediately. I can see even tiny kits scrambling to get a good view. Two of them- ginger littermates that resemble Morningrise-almost make me trip as I go to greet Brightheart. There's a new, painful-looking scratch on one of her forelegs. She looks completely wiped-out; too tired to even walk a foxlength without collapsing. Her belly is still swollen. "Are you expecting kits?" I gasp, my heart racing. She looks surprised, them amused. "No, and believe me, if I was... you'd hear about it!" she purrs. I try to look for signs of lying, but I can't find any. "Tell me. Because if you are..." "Look, Cloudtail, I'm not expecting kits. So stop fussing, okay?" she mews soothingly. I shake my head, unable to stop worrying about the beautiful she-cat. "Why can't we be mates?" I mutter, glaring at the Clan leader and deputy. They are in the middle of some sort of happy disscussion with a golden she-cat with amber eyes. She's quite pretty. I notice a few toms gathering behind her, all gazing at her boldly. Stealthstrike is among them. Well, right at the front of them, actually. "You'd better not be thinking about kits, either of you." a gray she-cat with quite big flanks hisses. I glare at her. "Maybe it's just brain damage from the dog attack, but I don't think I can remember asking you." a low hiss escapes my throat before I can think better of it. The she-cat gives a rusty purr and stretches her legs. "I remember when I used to be a lot like you, newcomer. I once thought that I knew all and that anyone that disagreed with me was a fool. That was many moons ago." her eyes glaze over, as if she is in another world. Probably living memories of her "I-know-all" phase. Well, she certaintly doesn't know me. Of course I don't know everything. But I definitely know better than this crowd of idiots. "Quiet!" it only takes one dull word to silence the gathering of cats. Huh. Is this the best they can do? Back in ThunderClan, Fireheart would have declared silence with authority and dignity, his green eyes blazing and his fiery coat swaying in the Greenleaf breeze. The Clan weren't all goody-two-paws like they are here. They'd carry on gossiping and mewing softly even when he spoke. And, of course, they wouldn't stop me from being in love with the most beautiful cat in the world. And I would be allowed to run away if I wanted. Here, Stormstar speaks in this tuneless, toneless drawl. The whole Clan goes all silent whenever they're told. Don't even get me started on the SunClan rules. "Now, I have some good news. Morningrise gave birth to a she-kit at sunhigh this morning. Morningrise, would you like the father to be known?" Stormstar looks down at a small tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes. She nods slowly. "Slashtalon." in the crowd of cats, a huge gray tom lifts his head proudly. "Can we see her?" an anonymous voice calls. Morningrise nods again, and pads quickly into the nursery. A few moments later, she reappears with a tiny tortoiseshell she-kit clamped in her jaws. The eyes are already open, and I can see that she got them from the father. Jealousy floods through me, but not because I wish I'd been the father. It could have been Brightheart's and my kit shown to the whole Clan. A final show of ThunderClan blood. "This is Robinkit." the newborn gave a tiny squeal as her mother quickly turned to go to the nursery. A scent of fear takes me by surprise. Who fears this new kit? Who would fear any kit? Baffled, I see that it is a sleek black she-cat and a lithe black tom that are afraid. They're apprentices, but their warrior ceremony is coming up. Perhaps even today. Why are they scared? "And now, it is time for a beloved SunClan tradition. The Nobility Stand. Racepaw and Blackpaw, would you like to step forwards?" Stormstar mews, and the fear in their eyes shines even brighter. This must be why they are scared; not because of the kit, but because of this Nobility thing. But how bad can it be? "Racepaw and Blackpaw, you are almost ready to become warriors. But, as you know, only one of you may do so." I realize what this means. They'll have to fight, and the winner becomes a warrior. There's no big deal, really. "Only one of a litter may become a warrior, so SunClan will only have the best fighters. Sadly, Racepaw and Blackpaw, you are both of the same litter. So you must fight to the death before the Clan. The survivor will have the glory, the success, the delight of becoming a warrior. Are you ready?" the Clan backs away, murmuring excitedly. I see a smoky black she-cat watching them in distress. It must be their mother. "No!" I push forwards to stop this stupid fight. Are they mad? Killing off their apprentices? I can see Brightheart pushing her way forwards, screeching at the apprentices not to fight. A pair of sturdy paws pull me back, but I surge forwards. "How can you do this?" I rage, thundering blindly forwards. A pair of teeth sink round the back of my neck, and it is only sheer force that pulls me from the terrified apprenticed. "Begin!" Stormstar calls. The littermates jump at each other. Brightheart yowls that they don't have to do this, but they can't afford to listen. Blackpaw is stronger, and pins his sister down straight away. Racepaw wriggles free and backs away quickly. I can see a haunted, petrified look in his eye as he raises a paw to slash at his sister's head. She begins to run away with admirable speed, but Blackpaw is used to this, probably from playfights, and doesn't run after her. They both know that she can't run away with the whole Clan watching. "Come back." Blackpaw calls. Racepaw sprints towards him with more speed than any WindClan cat. If she pounces, she could bowl him over and probably kill him in one slash. If she pounces, he's in trouble. "No!" Brightheart and I call in one desperate attempt to stop the fight. The sleek apprentice doesn't listen, although I can see that she longs to. As she pounces, Blackpaw has already given up. His head is slumped back, defeated. I wince as she raises a paw to finish him off. "I can't kill you, Blackpaw." she drops the paw onto the dust. "Yes, you can. Go on, you're almost there." he growls, eyes still closed tightly. Racepaw shakes her head. "You're my best friend. I can't go on without you. I'd die of lonliness. I'm not saying that it wouldn't hurt for you to live without me, but you're not indifferent to Lightkit. She's almost an apprentice. You can grow up and have kits with her, and make friends. I'd grieve till I died. Do me a favour, Blackpaw. If you care about me, then kill me." she mews after a long silence. The Clan watch, awed. This is nothing more than entertainment for them. "I'm sorry, Racepaw." her brother mews, and stands shakily to his paws. "Don't be sorry, Blackpaw. Thankyou for listening to me. Goodbye." There's a long hesitation, and Blackpaw raises a paw. I close my eyes but I still hear the blow, the crack, and the wail. I don't hear anything more. Is this how SunClan reward their apprentices' hard training to become warriors? Did I really just witness that sight? I'd never let my kits go through that. Never. How can Brightheart and I stay here? But how can we escape?
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