Chapter 2 - Chapter One-First Encounter

The medicine cat gazed up at the stars. Foxfur could feel the presence of StarClan in his mind. Then a cryptic message hit his mind. Fire saved the forest, but fire leaves a mark on tree. Every cat in the forest knew about the great Firestar, from seasons before. Rainwhisker and Littletail, who was once known as Sootfur, were now elders, and they could still remember his noble deeds, and his last moments of life. He left a trace on a tree, thought Foxfur. Then his memory flashed back to the kit born just yesterday: Treekit!?

“Perhaps,” he thought, “that is the tree that StarClan speaks of. Perhaps Treekit is one of his heirs, and holds his spirit? Perhaps I will never know.”



Chapter one



Treepaw had almost finished her apprenticeship that fateful day. She and her friend, Nightpaw, were on hunting patrol with her mentor, Stonetail that day. It was a strange little encounter, too.

They had just finished catching a squirrel when they sniffed out a kittypet. “Watch me,” said Stonetail silently. He silently moved up to the kittypet and jumped out so he was facing the kittypet.

“What are you doing in our forest, kittypet?” he hissed. The kittypet seemed to take no notice of the venom in Stonetail's voice, but did seem to process other information.

“This is your forest?” asked the kittypet. “Your forest…” he mumbled something else which none of the three ThunderClan cats could hear.

Stonetail, growing tired of the games the kittypet was playing, lashed out at the kittypet's ears. The kittypet cried out in pain. “You will regret that you ever touched the great Marco's ears!!” howled the kittypet. “I'll be back one day! You'll see! Then we'll see who is hurt! You'll see!!!” Marco dashed off into the bushes, straight for Twolegplace.

“And that, Treepaw and Nightpaw, will be your last lesson: How to scare away unwanted kittypets!” announced Stonetail proudly. “I'll be sure to tell Whitestar that your training is over.” The three cats walked back to camp, each holding a piece of freshkill. Nightpaw and Treepaw headed to the freshkill pile to take a piece to the elders, and Stonetail headed for Whitestar's den.

“I'm so happy, we're finally going to be warriors!” said Nightpaw, talking around the magpie in her mouth. She fended herself from invisible warriors, and the magpie flew straight out of her mouth.

“Hey, watch where you're throwing that!” mewed Snowcloud cheerfully. The newest warrior brought the dead bird back. “I heard that you two will be warriors soon!”

Nightpaw (for every cat knew she had a crush on Snowcloud) straightened up and mewed, “Yes, Snowcloud! Thank you for bringing the magpie back for me.”

“Not a problem, Nightpaw!” meowed Snowcloud. “So, there was a kittypet in the forest?”

Treepaw dropped her squirrel and replied, “Word travels around fast in this camp. Yeah, some crazy kittypet named Marco. What kind of name is that?” The brown cat looked at Nightpaw, who nodded agreement.

“Well, the twolegs name their kittypets very strange names. It's said that Firestar was called Rusty by his Twolegs, before he joined ThunderClan,” pointed out Snowcloud.

“Oops, we gotta take this freshkill to the elders. See you!” said Treepaw, picking up her squirrel and beckoning Nightpaw, who obediently followed. They dropped their freshkill near the elders. “Hello!” said Nightpaw.

Shreddedears mewed feebly, “No, we don't need freshkill, Moonpaw already gave us some. Why don't you eat it?”

“No, Shreddedears, Moonpaw was training all day, she couldn't have brought you freshkill,” said Treepaw patiently. “Why don't you just take them, and if you're hungry, you can eat it?”

As the two apprentices padded away, the sound of chewing could be heard coming from the elder's den. The two friends looked at each other and laughed.

Just then, Treepaw's sister, Sootfur, bounded towards her. Sootfur was recently appointed medicine cat as Foxfur had retired to an elder, for his hearing and sight were greatly suffering, and there is no cure for old age.

“Hey, what's going on?” asked Sootfur. “What's this I hear about my baby sister becoming a warrior?”

“Just because you were born before me doesn't make me a baby,” mewed Treepaw playfully. “If you want to feel older so badly, then you belong with the kits!”

Sootfur made a face, then replied, “So what's this about warrior ceremonies? And there's a rumor about kittypets in the forest. I heard you two were there.” Her curiosity got the better of her this time.

“Well, Treepaw and I are having our warrior ceremony,” said Nightpaw. “And there was a kittypet who called himself Marco in the forest,” cut in Treepaw.

“Hmm.” Sootfur wrinkled her nose. “I have heard from medicine cat meetings that this kittypet was in RiverClan and WindClan territory. Let's hope he wanders into ShadowClan. That'll take care of his `domination' plans.”

The two apprentices looked at each other. “He did seem to notice when Stonetail said the forest was ours…” pondered Nightpaw aloud. “Maybe he thinks he can take over the forest. Hah! I'd like to see him try!”

“Well, BloodClan was made up of kittypets and they nearly destroyed the forest,” pointed out Sootfur reasonably.

“Pshaw! Firestar took care of them. We're tougher than any kittypets, and besides, why would they want to leave their Twoleg nests? Of course, it might be that slop they feed the poor cats that made them want to leave,” joked Nightpaw.

“I don't think this is a laughing matter, Nightpaw. It sounds serious! A lot of cats could have died. Including one of your ancestors,” said Treepaw.

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the Highrock for a Clan meeting!” echoed Whitestar's cry. Slowly the Clan assembled to listen to Whitestar. “Today, two of our apprentices will become warriors. Treepaw, Nightpaw, come here please.

The two apprentices padded up the Highrock. “I, Whitestar, leader of ThunderClan, ask our warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentices. They has worked hard to understand your warrior code, and I commend them to to you as a warrior in their turn. Treepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?” he questioned.

“I do,” said Treepaw.

“Nightpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life as well?” Whitestar said, turning to face Nightpaw.

“I do,” said Nightpaw.

“Then by the powers granted to me by StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Treepaw, from this moment you will be known as Treewhisper. StarClan honors your kindness and intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior. Nightpaw, from this moment you will be known as Nightfur, and we welcome you as a full warrior as well.”

“Treewhisper! Nightfur! Treewhisper! Nightfur!” chanted the Clan. Sootfur brought the two a large rabbit to share.

“Don't forget,” she whispered mischievously. “You have to have the vigil! Better eat now.” And she dropped the rabbit with a thud and began grooming herself.

“Congratulations! I know you two will have a really good time staying awake all night while the rest of us have a well-earned night of sleep!” called Snowcloud. “And watch out for any rampaging kittypets while you're at it.”

Whitestar approached the two warriors. “What's this I hear about kittypets?” he murmured softly. “Stonetail thought you two might like to tell me instead.”

Treewhisper exchanged glances with Nightfur and blurted out, “There was a kittypet in the forest who said he was called Marco, and according to Sootfur he was sighted in some other Clans and he might be a threat--!!”

Whitestar bowed his head kindly to her and replied, “Thank you for the information, but I think he will not be a threat right now. Go back to eating; you'll need your strength for the vigil.”

Slowly the cats began to murmur their good-nights and drift back to their nest. Soon, the new warriors were left in the center of camp. They gave each other a look, which somehow, they were able to understand, and waited for dawn.

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