CotS #1: The Dark Path (currently being rewritten)

I was elated to find out that Starrynight had kitted after all. She had two gorgeous little kitties, their names being Honeykit and Hivekit. They were adorable, their eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. Their mother gazed at them with love.

Honeykit was a beautiful dazzling golden she-cat with fur that seemed to shimmer. She moved, and her fur rippled beautifully. She was going to be a subject for toms later in her life, I was sure. She was just too pretty. She'd probably have lots of toms padding after her in the near future, so it would be a shame if she became a medicine cat.

Hivekit, on the other hand, was a bit darker than her, golden-brown like Emuwing, with long paws that would be good for walking. The tips of his ears were white and seemed to glow too. I wasn't sure what his eyes were yet, but all of his colors were pointing to blue or amber.

I could see it in Dogspring's eyes. Bright, radiant love. He'd always been an annoying warrior, but I supposed he loved his kits dearly. I supposed that was okay. Dogspring had never seemed like a kind cat, but I'd never seen him with Starrynight anyway. Maybe they liked each other in their own way, and he was really kind to her. I hoped he was. If he was like Eagletail and Wheatpelt, only to abandon her later.... I shuddered, not wanting to think about that.

I went on a hunting patrol with Duskypaw, Spiketail, Sunbright, and Sunnypaw. Two brand new apprentices with barely a day of training. Well, woe to me. I wanted to hit Iceflame for assigning me to a patrol with the most boring cats ever, but I could hardly hit the deputy, not to mention she was my grandmother. So I put up with their nonsense.

"Stormpaw, I guess Stonestar will give you a new mentor soon," Sunbright meowed gravely. "I hope Minnowpelt doesn't die too."

Oh, right. I'd forgotten she and Spidertail were Minnowpelt's parents, as well as Littlecloud's. Strange of me to forget, but I wasn't someone with very good memory. 

"Y... er... yeah, me too," I agreed, hoping there was some sincerity in my voice. Mistpaw was training with Morningpaw under Spidertail at the moment, but if Minnowpelt died ...

I decided to focus on hunting prey since my mind was meandering. I managed to spot a mouse in the distance, and gave chase before finally pouncing on it and killing it. It was scrawny, as most prey was nowadays, but I found I wasn't particularly hungry. How come I wasn't starving? I suddenly realized. Out of all my catches, I always filled myself with one piece of prey. Everyone else must be hungry! I felt so remorseful. I picked up my mouse and scouted for more. I guess I shouldn't eat today.

I almost caught a rabbit but it scampered into Sunnypaw's claws and she claimed the credit. I just scowled, and snatched it from her. It was my prey, after all. She just happened to be walking by.

"Hey!" said Sunnypaw indignantly.

"It's my catch," I snarled. "You might have dealt the killing blow, but I would've too. It's mine. You can't take credit."

There was anguish in Sunnypaw's eyes. "But I haven't caught anything yet!"

"Then catch something! You're a brand new apprentice, you don't have to catch anything anyway! We just waste our food on you!" I snapped, picking up the rabbit and the mouse and padding back to Sunbright and Spiketail. Duskypaw and Sunnypaw were still hunting, but they returned empty-pawed. Spiketail lost the squirrel he was chasing when it scampered into a rabbit burrow.

"All the catches today were yours," Sunbright meowed, impressed, to me. "Good job, Stormpaw!" She smiled at me, though it was barely clouded by the sadness she was obviously still feeling - disappointment in herself, and wondering about her daughter.