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Brighttail chapter one — Description
I stretched open my eyes. I didn't feel the familiar soft moss beneath my paws or the warm embrace of my mother, Frostfur. I felt cold, huddled against my siblings, Cinderkit, Thornkit, and Brackenkit, and the small wails of pain coming from Thornkit. I could remember vaguely of what happened the day before. I remembered a big brown tom holding me violently by my scruff, and I had wriggled in replies, yowling with pain as his teeth sank deeper. "Ow! Lemme go! Lemme go!" I had complained, I was dropped on my hindquarters beside my littermates, who were glaring up at the scarred tom. "When I tell you to sit still, sit still!" I recalled his name was Clawface by how the huge black tom was confronting him. Clawface had growled furiously and clenched his jaws at me and my siblings. "Don't make me do something I'll regret!" Then I ended up here. "Frostfur! I'm cold!" Brackenkit whined before opening his eyes. The fur rose along his spine as he saw the empty cave. "Where are we?"
"Are we in that brown cat's tummy?" Cinderkit, my sister and best friend, suggested. "No, you mouse-brained fools!" A loud voice hissed, sending warm, frog-like breath into the cave. I wrinkled my nose. "Stinky!"
"Don't you backtalk me. Or you'll be thrown into the snow!" The same brown tom pushed through the gap in the cave. "Fortunately, I show mercy for future ShadowClan cats. I'm sure once you've gotten used to the place. You will make fine apprentices." Cinderkit grimaced, I felt uncomfortable too, something about that brown tom made my stomach twist. Sunshine glittered through the hole, sending warmth down my pelt. "Have they woken up?" A rougher mew made me crouch down beside Brackenkit.
"Yes, they have," Clawface reported. My littermates and I traveled to the back of the den and squirmed into the corner, huddling once more. "Come out!" Demanded the other voice. Thornkit was whimpering. "Don't be shy. I won't hurt you." I slowly turned; it was a thick-furred dark brown tabby with wide-set orange eyes. Clawface slid beside him. "Kits, this is Brokenstar, leader of ShadowClan. He will be your leader, which means you must follow under his orders at all costs." Thornkit blinked the water from his eyes and glared at Clawface. "What if we want mommy?" He snapped. "You won't see Frostfur ever again," Clawface mewed. I felt my heart drop, and my face strain. "Did she die?"
"Nope. But you will combat with her in battle in the future." Clawface explained. Brackenkit started to wail. "I want Frostfur!"
"Get over it!" Brokenstar snapped. "StarClan wants you to join ShadowClan and become warriors!" It was miserable. How could me and my siblings survive without Frostfur? "We gave you a foster mother to replace her."
"Nobody can replace Frostfur!" Thornkit screeched. "Quit it with that stupid tantrum! You're just about to begin your training!" A pale ginger queen squeezed through the entrance. "I gave you mercy this time," Brokenstar growled. "Next time you whine you won't be so lucky." He warned.
"This is Dawncloud," Clawface introduced. Two white kits crawled from beneath her. "And this is Blossomkit and Swampkit." Me and my littermates stared at our paws, we all knew that we couldn't do anything but follow Brokenstar's orders. But following orders from a scary leader. They'd never see Frostfur again, might as well adjust to Dawncloud as their mother and Swankit and Blossomkit as their siblings.