I reposted the fist couple chapters together because they were too short

I reposted the fist couple chapters together because they were too short. Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter.

Prologue

Cinderfire crept out of the warriors den, stretching her sleep-rusted muscles. It was dawn, and the deep gray of the cloud-carpeted sky seemed to reflect her fur as she began to pad towards the nursery as softly as if she were stalking a mouse.

The weak daylight lacked the strength to soak through the tightly knitted branches of the nursery roof. Cinderfire’s eyes narrowed as the adjusted to the dim light, and then she turned to her friend, Streamsong, who was licking her four new kits.

“What should we name them?” mewed a voice, and Cinderfire turned to see Foxtail, the father of the four kits, crouching in the shadows of the nursery. She shrugged, turning to the mother to see what she thought.

Streamsong looked up from her nest in the nursery. “I don’t know,” she murmured. She picked up one of the kits, a shining silver she-cat, by the scruff. A stray ray that had crept through the mouth of the den illuminated a roundish splotch on her forehead.

Streamsong jolted upright. “Unicornkit!” she exclaimed.

“Ssh,” remonstrated Streamsong, glancing outside to make sure no one had been woken by the loud shout.

Foxtail looked puzzled. “What in StarClan’s name is a unicorn?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” replied Streamsong. “It just popped into my mind. But it sounds pretty.”

“It does,” agreed Cinderfire dubiously. She looked again at the glowing kit with her silver fur. “It does…” she repeated dreamily.

“The others?” enquired the practical-minded Foxtail.

“Phoenixkit, Dragonkit, and Griffinkit,” said Streamsong instantly.

“More that popped into your mind?” joked Cinderfire.

The three young warriors laughed, already having forgotten about the last three kits they had named.

“Goodnight, Streamsong,” called Cinderfire as she slipped back into the warriors den. “And congratulations on your successful kitting. Unicornkit really is beautiful!”

Almost six moons later

Phoenixkit

Phoenixkit peeped anxiously around the edge of the bramble bush she was hiding behind. If any of the warriors found out that she had left the nursery, she’d be crowfood!

Bramblestar was just leaving his den, and Phoenixkit was grateful that she was safely hidden. Bramblestar would be even worse to deal with that her mother. The only kit that he would ever forgive for leaving the nursery was her sister, Unicornkit, or, as she and her brothers called her, Perfectkit. For some reason, the whole clan doted on her, though Phoenixkit didn’t see anything so special about her.

Now Hollyleaf and Poppyseed were leaving the warriors den. Honeydew was going to the fetch Maplepaw, and now all four cats were heading out on the dawn patrol. Phoenixkit sighed. She couldn’t wait to be an apprentice, roaming the forest for prey and fighting off enemies. Slash! Jab! She feinted and clawed with her paws, making the briar shake.

A golden furred warrior depositing prey on the fresh-kill pile noticed the rustling, and the little orange paws that were revealed as a branch moved. In a flash he had bounded over to the bush and was shaking Phoenixkit by the scruff.

“What are you doing out of the nursery, you mousebrained kit?” Lionclaw growled. “Kits under the age of six moons are supposed to stay in the nursery.”

Phoenixpaw felt tears come to her eyes as her entire body jolted and quivered. She felt like her bones were being shaken off.

Then she was dropped, landing with a thud on the packed dust floor of the camp. She glanced up to see her father, Foxfire, standing over her too. His face had an expectant expression. He has waiting for an explanation.

Phoenixkit looked at her paws, wondering what to say. “I was only looking,” she meowed feebly.

Foxtail glared at her. “If you go out here one more time I’ll have Bramblestar delay your apprentice ceremony,” he growled. “Now go back to your mother before I change my mind about being so lenient.”

Phoenixpaw instantly got to her paws and raced back to the nursery.

Dragonkit

Dragonkit watched through half-closed eyelids as his sister trooped into the sheltered den. He could see that she was quite disgruntled. He could also see that the eyes of his older sister and his mother were open. As Phoenixkit fell into an uneasy sleep, he heard Bramblestar call for a Clan meeting.

Dragonkit sat up straight, all semblances of sleep melting away. When Bramblestar called a Clan meeting, there was always something important going on. Shaking Phoenixkit and Griffinkit awake, he bounded out of the nursery, heedless of Clan rules. It just had to be his apprentice ceremony! He, Phoenixkit, Griffinkit, and Unicornkit were almost six moons old now, and most of the apprentices were too young to be made warriors.

“All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here before the Highrock for a Clan meeting!” yowled Bramblestar. Dragonkit sprang to his paws and was standing to attention before the Highrock before most of the Clan had even gotten up. Bramblestar glared at him for a moment before continuing.

“I call you here to make four kits into apprentices. Unicornkit, come forward.

The beautiful silver kit padded serenely to the Highrock, eyes glowing. Bramblestar gave a slight smile before saying proudly, “Until she has earned her warrior name, let this cat be called Unicornpaw. Unicornpaw, I hereby apprentice you to Jayfeather. Jayfeather, you learned loyalty, intelligence, and wit from Leafpool. May you pass this, as well as you knowledge of herbs, on to Unicornpaw. The blind cat nodded, and touched noses with the young apprentice. “I will teach her all I know,” he murmured.

Mmm, Dragonkit thought. I hadn’t realized she wanted to be a medicine cat.

“Unicornpaw! Unicornpaw! Unicornpaw!” chanted the Clan happily, glad to have such a perfect apprentice in their midst. Unicornpaw smiled shyly.

Get on with it! Dragonkit mentally urged. When would the leader make him an apprentice?

“Oh, and, right!” mewed Bramblestar absently. “I’m also supposed to make, um, how many was it? Right, three apprentices. Lessee. . . Phoenixpaw, Dragonpaw, Griffinpaw, Pineresin, Fircone, Spruceneedle. There you are, now go to bed, every cat. Dawn patrol will be Squirrelflight, Whitewing, Pineresin- and your apprentice, okay? And without another word, the Clan leader swept off into his den, leaving the new apprentices to find the apprentices den on their own.

Griffinpaw

Griffinpaw awoke to see sunlight dappling the walls of the den. Beside him lay his two siblings (they had officially disowned Unicornpaw). Phoenixpaw was twitching slightly, while Dragonpaw was sleeping much more deeply. But Griffinpaw didn’t want to sleep. He had remembered Bramblestar's words at the Clan meeting last night.

‘Right, three apprentices. Lessee. . . Phoenixpaw, Dragonpaw, Griffinpaw, Pineresin, Fircone, Spruceneedle.’ How could the Clan leader treat him and his siblings in this offhand manor? He and his siblings deserved at least to be assigned their mentors with the traditional words of the Clans. An uneasy thought crossed his mind. Did this mean that he wasn't a real apprentice?

Griffinpaw shook the idea away like water on his pelt. He could show the clan that he was worthy! He would go out now, and hunt, and prove that he was a real ThunderClan apprentice. And when he brought back a whole pile of fresh-kill, then the Clan would finally realize that he was just as good as Unicornpaw, if not better.

Hastened by this appealing thought, Griffinpaw abandoned the apprentices den and snuck out of camp. The forest was just as he had imagined it- shaded in brown ranging from delicate bark of a birch to the dark, moist expanse of the soil. And the overlapping colors of leaves that flowed into one another! Silvery green, dark green, bright spring green. It felt glorious to be alive, and free from the structured rules of camp life.

Once he was in the forest, he paused and sniffed the air. He caught a faint whiff of a familiar scent. He followed the strand to an old memory- Unicornpaw taking tiny mincing bites of a mouselike animal their mother said was a vole.

Okay. A vole, then. Griffinpaw tried sliding his feet across the forest floor as the older apprentices had always advised, but there were dry leaves and twigs everywhere. His paws sent them flying, accompanied by a cacophony of rustles and crackles.

“Mousedung,” he hissed, launching himself at the vole, but it was long gone.

Griffinpaw paused for a moment, breathing hard. He could see a sparrow flying slowly in a straight line an inch or so above his head. This was hunting opportunity he couldn’t miss. Griffinpaw made some mental calculations. If the bird were here right now, then by the time he was there, it would be right around. . .

Griffinpaw sprang, and, to his surprise, his claws caught the sparrow, sinking into the frail chest. He pulled it down and sank his teeth into the bird’s neck, realizing that he had just made his first kill, caught his first prey. He was about to give thanks to StarClan the way he had seen the other apprentices do when he realized that until he was a warrior, he was not supposed o be out of the camp without permission. Snatching up his sparrow he ran as fast as he could to the camp, and, breathless, arrived at the stone hollow a minute later. He dropped the sparrow onto the fresh-kill pile and was about to dart back to the apprentices den when he heard a quiet voice say, "What are you doing?"

Griffinpaw jumped and twisted, trying to find the source of the voice, and lost his balance. From his place on the ground, he saw Unicornpaw pad slowly over and nose his sparrow. "Just out hunting," he croaked.

"I thought you weren't supposed to leave camp without permission." Her voice was serious, and Griffinpaw felt an immense desire to claw her.

"I, um, forgot. Don't tell Bramblestar, please?" he added, swallowing his pride. For a normal apprentice, the punishment would be minor, but as the Clan leader seemed to hate him, he shuddered to think of his consequence.

Unicornpaw said nothing, so he spun around, and went back to his nest, hoping no one but Unicornpaw had noticed his absence.

As I said earlier, these chapters were formerly separate and short. I added them together to make things simpler for everyone. Review, please.

p.s. I know the names don’t work, but it’s too late to change them.