Darkkit batted her paws at the butterfly, carefree and happy."Shadekit! Come play with me!" the kit ordered, acting like a leader already. Her littermate bounded over in a few strides, looking at her eagerly.

"Are we going to play Catch the Pine cone? Chase butterflies? Or are we going to listen to a story?"

"Let's play Clan, and Orangekit will, too! And Thinfur!" Shadekit got Thinfur while Darkkit got Orangekit.

"Clan?" Orangekit's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Who's leader?"

"Me!" Darkkit squealed. "Shadekit, who do you want to be?"

"I'll be medicine cat!"

"Okay!" Darkkit wondered why he would choose not to fight, but brushed it aside. "Orangekit, will you be my deputy?" Orangekit nodded. "And Thinfur the warrior!"

"Watch out!" Orangekit mewed, leaping onto the younger kit's back. Darkkit let out a mew. "I'm leader now!" the ginger she-kit announced, pinning Darkkit to the ground.

"But I have nine lives!" Darkkit swiped Orangekit's nose with sheathed paws. Orangekit snorted and replied, "Then let's hunt! Thinfur, you'll be in the patrol with Darkstar and I. Shadekit, you come in case we hurt ourselves!" Darkkit smiled proudly. One day she would be Darkstar! She raced after the cats.

"Our leader's too slow!" Thinfur yowled. "She'll never make it! SkyClan is on our side of the border!" They stopped at the edge of the camp, pretending to bat away SkyClan warriors.

"Victory!" Darkkit cried. "SkyClan is defeated, and ShadowClan rules the pine forest!"

...

"Darkpaw. Darkpaw, wake up. Today we'll learn hunting techniques," Fernstar mewed. This was one of her good days, and Darkpaw was happy to train. "Although fighting is important, hunting is an essential skill for a warrior."

"What will you name me? What will my warrior name be, when I pass my assessment?"

"There are still four moons. Right now, focus on stalking. Try not to alert me that you're here while we go to the forest."

"But you already kno-"

"Still, it's good practice," her mentor and leader hissed. "You will stalk me." Darkpaw obeyed, putting her weight on her haunches and slowly moving forward. Careful not to step on any twigs, she let her tail lie low. She swiveled her head around quietly, as if checking for any intruders, before turning back to Fernstar and balancing herself. "We're here. Be more careful; your breathing was loud. Your feet, though, were silent. That's good. But breathing can give away your hiding place, understand?" Darkpaw nodded. 

"Okay. Do you think there's a toad or something?" Fernstar shrugged.

"Why would I know? We're low on prey, but you won't actually be hunting until later. Show me your stalking crouch." Darkpaw nodded and relaxed herself, again putting her weight on her haunches after moving downwind of Fernstar. 

"Is this good?" Fernstar sniffed her apprentice.

"Yes, but this is more side-wind than downwind. Move more..." Fernstar pushed Darkpaw to the side a bit, and then continued, "this is good. Now, remember where the wind is blowing when you're hunting. Stalk forward for me, pretend this pine cone is your prey." She gestured with her tail to a fallen pine cone. Darkpaw moved forward in a smooth, quiet motion. Getting closer to ensure proper kill, she pounced and swiped the pine cone with her claws. 

"It would be a bit different depending on the animal," Darkpaw mewed. "But was that alright?" Fernstar made a sweeping motion with her tail.

"Yes, it was alright. Now, climb as high as you can... That tree." Darkpaw cocked her head.

"Why? We're not SkyClan, not even ThunderClan!"

"You must have a basic knowledge, just in case. Now, climb." Darkpaw sunk her claws into the tree. It was soft, and she was careful not to go on thin branches as she scaled it. She looked down with a yelp.

"I'm so high! Can I come down?" Fernstar flicked her tail and Darkpaw scrambled to get off the tree. It wasn't natural, she thought, to climb trees. How could ThunderClan and SkyClan stand it? But then again, how could RiverClan stand swimming, and WindClan the cold winds of the moor? She sighed. The other clans weren't understandable, they were simply weird. She was thankful she would never have to work with them. After all, weren't the clans supposed to be enemies?

...

Darkstorm yawned as she patrolled the borders. No cat had intruded. "Let's hunt. More prey can't hurt," she suggested. Grassfang and Yowltail nodded.

"I'll go there," Yowltail nodded in the direction of the Pine Stump and took off. Grassfang snorted good-naturedly. 

"There's only so much prey to be found, especially with the Twolegs. I'll go to the Dead Tree, why don't you go to the Violet Swamp." Darkstorm nodded and padded away.

The Violet Swamp was called what it was called because of the beautiful water lilies that sprouted in it. The water was also slightly clearer than the other swamps, and many animals drank there. There weren't many toads, though, most likely for the same reason. The black pelted warrior stayed in the shadows, slowly stalking forward. She suddenly remembered the hunting lesson she once had with Fernstar. She missed Fernstar. Although the old ShadowClan leader hadn't been fair to her, things were so much less confusing, and she was loyal to her clan. Treestar had changed drastically since given the name 'star', and she was even less fond of him than Fernstar, as she had actually known him when he was well-liked.

A scent filled her nose and she crouched, pinning the rat with her eyes. It was small, but it would have to be a quick kill. If bitten, her wound could quickly get infected and she could die. This was unlikely, but she wouldn't take her chances. She silently unsheathed her claws and bared her teeth. There could be more, hiding in the tall grass.

It was nibbling the root of a water lily. She planned a route and prowled through the flower-dotted grass, stopping as the scent of more rats filled her nose. About five, she guessed. Her choices were to try herself to catch it, which was dangerous, leave them, or get help. She chose the third one and found Yowltail and Grassfang, bringing them to the swamp. "Did you catch anything?"

"No," Yowltail sighed. 

"Let's catch these, then," Grassfang mewed. Darkstorm led the senior warrior and deputy to the group of rats.

"Here." The cats struck out in unison, catching one rat and scaring the others. Darkstorm herded a stray one into the group, and the ShadowClan warriors moved in. Ine scratched her nose, but she caught it, and helped Yowltail get one. Grassfang killed the rest.

"They were weak," Grassfang murmured. "Barely put up a fight. But hey, we got prey! Let's head back." Darkstorm nodded.

"And there was no clan stealing it. That's good. Everyone has stopped going across our borders. But we'd better be careful..." Yowltail finished for her.

"We never know when they'll strike."

...

"Hey, Darkstorm! We have to move. Wake up!" Thorntail mewed. Darkstorm jolted awake, confusion filling her eyes. 

"It was ShadowClan..." Memories, she realized sadly. A wave of despair washed through her. One memory as a kit, then an apprentice, and finally a warrior. She wished she could fall asleep again and let all her troubles fade away. 

"You had bad dreams?"

"Sad ones. Actually, happy ones, but in ShadowClan, so sad ones, really. Each one ended with me not trusting the other clans..."

"You're here now, and we're following the brightest star. That's what matters." Darkstorm nodded, rolling over and heaving to her paws.

"DarkClan! We'll move on now." The cats followed her, but Darkstorm barely noticed. I thought the other clans were terrible. Now, tragedy has stuck us together. But... Was this a message from StarClan? What...

What will happen when the tragedy is gone?

Okay, I'm sorry if this was a boring chapter. But I not everything can have death or battles in it. I actually liked this. We got peeks at Darkstorm's past, and how much has changed. It's sort of sad, to see the main character's happy memories and then what's really happening to her. And now she's started thinking about after.

-Shadowstorm