Chapter 1

"We're almost there. We should be at the front door in a few heartbeats!" Sonicwind told Shadow. Shadow looked around trying to find something that may act as a door for an entire clan of cats. When Sonic announced that they had arrived, he couldn't see the entrance anywhere.

"Sonicwind, I can't find the door. Are you sure we are at the right place? Is this a trap?" asked Shadow looking around with curiosity. He found he was acting just like a kit. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"The entrance is right in front of your face! Follow me!" Sonicwind commanded. He dove under a bush in front of them. Shadow watched him disappear without a trace. Reluctantly, he crawled after him.

"How far do I have to crawl?" asked Shadow with a whiny voice. Sonicwind looked at him from the other side of the bush. He couldn't believe what he was doing.

"Keep on crawling! You're almost there! Don't be such a kit!" Sonicwind hissed.

Shadow paused. He felt that he had to complain about everything. What happened to his mysterious, dark, brooding personality? He was a kit! Each time he saw a leaf, he wanted to jumped on it. What was happening to him?

He finally crawled out of the bush to find him in a tunnel of bramble thickets. The two of them came out of the tunnel and into a large clearing. Shadow gazed around in amazement. Sonicwind couldn't help beaming at Shadow's amazement.

"Sonicwind! Sonicwind! You're back!" yelled a yellow tom with two tails. He ran up to Sonic wind and purred loudly. Shadow could guess who this was.

"Doublepaw! How's it going?" asked Sonicwind.

"I'm excited! I'm going to be a warrior like you tomorrow!" Doublepaw shouted excitedly. He calmed down and sat on the ground. He finally noticed Shadow with Sonicwind. "Who's that? Another kit?" asked Doublepaw.

"Yes... Wandering around in the forest... He was lost so I decided to take him here," Sonicwind explained.

"I beat him at a race on the way here," Shadow bragged.

Doublepaw's fur rose in alarm. "You beat Sonicwind at three moons?! How is that possible?!" he demanded.

"Don't ask me! I wasn't going easy on him! Although, he had to trip in front of me! I saved him by a whisker!" Sonicwind bragged back.

"Sonicwind... Deputies don't brag...," Doublepaw reminded him. Sonicwind huffed.

"Ugh! I hate being so formal! I want to be the great cat I once was before I got all of those responsibilities... All I'm doing now is attracting she-cats to me!" Sonicwind complained flicking his tail towards Roseheart and Acorntail. Doublepaw sighed.

"Sonicwind, I know things are hard for you at the moment... You will get your time to shine at some point. Besides, I thought you like being the deputy!" Doublepaw told his mentor.

"Yeah... I'm only keeping the position because I don't want Jetstorm to have it!" Sonicwind said glancing over at Jetstorm who was resting in the warrior's den.

Doublepaw nodded in understanding. He padded away. Shadow looked over at the glaring Sonicwind. "Jetstorm?" he asked.

Sonicwind looked over and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it. There will be nothing to worry about as long as I'm the deputy. Come on. You must meet our leader," Sonicwind explained to Shadow.

They walked over to the large tree in the clearing. They hopped up the tree and within the branches was a giant hole in the trunk that was big enough to be used as a room for one or two cats. A scarlet red tom was resting within the hole with a bed of feathers. His claws were sheathing and unsheathing themselves. Shadow knew that he was dreaming. He wondered what about. Sonicwind nudged the leader away.

"Knucklestar... Wake up...," Sonicwind said gently.

Shadow almost laughed! Knucklestar?! How silly is that? Knuckles is the leader of the clan of cats! He kept his mouth shut. He'd be severely punished if he were to laugh. Knucklestar blinked open his eyes slowly.

"Sonicwind, I was dreaming! I was dreaming about ripping the pelts off of MoonClan once and for all!" Knucklestar shouted.

"I beg of your forgiveness... I just have something important to report," Sonicwind said bowing to Knucklestar.

"Enough with the formalities! What is it already?!" bellowed Knucklestar.

Sonicwind swished his tail away from Shadow allowing Knucklestar to get a good look at him. He gasped in alarm.

"Well, black kit of three moons... Red stripes as well as red eyes... I have to tell Cosmicleaf of this! Where did you find him?!" demanded Knucklestar urgently.

"He was lost in the woods. He didn't know where he came from or who he belonged to. I said he could come with me back to the camp. Has StarClan shown you or Cosmicleaf of this?" he asked.

"That is none of your concern. I shall tell this to the clan immediately. Thank you, Sonicwind. I shall take the kit with me for the time being. You go get yourself a piece of fresh-kill. You've earned it," Knucklestar told Sonicwind.

Sonicwind's eyes lit up and he sprang from the tree in a mighty leap. Shadow's eyes followed the gray-blue tom until he was out of sight. Knucklestar also jumped from the tree and waited for Shadow to follow. The two of them walked over to a large rock. Knucklestar jumped to the top of the giant rock and beckoned Shadow with a twitch of his tail.

"This is called the Skyrock. I always come here to make announcements to the clan. What is your name?" asked Knucklestar.

"I'm Shadow," Shadow replied.

Knucklestar turned to face the camp. He yelled to everyone in a mighty voice. " Everyone who is old enough to catch their own prey, gather here under the Skyrock!"

The clan cats gathered. The queens flicked their tails at the kits to tell them to stay in the nursery. There were many cats that looked familiar to him. All of them in one way or another. They all hushed to hear what Knucklestar had to say.

"A black cat has arrived at our camp with red stripes and red eyes by the name of Shadow. We are taking him into our camp as a kit due to his young age. We shall train him as an apprentice when ready. I hope that you will be kind to him and make him feel welcome," Knucklestar announced.

"Where did this kit come from?!" asked a brown she-cat.

"How do we know he's not a spy?!" demanded a pink she-cat.

"Is he dangerous in any way?" asked a purple tom.

"I shall answer all questions when I call this meeting to a close! Now, Shadow, from now on, you shall be known as Shadowkit. You will join the other kits in the nursery for now," Knucklestar told him.

Again, Shadow "kit" felt insulted. He was being treated like a baby. He was older than all of them combined! Now, he was confined in a young, childish body. He didn't know if he even wanted to join the clan. He was only staying because Sonicwind was a great runner just like his double in another universe. He continued to remain silent.

"Welcome to SunClan!" cheered a she-cat from the back.

When Shadowkit looked at her, he saw her golden fur and blue eyes filled with caring and compassion. She reminded him strongly of someone he knew. He shoved the thought away when Knucklestar started speaking again.

"I shall assign one apprentice and one warrior to show him around the camp. The warrior shall be Blazepelt and Goldenpaw. That's it! This meeting is over!" Knucklestar yelled. He ran off and jumped up into his tree. A few cats followed him asking questions. Although, they all asked from the ground rather than following the leader.

Shadowkit looked around. Who was Blazepelt? It was obviously Blaze the Cat, but which one was Blaze? What about Goldenpaw?

"Hey, Shadowkit!" said a voice from behind him. Shadowkit's fur flew up in an instant. His fur laid back down when he saw it was the golden she-cat he saw earlier.

"Hi. You're Goldenpaw?" asked Shadowkit.

"That's right! Over there is my mentor Blazepelt. You know, the purple she-cat over there talking with Silverflight. She told me to come and talk with you," Goldenpaw told him.

"You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago... I can't tell who...," Shadowkit told her.

"I do? Was she nice?" she asked.

"The nicest person I knew...," Shadowkit explained.

Blazepelt padded over with a friendly look on her face. She nodded in greeting to Shadowkit. Goldenpaw fluffed up her fur.

"Remember our deal?" she asked.

Blazepelt sighed. "Well, I don't want to be friendlier than I want to be! Can't I just be myself?" she asked her apprentice.

"Fine..."

"As you can probably tell, my name is Blazepelt. I am Goldenpaw's mentor. She wants me to make a deal with her about only one thing that I have problems with! I be friendly, she doesn't question my every action. I'm failing to uphold my part of the deal...," Blazepelt explained.

"I can see that...," Shadowkit said almost with a laugh.

Goldenpaw sat up straight trying to hide her excitement. Shadowkit could see right through her it felt like. She flicked her tails to start the tour. They first started with the bramble tunnel.

"This is the bramble tunnel where we enter the camp. Our camp is almost impossible to spot. Did you see it when you first came?" asked Blazepelt.

Shadowkit shook his head. Blazepelt and Goldenpaw beamed. "We've worked hard to make that tunnel so that nobody can identify where camp is! There's also a large barrier that we've made to also keep out intruders. It looks so real that even I sometimes forget that it's there!" Goldenpaw explained.

They moved on to a large den filled with nests. A few cats were resting within the nests. They were older than the apprentices. Goldenpaw poked her head in. "Crocscale?! I thought you were supposed to be training with Beepaw!"

Crocscale lifted his head. He growled when he saw that it was just an apprentice and lowered his head again. "I decided to take a day off..."

Blazepelt ruffled her fur a little. She approached Crocscale and took a deep breath. "WAKE UP!! TRAINING STARTED HOURS AGO!!"

Crocscale jumped from his bed in alarm. He raced from the den and went to the clearing to find Beepaw. Blazepelt, Goldenpaw, and Shadowkit laughed.

Shadowkit knew who they were as well. Crocscale is Vector and Beepaw is Charmy. It made sense. He drew his attention back to the warrior.

"This is the warrior's den. All the warriors sleep in this den," Blazepelt explained. She flicked her tails towards the other end of the clearing. "The apprentices sleep over on the opposite side of the camp. However, you won't be there for another three moons."

Shadowkit nodded in understanding. They continued along.

Goldenpaw bounded over into the middle of the camp. "This is the clearing where we share tongues! We usually do that at sunhigh!"

Shadowkit's fur ruffled up again. Sharing tongues?! What in the world was that?! The images that came to mind weren't the greatest... Goldenpaw figured out why he was making the odd face and explained.

"Sharing tongues means to talk or chat about what you want to talk about. Gossip, training, patrols, hunting, hedgehogs in other universes that can walk and talk who look surprisingly like us, and, well, anything!" Goldenpaw explained.

Shadowkit nodded finally getting the picture. It was just a time to hang out with other cats. They moved on.

"The clan leader sleeps in that giant tree in the middle of the clearing. It's a very special tree with a trunk large enough to have a hole in it that can actually work as a room. The apprentices like to play near the roots. Only Sonicwind is allowed to go into the tree unless if it's a special occasion. For example, you got to follow Sonicwind into the tree to see Knucklestar correct?" asked Blazepelt.

"Yes."

"That was because Sonicwind knew that a new addition to the clan is a special occasion. Don't go up there again. I've never gotten the honor of being in the tree. The tree means authority and peace which makes it special to us clan cats. You understand don't you?" Blazepelt asked.

"I understand clearly."

"Good."

They walked over to the final den. Blazepelt flicked her tail towards it. "That's the nursery where the kits and queens stay. You shall be staying there for the next three moons," Blazepelt explained.

Shadowkit's ears drooped. He didn't want to be a kit and be stuck in a nursery! He wanted to get back to his own world! Eggman was behind it all he was sure. What could he do? What planet was he on? Did these cats know anything about where he came from or where they are? He didn't guess that any of them did. He kept his mouth shut.

"Something wrong Shadowkit? You look a little disappointed," Goldenpaw noticed.

Shadowkit sighed. Nothing gets by her apparently. "I'm just not wanting to be in the nursery with a bunch of kits!"

"Most of the kits are older than you and are close to becoming apprentices. If not older, then they are the same age," Blazepelt.

"The same age? Like who?" asked Shadowkit for some reason interested.

"There's one who shall still be there with you 'till the end of the third moon. You two are the same age and seem to have a lot in common. Your apprentice ceremonies will probably be at the same time. Her name is Emeraldkit," Blazepelt explained.

Goldenpaw wriggled into the conversation. "She's not much of a talker. Rather mysterious if I do say so myself. Almost as if she is thinking about her past and how terrible it was."

Recognition seized him again. He knew who that was. To see her in cat form would be kind of weird. Emeraldkit was based off of the Drayan who's sort of like a fairy with emerald green wings as well as emerald green eyes. Her long black hair would be waving in the wind. A green shirt, black sash, black pants, black boots, and a green gem on the side of the boots was what she wore. However, how would she look as a cat. Why would she be only three moons old? There was only one way to find out about that.

"Emeraldkit!" summoned Blazepelt.

A small black kit about the same size as him walked out and sat on the ground. She began to groom her paw when she sat down. Shadowkit was expecting her to be something like this. An all black cat with emerald eyes.

"Emeraldkit, meet Shadowkit. He shall be joining you in the nursery," Blazepelt explained.

"How old is he?" asked Emeraldkit.

"Three moons."

"Predictable. So, what do you say Shadowkit...?" she asked walking in a big circle around him looking him over from head to tail.

"I say that I am not at all surprised. I would prefer to be an apprentice. I feel older than three months!" Shadowkit explained.

"Months? What are months?" asked Goldenpaw.

"MOONS! I meant moons!" he corrected quickly trying not to stumble over his own tongue. It would take a while to get used to their vocabulary.

Emeraldkit smirked at him. She flicked her tail at him and walked back into the nursery. "Pleasure meeting you..."

Goldenpaw walked up in front of Shadowkit. "You see what I mean right?"

Shadowkit did not know what she meant. He thought that she was going to be the best roommate he could possibly get in this clan! He looked back over to Blazepelt. "Is there anything else to see?"

"Yes! There's the medicine cat den! Cosmicleaf and her apprentice, Creampaw, help to take care of our wounded cats. They use the herbs they've gathered from the forest to heal the members of this clan," Blazepelt told him. She pointed over to another den a little ways away from the nursery. It was larger than the apprentice den and the nursery but smaller than the warrior's den. A white cat was shuffling around in the den with a bundle of herbs in her mouth. Blazepelt and Goldenpaw meowed a greeting. The white cat barely even looked up. She looked as if she were preparing for a trip.

"That's Cosmicleaf. I think Creampaw is out collecting herbs. What'd she say they were?" asked Goldenpaw to her mentor.

"Poppy seeds, horsetail, and watermint," Blazepelt answered.

"Oh... I thought it was yarrow, marigold, and honey," Goldenpaw said sheepishly.

"I'd think that she'd come back with a thousand bee stings if she went to get honey."

Shadowkit figured he'd seen all that there was to see. Cosmicleaf is Cosmo and Creampaw is Cream. It was obvious. He was about to leave when he heard his stomach growl. Apparently, Blazepelt and Goldenpaw heard him, too.

"You sound a little hungry Shadowkit. Why don't we get you a piece of fresh-kill off of the fresh-kill pile! It's over there!" Goldenpaw said motioning over to the middle of the clearing. There was a large pile of dead animals. Shadowkit cringed. He walked over and sniffed it. Goldenpaw grabbed something from it and placed it on the ground in front of Shadowkit.

"There you go! It's a mouse!" Goldenpaw explained.

Shadowkit nudged it. His stomach lurched from how disgusting it looked. Goldenpaw looked over at him with a puzzled look.

"What's wrong Shadowkit? You see maggots on it or something?"she asked.

Shadowkit walked away from it slowly. He wanted to make sure that he'd survive the encounter. The dead animal itself wasn't terrible. It was the fact that he'd have to eat one at some point. Goldenpaw picked up the mouse and ran back up to him.

"Come on! It's delicious! I'll show you!" she said.

"N-No! I don't need to be shown! I really don't!" Shadowkit begged.

Goldenpaw had already begun to rip away the mouse. She purred at the taste. Once she had finished, she looked up to find Shadowkit gone. She looked around to find him on the other end of the clearing. His mouth was watering at the thought of a drumstick or some marinated ribs... A pizza or a burger... Although, he was stuck here to eat birds, rabbits, and mice! He swallowed hard. Goldenpaw walked up to him with another mouse. It looked a lot bigger than the one she ate. She dropped it on the ground and backed away from him.

"Let me get this straight... A mouse is delicious to cats. Am I correct?" Shadowkit asked.

"Of course!"

"Well..." Shadowkit looked down at the mouse. He crouched down and took a bite from it. It was a wonder that cats can even eat birds! They must be hard to eat because of the feathers. It was hard enough getting past the fur of the mouse. However, it was rich in flavor and actually didn't taste that bad. He would have preferred the marinated ribs, but he would survive with small rodents. He stop back up as he licked his lips.

"Um... How was it?" asked Goldenpaw.

"It actually isn't that bad. I like it," Shadowkit said. He continued to eat his mouse. Goldenpaw smiled.

As soon as Shadowkit finished off his mouse, he looked up to see the sun setting causing the west side of the sky to turn reds, pinks, and oranges. The east side of the sky was a dark purple. He turned to see Knucklestar hop on top of the Skyrock and summon the clan again. Everyone gathered around the Skyrock. Curiosity was filling the air and hard to not detect. Shadowkit found it cool that he could identify the feelings of other cats. He looked up at Knucklestar.

"Our new arrival has had a chance to look around I take it?" asked Knucklestar. He continued when Shadowkit, Blazepelt, and Goldenpaw nodded. "That is not the reason I've gathered the clan together. You see, Diamondwing has returned from her mission with news for us all." Knucklestar stepped back and let Diamondwing, a white she-cat take over the conversation.

"I went to MoonClan to spy on them and found useful info. Scourgestar is planning an attack! It will happen on the next half moon!" Diamondwing explained.

Meows of alarm rose from the clearing. Shadowkit ran over to Goldenpaw. "What does she mean attack on the next half moon?!" he demanded.

"There's a half moon tonight. When the moon becomes a half moon again in the sky, there shall be a fight... Maybe they'll be able to reverse it!" Goldenpaw explained.

"A month away... That should be enough time to prepare right?"

Shadowkit didn't get to hear his answer. Diamondwing started talking again. "I shall take Camoflight back over the border to spy more. If we find something suspicious, we'll report it immediately!" she yelled. She bowed her head to Knucklestar. He whispered something into her ear and she nodded. Diamondwing and Camoflight padded to the warrior's den.

"I'm going to guess that he sent Camoflight and Diamondwing to their nests so they can rest before returning to work. It would make sense," Goldenpaw explained. She turned to look back at Knucklestar who was going to speak.

"SunClan, I promise that we'll be ready for the attack! We shall do more training with the apprentices, strengthen the barriers, go on more frequent patrols, practice the warriors, have drills, and we'll have Sonicwind try to teach the kits some moves if we really think that's necessary. Whatever we must do, we will not be beat by MoonClan! Scourgestar will not take over the forest!" Knucklestar chanted. Meows of approval rang throughout the camp.

Shadowkit walked back into the nursery. It was a cozy place. He was the only one there he thought. He could hear a purr from the other end of the room. Eyes were burning into his fur. When he turned to look at who it was, he wasn't surprised.

"Shadowkit, I thought that you would be outside trying to hear what the leader is telling his deputy in the tree. That's what all the other kits are doing...," Emeraldkit said. She didn't seem at all concerned about the situation.

Shadowkit tried to remember how he used to talk to her. He'd talk normally to her, but who said that was how she liked most to be talked to. He decided to play the little game she was. "I don't know. They're not really the kind of cats I'd hang out with."

"You're right. I find them easily impressed by little things that don't matter. You don't seem to be as little as the rest of them even though you're younger. It's almost as if I know you. Are you a spy for MoonClan. I can easily tell," she replied.

"No! From what I've heard, never!" Shadowkit snapped.

"Never... Your eyes though... They are the eyes of a MoonClan cat... They're a color that no normal cat would have. Like me, you have eyes that make no sense. Mine are too green and yours are red. You may not know where you come from, but I believe that you come from MoonClan," Emeraldkit explained.

"What about Knucklestar's eyes?! They're purple!" Shadowkit hissed.

"He gets that from being a descendant of a member of MoonClan. Do you understand me?" asked Emeraldkit.

"I suppose that makes sense. I don't know where I come from. MoonClan may be the best answer I can give. You come from there?" asked Shadowkit.

Emeraldkit gave him a smirk and turned her back. She curled up on the ground with her tail reaching her nose. Shadowkit bristled a little. "I shan't tell everyone your secret. You'll get kicked out if you tell. I can promise that you won't tell either."

"Me?! You can't control what I say!"

Emeraldkit lept to her feet with amazing speed and raced up to Shadowkit. She unsheathed her claws and hissed in his face. "Do you want to know what I'll do to you?! I could rip you apart with my bare claws! You'd best shut that big mouth of yours before you get in trouble. You tell on me, I'll tell on you. I go down, you go down with me! Do you hear what I'm saying?!" she demanded.

"Yes. I just have a question for you. Are you still with them?" he asked trying not to anger her anymore.

Emeraldkit swished her tail at him. "No! I'd never! I hate their ways! They're the ones who- Nevermind," Emeraldkit stopped. She rested her head in her paws. She looked blankly at the walls.

"What did they do?" asked Shadowkit.

"Nothing! Leave it alone! You'd better shut up before another cat comes in here and overhears what we're talking about! You are to say nothing. Forget this conversation...," Emeraldkit sighed. She looked as if she was being put under a lot of pressure. Shadowkit decided to drop the subject. She also looked as if she wanted to be alone. Shadowkit respected her wishes and walked as far away from her as he could.

Life's gonna be hard here... It was so much easier when I was the Ultimate Life Form... I only wish that I was still a hedgehog with all that power picking on Silver just because I could. I wonder what this Silver is like. Silverflight is his name right? I'll talk to him tomorrow...

Shadowkit closed his eyes. He let the darkness overtake him and slowly he began to lose consciousness. Before he could, he could have swore he heard a voice. Sonic's voice yelling at him again. He sounded desperate. Was he really just imagining it?

Shadow! Shadow! Come back!