The Nine Lives of Ashfur

'''Fanfiction by Qibli77. Please no stealing/editing (comment about grammar/spelling/etc.).'''

Chapter 1
The first thing I saw when my eyes stretched open was the beautiful tabby gray fur of my mother, wrapped in her sweet scent of milk and forest leaves. My gaze drifted up to Brindleface's eyes, which were a bright green.

"Ashkit, you opened your eyes!" It was my brother, Elderkit, who had already opened his eyes. Tulipkit came bounding past Brindleface's tail, crashing into Elderkit and letting out an oof. "Wow, your eyes are blue!" Elderkit meowed, ignoring Tulipkit.

"Are they?" I asked.

Brindleface nodded. "Beautiful dark blue eyes. You are the first in the litter to have them."

I then noticed Tulipkit's and Elderkit's green eyes: Tulipkit's paler green and Elderkit's dark green, which were similar to my mother's.

"I wonder if Fernkit's eyes will be blue," I said, looking over at my only sister, whose eyes were still shut.

"Well, you'll have to wait and see," Brindleface meowed. "It can't be long. Elderkit and Tulipkit opened theirs a sunrise ago."

"Can we go outside while we're waiting for Fernkit?" Elderkit begged.

"Please?" Tulipkit joined in.

"Not now," Brindleface said. "Ashkit just opened his eyes, and we don't want Fernkit to feel left out if she opens her eyes while you're gone."

"Awwwww," Elderkit moaned.

"Hey, you can play moss ball with us!" a golden-brown tabby kit invited. Ashkit knew from his scent that his name was Brackenkit, and he was one of the older kits in the nursery. He and his siblings, Cinderkit, Thornkit, and Brightkit, were about the same age as Swiftkit, who was Goldenflower's only surviving kit. Brackenkit and his siblings were Frostfur's kits.

He then realized that with all the litters in the nursery, there were nine kits in the nursery plus three she-cats. No wonder Frostfur, with the oldest kits, mostly slept in the warriors' den now.

With Tulipkit and Elderkit bounding ahead, I went over to Brackenkit, who was rolling a clump of moss together with his paw. "Cinderkit, wanna play?" he called to his sister.

"Sure!" A dark gray she-kit jumped over her sleeping brother Thornkit, who groaned in protest and rolled over to bump into his ginger-and-white sister Brightkit. She didn't make a sound. Cinderkit padded over to our game.

"We need another kit to make it even," I pointed out.

"You're right," Cinderkit realized. "Well, you're younger than us, so you can be a team and Brackenkit and I will be one."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Tulipkit squeaked. "We can play just as well as you!"

While we started the game, I happened to glance over at Fernkit and realized that she had opened her eyes. "Hey, Fernkit!" I meowed. "Your eyes are open!"

Fernkit blinked for a bit, showing off her pale leaf-green eyes, which were a similar color to Tulipkit's.

"I guess I am the only kit in the family with blue eyes," I sighed.

"That means you're unique!" Brindleface said.

"What does yoo-neek mean?" I asked.

"It means you're not the same as everyone else. You're different and that's a good thing! Imagine if everyone in the Clans looked like you. Wouldn't that get boring?"

"Yeah, that makes sense!" Fernkit agreed.

"Wanna join our moss ball game?" I asked Fernkit. "That will make it even."

"All right," she agreed, and we bounded over to the other kits together.

Chapter 2
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

I woke to my mother's wailing.

"What happened, Mama?" Fernkit yawned.

Tulipkit was the first to see him.

"Elderkit?" My brother tentatively poked Elderkit, who was cuddled by the still crying Brindleface. "He's cold!" Tulipkit shuddered. "Why's he cold, Mama?"

Goldenflower came over to us. "Ashkit, Fernkit, Tulipkit, come over here. Swiftkit really wants to play moss ball with you."

Swiftkit had a "no, I don't" look on his face as he rolled the moss into a ball.

"Yeah," Brackenkit encouraged us with a worried glance over at Brindleface. "Let's play."

We later learned why they were taking us away from our mother. Our brother was gone— in StarClan now. He would never become an apprentice or a warrior.

"I love you so, so, so, so much," Brindleface whispered. Her eyes looked far, far away, causing me to believe maybe she was talking to herself. "So much."

Maybe that was why we were so eager to witness Swiftkit's apprentice ceremony— something to distract us, and more importantly, Brindleface— from the grief.

"Swiftkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed," Bluestar yowled from atop the Highrock. Tulipkit, Fernkit, and I, who had never seen an apprentice ceremony before, stared in awe at our blue-gray leader, her pelt shining in the sunlight. Swiftkit sat nervously beneath the rock as he waited to receive his apprentice name. "From this day on you will be known as Swiftpaw. Your mentor will be Longtail."

The black-striped brown tabby tom stepped forward; evidently he had been expecting this.

"Longtail, you have shown great loyalty and courage in battle, and you are ready for your first apprentice. I expect you to pass on all you know to Swiftpaw." Bluestar finished the ceremony with a flick of her tail, and Longtail and Swiftpaw touched noses. I could see Longtail silently encouraging his nervous apprentice. ''Yes! Go Swiftpaw!''

"Swiftpaw! Swiftpaw!" the Clan yowled. Fernkit, Tulipkit, and I squeaked out our friend's new name along with the warriors. "Congratulations!" I meowed, even though I knew Swiftpaw couldn't hear me.

It wasn't long before two more of our nursery friends were being made apprentices. Brackenpaw got apprenticed to Graystripe, a younger warrior, and Cinderpaw went to Fireheart, a warrior that Brindleface told me used to be a kittypet, or cared for by Twolegs. Some of the cats in the Clan, especially Darkstripe and Longtail, teased and ridiculed Fireheart for being a kittypet-born warrior, but I didn't see the problem. If Fireheart was a loyal and strong warrior of ThunderClan — which he was — then what did it matter about where he came from?

I thought that Brackenpaw's and Cinderpaw's apprentice ceremonies (which Brindleface told me were held a little early, actually) would be the only excitement until Brightkit and Thornkit earned mentors.

But I was wrong.

There was a commotion by the gorse tunnel, and Fireheart and Tigerclaw padded carefully through the tunnel, carrying a limp gray shape on their backs. Something red and wet glinted near Tigerclaw's haunches. At first I thought Tigerclaw was bleeding, but then I saw that the liquid came from the back leg of the gray cat.

Wait.

Is that— is that Cinderpaw?

Shocked exclamation ringed the camp as Tigerclaw and Fireheart brought Cinderpaw to Yellowfang's den. The dark gray, flat-faced medicine cat bustled Cinderpaw inside. Fireheart stayed in the den, presumably to watch Cinderpaw, but I noticed that Tigerclaw left quickly.

Doesn't he care about Cinderpaw? I supposed Cinderpaw wasn't his apprentice, but didn't he care that a cat of the Clan was gravely injured?

It was dark in the medicine den, but Brindleface said Fernkit, Tulipkit, and I had to go. We were sick, with greencough. I wondered if we would die. ''But I don't want to die. I want to become a warrior''.

"That's right," Yellowfang murmured to me. "You will become a warrior." I must have said something out loud, I realized. "Don't worry," the medicine cat continued.

The next day, Tulipkit was gone. Brindleface didn't talk to anyone. "I hope Fernkit and I don't die," I told Yellowfang in between coughs. "I don't—" cough— "want Mama to—" cough— "feel sad."

"You will get better," Yellowfang meowed determinedly. "I'll make sure of it."

Yellowfang was right. Fernkit and I got better overnight and were healthy again the next day, just in time for something that had never happened before.

"Fireheart!" Bluestar meowed. "What is this?"

I peered out of the nursery, where Fernkit and I had recently returned, to see Fireheart standing at the entrance to the gorse tunnel with a tiny white kit in his mouth.

"It's my sister's firstborn," Fireheart explained.

"Your sister?" Speckletail asked.

"Oh." Longtail's eyes widened in realization and disgust. "From Twolegplace, of course."

"Is that true?" Bluestar asked, staring Fireheart in the eye.

"Yes," Fireheart admitted. "She gave it to me to raise in this Clan."

"And why would she do that?" Bluestar asked, a glint of something in her eyes. I could tell she wasn't very happy with Fireheart, not at all.

"I told her about things in the forest... how great it was," Fireheart muttered.

"Have you been visiting Twolegplace? Since when?" Bluestar questioned him.

"Since leaf-bare began... but I was only seeing my sister. Never any other kittypets," Fireheart assured his leader.

"This kittypet won't be able to adjust," Whitestorm advised.

"I was!" Fireheart defended himself.

"If this kit is Fireheart's kin, it will make a great Clan cat," someone spoke up. I looked around. It was Graystripe.

"Oh, defending your 'friend,' are you?" Longtail jeered. "Didn't seem so yesterday, did it?"

I glanced at Brindleface in confusion. Weren't Fireheart and Graystripe best friends? She made a 'shhhh'-ing gesture and turned her head back to the cats outside. I did, too.

"ThunderClan, what do you think?" Bluestar asked her warriors.

Everyone began to state reasons the kit should go back. Bluestar finally yowled for silence. "I must think about this in my den," she growled, and stalked off.

Fireheart picked up the kit again and went into the warriors' den, followed by Graystripe. After a few minutes, he came back out, this time with Frostfur. To my surprise (okay, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised; it was a kit, after all) they were headed toward the nursery.

Brindleface pulled me and Fernkit back into the nursery and curled protectively around us. When Fireheart, the kit, and Frostfur entered the nursery, she looked at them suspiciously.

"Brindleface," Frostfur meowed, "I know you are still grieving for Tulipkit. But this kit is hungry, and you have milk. Please will you feed him?"

At first, Brindleface shook her head, but Frostfur continued, "I know he will never replace your son, and that's not what he's meant to do. He needs you."

The white kit cried out, and I felt my heart melt for him. I imagined what would happen if Brindleface had brought me from Twolegplace. She would do anything to protect me. But Fireheart couldn't feed this kit; he was a tom.

Fireheart laid the kit gently down on the nursery floor, and the kit worked its way toward Brindleface's belly. It could already smell the milk. It nosed its way between Fernkit and me and began to feed.

"Thank you," Fireheart meowed softly. "Will you care for this kit?"

"Yes," Brindleface whispered.

"I'll tell Bluestar," Frostfur invited, and Fireheart nodded in thanks.

And that's how we ended up with an adopted brother.

The exciting things weren't over. A little more than a quarter moon later, Cinderpaw became Yellowfang's medicine cat apprentice. We had learned a few sunrises before that Cinderpaw's injury prevented her from becoming a warrior. Secretly I felt sorry for her, though I didn't want to tell Cinderpaw that in case it made her feel worse.

I knew Brackenpaw felt very lonely now that he was the only apprentice. Brightkit and Thornkit should be apprenticed soon, right? I thought. I asked Fernkit and Cloudkit — that was the name of the kit Fireheart had brought from Twolegplace — what they thought.

"Yes, definitely," Fernkit agreed. Cloudkit nodded. I had noticed since Brindleface had adopted him that he didn't seem to know that he came from Twolegplace. Due to Fernkit, Brightkit, Thornkit, and I teaching Cloudkit everything about the forest, he now knew as much about Clan life as we did.

Just as we predicted, Bluestar called a Clan meeting the next day.

"Brightkit, Thornkit, come up to the rock," she meowed.

The now-oldest kits in the nursery scampered up to stand below the Highrock. Thornkit seemed especially excited, while Brightkit followed more slowly. "Mousefur, you have told me you are ready for an apprentice. You have shown yourself to be brave and intelligent. You will be mentor to Thornpaw."

Mousefur and Thornpaw touched noses.

"Brightkit, you will now be known as Brightpaw. Whitestorm, you have been without an apprentice since Sandstorm became a warrior. You will be mentor to Brightpaw."

The ginger-and-white she-cat — no longer a she-kit — padded toward Whitestorm and touched noses with him.

"Thornpaw! Brightpaw!" the Clan cheered.

Brightpaw's and Thornpaw's apprentice ceremonies made me realize something — Fernkit and I would be having our apprentice ceremonies eventually! Not eventually, soon.

Sooner than I'd thought.

Chapter 3
"Fernkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed," Bluestar meowed while my sister stood, excited and nervous at the same time, below the Highrock. "Darkstripe will be your mentor. Darkstripe, you have shown much courage and skill in battle. I hope you pass down all you know to your new apprentice, Fernpaw."

As Darkstripe and Fernpaw touched noses, a squirming feeling rose in my chest — a feeling of pride and anticipation and anxiety all wrapped up in one.

"Ashkit, you have also reached six moons, and your mentor will be Dustpelt. This is your first apprentice," Bluestar continued, speaking to my soon-to-be mentor. "Share your courage and determination with Ashpaw. I know you will train him well, but don't be afraid to turn to the senior warriors for advice."

Dustpelt nodded. As he came forward, I stepped toward him and gingerly our noses touched.

"Fernpaw! Ashpaw! Fernpaw! Ashpaw!" the Clan yowled.

Brindleface stepped forward. "I am so proud of you both," she whispered. I knew she must be remembering Elderkit and Tulipkit, and how they would never become apprentices alongside us. ''I will make you proud, Mama. I won't let you, or Elderkit or Tulipkit, down.''

"I'm sorry." Fireheart was speaking to our mentors. "I'm sorry, Mousefur. Whitestorm. Longtail. Darkstripe. Dustpelt. Bluestar is... not feeling well."

The five cats nodded. They knew what he meant. Since Tigerclaw's treachery had been discovered, Bluestar had sunken into grief, despair, and distrust of all her Clanmates — except Fireheart. That was why Cloudtail was a warrior now and not any of us (except of course Brackenfur, who had been made a warrior after the battle with the rogues, a long time ago), even though every single one of us was older than he was. Bluestar didn't trust any of our mentors, but Cloudtail, having Fireheart as his mentor...

Fernpaw and I crept back to the apprentices' den, away from the conversation. "I know we shouldn't have been eavesdropping," Fernpaw whispered, "but... somehow I feel like we need to hear that."

I nodded. I knew what she meant.

Chapter 4
"I have a plan," Swiftpaw whispered that night, when we were all in our dens with no warriors to hear us.

"For what?" Brightpaw asked, worry in her eyes.

"You know how something in the forest has been stealing our prey?" Swiftpaw asked. We all nodded. That was why the fresh-kill pile had been considerably smaller than it usually was this past few sunrises. "Well, I want to go to Snakerocks to find out what it is."

"You can't!" Thornpaw exclaimed.

"Who says I can't?" Swiftpaw meowed, and now it was something more than the want for adventure. It was anger. Hatred. A feeling of betrayal that Bluestar hadn't accepted him. "If we go there and defeat the threat, Bluestar will have to make us warriors."

"No, Swiftpaw, please don't!" Fernpaw begged him. "You'll get hurt and you'll get in trouble and Bluestar will be even less likely to make us warriors!"

"I'll be fine," Swiftpaw growled. "Who's with me?"

"Well, I think it's mouse-brained," I spoke up boldly. "You have no idea what's out there. We're only apprentices!"

"We would have been warriors if Bluestar hadn't been crazy!" Swiftpaw shot back. "Come on. This is the only way we'll ever get noticed in our Clan! Otherwise we'll just stay apprentices forever!"

"Swiftpaw..." Brightpaw's voice was barely audible. "Please don't do this."

"If you don't come with me, I'm going alone," Swiftpaw meowed. "And none of you can stop me!" He curled into his nest and buried his face into the bracken. When I tried to wake him, a muffled "Go away" came from the black-and-white fur I could see.

There was nothing to do except go to sleep. The other apprentices saw this, and one by one, we lay down in our nests.

Early the next morning, I woke with a start to a faint rustling of ferns. Trying to figure out what the scent was without moving, I realized it was noise from Brightpaw's nest.

I raised my head slowly, but just in time to see a black-and-white tail slipping out of the den.

Brightpaw was still in her nest, but awake, and clearly in the process of getting up. She looked at me. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Ashpaw. But— I don't want him to be alone. Please believe me."

I knew I couldn't stop her. "I still don't think it's a good idea," I warned. "But I won't tell. Unless— unless I have to."

Brightpaw looked at me one last time, then raised herself out of her nest and exited the den after Swiftpaw.

Again, there seemed nothing else to do than go back to sleep. It wasn't even light yet; no warrior would have been awake.

When Fernpaw and Thornpaw woke up the next morning, they saw the two empty nests right away. I was already awake; I hadn't been able to sleep worrying about Brightpaw and Swiftpaw.

They immediately turned to me.

"I'm sorry," I said, echoing Brightpaw. "I couldn't have stopped them. I promised I wouldn't tell."

"It's not your fault," Thornpaw assured me. "No cat could have done anything. And maybe it's better that Swiftpaw isn't alone."

All three of us knew that was unlikely.

"I guess we have to do our apprentice duties," Fernpaw mumbled.

I wondered how much we'd actually get done that day.

When I entered the clearing again from cleaning the elders' ticks, the first thing I saw was Fernpaw, standing next to Dustpelt. She looked so distraught and even a little guilty that I knew she'd told.

I decided not to talk to her. She probably didn't want to talk to me anyway. She was too busy being friendly with my mentor.

Later, I saw Dustpelt walking up to Fireheart with a purposeful stride, Fernpaw following more reluctantly behind. Dustpelt spoke to the deputy in low tones, but I could still hear what he said.

"There's something you should know," he meowed. "Fernpaw, tell Fireheart what you told me, please."

Fernpaw lowered her head, avoiding Fireheart's eyes.

"Don't be scared," Dustpelt whispered. "Fireheart won't be angry."

Fernpaw finally lifted her eyes and said, "It... it's Swiftpaw."

I was right!

"Last night, he... he was really angry that..." She looked over her shoulder, and, following her eyes, I saw she had glanced at Cloudtail. "That we couldn't be warriors. And... and he said we should go to Snakerocks, to see if we could... could find what's been stealing our prey. So then maybe... maybe Bluestar would make us warriors?"

The last word ended in a question, and I realized that even if she hadn't been willing to go with Swiftpaw, she still wanted to be a warrior, and believed that Bluestar was wrong in keeping all the apprentices, especially Swiftpaw, Brightpaw, and Thornpaw, who were older, from becoming warriors. As I continued to think about Bluestar's actions, I realized I agreed with Fernpaw. ''It's not fair to keep apprentices as apprentices because of something their mentors did. Didn't do!'' I didn't even know what Bluestar thought Mousefur and Whitestorm, and Darkstripe and Dustpelt and Longtail, had ever done to her. ''The latter three may have been friends of Tigerstar, but they all refused to go with him into exile. Isn't it clear that they're loyal to ThunderClan?''

As I was thinking this, Fernpaw was continuing to talk to Fireheart, though slowly. "So... so Swiftpaw went. This morning." She was at barely a whisper now. "O— only Brightpaw went with him. She... she was afraid of him being alone..."

At this point Fernpaw looked down at the ground again, and Fireheart seemed to realize she couldn't talk about it anymore. "We must take a patrol immediately to find them," he ordered. "Cloudtail, please find some more cats."

"We'd like to come," Dustpelt offered. Fernpaw looked up again. I didn't know what exactly was in my sister's eyes— relief? Nervousness? Fear?

"No, I want you to take Fernpaw hunting," Fireheart decided. "Bring Darkstripe and Ashpaw too. No need for apprentices to get mixed up in this."

Hearing my name, I trotted toward Dustpelt and Fernpaw, standing near the gorse tunnel. "Did someone call me?" I asked, pretending that I hadn't heard anything else.

Dustpelt gave me a hard look, but didn't say anything except, "Yes, we're going hunting. Have you seen Darkstripe?"

We found Darkstripe in the warriors' den, and the four of us exited the gorse tunnel. We were just behind Fireheart and Cloudtail, who had rounded up Sandstorm and Graystripe. I knew we all saw them, but not one cat from our patrol said a word.