A New Beginning [a Warriors fanfiction] [SPOILERS FOR THE LAST HOPE!!]

It was moonhigh when Lionblaze frantically rushed into the medicine den, searching in the darkness for his brother. He heard the small gray tom rise from his nest. "What is it...?" Jayfeather asked, the blind tom scenting Lionblaze.

"It's Cinderheart." Lionblaze panted. "She's kitting!" Without another word, the two brothers hurried toward the nursery, Jayfeather carrying a bundle of herbs in his mouth.

And soon, Cinderheart was lying in her nest, tired but proud. Two tiny, squirming scraps of fur lay at her belly.

"They're amazing," Lionblaze purred, sitting next to his mate. "Our kits..."

"What are you going to name them?" Jayfeather purred.

Cinderheart twisted her head to look at her two sons: a gray tabby and a ginger tabby, both toms. "The gray one will be Smokekit, and the ginger one Flamekit." she decided, wrapping her tail around the kits.

"Smokekit...! Wake up!" A small ginger tabby tom, his emerald green eyes shining, nudged his brother for what seemed like the fiftieth time. Finally, the large gray tabby flexed his claws and stood up.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

Flamekit smiled. "Did you forget what today was?" he purred.

Suddenly their mother padded into the den, overhearing everything. She purred. "Today is the day you two become six moons old, and also the day you become apprentices." she reminded them, her blue eyes gleaming in pride.

"They grow up so quickly, don't they?" chimed a young cream she-cat from her nest. She herself was pregnant with her next litter, and Jayfeather predicted she would be kitting any day now.

"They really do, Daisy," Cinderheart murmured. She began to lick at the fur on Flamekit's head.

"Hey! What're you doing?" Flamekit cried in objection.

"You two need to at least be clean for your apprentice ceremonies." Cinderheart instructed between licks. Before she could finish, however, Bramblestar's call rang out from the Highledge:

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather for a Clan meeting."

Flamekit pulled away from his mother eagerly as he and Smokekit tumbled out of the nursery. Cinderheart followed with a purr of amusement.

Bramblestar continued the meeting. "Flamekit, Smokekit, please step forward."

The two toms, with as much dignity as they could muster, went to stand in front of the Highledge. Bramblestar climbed down to stand by them before the Clan. "Flamekit, Smokekit, from this day on until you recieve your warrior names, you will be known as Flamepaw and Smokepaw." The dark brown tabby tom turned to the rest of the Clan. "Flamepaw, your mentor will be Cloudtail. Smokepaw, your mentor will be Graystripe."

At the announcement, Cloudtail and Graystripe padded forward and touched noses with their new apprentices.

"Flamepaw! Smokepaw! Flamepaw! Smokepaw!" the cats of ThunderClan chanted.

After the cheers died down and Bramblestar dismissed the Clan, it was just the new apprentices and their mentors. "Your training will begin with a tour around the territory." Graystripe directed.

"I suppose for simplicity's sake, the four of us should go together." Cloudtail suggested. Graystripe nodded in agreement and led the apprentices out of camp.

Soon the group had reached the border between ShadowClan and ThunderClan. "It stinks here," Smokepaw muttered, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Be more polite." Graystripe scolded. "What if a ShadowClan patrol heard you say that?"

"Well, if they tried to fight me for it, I'd kick their butts!" Smokepaw boasted with a laugh.

"Yeah right!" Flamepaw laughed, batting playfully at the air in front of his brother.

"Stop acting like kits!" Cloudtail snapped. "You're apprentices now. Act like it."

Flamepaw and Smokepaw flattened their ears in regret, as if trying to look innocent.

Later, as the sun was setting, the group returned to camp. The apprentices were both carrying their first catches-Smokepaw had a fat mouse and Flamepaw had caught a squirrel.

"You two should go get some rest. We'll be waking you all up early tomorrow for group training." Graystripe instructed, then padded off to the warriors' den with Cloudtail close behind.

Smokepaw and Flamepaw headed for the apprentices' den after dropping their catches on the freshkill pile.

"Hey look, newbies!" a large brown and cream tom called at the sight of Flamepaw and Smokepaw.

"Newbies...?" Flamepaw mumbled.

"Shut up, Molepaw," a ginger she-cat snapped, rolling her eyes. She looked at Flamepaw and Smokepaw. "I'm Cherrypaw, and this is my brother Molepaw." she greeted.

Flamepaw smiled. "Well I'm Flamepaw and this is my brother Smokepaw." he greeted.

"Where do we sleep?" Smokepaw grunted.

Molepaw laughed again. "You gotta find the moss for 'em yourself."

"Stop teasing them." Cherrypaw snapped. "Right here." she told Smokepaw, gesturing with her tail to two nests in the back of the den.

Flamepaw was asleep right away.

Smokepaw hardly slept.

The next day, Smokepaw was awoken by Molepaw. The brown apprentice was standing over him, yelling "Wake up! We're late for training!"

Smokepaw stood frantically and looked around. Flamepaw and Cherrypaw's nests were empty.

"We're supposed to meet them at the training hollow, so we better get going." Molepaw snapped. Smokepaw shoved past him and rushed outside.

When the two reached the training hollow, Cloudtail, Graystripe, Foxleap, and Rosepetal, along with Cherrypaw and Flamepaw, were waiting there. "About time you sleepyheads got here," Cloudtail teased. "Today, we're going to learn one of ThunderClan's signature moves: the lightning drop."

"I already know that, though!" Molepaw pouted.

"Prove it, then," Rosepetal challenged.

Molepaw darted up a nearby tree. The others waited for a few heartbeats, and suddenly Smokepaw was knocked to the ground as Molepaw landed square on his shoulders. Smokepaw struggled, furious that Molepaw had chosen him as an example, and managed to throw the older apprentice off.

"Nicely done. But Smokepaw and Flamepaw still need to learn it." Foxleap pointed out.

Flamepaw looked up through the tree branches. "It looks easy," he muttered. "We just climb up a tree, and then drop down on our enemies."

Cloudtail snorted. "It's not that easy. The lightning drop is all about precision. If you miss, your opponent has a good opportunity to pin you down and get the advantage over you."

The two brothers practiced the move over and over until sunhigh. Eventually, Smokepaw had mastered it, while Flamepaw was still landing clumsily. Smokepaw's larger size gave him an advantage, enabling him to knock the breath out of his opponent as well as pin them down.

"Now that you know that, let's try a mock battle with it." Foxleap suggested. "Cherrypaw and Smokepaw are attacking ShadowClan warriors, and Flamepaw and Molepaw are ThunderClan's defense. Go."

Flamepaw immediately shot up a tree and tried to drop down on his brother. Smokepaw rolled out of the way and leapt at Flamepaw, pinning him down. "Bam." the gray tom laughed. "You're de—"

Suddenly, Molepaw tackled Smokepaw, throwing him off Flamepaw. While Cherrypaw fought with Flamepaw, Molepaw pinned Smokepaw down. Smokepaw managed to kick the brown tom in the stomach with a hind leg, escape from his grasp, and dart up a tree.

"Hey!" Molepaw yowled. "You're ShadowClan, they don't climb!"

"Well I do!" Smokepaw yowled back. Instead of immediately dropping down, he leaped into the branches of another tree behind Molepaw. "Can't catch me now!" he taunted. Molepaw managed to climb the tree, but Smokepaw was already leaping from tree-to-tree.

"Very good!" Graystripe called, ending the mock battle. "If ShadowClan cats actually knew a technique like Smokepaw's, they could get right to our camp, which obviously isn't good." he praised as Smokepaw and Molepaw returned to the training hollow.

"I suppose it's getting late. We should head back to camp." Rosepetal meowed, glancing up at the sky.

When they returned to camp, several warriors, including Jayfeather, were surrounding the nursery. "What's going on?" Flamepaw called, padding over to the crowd. Jayfeather turned to the apprentice.

"Daisy just gave birth, but…" his voice trailed off.

"Two of the kits are stillborn," Spiderleg finished, grief clouding his eyes.

"Everyone, leave Daisy, Spiderleg, and Jayfeather alone," Bramblestar instructed, ushering a few younger warriors away from the nursery.

Flamepaw, Molepaw, Cherrypaw, and Smokepaw all headed into the apprentices' den. "This isn't a good omen," Cherrypaw muttered, flopping down into her nest.

"What do you mean?" Flamepaw asked. "An omen?"

"Two kits dying right before leaf-bare, when the Clan is going to need strong cats the most." Cherrypaw explained. "What if it's StarClan's way of saying even more cats are going to die?"

"You're being ridiculous." Molepaw scoffed. "It simply means Daisy gave birth to four kits, and two just weren't meant to have lives."

"You're so insensitive!" Cherrypaw cried. "Two kits just died and you don't even care!"

"Geez, what are you, a medicine cat?" Molepaw snapped. "Of course I care that two kits died. That doesn't mean it's some omen though! Not everything has to do with StarClan!"

Flamepaw shifted in his nest awkwardly, hoping the siblings would remember they were there too.

Cherrypaw just huffed and curled up in her nest, her back to the other three. Molepaw rolled his eyes at his sister. "So overdramatic," he muttered.