Warriors: The Beginning

[Hawkstar]

If you haven't read it already, I'd suggest reading Warriors: The End before you read this one. Have you read it? Good, then let's get this train wreck a-rollin'...

SPOILER: Click to show

SPOILER: Click to show

Prologue

It had been two years since the battle upon the island and Tigerstar had eliminated all his enemies except for those who had joined TigerClan. He had rebuilt the bone-hill now jammed with the bones of his enemies as well as prey. Tigerstar finally had his wish; he ruled the forest as he had always hoped to. Seated atop the bone-hill, his paw upon the skull of Firestar, with his loyal deputy Bloodpelt, Tigerstar surveyed all that he had worked so hard to achieve and for once in his life he felt no one could possibly oppose him. Suddenly Bloodpelt raised a single paw and slashed Tigerstar’s stomach open once again and his precious blood flowed down the bone-hill and Bloodpelt finally felt that his revenge upon Tigerstar was complete.

“I am leader now!” Bloodpelt yelled down to his new followers. “Just as I had always intended to be. When Tigerstar approached me two years ago with the offer. I made the plan to kill him and become leader myself.” But what Bloodpelt did not know was that there was a rebellion preparing to do battle right now, for Hawkfire, Bramblefur, Fernleaf, and Swiftshadow had lived through the bloody battle on the island and were preparing to strike at any moment.

SPOILER: Click to show

Chapter 1

“I say we do it now!” A black and brown tom meowed.

“If we attack now, we’ll be ripped to shreds, Swiftshadow,” a golden tom with a brown marking in the shape of a hawk’s wing meowed. “And our medicine cat can only do so much.”

“I agree with Hawkfire.” Meowed a shorthaired brown tabby tom. “Fernleaf may be good, but he’s no miracle worker.”

“Yes, Bramblefur knows that even fully trained medicine cats have their limits and I had to teach myself.” Fernleaf meowed.

“Then why do we stay by the lake? There is nothing here for us but fear.” Swiftshadow meowed.

“We stay because we must reclaim the lake in the names of our ancestors, even if our eyes did not open until after they had died.” Replied Hawkfire. “Now if you’ll excuse me I must go to the Moonpool to receive my nine lives.” Hawkfire stood up and left the claustrophobic caverns in which they had now made their home. Once Hawkfire found his way to the entrance he turned to the left and padded along the river which led towards the Moonpool. He soon arrived at a stone cliff with a small hole big enough for him to squirm through. Once he had made it through the tunnel he found himself staring at the reflection of the stars in a shimmering pool. He padded over to the water and dipped his nose into it and began to wait to meet with StarClan. Hawkfire awoke in a smoky clearing surrounded by starry cats. A silver gray she-cat approached him.

“Being leader is a big responsibility for one so young.” She meowed.

“I feel I am ready.” Hawkfire meowed.

“If you believe that you are then we shall begin.” She meowed. A golden tabby approached Hawkfire.

“My name is Lionblaze,” he meowed. “And with this life I give you strength enough to win any battle, no matter how uneven the odds may be.” Lionblaze placed his muzzle upon Hawkfire’s forehead. Hawkfire felt a pain sear through his entire body pumping through every single one of his veins. Lionblaze raised his head and the pain stopped. Hawkfire felt ready to collapse already, he heard himself panting and Lionblaze padded away into the crowd of cats. Once he slipped out of sight Hawkfire saw that a black and white apprentice was padding out of the throng.

“I am Breezepaw,” he began. “And with this life I give you the gift of intelligence to know what is right to do. Do not die the same way I did.” This time Hawkfire had to lower his head to allow Breezepaw to touch his nose to Hawkfire’s. Hawkfire felt his brain begin to coarse as if all the thoughts he was receiving were too much. Just when it felt his brain was about to burst Breezepaw backed away. A brown tabby took Breezepaw’s place in front of Hawkfire.

“My name is Brambleclaw,” he meowed. “And with this life I give you freewill. Use it to avoid the temptations of evil.” Brambleclaw let his nose rest upon Hawkfire’s forehead. Hawkfire instantly felt as though he could resist anything and nothing could change his mind. All too soon Brambleclaw raised his head and backed away. A large white tom with big black front paws padded towards Hawkfire. Hawkfire felt a little intimidated by the cat’s size.

“I am Blackstar,” the cat meowed. “With this life I give you energy so that you may lead your cats for moons to come.” Blackstar placed his muzzle upon Hawkfire’s head. Hawkfire suddenly felt as though he could run around the forest for all nine of his lives without ever having to slow down or stop to catch his breath. After a moment Blackstar lifted his muzzle. He padded away and a gray she-cat padded out of the group of StarClan cats.

“I am Mistystar,” the cat meowed. “I was leader of RiverClan, and with this life I give you the gift of mentorship, use it wisely when teaching any cats you take into your clan.” Mistystar lowered her head to touch her muzzle to Hawkfire’s forehead. Hawkfire felt the joys of what being mentored felt like, and he suddenly longed to have had a mentor himself. Then he felt what it was like to be a mentor. It was tough, but rewarding as he witnessed the end of a mentor’s duty and saw the apprentice become a warrior. The thought instantly disappeared as Mistystar lifted her muzzle. As Mistystar padded back into the group of cats a black and white tom with a long tail padded out of it.

“I am Tallstar,” he meowed. “And with this life I give you faith. Use it to never lose sight of StarClan.” Hawkfire expected another painful life but when Tallstar rested his muzzle upon Hawkfire’s forehead he felt as though nothing was changing. He was still in the clearing in front of the cats of StarClan, but with one difference. He looked down at his paws and he saw there were stars within his fur as if he were a member of StarClan himself. He suddenly flashed back to the clearing where Tallstar was padding away from him. A silver-gray she-cat padded out of the cats. This cat Hawkfire recognized the scent of.

“Hello Hawkfire.” She meowed.

“Iceshine.” Hawkfire uttered under his breath. Hawkfire remembered Iceshine as a RiverClan warrior, she was one of the first cats he ever caught scent of and as soon as he caught her scent he knew that she was the cat whom he would always love, but when Tigerstar challenged the clans to battle on the island she went to battle and never returned. “With this life I give you the gift of love,” she meowed. “I know you’ll use it to make a she-cat very happy someday.” Iceshine rested her muzzle upon Hawkfire’s head and he felt a smooth feeling of warmth run through his veins. Much too soon Iceshine lifted her head off of Hawkfire’s forehead and padded into the group of cats once again. A brown tom padded out of the group and approached Hawkfire.

“I am Barkface,” the cat mewed. “And with your eighth life I give you the gift of healing, use it to teach Fernleaf the remainder of his medicine cat training.” Barkface touched his muzzle to Hawkfire’s forehead and Hawkfire felt as if all the herbs had been suddenly hewn into his mind and he could never forget them or their uses. Almost at once Barkface padded away into the clearing and a handsome ginger tom padded up to him.

“I am Firestar, I was leader of ThunderClan before the battle,” he meowed. “And with this life I give you compassion and leadership, use them to lead your clan in the best way possible.” Firestar touched his muzzle to Hawkfire’s forehead just as the eight cats who had come before him had. Hawkfire instantly felt a searing pain. It seemed to be the worst pain yet and just when it felt as though these two gifts were about to kill him Firestar raised his muzzle and stood in front of him. “The new leader has passed the test of receiving his nine lives. For this we shall award him with his new leader name.” He turned towards Hawkfire. “Hawkfire,” he meowed. “From this day on you shall be known as Hawkstar.”

“Hawkstar, Hawkstar!” The cats of StarClan began cheering his new leader name. Suddenly they faded away into the distance and Hawkstar found himself alone in darkness with Firestar.

“Just because Tigerstar is dead does not mean the danger is passed.” Firestar meowed. “There is an even greater danger approaching the lake. More dangerous than anything ever faced by the clans before, but perhaps if you and your clan make the right decision a new beginning can occur and the lake can be safe once again.” Then, with the words of Firestar still ringing in his ears, Hawkstar found himself back seated beside the Moonpool. Hawkstar stretched his limbs and stood up to walk back to camp. Once he exited the tunnel that led to and from the Moonpool he began to make his way down the river to the camp.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Hawkstar heard a high-pitched voice call.

Just like last time, comments are appreciated.

[Hawkstar]

SPOILER: Click to show

Chapter 2

“He’s been gone too long!” Meowed Swiftshadow.

“He may be right,” meowed Fernleaf. “Does anyone know how long it takes to receive nine lives?” Bramblefur stood up.

“I’m going to look for him.” He meowed blankly.

“Are you crazy?” Fernleaf meowed.

“What do you mean am I crazy?” Bramblefur replied. “He’s our brother.”

“I agree with, Bramblefur.” Swiftshadow meowed. “I for one am not going to let Scourge get our brother without a fight.” Fernleaf sighed.

“Well I’m going to stay here and prepare herbs for when you return.” He meowed, but Swiftshadow and Bramblefur had already leaped out of the cave.

“Do you know where you go to get your nine lives?” Swiftshadow asked Bramblefur.

“No, but we can just follow Hawkfire’s scent to where he met with StarClan.” He answered. Swiftshadow and Bramblefur shoved their noses onto the ground. Suddenly Swiftshadow caught a familiar scent. Hawkfire! He thought.

“I’ve found his scent.” Swiftshadow called to Bramblefur. Bramblefur ran over and started sniffing.

“That’s definitely Hawkfire.” He meowed. They both began to follow the light scent trail, suddenly it ended.

“Foxdung!” Swiftshadow cursed. “I can’t pick it up anymore.”

“We are supposed to cover our scent trails when we leave,” Bramblefur meowed. “To prevent Scourge from finding us, but I never thought it would prevent us from finding our brother.” Swiftshadow glanced towards a cliff.

“I think I’ve found another way to find him.” He meowed pointing at a tuft of golden hair clumped near a tunnel in the cliff.

“Good thing Hawkfire is shedding so much.” Bramblefur meowed.

“Yeah, I’d find his fur everywhere. Who knew it would actually come in handy.” Swiftshadow meowed. They began to crawl through the tunnel and when they exited they found nothing but an empty clearing.

“Perhaps he’s gone back.” Bramblefur suggested.

“Let’s follow his scent trail back to the cave then.” Meowed Swiftshadow. Bramblefur and Swiftshadow began to follow Hawkfire’s scent back to the cave when suddenly it crossed with another distinctive scent.

“Scourge!” They both yelled in surprise.

“Should we get Fernleaf?” Asked Bramblefur.

“No, we take this mission alone.” Meowed Swiftshadow. Swiftshadow jammed his nose to the forest floor and began to follow the mixed scent of Scourge and Hawkfire. They followed the scent trail through WindClan territory and into RiverClan territory. Bramblefur pointed his tail towards the tree-bridge. Swiftshadow leapt up onto the tree-bridge to cross onto the island. After Bramblefur leaped off the tree-bridge and onto the island Swiftshadow looked around.

“It feels creepy to be on the island where the battle took place.” Swiftshadow meowed.

“I guess.” Meowed Bramblefur. Swiftshadow caught movement in the corner of his eye.

“What was that?” He whispered to Bramblefur.

“It was me.” Meowed a high pitched voice. Just then Scourge padded out of the bushes and into the clearing.

“What have you done with our brother?” Bramblefur growled.

“Oh, you mean Hawkfire. He was awfully young and I saw him as an easy target. When I picked him up in my jaws he kept on saying ‘My brothers will save me.” Meowed Scourge in an even higher mocking voice. “So I decided to give him to someone else knowing that you’d follow my scent to the island, and now I’m going to do what I should have just done to your brother.” Scourge launched himself at Swiftshadow and pinned him to the ground. Bramblefur ran over to Scourge but before he could even lay a claw on Scourge, Swiftshadow saw Scourge pin Bramblefur to the ground with his second paw.

“You two are weak, just like your brother.” Scourge meowed. Scourge leaned over getting closer to Swiftshadow’s neck. Swiftshadow closed his eyes and waited. Suddenly he heard a yowl of anger and the weight of Scourge’s paw lifted off him. He opened his eyes to see what had happened. He saw that Scourge was jumping around wildly and felt very confused until he noticed that Fernleaf was clinging onto Scourge’s back.

“That’s more like it, Fernleaf!” Swiftshadow yelled before running into battle with Bramblefur by his side to fight off Scourge. Bramblefur leaped at Scourge and sank his claws into Scourge’s flank and then held on. Swiftshadow went for the first place he could think of, the face. Swiftshadow made contact with Scourge’s face and instantly extended his claws to cling on. Scourge let out a yowl of pain and anger. Swiftshadow was so close to Scourge’s face that he felt his hot breath ruffling his belly fur. He took this opportunity and sank his back claws into Scourge’s cheeks and tongue from inside his mouth. Scourge instantly roared in anger and intense pain. He swung his head and sides shaking the three brothers off of him and he leapt backwards. Swiftshadow, Bramblefur, and Fernleaf all landed in a perfect line ready to continue the battle. Scourge let out an powerful roar which sprayed blood from the inside of his mouth then charged into battle with blood oozing from his mouth and struck Bramblefur by the stomach which sent him flying across the clearing and into the Great Oak. Swiftshadow immediately broke formation with Fernleaf and charged back to where Bramblefur lay in a crumpled heap. Swiftshadow shoved his nose to Bramblefur’s underbelly, he could feel a heartbeat. Bramblefur opened his eyes and uncurled. Swiftshadow noticed that Bramblefur’s stomach was bruised and peeling.

“Don’t worry,” Bramblefur meowed. “He didn’t hit me with his claws. Just the pad of his paw.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Swiftshadow asked.

“Yes, now go help Fernleaf; he looks to have his paws full.” Bramblefur meowed pointing his tail to where Fernleaf and Scourge were face-to-face with each other. Swiftshadow nodded and launched himself at Scourge. Scourge instantly whipped around and loomed over Swiftshadow.

“You’ve drawn blood from me once tonight,” he meowed; blood trickling out of his mouth and splattering on Swiftshadow’s face. “But I will not allow you to do it again.” Scourge let out a cackle, causing blood to dribble out of his mouth.

“I fight with the power of StarClan by my side!” A voice called.

“Is that?” Bramblefur meowed.

“It couldn’t be.” Swiftshadow began.

“Hawkfire!” Yelled Fernleaf. Sure enough silhouetted against the first milky rays of dawn was their brother, Hawkstar.

Cheesy line near the end, fear it.

[stone]

-claps- good start! Yes, quite a cheesy line, I will fear it as requested!

[leopardstar]

Yeah, I agree it is a good start! *overlooks cheeseyness of of line*

[Hawkstar]

Prepare for a chapter involving feverfew, rocks, and a deputy.

SPOILER: Click to show

Chapter 3

“It’s Hawkstar now, Fernleaf.” Called Hawkstar. So StarClan accepted him as a leader despite his young age? Good. Bramblefur thought. Hawkstar streaked into battle to face Scourge and Bramblefur thought he could see nine starry cats alongside his brother. Bramblefur began sprinting straight for Scourge. When he reached him he leaped straight for Scourge’s underbelly and raked his claws along it. Scourge let out a scream of pain as Bramblefur’s three brothers and himself all slashed at Scourge. They were soon shaken off and Scourge stared watching them growling, creating bubbles of blood through his teeth. He then turned away and ran back across the tree-bridge.

“Even Scourge can’t defend against all of us working together.” Hawkstar meowed to his brothers.

“I don’t understand something though.” Fernleaf meowed. “How did you escape?” Hawkstar closed his eyes and sighed.

“After receiving my nine lives I felt very tired and was unprepared for what I would find when I left the Moonpool.” He began. “Once I had left I was ambushed by Scourge and he overpowered me and grabbed me in his jaws. Although I struggled and told him that you would come to save me I couldn’t get him to loosen his grip. When we came to the tree-bridge there was another cat waiting for us. I was passed from Scourge to this other cat and Scourge crossed the tree-bridge onto the island where he ambushed you three.”

“Actually,” Fernleaf piped in. “I came to save them only those two were ambushed.”

“Alright then,” Hawkstar continued. “The cat who was now carrying me took me very deep into what used to be ShadowClan territory.”

“What is it now?” Bramblefur asked.

“Scourge is using ShadowClan’s old territory to rebuild BloodClan,” Hawkstar answered. “So now it is BloodClan territory. Anyways he took me to what seemed to be a prison and locked me in a den which had the faint smell of ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan and the reek of blood. This smell was almost completely covered by the horrible stench of BloodClan though. After a long time I felt as though I was done for and tried to drift into sleep when suddenly a cat named Crowfeather appeared in front of me. He told me that in life he had been held prisoner in that very same dugout as I was in. He also told me that in his final days of life he noticed that a cat named Jaypaw and his brother Lionblaze were digging a tunnel out of the prison and that it was hidden by a leaf up against the wall. I looked to the wall and noticed that there was one particular overgrown spot and ripped the vegetation down and to my surprise I did find the remains of a tunnel. It took a little while, but thanks to the gift of boundless energy which Blackstar granted me I was able to keep digging the tunnel and never had to stop until finally I had dug my way out of the prison, but then I was faced with an even more daunting task. I had to fight my way out of BloodClan territory. I fought off a patrol which tried to take me back to the prison, but that attracted the attention of an even larger patrol which I used logic rather than skill to defeat and outwit them. I finally managed to slink out of BloodClan territory without having to continue fighting. As I padded back toward the cave the nine cats who gave me my lives appeared in front of me and pointed my attention toward the island where I noticed four shapes moving around urgently and it was then that I remembered that Scourge had gone to the island. I charged across the tree-bridge to see what was happening and you should all know the rest. Now let’s get back to the cave.” Hawkstar had finished the retelling of his escape and began to pad onto the tree-bridge.

“Wait.” Bramblefur called. Hawkstar turned around.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Who is going to be your deputy?” Bramblefur asked. Hawkstar paused for a moment.

“I just want to know that whatever happens things will never change between us.” Swiftshadow meowed to Hawkstar and Bramblefur both at once.

“My deputy is going to be…” Hawkstar began. Both Bramblefur and Swiftshadow leaned forward expectantly. “…Bramblefur.” Hawkstar finished. Bramblefur smiled and turned towards Swiftshadow who he was glad to see was smiling back.

“I really think you deserve to be deputy, and believe me, I’m not just saying that.” Swiftshadow meowed to Bramblefur.

“That’s very gracious of you, Swiftshadow.” Hawkstar meowed. Bramblefur was relieved at Swiftshadow’s good will, he knew his brother was very hot-headed and impulsive sometimes, but he seemed to be genuinely happy now which made Bramblefur happy too.

“Now that we’ve got that settled let’s get back to the cave.” Fernleaf meowed. “I’m exhausted.” Hawkstar suddenly stopped and turned to face Fernleaf.

“If you’re tired then I suppose we could put the rest of your medicine cat training aside until tomorrow.” Meowed Hawkstar. Fernleaf’s eyes suddenly widened.

“I think we should do it tonight.” He meowed clearly excited. Swiftshadow yawned.

“You two can stay up all night learning herbs but I’m very tired and need to get some sleep.” He meowed.

“Me too.” Bramblefur meowed in agreement.

“Well then let’s get back to the cave.” Hawkstar meowed. Bramblefur felt so tired he wasn’t even sure that he could make it back to the cave but he slowly made his way across the tree-bridge and through WindClan territory. Once they reached the stream Bramblefur noticed something.

“A storm’s rolling in.” He mewed aloud.

“Yes, looks like we’ll have to put the cover over the entrance to the cave to prevent water from coming in.” Hawkstar meowed. All four of the cats padded over to where they kept the small rock which was used to cover the entrance.

“Foxdung!” Meowed Hawkstar. “It’s not here anymore. We’ll need to find another one and now that Bramblefur is deputy, it’s up to him to help me find one.”

“Well good luck with that.” Meowed Swiftshadow as he padded into the den.

“Don’t worry Fernleaf, I’ll find time to teach you the herbs tonight.” Hawkstar meowed. “Let’s go look by that plugged up rabbit hole.”

“Let’s go.” Bramblefur replied. They padded over towards the rabbit hole where they had found the first rock and sure enough when they arrived there was still a pile of rocks.

“Let’s take this one.” Bramblefur meowed referring to a rock which looked to be about the same size as the one they had before. They both rolled it back to the cave and arrived just as the first few drips of rain began to fall. Hawkstar had also picked up a few herbs to teach Fernleaf about. They entered the cave and moved the rock into place and padded into the main chamber where Swiftshadow was already asleep and Fernleaf was waiting expectantly for them to return. Bramblefur padded around and laid upon the cave floor and he heard the soft patter of the rain drops upon the cave ceiling and just before going to sleep he heard Hawkstar say one thing.

“This is feverfew and it is used for…”

Ta-da!