Derby

Prologue:

The cold mud caked in her fur, her paws ached from running, and her chest burned as she tried to hide her scent from her own kit. Her heart was racing, she felt her fur rise up

Honeycomb ran to Brightstar, “I found this kit while out hunting! He..he’s going to die if we don’t do something..! Is that what you want? Letting an innocent kit die because it’s not thunderclan?” Her voice cracked, her ears dropped.

Brightstar glanced at her, their expression unreadable, “Very well then, Honeycomb. This kit may stay and get healed by Bittersweet, but he’ll be the one raising the kit. I do not fully trust you.”

Her heart lurched, she won’t be taking care of her own kit? She dipped her head and she quickly ran to the medicine den. Bittersweet was curing a large injury on an apprentice, thankfully he was almost done.

“Oh, where did you find.. that?” Bittersweet said with hostility honeycomb would’ve never expected from the medicine cat.

“This kit was found abandoned. Brightstar said he may stay with us in thunderclan, and you’ll…be the one taking care of him.” She hesitated, her voice was shaken, she had to give her son to the medicine cat

Bittersweet huffed, he shooed Honeycomb away. The medicine cat rolled his eyes, this kit wasn’t too sick, just a couple herbs and he’ll be fine.

This kit.. he was tolerable, he didn’t cry or bother the medicine cat. He decided give it a shot, though he is horrible at interacting with other cats, maybe this will help him. Bittersweet hoped as he gave marigold to the tiny kit, his eyes softened

“I’ll name you… Sunkit..” He murmured softly, and gave a gentle lick to the kit that was given to him.

“Brightstar, may we have a word?” He said politely, as he approached the they-cat. “Im a bit skeptical with honeycomb and that kit she brought. She seemed to deeply care for this kit.” Bittersweet muttered

“I already handled it by taking the kit from her, Bittersweet. Drop it.” Brightstar hissed, they walked away, dismissing the medicine cat’s concerns

Bittersweet clenched his teeth, he decided he could take out his anger on some apprentices, he padded over to the apprentice den,

“Poppypaw, go to the elder’s den and clear out the ticks. Daypaw, go fetch me some herbs with your sister, Nightpaw, make sure to take permission from your mentors or Swiftcatch before leaving”

He left before anyone could argue back. Bittersweet returned to his den, the grey tom started cleaning the kit. He wished he was a better cat for Sunkit. He’ll do whatever it takes to protect him…and love him.

Chapter 1:

Sunpaw entered the apprentice den, he had barely remembered his apprentice ceremony, just the overwhelming excitement that had filled him, and the loud ringing in his ears

The apprentice den had a few cats; A cranky looking cat, a bored looking apprentice, a sleeping she-cat, and a really energetic and happy looking tom.

the happy one was the apprentice that decided to approach him, looking really excited to meet Sunpaw, the tom was practically bouncing with joy

“Heya! I’m Spottedpaw, and this is Badgerpaw.” The cat introduced himself and his friend, who was taking her time to come over, his ears lay flat on his head, but perked up, waiting to hear Sunpaw’s response

“You’re the new apprentice right? Sunpaw? I bet it’s so cool to have Swiftstar as your mentor! You would’ve been even luckier if you were trained under our old leader, Brightstar!” The excited tom rambled

“Brightstar?” Sunpaw questioned, he was only a small, weak kit when Swiftstar took over thunderclan. He didn’t remember Brightstar

“Only the best leader ever! Swiftstar is okay I guess.. but Brightstar is the best!” Spottedpaw was practically bouncing with excitement, his amber eyes kept darting around, before it settled on Sunpaw again, Spottedpaw had this huge grin on his face

“Swiftstar is our leader and we must be loyal to him like any other leader! …That’s what the warrior code wants, right..?” Sunpaw muttered and tried to defend his mentor, but quickly suggested to himself that might discourage the tom in front of him

“O-Oh..!” Spottedpaw stammered, “I guess you’re right..! I’m sorry, never mind!” The tom felt his face turn warm, and the fur at the back of his neck rise

Sunpaw felt guilty for making his new friend feel bad for his opinion, he huffed, “I’m sorry too, you don’t have to like a leader when you preferred another…”

Badgerpaw rolled her pale amber eyes, “I’m going to go look for Smallpaw, I bet she’s eating a good rabbit right now” she snarled, she walked out of the apprentice den grumpily

“Ignore her, shes mean to all apprentices, except one, smallpaw.” The energetic tom gave a huff and padded next to Sunpaw, wrapping his tail around him

For some reason, Sunpaw felt hurt from the she-cat’s harsh words, but quickly recovered. He felt warm next to his new friend. Sunpaw felt Spottedpaw’s warm fluffy fur, who was purring and talking to him

Sunpaw kept his tail tightly tucked between his legs to look smaller and harmless. His blue eyes were just watching Spottedpaw with content, listening to his voice.

Chapter 2:

Sunpaw woke up right next to Spottedpaw, their fur tangled together from hours of talking. His blue eyes stared at the sleeping tom, a soft smile tugging at his muzzle.

“Mouse-brain,” he quietly muttered to himself, his heart was racing. It was almost dawn, so he decided to let Spottedpaw get some more rest before they head out for patrols.

Sunpaw looked around the small hollow and realized Badgerpaw was already awake and glaring at him, “Why were you two sleeping so close to each other?” She sneered

“You got a problem with that?” Sunpaw snapped back, then quickly looked down to see if Spottedpaw heard him or woke up. He held back a sigh of relief and disappointment, he didn’t know why he felt that way

“Whatever” Badgerpaw left the den, sticking out her tongue at Sunpaw. He didn’t understand why she hated everyone so much, nobody was bothering her, then why was she acting like that, like everyone was personally hurting her?

He huffed, he wondered what he’ll do today with his mentor, Swiftstar. Will Spottedpaw and his mentor come along? Sunpaw was really excited for the day

“Hey, bright-eyes, were you going to watch me sleep and not wake me up for patrols?” Spottedpaw yawned and stretched, his amber eyes looking at Sunpaw expectantly.

“Right.. well let’s go then” Sunpaw’s eyes darted away from Spottedpaw, trying to avoid his gaze, feeling his face grow warm. The two toms padded out of the apprentice den

Sunpaw wasn’t hungry, so he waited for Spottedpaw to take his breakfast before going to the dawn patrols. He watched as Spottedpaw hungrily devoured his thrush.

Chapter 3:

When the two apprentices reached the highrock, Sunpaw noticed that almost everyone was there for patrols. He gave a glare at Spottedpaw for making them late

“Alright, let’s begin!” Mousetail, the deputy, began assigning the patrols.

“Direwolf, lead the border patrol, take Snowdrop, Sunpaw, Spottedpaw, and Nightfall with you.” She ordered. Sunpaw felt his fur rise from anticipation and excitement, this was his first look around the borders, and it was with Spottedpaw!

“Smokeyfur, lead the hunting patrol, take Badgerpaw and Dayrise with you.” The deputy hummed

“The rest of you apprentices, elder duties. Warriors, go hunt, check the boundaries, or go see if the elders, queens, and bittersweet in case they need something —make yourselves useful” Mousetail gave the last order.

“Clan dismissed.” The warriors and apprentices left to go do their work for the day. Sunpaw turned to Spottedpaw, only to see him already getting ready to head out.

He padded over to the rest of the patrol, who were waiting for him at the camps entrance. “You’re making us late” Direwolf scoffed and turned to lead the patrol

Sunpaw wanted to apologise, but couldn’t get a word out before the patrol left camp. He was following behind, they didn’t bother telling him any information he was supposed to get, so he had to rely on Spottedpaw

Tears blurred his vision, making the dry, brittle ground beneath his aching paws spin. His chest throbbed with a cold, heavy ache that had nothing to do with the winter air

Chapter 4:

Direwolf stopped exactly where the pine needles met the marsh grass to leave a fresh scent-mark. Sunpaw memorized the spot. So that was where ThunderClan ended and ShadowClan began.

He stopped asking Spottedpaw and eavesdropped in on the older cats’ conversations. Why did he had to rely on himself on the information the older cats were supposed to give him?

Every time Direwolf pointed out a landmark to Nightfall, Sunpaw stepped closer, his ears perking with desperate hope. But the older warrior would simply shift his shoulder, blocking Sunpaw from the conversation as if he were nothing but a ghost trailing behind them.

His blue eyes looked around, he unsheathed his claws, gripping the dirt. He noticed that the new path they took must lead back to the thunderclan camp.

His ears perked up whenever he heard someone’s voice, his eyes widen too, he forced his ears flat against his head and narrowed his eyes, trying to crush the desperate hope before anyone could see it. Spottedpaw kept glancing back at him, but Sunpaw kept his expression the same.

Something wet fell from his eyes and slipped down his cheeks, Sunpaw realized that he was so upset that he was crying. No, he must stay strong and show no weakness. Swiftstar and Bittersweet wouldn’t want that from him.

When the patrol returned back to the camp, Sunpaw separated from the group instantly. He heard Spottedpaw yell after him “HEY, WAIT UP!”

He didn’t turn back or stop, he ran to the medicine den. Bittersweet would understand, right? “ Bittersweet.. are you here..?” His voice cracked, his ears dropped, his eyes still watery

When there was no answer, Sunpaw turned around and hid behind some bushes. He just sobbed quietly. Why hadn’t Swiftstar taken him out himself? Surely that would’ve spared him so much pain, right?

Sunpaw gained his composure, he clenched the dirt beneath him, his eyes looked down, his stomach hurt, he ignored everything. Why was he trying so hard?

He had heard the story of how he was brought to Thunderclan, an abandoned loner… that story haunted his nightmares, he tried extra hard. Because who was he without the warrior code? Why did the few cats who actually looked at him make his chest ache the most?

Chapter 5:

Sunpaw walked out of his little bush, his eyes scanned the clearing. He dragged his aching paws to the prey pile, pulling out a tiny mouse—his first meal of the day. He grunted, swallowing it in a few hurried bites, barely tasting it.

He noticed Badgerpaw sitting next to another apprentice, a she-cat with a deep brown with orange swirls. Her pelt was messy and unkempt yet clean fur, littered with pink flowers

That had to be Smallpaw. Apparently, she was the only cat in the entire forest Badgerpaw could actually tolerate. Whatever. He looked away, his blue eyes staring down at the soft, damp dirt beneath his paws.

Why did his mentor have to be the leader, Swiftstar? He didn’t want to be an abandoned kit they took pity on, the leader’s apprentice, or the foster-kit the medicine cat was given to take care of.

Why was it so hard to believe he was his own cat? This wasn’t fair! He watched as the sun drifted away, the sunset made his eyes sore. Sunpaw went back to the apprentice den, he chose a small bed and tried to sleep

His bones ached, his paws felt sore, his mind hurt, and his heart was throbbing in his ribs. He gripped the moss he was sleeping on, his claws were holding so tightly to the moss, he felt unsure as to why he felt that way

He felt his eyes start to water again. “Stop it, Sunpaw! You shouldn’t feel this way!” He muttered under his breath, lecturing himself. Why was he so devoted to the warrior code when he isn’t even a “proper clan cat”?