It was a rather cold and chilly morning. The sun could not be seen, as the fog swept away any trace of the light. My breath swirled in the air, the heat it took along from my lungs soon becoming one with the cold.
I was 11 moons old, alone and half frozen. I scolded myself, for pity on yourself is pathetic.
My paws tracked through the light layer of snow the night had laid across the mossy forest ground. I stood still. Nothing stirred. Every living being was silent.
It gave the forest a strange feel. No longer did it feel like my safe home I knew it to be. I knew that it was never danger free, but something felt off.
I then continued deeper into the forest, the fog swallowing me. I could only see a faint image of them, dragging through the fog and snow.
I pondered where I was going. Alas, I was a rogue. I never had a clan. My mother died when I was a kit, and I was raised by a rogue who had cared for me as if I was one of their own. One afternoon they went out hunting, and I never saw them again.
I looked for something, anything. Prey, another cat, a clan, a shelter. It was tough.
I stood still, questioning my surroundings. It was hard to see now.
My tail swished, as I stood confused and alone.
I meowed, listening for someone, anyone.
And I heard another meow.
I looked in the direction that the sound came from, and started to make my way there...
But then came a growl. A very low growl.
I stopped, wide-eyed and fearful.
The growl came again.
"Who are you?" an anonymous voice hissed.
I sat, silent, and then replied shakily, "I-I-I am Fa-Fawnp-p-aw"
The anonymous voice was not there to reply for a few seconds. I began to get worried. Were they going to attack me? I wasn't searching for trouble...
Then came a grumble. "What are you doing on Thunderclan territory?"
I could feel the pulse in my veins. "I seek no trouble. I-I- didn't k-kn-know it was y-yo-your territ-t-tory. S-s-sorry." I stuttered, then turned to leave.
"Wait." the voice said, in a lighter tone. I looked back to see a cat emerging from the fog.
It was a tom, brown pelt, yellow eyes. Muscular. And very frightening.
I walked backwards too quickly, and fell on my haunches. The tom smirked, revealing the tip of one of his teeth. I blinked.
"Do you really think you will leave after trespassing? Worry free? Follow me." he said, and I reluctantly did as told. He shook his head, and began to trot into the forest.
I followed him the best I could until I reached what was, I assumed, Thunderclan's camp. He walked in, silent, and other cats stopped what they were doing to watch him. I then walked through the last bit of brush into the camp, and the cats stared at me. One tom even let a hiss escape.
"I have found a trespasser. Walked in on the border, acts like they don't know. I'm not too sure of this one…" he muttered to a black she-cat. She nodded, then turned to me.
"And, tell me, what is her name?" she said to the tom, as she stared at me.
"Fawnpaw. No clan."
The black she-cat's tail danced along the rock she was sitting on.
"Well, then, Fawnpaw… what were you doing on our territory?"
I looked down, shamefully. I was amazed that I had not been killed yet. Didn't they always do that to trespassers right away? Get rid of them?
"I wasn't looking for trouble, honestly. I didn't know. I was just looking for shelter for the night."
"Oh, really?" she said, her tone clearly sarcastic.
And I didn't like it.
"Yeah, really. Why don't you believe me?" I hissed, standing up. I must not appear weak to them, they will take advantage of me. I thought.
Her claws began to unsheathe, and her tail swished even more. "We do not take the issue of trespassers lightly, Fawnpaw."
I nodded. The other cats began to pay attention to our conversation.
"Why didn't you get rid of me right away, then? Why did you have to bring me here? Isn't that-" I paused, "dangerous?"
She stood up. I could tell she was trying to be calm. "We seek new clan members. Seeing that you have no clan… well, you wouldn't be a traitor."
I looked at her, more confused than ever. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Do you want to join Thunderclan or not?" she hissed.
My eyes widened. A place to be accepted? A place to live without being alone? "Yes." I said, dipping my head.
"Good. Welcome to Thunderclan, Fawnpaw. I will have Snaketooth show you around camp."
I blinked. Did she really just… accept me? A random cat, accidentally walking over their border. And she let me in?
The brown tom that had found me was now standing in front of me.
"I'm Snaketooth. Now you know. Follow me, Fawnpaw." he said, his tone lighter and friendlier than when I first met him.
"Sure." I followed him as he showed me the queens and kit's dens, the apprentices' dens, warrior dens, medicine dens, and everything I had expected to be in a clan camp. Prey pile and elder's den where the last destinations.
Snaketooth turned to me, suddenly.
"What is it?" I asked, worried.
"How many moons old are you? I completely forgot to ask."
"I am eleven moons old."
He nodded. "Sounds about right. Have you ever been mentored?"
I nodded. "By a rogue. Basically raised me up. Went hunting one day and never really saw him again. I think that he started mentoring when I was six or seven moons old."
He nodded. "When was it that he disappeared?"
I paused for a moment. When was it? I had to think for a bit.
"Probably, if I remember correctly, when I was about nine moons old. Give or take."
"What had you learned by then?" he asked.
"I learned how to hunt, and I trained to fight. I never really did anything else, as it was just us two…"
"I suppose you are almost finished. You must learn how to participate in border patrols and caring for the elders. You might know how to care for elders already, though. You took care of each other, correct?"
"Yes." I sat down, the trees were a great canopy keeping the camp almost free of snow.
Snaketooth was silent for a while, then began to trot further, me following.
He finally finished showing me around, and then brought me to the apprentices den.
"Any more questions?"
"Yeah… What is the leader's name?" I asked, awkwardly.
"Spottedstar. You must respect her. She does not fool around."
I nodded. "Okay, thank you."
"You're welcome. We will assign you a mentor tomorrow."
He dipped his head, and I dipped mine, and then he was gone.
[Work In Progress-To Be Continued-Vandalism No Thank You]
{Also if I am writing this wrong like it doesn't follow what a warrior cat would do PLEASE tell me I haven't read the books yet waiting for my local library to open again (reconstruction ugh) so yeah…}