Chapter 1 Visitors There was a yowl in the woods. A rusted cat was running from a orange and white fox. The tom tripped and was soon under the growling fox. The fox went in for the kill but failed as the tom pushed it off of him with a great force, from his hind legs. Growling the fox launched at the rusted cat. With a swift move, the cat jumped into the air and landed on an orange pelt with a thump and a crack. The fox laid dead. Picking up the fox, the cat then moved toward the smell of his own clan. The tom pushed its prey into the old dog house and pushed a button that was hidden in a corner. The button alwaysed moved every day saw he had to test all eight corners for it. Down went the floor under ground. When the floor stopped the tom pushed the fox into the kill pile. “Well done Foxtail,” a grey and white striped tom greeted him. “Your first hunt and you killed the animal you were named after.” “Ha, I could do better than this Owlfeather,” Foxtail said ripping into the fresh meat. It was spring but it was always so cold underground. Each prey with fur skin was shredded off the body and kept for bedding. Even when the clan’s human friends gave them a bed for all of them, the cats were still cold. A brown and black striped tom was standing on the dirt ledge that was made from the dirt that was moved so the cats could live here. He lifted his paw to his ear and stood up. The tom lifted his tail for the clan to settled down for a meeting. “Foxtail has brought us dinner. This fox was quite impressive for his first catch as a Warrior,” the tom said. “Oh it’s nothing Hillstar,” Foxtail said embarrassed. An orange tan striped pelt ran passed him. Foxtail looked at his clan mate running around the underground camp. “Hey Eagle-Eye, stop running around like your tail is chopped off,” he called at the running she-cat. Eagle-Eye was first command in the clan next to Hillstar, he is leader. Every day, at the end of it, Eagle-Eye would start to panic. The reason for this was that, she still needs to get everything ready for the next day. The collars had to be placed in the right spot. With about 13 clanmates, Foxtail knew how hard it was to keep the collars in order. The collars were used for when they went out into the human town. They made sure that the cats wouldn’t get caught by the animal catcher. His name on the shiny coin was Fox. Owlfeather’s was Cloud, Hillstar was Shifty, and Eagle-Eye’s was Tiger. Foxtail watched Eagle-Eye tell 2nd command the sort out the callors. What is happening tomorrow that Eagle needs to make everything more perfect than she usually does, he thought. Getting up he took a piece of meat with him to give to Rubyheart. She was so focused sorting out the callors that when he dropped the meat Rubyheart jumped. “Oh! Thank you Foxtail,” Rubyheart said grabbing the meat. Her collar name was Gold for her shiny silky golden fur. Foxtail couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He knew this was bad because it was forbidden to choose a mate in this clan. Hillstar doesn’t want any of them to be to in touch. If you wanted to be a mate with one cat you had to go threw a big whole process of fighting, working most of the jobs and beating Eagle in a battle. No one has ever won the pinning battle. Foxtail knew that would change. “All cats come to hear me!” Hillstar called to the clan. “Tomorrow at Sun-High, we are having a guess from the lake clans. His name is Firestar. He will be with his mate Sandstorm and one of his Warriors.” “So that is why Eagle is running around,” a ginger she-cat named Rownfire whispered to Tallpelt, a black skinny tom. Their collar names were Sandy for Rownfire and Night for Tallpelt. Hillstar looked at Foxtail and flicked his tail to his den showing that he liked the fox. Foxtail nodded and started pushing through the crowd to get in the front for a better view. “We will be taking them into the camp by the river hole. All cats will wear their collars. The kits will be hidden. Make sure it is like just a kittypet meeting,” Eagle-Eye yelled from her rock bed. “Why is he coming?” Foxtail asked. Hillstar looked at him and replied, “ Some cat bugged him and his clan.” Hillstar glared at a black apprentice named Nightpaw 一 Stalker was his collar name for his great hunting skills. The cat made himself smaller than what he looks like. Nightpaw always had a history of getting into trouble: fox chases into camp, dogs running into the camp, and more that puts the clan in danger of getting caught. Foxtail nugged the apprentice looking at a tan cat in the corner whos collar name was Hunter, “Go back to Sharptooth.” Foxtail looked up at Hillstar. The leader could read minds so he knew everything in the clan. Even when Foxtail tried to hide his crush on Rubyheart, the clan leader seemed to know. He looked at Rubyheart, she just finished sorting the collars and sat down next to Eagle-Eye. He was never going to be the right cat for her. (Con.)
Foxtail walk to his den and looked behind his back. He could see Hillstar looking at him with knowing eyes. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST!!!! CREDIT TO ERIN HUNTER FOR HER BOOKS AND CHARACTERS.