Chapter 1
Snowkit watched in dismay as his former playmates, Ashpaw and Fernpaw, padded away with their new mentors with their tails and heads held high. They would soon be great warriors, fighting in battles, hunting prey, and serving their clan. Snowkit would never do this. Instead, he would be here, in the nursery, watching his muzzle turn white. Why? All because he had been born deaf. It wasn't his fault! Actually, Snowkit wasn't entirely deaf. He could read lips. This was how he was able to communicate with his mother and kit mates. Sometimes, Snowkit wished that he had been born blind and deaf instead of having to watch the cats that he knew leave him far behind in the dust.
After Ashpaw and Fernpaw's apprentice ceremony, the two newest additions to the nursery, Bramblekit and Tawnykit, padded up to Snowkit. Bramblekit then started doing some mouse-brain signs with his paws, that his mother, Goldenflower, had probably told him let Snowkit understand that he wanted to play. "What a mouse-brain!" Snowkit thought to himself as he padded off with him.
Snowkit's life continued to get worse. Ashpaw, his best friend ever, had started looking at him like he was a mouse-brained, toad-faced pile of fox dung. Bramblekit and Tawnykit would soon be apprentices. Snowkit's mom, Speckletail, had started to lose hope in him. Snowkit started to wonder to himself, "Was this place really where he was meant to be?" Snowkit knew that he would never be thought of as a normal, equal cat unless he got his hearing. So, every night Snowkit started begging Starclan, and every morning he would get out of his moss expecting to hear every thing everyone had to say and every morning he would be disappointed. "Was this what I was destined for?" Snowkit asked himself. No matter how many times Speckletail told him that he was perfect, Snowkit didn't believe. He would become a great cat and no one could stop him except Lionclan themselves!
From that day on, Snowkit had made up his mind that he wasn't fox dung and he was meant to do something. He begged Speckletail to help him learn how to be a warrior. Speckletail, though reluctant, finally gave in and began to train him. Snowkit picked up quickly and was soon sparing with Bramblekit and Tawnykit. He hoped that he would catch the attention of Fireheart and Bluestar and they would make him a apprentice. Sadly, that never happened and what happened next, Snowkit couldn't dream of happening.
It was a normal day. Snowkit had just finished a training session with Speckletail and with a job well done, Snowkit went out to play. He was chasing a butterfly when he noticed that the camp had lost all activity and the cats were all scurrying to their dens. Not finding it weird enough, Snowkit continued to chase that butterfly who had started to get on his nerves. All of the sudden, sharp claws gripped his back and he was lifted into the air. He continued to be carried higher and higher. Snowkit's mother, Speckletail, tore out of the warrior's den and attacked the animal that was carrying Snowkit. The creature fought her and with a tug, Speckletail was thrown off. As the monster carried him away, he saw his mother grieving face and like he had betrayed her. The animal continued flying higher and higher stripping him away from: Speckletail, Thunderclan, and everything Snowkit had ever known.
It didn't take long for Snowkit to get sick of flying and with a strength that Snowkit didn't even know he had, flung himself away from the thing that was carrying him. As he fell he saw that the animal that had been carrying him was a hawk, an a animal feared by all clans for its tendency to carrying cats away. The hawk dive after him, but got caught in a tree. As did Snowkit. Snowkit fell out of the tree and as he fell his ears popped and for the first time in his life he could hear. Then, he hit the ground and Snowkit's world went black.
Chapter 2
Snowkit was out cold for a long, long, time, a time that Snowkit never knew exactly what happened during. When he opened his eyes he saw a pretty light brown tabby she-cat prodding him awake. "It's about time you woke up!" the cat said. The first thing Snowkit realized was that he could hear her perfectly. "Hi, my name is Moss, what is your name?" the tabby continued. "Where am I?" Snowkit asked the cat, "Is this Starclan?" The she-cat looked at him and said "No, this is my band camp and what in the ancients is Starclan?" Snowkit didn't bother answering, wherever he was, Starclan didn't matter anymore. "I asked what your name was." the tabby she-cat said getting frustrated. "Oh, my name is Snow...." Snowkit realized that only clan cats had the word kit at the end of their name so he decided to leave it off, "My name is Snow." he said as confidently as he could. Yes, my name is Snow.
Lost in thought, Snow didn't realize that another cat had padded in. This cat was obviously related to Moss. Their fur was the same color and they had the same build. The only difference was their eyes while this cat had brilliant blue eyes, Moss had dark blue-green eyes that made her look wiser than Snow had come to realize she really was. "Hi, I'm Stream," the older she-cat said, " What is your name?" Stream asked Snow. "My name is Snow." Snow answered. "Well, welcome to our band." Moss started to paw a Stream's pelt, "Mom, can we please go out and explore." Stream rolled her eyes into her head. "Okay, if it's okay with Yarrow it's okay with me." Moss and Stream both turned to grayish brown tom in the shadows that Snow hadn't notice was there. "It's fine with me," the cat said, "As long as you two don't get hurt. I had to stay up all last night fixing your wounds and watching you and I don't plan on ever doing it again!" Moss nodded and Yarrow padded off muttering.
As they walked outside, Snow nose was overcome with more new scents than he had ever experienced. The camp was bustling with activity. A huge light brown tom caught sight of them. He padded over. "Who is this, Moss?" the tom asked. Moss answered cautiously and said "This is Snow." The brown tom gave Snow a casing glance and inspected him from top to bottom. He flicked his tail and said for Snow to come with him. "And you should get back to work." he said with a hard stare at Moss. The tom padded briskly away and not knowing what else to do Snow followed after him.
The arrived in a huge room and the tom stopped and told Snow to have a seat. "Greetings, my name is Wood," the brown tom started, "and this is my band." Snow bowed his head in respect. "You have somehow wound up in our camp," Wood paused and then continued to say, "I am not forcing you to join us, but if you do not join us you will be seen as a threat and no offense but I don't think you could really hold your own in this forest." he said looking at Snow's small frame. " It's your choice Snow." Wood said. To Snow the decision was easy, " I would like to join your band."
Chapter 3
They padded out of the den after talking about the responsibility that a band cat had. Wood jumped into a tree and gave out a yowl. All the cats gathered under him. He waited for everyone to settle before he started, "This is Snow, he would like to join our band." Wood said. All the cats stared at him. "Any concerns or problems with this." The cats still stared, "Okay then," Wood said, "it's settled. He will join our band."
Snow was given a cat named Pigeon to mentor him and teach him how to survive in a band. After the final cheers broke up after the ceremony, Snow walked to get himself a bite to eat when a ginger tom padded up to him, "Hi," the tom said, "Snow, right?" Snow nodded, "Well, I'm Sand Moss' brother." Sand said. He was about to speak again when a older tom called him and he padded off. Snow didn't do much for the rest of the day, having an occasional conversation with a cat. The only thing that was exciting during the day was when a nursing mother named Swish had to make some dirt and asked Snow (because he had been the only cat there) to watch her three she-cats kits, Tansy, Whisper, and Icicle. Snow was able to keep the three mischievous kits under control until their mother got back.
As the sun went down Snow noticed that the activity in the camp had died down to a minimum. All the cats had started to settle down into groups to eat fresh-kill. Snow was settling down by himself when he heard his name being called, He looked back and saw Sand calling him, "Come sit with us!" he called. Snow padded over and sat down. He only knew two cats of the group of the nine cats that we're there. The only cats he knew were Sand and Moss, who he had recently found were brother and sister. HE was surrounded by a bunch of cats he didn't know