Prologue
A/N: This is dreamofdestiny234. I lost my old account and I created this new one.
The tom with the black pelt and barely visible gray markings sat on the tree stump, ears flicking in response. His eyes were a brown of a color, almost dark. The pelt was slightly long and his tail was bushy, curled up behind his back legs. His back arched at the scent of another tom and the feline gave out a low hiss.
"What are you doing out here?" A second tom, this time with golden fur, meowed with a purr.
"Shut it, Goldenwhisker," the dark-furred tom snarled, his tail lashing.
Goldenwhisker gave a rumbling noise, a chuckle. The golden tabby circled his half brother.
"Come now, Morningleaf."
Despite his appearance, the father had named him Morningleaf due to having been born early in the morning. His mother, Sootshadow, had insisted that Morningleaf be named Nightsong, but in the end... Morningleaf had won.
"You should know better than to mess with me," Morningleaf hissed.
Goldenwhisker paused and his ears flattened down against his head, now looking annoyed.
"And that's your problem, brother. You're too cocky," the golden tabby growled out.
"What in StarClan is going on?" The voice of Skyfeather, Morningleaf's full-blooded littermate, snarled. This tom was a gray cat with bright blue eyes. He narrowed his irises at the pair and stepped between them.
"Nothing, Skyfeather. Don't concern yourself with this." Morningleaf meowed.
"Then get back to camp... now." Skyfeather hissed.
"You're not my leader," Morningleaf snapped back, his claws unsheathing.
"But I am deputy."
Morningleaf gave a screech and launched himself at Skyfeather, the two tumbling and digging teeth and claws at each other. The dark-furred warrior tugged at the blue-eyed deputy's ear, getting an angry hiss in reply. Skyfeather knocked his claws into Morningleaf's side, getting a sudden yowl, using that as an advantage to pin the black cat down.
"Alright! That's enough," Skyfeather's tail swung back and forth, holding his claws against his brother's flank. "When Rainstar sees this, you will get exiled."
Skyfeather was a very strong warrior and dragged Morningleaf back by his tail. He didn't pay much attention to Goldenwhisker who followed in silence, the tabby's ears flat against his head. Morningleaf was angry, trying to dig his claws into the ground, though that didn't help much and eventually he was tossed at Rainstar's paws.
Rainstar looked unamused, circling Morningleaf with a sudden expression of disdain. The leader sighed, "I expected more from you, my son." He turned to Skyfeather and nodded. "You know what to do."
That night was agony. Morningleaf had his side bleeding red and he'd screeched until his throat was raw. He'd been marked because it'd scar. His eyes were swollen, but that would fade with time. The black cat had been beaten down and then exiled, forced away from his clan, not that he'd been content there in the first place. He stumbled and limped, trying to find shelter. Ears flat, the black cat shivered, tail curling tightly around his back paws as, by some sort of joke, it had started to rain.
Morningleaf's ears twitched as he heard a sudden noise and he was up again, but everything ached. His side still throbbed, hackers raised defensively. His tail swung heavily behind him, picking up the scent of another cat.
"Lost, are we?" A she-cat's voice purred.
The dark-furred feline hissed lowly and turned to face a lithe brown female. The she-cat purred sharply, her eyes holding the look of a rogue.
"What's a clan cat like you doing out here?" She asked, moving around his claws.
Morningleaf snarled sharply, ears pushing further back against his skull.
"Oh, I don't bite... not yet, anyways," she chuckled.
"Who are you?"
"They call me... Mazikeen. What do they call you?"
Morningleaf was moments from saying his warrior name, but he stopped himself.
"I'm called Lucifer."
