Prologue

-Kits of the Dark Forest-

"Bramblestar!"

The large, dark brown tabby tom turned to a ginger she-cat with a white front paw and emerald eyes. "Yes, Squirrelflight?"

"Spiderleg and Amberpaw found two kits on the far edge of the territory. They didn't smell of any clan, but... I think you should see for yourself."

The Thunderclan leader's auburn eyes widened for a moment, then he narrowed them. "Lead the way."

His mate's pace was nervously quickened. He didn't like to see her move so much, what with her expecting kits. His kits. Bramblestar tried to get her to walk slower by padding in front of her, but, like always, she didn't take the hint and walked by his side at her same pace.

He felt his mate's heart beat quicken. At once, he stopped her. "Are you all right? Are our kits coming? This isn't safe for you, just tell me where they are and go back to the nurs-"

"Bramblestar, I keep telling you I'm fine. This is important for you to see, and I don't think you'll get much help from Spiderleg or Amberpaw," Squirrelflight sighed and padded around him.

She glanced back and flicked her tail for him to keep moving. Bramblestar blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? Are they ill? Or hurt?"

"They're fine, as well. Just a little scared."

That did anything but reassure him. But he kept his paws moving.

Suddenly, the ginger she-cat came to a halt. She crouched down below a thicket and gestured for Bramblestar to do the same. "What is-"

"Shh!" Squirrelflight's eyes were filled with fear. "They're right over there."

The Thunderclan leader followed her gaze and caught his breath. Spiderleg had taken a hostile position facing a small, golden she-kit with blood-red eyes, who stood in front of a dark brown, tiger-striped tom kit with a white belly and barely-opened crimson eyes. The she-kit's claws were unsheathed and unnaturally glowing like a flame. The tom was lying on his side, paws outstretched and breathing heavily.

Behind her mentor, Amberpaw lay on the ground with a slash down her pelt, glowing similarly like the she-kit's claws. She wasn't bleeding, but she certainly was injured.

Bramblestar gasped and leaped clean over the thicket, landing next to Spiderleg with unsheathed claws and bared teeth. "What's going on?"

The dark grey warrior sighed in relief. "We found them here. The second we got close, that she-kit leaped on Amberpaw. She has to get back to camp right now! That wound is killing her!"

The golden she-kit narrowed her eyes and spoke with a dark, horse, whispered voice. "Bramblestar."

The sound of the Thunderclan leader's name spoken by her pierced him like a thorn. "Who are you?" he snapped.

"I would say it is none of your business, but your not... any cat. My name is Bloodkit. My brother is Stormkit."

Clan names...

"Well, Bloodkit," Bramblestar scoffed. "What are you doing here?"

"I didn't expect the leader of Thunderclan to be so... talkative," her voice didn't change, but it still held a thick hostility.

"If you have no reason to tell me, you can leave."

Bloodkit met his eyes coldly. "I don't have to leave. I'd much prefer it if I killed Stormfur first. Where is he?"

He strained from feeling fear. How could this kit give such a dangerous message. Then, he realized that he knew her voice, her pelt, the way she acted. He couldn't pinpoint it, but he knew he had met a cat like her... somewhere.

"Why do you want to know?" Spiderleg spat.

The golden furred kit faced him. The only expression she had was narrowed, crimson eyes. "I owe you no explanation. So tell me where Stormfur is, or you will end up like your ginger friend."

Bramblestar growled. "You are no threat to us. I will not allow you to touch another one of my cats, and you won't be able to kill me four times before you're running off our territory with your tail between your legs like a little dog."

"Oh that's right, the 'nine lives' thing you leaders have," Bloodkit lightly sneered, showing sharp fangs, and still not getting up from her deadly position. "So you only have four left, do you?"

Bramblestar held his breath. Now he was certain he knew that look, and voice. "How do you know so much about us? Are you a rogue? Cast out from another clan?"

Squirrelflight burst out of the thicket before Bloodkit could answer, though she didn't look like she would, anyway. Following the white-pawed she-cat were Jayfeather, Greystripe, and Thornclaw. The warriors took their place beside their leader and hissed at Bloodkit. Her crimson eyes flashed with mock. "All this trouble for two kits? You must be under the impression that I want to kill the clans."

Scanning the surrounding cats, she vividly adjusted her stance so that she defended Stormkit. "You are Greystripe, aren't you?"

The silver tom's eyes widened. "Of course you are," Bloodkit spat. "You look just like your wretched son. And am I mistaken to say it was you who murdered Mapleshade that day?"

Stormkit murmered something, but only Bramblestar seemed to notice. Greystripe snarled. "Why do you want to kill my son?!"

"Oh, don't think of it like I want to kill your son. I want to destroy the bloodline of Appledusk."

Appledusk? That's...! That's the cat who was father to Mapleshade's drowned kits! But that was moons ago, how can she know this?

Greystripe ignored his leader's order to stop and lunged at Bloodkit. "She killed Silverstream! Mapleshade had no right to live in a world where my love can not!"

The golden-furred she-kit seemed to jolt out of his way like lightning, and with a flash of real fire, she lashed out at the warrior's side as he missed. An antagonized yowl flooded the clearing. Bramblestar opened his eyes, not knowing they had closed.

He wished he hadn't opened them at all.

The clearing had been engulfed in flames, and the only parts that weren't had been burned to soot. Standing at the edge was Bloodkit, but the fire on her claws had spread to her paws. The grass beneath them were scorched. She had her back to them, but not quite to the warriors beside Bramblestar.

Greystripe lay in the center on his side, and with a large, flaming gash on his pelt. His eyes were wide and his mouth open in a screaming form. But he was as silent as the clearing after the flames rapidly died out. Bloodkit turned around, and sat up neatly. Her crimson eyes still held their icy glare. The fire calmly sank back to her claws and vanished, revealing dark red claws.

Bramblestar's breathing quickened and he rushed beside his mentor's best friend. "Greystripe!"

The wound was just like Amberpaw's. It was frightening, to know that it came from a kit. Jayfeather and Squirrelflight ran up to his side. Bramblestar trembled at the mark. "Get Greystripe and Amberpaw to the medicine den now! Thornclaw, try any find any of the other patrols."

"But, Bramblestar, then you won't have anyone-"

"GO!"

The warriors hesitantly left. The tiger-striped leader turned back to Bloodkit, but she was gone. But Stormkit hadn't left where he lay. Bramblestar's fur prickled as he crept up to the kit. Finally able to look closer at him, he saw that the weak kit's eyes were just as red as his sister's, but they didn't gleam with hate. In fact, they seemed to show fear and yielding. He groaned and let his head fall back after seeing the concern in the Thunderclan leader's amber eyes.

Not knowing why, he picked up the kit gently by his scruff and carried him towards the camp. Unlike Bloodkit, this one really wasn't a threat. He still couldn't help but feel like those cold, red eyes were about to lash out at him with a rush of fire. Then it would all be over.

"BRAMBLESTAR!"

Cloudtail charged into the leader's den in a flurry of white fluff. He jolted up and met face to face with the white warrior, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. Every time ANYTHING that wasn't hunting or anything normal happened, he got a wild Cloudtail appearing in his den like a tornado. "What is it?"

"It's the kit you brought in this morning!"

"WHAT?! What about him?!"

"Jayfeather found something you aren't going to like!"

"Well what is it, for Starclan's sake?!"

Cloudtail told him everything so fast, he couldn't understand a word. "What?" he mewed when the warrior was 'done'.

"Just go see him, he's in the medicine den."

Not to his surprise, pretty much the entire clan had been packed into the front of the medicine den. Jayfeather grumpily shouted over the crowd for everyone to leave. "THE NEXT CAT TO SET PAW IN HERE WITHOUT AN INJURY WILL BE PRESENTED WITH BLOODYKIT IN THEIR LEFT EARLOBE!"

"It was Bloodkit, you old elder!" someone accidentally meowed out loud. Before the medicine cat could kill whoever said that (his/her name will not be spoken for Jayfeather may read this and find him/her and kill him/her), Bramblestar pushed through the crowd and shooed them away. Then he turned to Jayfeather. "Alright, what is it?"

"I was thinking about the way you described Bloodkit to me while I was treating Stormkit. By the way, he was just really tired, I'm not sure why. Anyway, I, too, think that she seems familiar, and the only cat I could think of that looked like that was the same scent on Stormkit. It was faint, but..."

Jayfeather's voice died out. Bramblestar growled at him. "But what? This isn't the time to keep secrets, Jayfeather!"

The medicine cat's cyan eyes flashed. "Stormkit and Bloodkit are the kits of Mapleshade!"

Ok, so just saying a few things right now. I'm still alive. I have not canceled my Golden Sun fanfic, I'm just not motivated. I'll see if I can do the next chapter this weekend and make it extra long. During that time, I shall gripe about delays once again.

So anyway, I hope most of you know what Warriors is, because otherwise I'm not sure why your reading this. So if you're wondering why Bloodkit said Greystripe killed Mapleshade, in my book he did. I'm not exactly positive if Mapleshade died again in the Dark Forest, but here she didn't, until a dark secret is revealed some time before now.

Mapleshade was the one who killed Silverstream, not giving birth. Cinderpelt blamed herself for nothing. It was a few Starclan cats who chased Mapleshade away from killing the kits.

Why does she hate Silverstream? Because she's kin of Appledusk, the tom who she loved but didn't love her and blamed her for letting their kits drown after she was banished from Thunderclan for loving him. Yeah... anyway she's really my favorite warrior cat.

Tigerclaw was there when Silverstream died(as you all know), and since he went to the Dark Forest, he was told it was Mapleshade who killed Silverstream. In the Great Battle, he has a private moment with Greystripe and tells him this.

Then after the Great Battle and everyone is healed, Greystripe goes to the Moonpool, demands that Starclan drop him off at the Dark Forest, and meets Mapleshade. Then he kills her.

Wanna know why Stormkit is dark brown with tiger-stripes? Find out later in the book! *is a surprise*

So apparently Bloodkit and Stormkit are born alive, but Bloodkit has those flame powers from her claws (that Stormkit doesn't have, but he has something else that I'll tell you about in another chapter). And as you saw how the flames had spread to her paws after hurting Greystripe (or killing him, tell me in a review if you want me to have him die), if those flames completely consume her, she'll be lost to the will to kill. And she'll die.

Keep watch for chapter 2! Make sure to tell me what you think and if you want Greystripe to die! And if you like screaming Cloudtail!

-Shiny