Full Summary

Many season after the time of Firestar, the peace around the lake will be threatened. Three littermates, whose heritage has never caused problems before, will have their loyalty tested as cats become distrusting of their own Clanmates. But is the problem something local? It is a problem fixable by cats alone, or will even StarClan have troubles guiding the Clans in the right direction?


Prologue

It was past moon-high and the midnight patrol and returned to the camp awhile earlier. Two she-cats sat still, guarding the thorn tunnel as a cold wing ruffled their fur. The bare branches of the trees above them rustled loudly, making it hard to hear sounds from deeper in the forest. The larger tortishell she-cat's ear flicked in annoyance as the wind began to howl through the forest again. It was the end of leaf-fall and the Clan would be lucky to have no snow before leaf-bare began.

The sound of the wind rushing through the trees began to die down, and the two she-cats hear the distinctive sound of paw steps coming towards them. The smaller white and blue-gray tabby she-cat jumped to her feet.

"Who are you and why our you in ThunderClan territory?" She hissed, her fur prickling.

A large, spotted, blue-gray tom appeared before the she-cats. Three small kits dangled by their scruffs from the tom's jaws. The tom had obviously been struggling to carry all three of the kits at once, so he placed them gently on the ground. The three kits cuddled close together in the cold. The two biggest were a blue-gray she cat and a pale golden she-cat while the runt was a scrawny dark ginger tom.

"Crowfoot!" The larger she-cat gasped, "What are you... where did you find them?"

"Emberfleck help me take these three to the nursery. I'm sure Snowfall will be kinda enough to take them in," Crowfoot started, "Froststreak you can continue guarding the camp, Emberfleck will return shortly."

Emberfleck picked up the smallest of the kits by his scruff while Crowfoot carried the other two. The warriors passed Froststreak quickly, missing the look of confusion on her face.

Crowfoot and Emberfleck quickly padded to the nursery where a white she-cat slept peacefully with her single kit. The warriors placed down the kits and Crowfoot nodded his thanks to Emberfleck as she silently walked off.

"Snowfall..." Mewed Crowfoot softly. "Snowfall it's Crowfoot wake up."

The white she-cat slowly awoke and looked up curiously at the tom in the nursery's entrance. Her gaze drifted to the three kits on the ground and she gasped.

"Great StarClan what is this Crowfoot?" Snowfall questioned.

"I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but can you take in these kits? They have no mother anymore." The tom mewed, avoiding Snowfall's question.

"Of course I will." The she-cat responded. Crowfoot then scooted the young kits over to Snowfall's belly, where they settled in next to her own kit.

"You'll want to have Duskstripe look at the kits in the morning." A low meow sounded from behind Crowfoot. "You know, to make sure their not sick from the long journey they made this late in leaf-fall." Snowfall gave a look of confusion to the newcomer. "Good evening Snowfall, I hope we haven't disturbed you too much."

"That's no problem, Copperstar. Being woken up late at night is exciting."

Copperstar purred with amusement. "Crowfoot and I will get out of your way. Have a nice night." The tom meowed, turning back towards his den. "Crowfoot, come with me. We need to talk in my den."

Crowfoot padded quickly to catch up with the older brown tabby tom. The pair made their way into Copperstar's den. Inside they sat facing each other silently for many moments. Suddenly, Copperstar's unreadable gaze turned into one of disappointment.

"Emberfleck mentioned when she came to alert me that the kits smelled of WindClan," Growled Copperstar.

"I was wondering how you found out about the kits."

"Don't change the subject!" Copperstar snapped. "Have you been going to see that WindClan she-cat again?"

"No!" The blue-gray tom meowed defensively. "I stopped when you asked me to."

"Then why have you brought kits that smell of WindClan to ThunderClan camp?" Hissed the ThunderClan leader. "I saw the kits. Two of them clearly had some traits that resembled you."

Crowfoot sighed. "Yes, they are my kits. She asked me to take them because she said that the WindClan leader wouldn't let her keep them anyway. I couldn't just let them die."

"I am not angry for you bringing the kits here, but what are we going to tell the Clan? Are we just going to make an announcement to say the ThunderClan deputy broke the warrior code and these new kits are a result from it?" Copperstar had started pacing in front of Crowfoot. "I'm not as worried about the kits, though. If we speak as little about their heritage as possible, they will be loyal ThunderClan warriors long before it ever become an issue, I'm sure. It's you I'm more worried about. You are very well respected among the Clan and you already have two daughters that are great warriors. Froststreak was even guarding the camp tonight, how do you think she reacted? How do you think the rest of the Clan will react? You also broke your promise to not go back to see this cat again when you went to get the kits. You obviously will have a punishment."

"Any punishment you come up with will be more than fair."

Copperstar stopped pacing and sat down, letting his head hang limply. He began to speak without looking at the younger tom. "Crowfoot you know I am on my last life. You are a brave and loyal warrior and the best deputy that has served under me. I was sure this thing with the WindClan she-cat was just a fling to get over the loss of Silverstripe. I was a fool and I should have punished you properly when I first found out about this. Crowfoot, as punishment for breaking the warrior code, breaking your promise to me and showing disloyalty to the Clan you will be demoted from ThunderClan deputy. At sun-high I will announce your demotion, though I won't say why. By moon-high there will be a new deputy. Now leave my den."

Crowfoot dipped his head and left for the warrior's den. He stride was filled with shame and regret and his tail dragged behind him as he made his way across the camp. "StarClan please do not punish these kits for my mistakes. Please guide their paws so they never make mistakes like mine, either."


Hey, I hope you enjoyed the prologue! There will not be an alliances, but I hope to get the first chapter up shortly. The first chapter will take place many moon after the prologue, the kits Crowfoot brought back will be about ten moons old and in the middle of their apprenticeship. Feel free to review, I'd love to hear from you guys! ~Blaze