12/28 Edit: I have come back to fix this story for spelling and grammar errors that have bothered me for some time. Mind you, this story is still a post-Outcast AU, but I am changing several things (like warrior names) to stay somewhat with canon. However, Sol will not have a place in this story, and niether will the Leaf/Jay/Crow theory (though we all it's practically canon now.) I have my own plans for this story other than what the Erins have wrote.
Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. All I own is the plot and any OCs that pop up in this story.
Within a dark forest that had no light, save for a sort of glowing fungus that emitted a soft glow, and seemed to have no inhabitants save for the stale scents of cats, a dark tabby tom with a white underbelly navigated through the endless maze of trees with the speed and precision of an expert. Of course, after spending nearly twelve blasted moons in this dreary place- not that he wasn't keeping count of the days of his imprisonment or anything- because of his half-brother, Hawkfrost should know the Dark Forest by heart.
Tigerstar waited for his son upon a rock, one unsheathed paw tapping the side of the massive stone impatiently. When Hawkfrost finally did show up, he quickly looked down at his paws to avoid that intense amber gaze that seemed to burn right through him to his very soul.
Hawkfrost waited for the usual tart admonishment from his father, but Tigerstar merely tapped on his rock. The clicking sound of claws against the hard surface made the former RiverClan warrior wince each time they touched the stone. Still, Tigerstar did not speak.
Not able to bear the silence any longer, Hawkfrost spoke up tentatively. In life he hadn't much of a cautious cat, but when dealing with the infamous Tigerstar of ShadowClan, any mousebrain knew to not make the slightest wrong move unless they had a strong desire to die a second time. "Sorry that I'm late Tigerstar," he meowed with only a waver of fear in his voice. "Our apprentice just needed a little bit of... persuasion to keep on the right path."
The tapping finally ceased. "But you managed to lure Lionpaw ever closer to our ultimate goal, right?" Tigerstar asked with a slight trace of warning.
Hawkfrost nodded. "I told Lionpaw to be the best warrior he could be and that he should the follow the warrior code as best as he can, like his sister Hollypaw." He bent his head up to look at Tigerstar with an icy blue gaze. "But it was an accident that I let it slip that Firestar has been breaking the code the moment he joined the Clan."
Tigerstar's whiskers twitched in satisfaction. "Good. Any other important news about our three little favorite apprentices?"
Hawkfrost puffed up his chest and proudly reported, "Jayfeather has been welcomed as a full medicine cat by StarClan. Lionpaw is jealous at his brother for getting his name before him and is angry at Ashfur for not letting him be a warrior. During his rant to me he mentioned something about a prophecy."
The dark tabby's ears perked in interest. "Prophecy? What prophecy?"
"Lionpaw said that his brother told him and Hollypaw about a prophecy he's been hiding from us for a couple of moons now. "Three will come, kin of your kin, with the power of the stars in their paws." Jayfeather claimed he heard Firestar and some old gray tomcat talking about it."
"That would explain the unusual fighting skills Lionpaw has been showing ever since the journey to the Tribe of Rushing Water," Tigerstar mused. "And it would also explain why Jayfeather has the strange ability to walk in other cats' dreams. Hollypaw, if the prophecy is truly about her and her siblings, must have a power, too."
Hawkfrost sat in silence as his leader mulled over the possibilities that this prophecy would have upon his plans. As we went over each scenario in his head with typical Tigerstar thinking, Hawkfrost tried to hide his impatience.
Can you hurry it up? the former RiverClan warrior thought. I still have more news to tell you about! Whoever had said that patience is a virtue had clearly never met Tigerstar.
Not able to bear the silence any longer Hawkfrost continued, "There's more to my news, Tigerstar." The dark tabby snapped his head up, amber eyes burning with annoyance at being interrupted from his train of thought. "I managed to manipulate Lionpaw's anger toward Ashfur to our advantage. He followed me toward a border skirmish between a ThunderClan patrol and a ShadowClan patrol. He and Hollypaw showed so much bravery at the fight that Firestar has ordered their warrior ceremony to take place tomorrow."
Tigerstar nodded. "And aren't Daisy's latest litter of kits going to apprenticed as well tomorrow...What were their names? Rosekit and Toadkit? Horrible names, in my opinion. But never mind about that, if one of those kits were to be apprenticed to either Hollypaw or Lionpaw..."
Hawkfrost unsheathed his claws in understanding. He snarled in joy as the familiar feeling of blood-lust bubbled up inside him. "If either of those kits are apprenticed to our dear kin, then Brambleclaw will no longer be needed to hold the position of deputy. My agent will take care of my half-brother if that does happen."
Tigerstar replied, "It's not a matter of if Lionpaw or Hollypaw receive Rosekit or Toadkit as an apprentice. Or if Firestar appoints either cat as deputy in Brambleclaw's place. It's all a matter of when."
Seeing the look of confusion on Hawkfrost's face, Tigerstar sighed. "There's an old saying that goes "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." After so many moons of getting to know Firestar better than the old fool knows himself, I know how he'll react if another tragedy hits him in his advanced age. Losing his first deputy to the Twolegs for seasons. Having to face the matter that his own trusted deputy hesitated on over to whether save of his life or not. All of these little things can build up on even the strongest cat."
Hawkfrost smirked as Tigerstar's plot came into light. "I see what you're getting at."
Tigerstar nodded. "All it takes is a little bit of pressure continually pressed up in large amounts and...SNAP!" The dark tabby flashed out a clawed paw and struck a tree branch close to his head, the dead thing falling off the tree and landing at Hawkfrost's paws. "Just like Bluestar, Firestar will fall to his own paranoia. When a cat can only trust his own kin, especially a leader, he'll go for his grandkit as deputy."
"But what about Squirrelflight?" Hawkfrost asked nervously. He knew it was very bad to pop Tigerstar's metaphorical bubble while he was one in of his "moods," but this was just too major to not mention. "She has her own apprentice, too."
"No cat in their right minds would allow that crazy ball of fur to become deputy, even if she was his own daughter." Tigerstar turned to Hawkfrost.
"That's the thing about Firestar, he would never trust his mate or his daughter to take up such a dangerous position as deputy. If Graystripe was captured and Brambleclaw killed and yet still paranoid to only one of his kin to become deputy, wouldn't he pick a cat that shares his blood but did not a close connection with?"
Unknownst to the two scheming cats, some one was watching their dyabolical thinking from far away.
A tomcat sat, staring into a pool that was just like the ones StarClanners used to watch the living with. But only this one pool could see somewhere else other that wasn't in the Clans' boundries. The cat watching this pool was a glittering silver from all the stars that covered his pelt, only a couple of sparse flecks of untouched fur showing he had once been a dark brown tabby.
"Well?" a dark cream she-cat who was sitting nearby asked. "What is Tigerstar planning this time?"
The silver tomcat allowed the image of the two Dark Forest cats to fade into blackness and fixed his unnerving white gaze on the she-cat. In life his gaze had been green, but the original color had long since leaked out of his eyes. "Same as always, Dawnstar. Our dear enemy is trying to reap his revenge upon Firestar by controlling his living kin. And, as you have predicted, he has found out about the prophecy."
Dawnstar hissed in frustration at the silver cat's calm tone. "I don't know how you cannot be worried about this, Rowanstar," she snapped. "If Tigerstar controls Lionpaw then he controls the best fighter in the history of the Clans!"
Rowanstar nodded. "It would appear so."
"Then why not summon Spottedleaf or Yellowfang to fetch Lionpaw back?" Dawnstar clawed at the dirt beneath her claws, trying to kept her agitation under control. "You ordered for Jayfeather to be protected and he has every drop of power his brother has. Why not do the same for Lionpaw?"
"Hollypaw is the only one untouched by Tigerstar at the moment," Rowanstar meowed. The pool in front of him suddenly showed an image of the black she-cat with the innocent green eyes he knew all too well would be dark and tired within a very few short moons from now. "If we were to take Lionpaw from Tigerstar, he would go for the only one of the prophecy unshielded by StarClan."
Dawnstar looked down at the image of Hollypaw with cold green eyes. "Does it matter?" she replied icily. "The sister shows no power. If she even does have a talent, it wouldn't be nearly as destructive as Lionpaw's or Jayfeather's."
Rowanstar shifted slightly at the look in Dawnstar's eyes. Although she had been one of the more kinder ShadowClan leaders, the ingrained agression and hosility toward strangers still ran deep. "Hollypaw has just as much, if not more, power as her brothers. Her talent is just more...subtle."
The two cats looked down at the pool that suddenly shifted to a vision of a possible future. Hollypaw stood before a forest plagued with chaos caused by her, her amber eyes as cold and calculating as Tigerstar's.
Rowanstar grimly meowed, "If Tigerstar was to discover Hollypaw's abilities there would be no hope for the Clans."
Dawnstar looked down at what she almost had caused and shivered as her blood suddenly ran cold. "For a former WindClan leader you are quite wise," she reluctantly conceded.
He blinked in surprise at the comment, then purred in amusement. "That's because the leader of StarClan has to be wise." Rowanstar looked down back at this possible vision of Hollypaw and narrowed his eyes slightly. Unknownst to his apprentice who was to be the future leader of StarClan, this fate for Hollypaw was still all too likely to happen.
The ancient prophecy that Rowanstar had received upon the night he had become leader of StarClan kept on repeating over and over in the back of his head as he stared into the amber eyes of that monstrous vision.
"Problems of the past, present, and future will come to haunt the Clans. Three cats who hold the power of the stars in their paws shall deal with their demons and confront these problems. If they should fail, death and despair shall strike the Clans."
So that was the prologue of Power of Three. I know it isn't that good but I promise that the other chapters will be better. And to those that are wondering, yes, the character of Dawnstar of ShadowClan is the same Dawnstar who was in Firestar's Quest.
