Disclaimer: I don't own the world of the warrior cats. I do, however own most of the characters in this story.
Enjoy!
Prologue: A Prophecy of Gold
It was long before the prophecy that caused Feathertail's death. Farther back in history than Sharptooth, or the words of StarClan, 'Fire will save the Clan'. The Clans of Shadow, Thunder, River and Wind were young. Stoneteller never knew of other Tribes in the mountains, for they existed long before the memory of his grandfather's grandfather.
Not even Midnight would have known of it.
There were once three Tribes under the Tribe of Endless Hunting, before they united. It took sacrifice on the part of one cat, and her willingness to disregard rule and tradition to follow her heart, to do what she believed was right.
Her blood flowed down through the generations to reach Teller of the Pointed Stones. But she did not know of it until she turned to the Tribe of Endless Hunting.
The cats of the Tribes had not yet discovered the inherited traits of prey-hunter versus cave-guard, for they as yet had no cave to defend, and each cat chose their own path. Her path was very different from any path any other cat had, for she was to unite three Tribes who had, until that point, associated very little and rarely acknowledged each other's presence except when they trespassed on other's territory.
000
A tabby queen licked her three new kits, warming them as their father stood by, smiling proudly. The dark gray prey-hunter nudged his three children, then licked his mate between the eyes; both of them purred and the Tribe's Healer, a creamy yellow-orange tom with a white chest, right front paw and tail tip looked on.
"Your kits are healthy and strong, Rainbow." he said formally, using Rainbow Shimmer Over Lone Star's short name. "Both of you are to be proud, Glint." Now he addressed the tom; each black-gray hair on Glint of Fire in Fierce Eyes body shimmered with a silvery-white tip.
"Thank you, Reflection." returned the strangely colored cat, and Rainbow nodded tiredly, her white-with-light-gray-striped pelt shifting as she moved slightly to lay down more fully. Her kits squeaked in protest; there was one dark-gray-and-silver-striped tabby, one pitch-black and a small golden kit. The golden she-cat' fur was more brown with the birth-damp.
Reflection in Pool of Moon Water bowed his head, then left the small nursery, where one kit-mother lay with a pair of large children and one with darker brown fur than her licked her four kits, their eyes not yet open. He thought bitterly on how he had tried to save Shard Torn From Clear Ice, but his sister Shard had lost to much blood to save herself, and it was all she could do to bid farewell to her son and Reflection, who had ever since loved his dappled gray-and-black nephew more than an ordinary tom might.
Shard's mate and Deep's father had died before having a chance to see his children born, and the little she-cat who was Shards' daughter had been still-born. So Reflection had taken Deep under his wing, and loved his as a farther. More than a father, though. Reflections' and Shards' father had been indifferent to his children.
Deep Water Where Shadows Swim bounded to his fathers' side; he was just barely a to-be, young and rather silly sometimes, but Deep could become serious in a heartbeat. He was also the most agile cat, when it came to slipping around to get medicinal plants, that Reflection had ever seen.
"Uncle! Snowwind says that she must look into the Dew Gathering Hollow! She says it's full!" he told the creamy yellow-orange Healer, speaking of the Leader, a she-cat with a black pelt. The young tom bounced beside his adoptive father as the pair made there way with the rest of the cats to the large rock with a hollowed-out place in the summit.
The black leader stood there, the silvery line that curved from her left ear to her left paw shimmering in the light of the bright moon, not quite full. She sat, and the assembled cats of the Tribe sat with her, waiting for what the Tribe of Endless Hunting would say to them.
Suddenly, Wind That Blows the Fresh Snow lifted her head and gazed at the moon. "The Tribe of Endless Hunting has told me their will." She paused, then looked down at the single pool. The rock on which she sat above the still, calm water held the reflected light, as did the bush that leaned over the pool, allowing the dew that gathered on its leaves to fall into the hollow.
Reflection thought that she looked eerie, sitting up there. The silver tracing of fur on her forehead glittered as she looked at the cats seated patiently about, on a level with their ear tips. Snowwind gazed at them, then spoke.
"The Tribe of Sunset Fire," she said, naming her own tribe, "the Tribe of Darkened Mountains and the Tribe of Soft Moonlight will join as one, when a cat who is as gilded as the rocks at sunset for which out tribe is named is found. She will have dreams of the future, and by this we will know her.
"This ability," she called over the cries of disbelief at the thought of the three Tribes joining, "this ability will be shared by one cat from each Tribe. The Tribe of Endless Hunting has shown all this to me, as they say they have shown the other Tribe Leaders. Once there were many cats- so many, that the tribes split asunder and became three new tribes, say the Tribe of Endless Hunting. Now there are to few, and this must be undone."
Reflection thought of the she-cat that Rainbow Shimmer Over Lone Star had birthed only that hour, one whose pelt was the color of the sun as it set.
"Is the time of Tribal Unity coming so soon, now that the Golden One has come?" he murmured to himself. Only Deep heard the Healer say this, and he never told any cat about the words his elderly uncle had whispered.
