Pebbles is an ordinary kittypet, just like every other story. But unlike those stories, she will always stay ordinary. When her friend Scamper becomes a bit too interested in the plans of Ridge, an 'over-inspiring' alley cat who hates twolegs, and a mysterious cat who looks a lot like the one in her dream is hit by a car, she is forced to look deeper into the mysteries of every day and begins to wonder what Ridge is really saying. A spunky, witty tabby, she narrates her way from the ocean, to the forests, and up the mountains that tower over her home, and in the end, it's what matters most to her and her life that she will have to choose between.

Allegiances

AshClan

Leader: Ridgestar - Red-brown tabby she-cat

Deputy: Stagfrost - Light brown tabby tom
Apprentice: Pebblepaw

Medicine Cat: Stormfeather – Elderly gray tabby tom with green eyes

Warriors:

Rushfoot- Pale gray tabby tom

Rainflower- Dark gray she-cat with white markings
Apprentice: Pinepaw

Frostfeather- White she-cat with blue eyes

Twigstripe- Ginger tabby tom

Turtlestream - Dark tabby she-cat
Apprentice: Lilypaw

Copperstep- Golden brown tom
Apprentice: Smokepaw

Ivystep- Dark gray tabby she-cat

Emberfoot- Black tom with a ginger paw

Twiststorm- Dark gray tom
Apprentice: Fleetpaw

Apprentices:

Pinepaw- Dark brown tabby tom

Smokepaw- Gray tom

Lilypaw- White she-cat with gray patches

Fleetpaw- White she-cat

Pebblepaw- Light gray tabby tom with white feet and deep sea-blue eyes

Queens:

Riversong- Blue-gray she-cat

Elders:

Flutterspots- Perky graying tabby she-cat

Maplefoot- Brown tabby tom

Cats Outside of Clans:

Ridge - Dark red-brown tabby tom; leader of the alley cats

Bane - Black and white tom

Branch- Brown and white tom

Scruffy- Fluffy brown tabby tom

Stripes- Ginger tabby she-cat

Ivory- White she-cat

Scamper- Long-haired brown tabby tom with white markings

Pebbles- Dark gray tabby she-cat with white feet and sky blue eyes

Whiskers- Chubby gray tabby tom

Hugo- Elderly silver tom

Mocha- Elderly dark brown tabby she-cat

Sparks- Ginger tabby she-cat

Ashes- Gray she-cat with darker gray patches

Charcoal- Black she-cat

Flicker- White she-cat with ginger splotches

Shadow- Dark gray tom

Storm- long haired elderly pale gray tabby tom with green eyes

I would like to thank my cousin the 'Prehistoric Pterodactyl Named Delma' for a considerable amount of plot help, her cat Scamper for agreeing to star in the story, and my other cousin Carobelle for typing up the allegiances when I was at her house, because I type wicked slow and she's wicked impatient. Thank you guys!!

Prologue

The wind whispered among the towering trees, moonlight filtering between their trunks in long beams of silver. An owl hooted in the distance, and the river thundered by, each ripple lit like a thread of moonstone. A heavy fog wrapped the trees in swirling gray darkness.

Pebbles opened her eyes in the shadow of a huge mossy maple, blinking. Then she sat bolt upright, her heart pounding. Where was she? Certainly not at home. The middle of the woods? That sure looked like the answer. The woods—oh no!

Like any other cat in Port Angeles, Pebbles had heard all the dark stories about the mossy forest, the prowling wolves, the river of blood, the kit-eating hawk—

Not—not that Pebbles believed any of those stories, r—right?

She got slowly to her paws, and looked around at the trees. She trotted over to the river's high bank, where it dropped away suddenly, leaving several feet to fall before she'd hit the water. Pebbles shrank back. Well, she thought, at least I know it isn't blood. It's really blue, though.

She turned and trotted back across the path to the tree where she'd woken up. Hang on—the path? She thought. Whipping around, she looked left, right, and saw a footpath that stretched into the darkness. Old and worn, it was narrow and rocky, and at one end, a beam of moonlight in the fog filled it, illuminating a brook that fell into the thundering river. Pebbles stumbled curiously towards it, the fog making the rocks on the path slick.

The stream was dark and deep, and rushed past her in the foggy moonlight, the surface glowing like a star. She peered over a mossy rock into the brook, staring at the silver-blue depths with awe. The swirling pool looked bottomless, pouring over the smooth gray rocks into the big river. Pebbles cocked her head, sinking her thin kitten claws into the sandy riverbank, glancing down.

The banks were worn into a sort of shallow basin, and Pebbles suddenly realized that among the scattered stones, the little indentations were paw prints. Cat-sized paw prints. Hereyes widened in surprise. Who came out here? She stepped back instinctively, her heart pounding again. Suddenly her back paw splashed into the stream.

It seared like fire and burned like ice at the same time, and she gasped in pain, jumping forward. Where the heck am I? She thought in terror. Pebbles sat down and looked at her foot. All the way up her ankle, her fur had turned black.

Pebbles stood slowly, looking warily around. The stream babbled unconcernedly, the trees rustled quietly, the fog drifted vaguely around her. Then she heard it.

There are two.

Huh? She looked around at the sound of the whispering voice. It sounded foreign, but sort of familiar...

But soon there will only be one.

Then she realized where the voice was coming from—it was coming from inside the brook.

Pebbles clattering on the blood river's shore beneath scampering paws...

One black paw will lash back...

And find another...

Even the brightest star hides secrets...

And even distant mountain ridges can reach the stars...

Even an accident can save the cats who need you most...

Dark moonbeams light the fog...

A cat was sitting in the mist just a tail-length ahead of him, seeming to glow. Those sea-blue eyes looked oddly familiar too—

The only thing holding you back... is you.

Then suddenly the current swelled and dragged Pebbles down with it.