Hawks and Doves - Prologue
This story is, in a way, an allegory for what happened in the United States back in the 1960s and 1970s during the Vietnam War. My father was in that war, and the idea came to me during my history class when we were learning about the war itself. Basically, the United States was divided into two categories: the hawks and the doves. The hawks supported the war, and were willing to send more troops to crush their Communist enemies. The doves were the younger generation, and they wanted peace. They wanted Americans to stop dying on the other side of the world in a war in which they didn't even know what they were fighting for. So, that whole theme (if you can call it that) will tie into the story.
Full Synopsis:
He was a soldier; hardened by many seasons of battle and hardship.
She was a foundling that had been abandoned and neglected, and yet still had hope.
He was meant to bring war.
She was meant to bring peace.
But what they brought together meant far much more.
Dovefeather is a warrior of NightClan. Having just got her name a moon before, she is eager to prove her worth to the Clan, and to Hawkstorm, the Clan deputy. She watches him when he's not looking, admiring his strength and strategic mindset, however, there is a lot about the NightClan deputy that she doesn't know.
Hawkstorm is not a good cat. He is hard, cruel and downright cynical. Believing his Clan has become a bunch of soft-footed cowards under the leadership of Swiftstar, turns to other, more malevolent sources for help to restore its Clan to glory.
The warriors tell her to stay away; he's bad news. They tell her that he is too far gone; lost in his own bitter past. They say that this is the tom that is believed to be the downfall of NightClan as they know it. Despite all the things they say, Dovefeather refuses to listen to them. She won't give up home on him. Evil is not born, it's created, and evil can be abolished with a little bit of love.
I don't own Warriors.
Prologue
"Do you think they're dead?"
The question was asked rhetorically, without an answer anticipated, but someone replied, "Yeah… Yeah, I think they are."
The cat that had spoken first made a sound of distaste. "Pity."
Four cats surrounded a large, crystalline stone in the middle of a small cavern. Moonlight reflected off the smooth edges, giving the cavern a silver gleam, and making the cats' pelts shimmer likes starlight. They each seemed unease in the others' presences, and yet, they cooperated with each other, and seemed rather civil. Still, it was clear that none of them trusted each other in the slightest, but they had no choice but to work together.
"I would have thought that there would be a different outcome," a third cat spoke. This cat was a broad-shouldered tom with a deep voice that echoed off the cavern walls.
The second cat that had spoken nodded. "I think we all did, Nettlestar." This cat was a female, and the smallest of the four of them. Yet, she seemed to be the most respected all of them. The other cats regarded her with wary glances, but they were more eager to listen to her then to one another.
"What happens now?" the fourth cat asked; another tom.
"I don't know," the first, also a tom, confessed. "They weren't both supposed to die… Only one. The prophecy foretold-"
"The prophecy was not fulfilled," the she-cat stated.
"But all prophecies come true," Nettlestar said, his tail twitching, as if with annoyance.
The she-cat shook her head. "Prophecies have been fulfilled in the past because the Clans have always trusted StarClan's judgment. They may not have always wanted what we foretold, but they had faith in us, and our words. They chose to take their rightful role in the prophecy and complete it as we said it would be so. These cats… did not want the prophecy to be true."
Nettlestar snorted. "Foolish," he grumbled. "That she-cat… throwing away her life for that—"
"What's done is done," the she-cat meowed with finalism. "We cannot change what they have done. They have chosen their paths… The Clans must simply adapt to this unexpected turn of events."
"But Moonstar… everything is wrong," the fourth cat protested. "She was not supposed to sacrifice her life to save his. He was supposed to die in that battle."
"And he did," the first cat pointed out. "Nothing has changed."
"Everything has changed, Brackenstar! She had her entire life ahead of her! She had the potential to lead her Clan, and she threw it away!" the cat growled.
"It's her loss, not ours," Brackenstar replied, flicking his tail dismissively. "The stupid she-cat made a choice, and now she has to deal with it. It's not our problem."
"It will be when the fate of the Clans is altered!"
"The fate of the Clans changes every day," Moonstar pointed out even-temperedly. "Each cat has the free will to make their own choices, Duckstar. All we can do is be there to guide them along their path. In the end, we cannot decide what they choose. She chose to love him, and she chose to die for him."
Duckstar shook his head, not wanting to give up, but not having anything else to add. Nettlestar finally concluded the meeting by stomping his paw on the floor of the cavern. "Let us be done with this nonsense. I've had enough of hawks and doves for one day, if you ask me."
Brackenstar let out a small grunt of agreement. "Yes, I second that."
With a sigh, Moonstar nodded her head. "Very well. The meeting is concluded." At her words, the four cats began to disperse from the cavern, each going their own way, and not bothering to bid each other farewell. Moonstar watched them go solemnly. None of them bothered to see if she had left as well; they just kept on walking, leaving her alone in the cavern.
Without the presence of the other cats, the cavern felt slightly overwhelming. Moonstar knew she was in one of the holiest places in all of StarClan. When she lived in the Clans, she treasured her visits here, viewing it as a way of being close to her ancestors, but now that she was one of them, it felt solemn, and even somewhat foreboding. The events that had unfolded just sun-shifts before still plagued the former leader's mind. Everything had gone wrong so quickly.
The prophecy that was issued had been a regular, run-of-the mill prophecy. An evil would arise, and a hero would come and strike it down. But there was something about this one that was different. Moonstar closed her eyes as she recited it in her head, A hawk will bring forth a violent storm which the Clan has never seen, and only the peaceful dove can tame the fearsome beast. At first, Moonstar had been sure that the dove in the prophecy would destroy the hawk, but she had never been more wrong. None of the StarClan cats had expected what ensued.
No one had expected that the peaceful dove would fall in love with the violent hawk.
A/N: Review?