A/N: I hope you all enjoy!
Full summary: Firestar's time passed many moons ago, and with this new generation of cats comes new challenges of love and loss, light and dark, as well as mercy and wrath. After seasons of peace, the cats around the lake must face a danger unlike any before. With the future of the clans resting in the paws of ThunderClan's youth, the cats must once again have courage and faith or risk being wiped out. Fate is not always so kind, a lesson Stormkit will learn all too well with the struggles he and his friends have ahead of them. As this danger approaches, the clans have only an ominous prophecy to prepare themselves for the trials ahead. In these times, the cats must look inward to determine what is right, as even the warrior code and StarClan combined do not hold all the answers they seek.
Prologue
It was early morning when Mistkit slowly opened her eyes. The dawn patrol will go out soon, thought Mistkit as she looked up at sky, which was beginning to brighten as sunrise crept upon them. Her sister Leafkit and their friends Stormkit and Blazekit were still snoozing beside her, but Mistkit couldn't imagine sleeping a moment longer. There was too much to do and see as a ThunderClan cat, even for a young kit such as herself.
On this day, the air was brisk and cold, despite it being greenleaf. Shivering, Mistkit leaned closer to Crystalsong, her mother, for warmth. The icy wind blew the rich scents of the forest towards her and her paws tingled with excitement. I wish we could be apprentices already, she thought to herself. I'm ready for anything! I can't believe we have to be stuck in this small, crowded nursery for another two moons. She sighed, but then an idea came to her. Straightening up, she prodded Leafkit until finally the silver she-cat stirred and woke.
"Ugh," Leafkit groaned, her voice still thick and groggy. "Did you seriously need to wake me up? 'Cause I was having this really great dream where I—" Leafkit stopped abruptly when she saw the small gray tabby pelt beside her twitch. He must be having a good dream, Leafkit muttered to herself.
"Not so loudly, Leafkit!" Mistkit whispered, her blue eyes wide with worry. "Come on; let's get out of here, where we can talk without being overheard."
Leafkit looked at her sister with a questioning glare, but Mistkit remained silent, insistent that her plans would not be ruined. Flicking her tail to signal Leafkit to follow her, Mistkit led them to a small opening behind the nursery. This was where they had always shared news.
"Well, then? What's your bright idea this time?" Leafkit meowed crossly as she sat down next to Mistkit.
"I woke up earlier and the wind blew toward me and I could smell the forest," Mistkit explained, twitching her whiskers. "We have to go out and explore!"
"You know we shouldn't do that," Leafkit said in a matter-of-fact tone. Just as Mistkit was about to protest, Leafkit continued thoughtfully, "Then again, maybe we could, since every other sensible cat is sleeping. No one will notice." Leafkit turned to glare again at the dark gray she-kit.
"Sorry. You aren't mad at me are you?" Mistkit asked worriedly. "You'll come with me into the forest, right?"
"No, I'm not mad at you. And of course I'll come. We should get going before the sun comes up then."
"You'll really come?" Mistkit's eyes sparkled.
"I couldn't let you have all the fun, could I?"
Mistkit purred with amusement and stood up to signal the end of the conversation. Leafkit slowly walked out behind their hiding place. They made it to the fresh-kill pile when Leafkit stopped. There was a rustling noise behind her. Was she just imagining it? It's probably nothing, Leafkit reassured herself.
Finally, Leafkit noticed Lionfur, a senior warrior standing by the bracken that shielded the entrance of the ThunderClan camp. "Wait! It looks like Lionfur's standing guard tonight. We'll probably have to go through the dirtplace tunnel."
Mistkit wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yuck, it's so gross in there though!"
"This was your idea, smartypaws!" Leafkit retorted.
"Fine, fine, we'll go through the dirtplace tunnel then."
The two she-kits slowly made their way over to the entrance. The tunnel was dark and musty, and the ground was soft and squishy. Just as Leafkit thought she'd choke from the stench, they saw the opening that led to the lush, green forest.
"Finally, fresh, clean air again!" Leafkit mewed with relief. As she and her sister burst out of the tunnel, Leafkit noticed a spot where the sun's early light peeked through the trees and bushes to warm her fur. She turned to face Mistkit, who was scanning the forest. "What do we do now?"
Mistkit strained her eyes to look as far into the forest as they could, but she couldn't make out what was at the end of each path. She thought she heard the sound of water moving on one path and smelled the acrid scent of a Thunderpath on the other. "I dunno. Maybe we could take that path and see if we can catch any prey," Mistkit meowed and gestured toward the well-worn path. "I think this way leads to the lake."
Leafkit dipped her head. Together, they walked onto the sandy forest floor. Leafkit closed her eyes and sniffed the air, letting the wave of scents come to her. She scented a robin perched on the tree next to her and something unknown to her, but decided to ignore it.
"Ooh! I see a mouse, Leafkit!" Mistkit meowed excitedly, breaking Leafkit's concentration.
Leafkit opened one eye and saw the fat brown mouse her sister was talking about, nibbling at a seed at the foot of a large oak. She watched Mistkit creep up to it, but at the last moment, the mouse suddenly realized the danger it was in and scrambled wildly to its burrow. Mistkit hit the ground right where the mouse was a second ago.
"Mouse dung, I missed!" Mistkit spat.
"Bad luck!" Leafkit called to her sister. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew into her back, and she smelled a familiar scent. No, not one scent, but two. Oh no. I was right! It was them that I scented back at camp! Leafkit thought. She whipped around to see what she had feared: two gray tabby toms, one with blue eyes, and the other with amber eyes.
"What do you guys think you're doing out here?" the larger tom mewed with scorn and stepped out of his hiding place behind a bush.
"You have no right to follow us, Stormkit!" Leafkit mewed scathingly, dodging the question. She bristled and bared her tiny teeth. Leafkit heard Mistkit running towards her and relaxed a little when she felt her sister standing next to her.
"Why are you two here?" Mistkit meowed, her tone warm but confused.
"You mean you don't know? We couldn't help following you two with that racket you made leaving camp," the darker-furred tom mewed evenly.
Mistkit's eyes widened in horror at what Blazekit said. "No one else knew we sneaked out did they?"
"No," answered Stormkit. "Thank StarClan that no one else woke up."
"So it's a good thing that you guys came instead of anyone else?" Leafkit meowed, distrust in her gaze. "What are you saying? That you won't tell Snowstar or Crystalsong like I know you will?"
"Is that why you think we came?" Stormkit's ocean-blue eyes gleamed with amusement at Leafpaw's statement. "No, mouse-brain, we came to make sure you two didn't get yourselves hurt."
"So you aren't going to tell anyone?" Mistkit asked, delighted.
"Why would we tell anyone?" Blazekit asked curiously. "If we told anyone, we would get in trouble too for leaving camp and it's only another moon until we become apprentices!"
"He has a point there," Leafkit admitted, though she was less easily convinced than her sister. As she was about to speak again, Blazekit slapped his tail to her mouth to quiet her.
He stiffened and his eyes darkened with worry. "What is that strange smell?"
"You smelled it too?"
"What are you two mewing about?" Mistkit asked, delicately licking a paw.
Suddenly, a rustling noise broke the relative quiet of the forest. Something was thrashing through the forest right to them and judging by its loud roar, it wasn't pleased!
"Run!" Stormkit yowled.
Leafkit froze. This can't be happening! she thought. Suddenly, she noticed someone pushing her forward.
"Come on Leafkit!" Stormkit urged softly.
Together, the four kits ran from the lumbering creature. The way back to camp felt so far away in that second. Had they really traveled that far?
Then, Leafkit heard a yelp. She turned around to see her sister crouching on the forest floor, gingerly cradling her front paw.
"I've got a thistle in my paw, Leafkit. Help me!" Fear filled her sister's voice.
Leafkit could hear the badger catching up to them and she suddenly felt light-headed. She could hear its loud, clumsy paw steps slowly getting closer and closer to them.
"Hurry up, guys!" Blazekit yelled. "We can't waste time. If we stop for too long, the badger will get us all!"
Leafkit finally woke from the trance. She leaped forward to help Mistkit. She used her claws to stabilize Mistkit's paw and carefully used her teeth to pull the thistle out.
Finally, the badger appeared out of the bush and was upon them. It was about to strike her and Mistkit when the gray tabby brothers rushed in and clamped their jaws down on its legs. The badger roared with pain, momentarily distracted by the attack.
"Come on! Go!" Stormkit coughed.
Leafkit nudged Mistkit and they began to run again. They rushed past the trees and bushes, and the colors started to merge together. Leafkit shook her head to clear it. They had finally made it back to the fork in the road, where Mistkit had decided to take the path down to the lake. Stormkit and Blazekit took a sharp left. Leafkit could smell the acrid stench of the Thunderpath.
"This is the wrong way!" she yelled to the toms. "This leads to the Thunderpath, not to camp!"
"It's too late to turn back," Blazekit shouted. "If we do, we'll all be mouse-meat!"
The four kits surged on, onto an unknown path. The soft dirt gradually started to become rocky and Leafkit's paws were sore and bleeding from the unfamiliar terrain. Luckily, the badger had gotten stuck in some brambles, but it was still only a few body-lengths behind them now. We can't keep this up forever! Mistkit's already beginning to slow down. But she can't die! I won't let her die! Leafkit cried in her head. Great StarClan, please help me and my friends!
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the huge evergreen that was next to Leafkit, and it began to tip. Leafkit looked behind her to see the badger lashing out at Mistkit with the tree right about to crush them.
"Mistkit, move away from the tree!" Leafkit howled to her sister.
Mistkit looked at her in frozen terror. There was a crack, and Leafkit closed her eyes. When she opened them, she saw the massive tree trunk right where Mistkit and the badger had been.
"No!" Leafkit wailed. She sprinted to the tree. "Mistkit! I'm sorry! This is all happened because of me. It's my fault. I let us leave camp. I hate badgers."
Stormkit and Blazekit stood there, watching with shocked sadness.
"Mistkit..." Blazekit mewed slowly. "She's...?"
"Yeah," Stormkit replied. "She's gone."
The two brothers walked toward Leafkit, who had slumped down onto the ground, mourning for her sister.
"I always said I wouldn't let her get hurt. Now..." Leafkit stopped and finally realized the toms had come over to her.
"I'm sorry..." Stormkit said sorrowfully.
"It isn't your fault. It's mine." The young she-kit's eyes glistened with tears.
"It isn't your fault either, Leafkit," Blazekit mewed. "It was the fate of StarClan."
"Then I hate StarClan! It's so unfair. Mistkit didn't deserve this. She was the best sister ever... I wish I could have taken her place. I wish I could have stepped on the thistle, not her!"
"Don't say that!" Stormkit said, his blue eyes burning into hers. He strode over to her and buried his nose into her soft silver fur.
Leafkit's heart lurched. "What do we do now, then? Snowstar and Crystalsong are going to kill me."
"We've got to get back to camp," Blazekit pointed out.
"But what will we do with Mistkit's body?"
"We'll have to leave her here. We can't move the massive tree and carry her back to camp. I'm sorry Leafkit."
"It is okay, Blazekit. I-I guess we really can't do anything," Leafkit mewed shakily, trying to get a hold on her feelings. "Th-thanks you guys."
Stormkit placed the tip of his tail on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "It'll be okay, Leafkit. It'll be okay."
No it won't! Leafkit dully protested in her head, though she kept quiet.
The three cats, tails drooping, gradually moved back towards the ThunderClan camp, leaving one behind forever.
I'll avenge you, Mistkit. I promise I won't let anyone else I love get hurt anymore. Once I'm a warrior, all of the badgers in the world will know my name and shriek in terror just from hearing it. I promise you!
A flame-colored tom with starry fur watched the young cats pad away, a sad but accepting expression molding his once-handsome features. A second cat approached from behind and sat quietly at his side.
"You look troubled," the tortoise-shell she-cat mewed with a soft, concerned look in her eyes.
The ginger tom sighed. "I will always worry for ThunderClan, even if my time has long passed and not a single soul remembers me. These cats are too young to suffer such grief."
"Peace; there is little you can do now and though the clans have experienced much peace, trouble will always arise."
"You are right. Still, I wonder how they will fare with..."
She quieted him with a shake of her head. "Passion burns in all of their hearts. They will not be so easily defeated. Do not forget... The sun that follows the dusk of a roaring storm will give the strength needed to quell the waves of darkness that loom overhead."
A/N: So what did you think? Haha, not bad for something I started when I was 12 or 13, right? I've made some changes and thought it might be fun to see where this could take me after a long hiatus from writing. Please leave a review!