Hey, welcome to my brand-new fanfiction, co-written with Frecklesong! This chapter's by me - the prologue - or, to put it simply, the intro of how this whole thing works. Alright; here we go!
Forest:
Superior - Oak - sleek, ruddy she-cat with pale muzzle and neck; piercing green eyes (heir: Hare)
Second - Birch - sturdy brown tabby tom with scarred shoulder; green eyes
Healer - Feather - silver lynx point she-cat; blue eyes
Warriors -
Stag - solid grey tom; amber eyes
Breeze - dusty brown tabby tom; pale green eyes
Gorge - chestnut tom with one white paw; green eyes
Pine - black she-cat with white on muzzle and chest; pale green eyes
Jagged - brown classic tabby with long fur; amber eyes
Cloud - tortoiseshell and white she-cat; green eyes
Hare - lean lilac tom; amber eyes
Shade - tortie oriental shorthair she-cat; yellow eyes
Buzzard - charcoal grey tom; amber eyes
Crow - black tom with white tail tip and chest; blue eyes
Mouse - cream she-cat with brown face, paws, tail; green eyes
Queens -
Poppy - black and white oriental shorthair she-cat; green eyes (expecting Stag's kits)
Fox - sorrel somali she-cat with white chin; pale green-eyes (expecting Gorge's kits)
Trainees -
Bird - silver marbled tabby she-cat; blue eyes (trainer: Breeze)
Leaf - sandy colored she-cat; green eyes (trainer: Shade)
Sky - silver somali she-cat; pale green eyes (trainer: Pine)
Elders -
Snake - grey spotted tabby tom; yellow eyes
Water:
Superior - Rush - grey tabby tom with blue eyes (heir: Stone)
Second - Otter - small dark brown dappled she-cat
Healer - Timber - mottled grey-and-silver tom
Warriors -
Ripple - pale silver tabby tom with dark blue eyes
Minnow - ink-black she-cat with a white chest and face
Mist - charcoal-grey she-cat with pale green eyes
Flash - sleek black tom with one white paw
Ice - fluffy white she-cat with blue eyes
Rain - grey tabby tom with darker stripes and pale blue eyes
Sand - pale brown tabby tom; dark golden eyes
Pebble - speckled brown she-cat; green eyes
Silver - white she-cat with silver markings
Drift - pale grey-and-white striped tom
Shell - cream-furred she-cat with white paws
Queens -
Reed - silver tabby she-cat with amber eyes (mother of Ripple's kits: Stream, a silver tabby tom with blue eyes, and Dawn, a pale silver she-kit with amber eyes)
Trainees -
Stone - grey mackerel tabby she-cat (trainer: Flash)
Blue - dark silver-grey tom with blue eyes (trainer: Pebble)
Elders -
Trout - grey spotted tabby tom with dark green eyes
Prologue:
It was nearly moon-high. A full, milky moon hung, glistening in the sky, surrounded by an infinite sea of glimmering stars. It bathed the lone clearing in beams of opaque moonlight, where dozens upon dozens of cats sat huddled together.
A large reddish-brown tom strode out from the brambly undergrowth on one side of the area, narrowed green eyes flashing. His expression was guarded. An aura of authority and strength emanated from his sleek, powerful body.
From the opposite side of the clearing came a lithe, sleek grey tabby she-cat, silky-thin fur shedding droplets of water as she moved. Her aura was quiet and solemn, but seemed just as powerful as the tom's.
"Punctual, as always, I see, Hurricane," muttered the reddish tom to the she-cat, with a flippant glance in her general direction. He eyed her dripping fur distastefully, but if Hurricane noticed, she didn't give him any indication. It reminded him that cats were not, in any way, made to swim. His voice was skillfully mocking after moons of practice.
"Don't act so surprised, Thunder," answered Hurricane dryly without even a glance over at her much-larger opponent. "I am always on time." She ignored the childish roll of his eyes at her crisply-chosen words.
They lapsed into a brief not-quite silence. The crowd murmured still, and even the small sound echoed loudly around them. The two soon-to-be leaders stood nearly shoulder-to-shoulder, each assessing the mob of cats before them. It was quite obvious to anyone that Thunder wouldn't touch her sodden pelt for anything in the world. This was amusing to Hurricane, who was practically a fish living in a cat's skin. She cleared her throat, and there was a moment of rustling and muttering as the clearing descended into a roughly-established silence.
"Rise," cried Thunder, as loud as he was able, and all the spectators did, as if in a moon-induced trance. "Tonight shall be remembered for centuries to come!" he roared.
Hurricane didn't waste a moment, and she took the opening - not caring it was meant for her or not. "Come forward, all of you!" she ordered firmly, her blue eyes steely with ice. "A divide shall be created amongst you! Take your pick now, forest or water, for once you choose, you cannot change!" But she wasn't worried about them wanting to change. Hurricane never worried, and she certainly wasn't about to start now.
The air was thick with tension as glances were exchanged, urging others to be the first one to make a decision. There were many auras tangled and twisted around - enough that even Thunder had a hard time telling which aura went to who.
Complete strangers huddled close to each other like only close littermates tended to do, eyes flashing as they forced themselves to make up their minds: blue, green, yellow, amber gazes were exchanged. Almost all of them held some form of anxiety or fear.
The first cat stood, albeit shakily: a skinny, ruffled black tom with a fidgety aura and fearful amber eyes. It had clearly not been his choice to go first, as Thunder could see him being shoved forward by others around him.
"My n-name is, uh, Raven, and I choose w-water," he said, stumbling over his own paws as he moved hurriedly towards Hurricane.
The grey tabby glanced over her newly-decided recruit, giving him nothing but a crisp, businesslike nod. Either she couldn't sense his worries, or didn't really care. "Good choice," Hurricane told him, though she didn't pay him much other attention.
Raven's decision seemed to speed up the next volunteer's appearance, now that they wouldn't be the first. A small, slender she-cat stood, shooting a grin at someone near her. She was a chestnut-brown tabby with golden eyes and a strong, determined aura floating like an amber-gold halo around her head.
"I'm Hazel," she said breezily with a toss of her head. She sounded moons more confident than Raven had. It was fitting, Thunder decided with a look at her pelt. Without a second of hesitation, she added, "I choose forest as my group."
As she padded towards where Thunder was, the red tom watched her with an unreadable glint in his eye. He didn't let her see anything but a mask of cool indifference.
One at a time, the crowd split themselves into two groups. This is taking forever, grumbled Hurricane, but she stayed rigid, waiting. Not long after, there were just three cats left standing. She could almost guarantee that she'd get one of the group, if not two.
The biggest, a sleek, pale ginger tom announced loudly, "I'm called Nettle, and I'm choosing forest."
As he turned to head towards the forest group, a short silver tabby she-cat followed him, quickly naming herself as Cloud and making clear her intentions to join the forest group. They seemed to be close, Hurricane noted. Were they lovers, siblings, or just friends? she wondered.
The last voter, an agile-looking brown tom, stepped forward; and his aura revealed he was just as confident as he looked, though he seemed to be avoiding Thunder's expectant gaze. Don't break your promise, was Thunder's first thought.
"I am Pine," he said grandly, drawing himself up like he expected there to be a fight. "And I choose water." His delivered announcement was smooth and precise. He had clearly been planning this.
Thunder reacted immediately, a look of wayward panic flickering in his eyes. Well, he's going to be pathetic leader, Hurricane decided with a glance at the tom. I'm glad we don't live anywhere near each other.
If this were a different circumstance, Thunder knew, he wouldn't have said a word, but this placing was permanent. There would be no changes if this is what Pine chose. "You can't," he snapped at Pine, his cracking meow shattering the still air. "You promised you'd join me!"
But Pine was already on his way to the water group, easily weaving his way through the thick throng of cats, who parted for him to pass by. He turned and paused once to stare at Thunder. "I never promised you that. Just because you're my older brother doesn't mean I need you to breathe down on my neck all the time," he replied expressively. "You can't keep me on a thin lead for eternity. It's time for me to make my own decisions."
Thunder glared at Hurricane, green fire glowing in his eyes. Grief misted his eyes, but all he felt was anger. "You're going to regret this!" he snarled at her, but the grey tabby didn't do as much as flinch. "Whatever you did to make him come running to you, I will find out!"
"I did not do anything to your brother," Hurricane insisted frostily. Her eyes were cold. "He came to my group of his own free will." I will not lose my warrior, she wanted to say, but refrained.
This time Thunder directed his hot glare at Pine, who simply shrugged and said, "It's true, Thunder. It was - and is - my own choice."
The red tom closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. "I don't believe it. I won't believe it," he replied, sounding very young all of a sudden. "I won't. I will come rescue you from this siren, I promise. Whatever it takes." He layered that one word, promise, in emphasis, hoping to strike a nerve with Pine.
But Pine just blinked at him. "Goodbye, Thunder," he told his brother. "Forget about me. Go take care of your group. They need you now." With that, he turned away and trudged after Hurricane, who had begun leading her group away. I could never forget about you, Thunder almost said. But he didn't, instead staring after Pine, desperation clawing him from the inside out.
When there was only a dot on the horizon, Thunder turned, and there were his cats, quiet and waiting for a leader. They were waiting for him. Hazel blinked encouragingly at him from where she sat near the front, tail curled neatly around her paws.
"Come," he said, and then he said nothing else. His group understood. He was sure of it. "Let's go make our home." The red tom started forward, even though he could feel the sting of unshed tears in his eyes, ready to fall if he let them. But he would not. He was stronger than that - than his grief.
Yes, he knew that his group did come first. But once they were settled and established, or if he got an opportunity, Thunder would do anything to get his brother back to him, where he knew Pine belonged. Even if he started a war, or had to give up territory, or his whole group died.
Thunder blamed Hurricane - no, he blamed all of the water group. Hot anger boiled in the pit of his belly. He'd get Pine to come with him, show his brother that he had been wrong in his choice.
"We're going to make camp," Thunder told his group. "But after that, all able-bodied warriors-" he liked that word, warriors, "-prepare to fight. We're going to get my brother back."
And there's the first part! Coming up next is chapter number one, also written by me! I'm also going to be starting a QOTD for the first time ever on this fanfiction; today's is: Who's your favorite out of Thunder and Hurricane?
Tell me what you think in a review; remember, all comments are greatly appreciated!
~Ice