A rusty ginger tail impatiently flicked from behind a thick bush.

So this was where he intended to meet me.

The small black and white cat poked his head through the green leaves, and met eyes with the wise cat waiting for him. Green eyes blinked back at him.

"Come, Patchfur. Sit."

Patchfur dipped his head and sat beside the tom. He suddenly noticed the bits of gray fur on the ginger cat's pelt, and realized that his leader was getting old. Flamestar had been around for a long time.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me?"

Flamestar parted his jaws as if he was about to speak, but his eyes widened, and he turned his head and coughed violently. He turned back to the young warrior and sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm getting to old for this job. Anyways, Patchfur, StarClan has spoken to me."

Patchfur thought for a minute, then nodded. Why would his leader tell him, a newly appointed warrior, that StarClan had spoken with him? Wasn't that the medicine cat's job?

Flamestar went on. "They told me that you had a special destiny… something further than being in ThunderClan. I'm not entirely sure what that means."

Patchfur was awfully confused, but kept listening. He was curious.

"I don't know anything more than you do now, trust me," the old tom sighed. "But, before the StarClan cats left me, they told me that they would walk in our dreams tonight."

"I guess we will find out all of our unanswered questions," Patchfur murmured, his mind still whirling.

Mist quietly floated around Patchfur in the dark clearing. It was so thick that the warrior could hardly see the trunks of the trees that surrounded him. Suddenly, a few unfamiliar cats padded through the thick foggy blanket towards him. Flamestar trailed behind them.

The star-pelted cats sat down, and beckoned him to do so.

Finally, after a moment of tension and silence, a dark brown tabby StarClan cat padded forward to greet him. But there was no friendliness in the tom's eyes.

"The Dark Forest cats are creating a new Clan. One with bad intentions. It is being created to ally with the Dark Forest. Together, they will strive to achieve more power and…" his voice began to tremble. "…turn the Clan cats into their slaves."

Horror flooded through the black and white tom, and a gasp escaped Patchfur's mouth.

"What?" he hissed with fury. "That's just-"

A deep mew interrupted his.

"Patchfur. That is not all."

The tabby touched flicked his tail onto his pelt to silence him.

"The cats will be winged."

Patchfur, stunned, looked over at his leader beside him. The dark ginger cat's eyes were wide with terror. The warrior looked back over at the StarClan cats.

"These cats will be winged? Like birds?" he meowed with fright.

A pretty tortoiseshell she-cat padded towards him. Her blue eyes were dark and afraid. She nervously glanced in the other direction.

"Yes. It will be called DarkClan. They will have big, black wings, giving them an advantage over all the Clans." She turned and looked at him in the eye, her eyes serious. "We have told you this because it is your destiny to create CloudClan, the good Clan of wings."

Without giving Patchfur a chance to respond, she went on.

"We have been watching over you for many moons, ever since we have heard of this evil plan. You are patient and brave, but not foolish. You know the difference of doing right and doing wrong. And most of all, we know you are strong enough to become the leader of CloudClan."

Patchfur couldn't believe what he had just heard. Should he have cleaned his ears that morning? Him, the leader of a winged cat Clan, fighting to protect the lives of StarClan and the four forest Clans? That was crazy!

"What about my Clan? And my Clanmates? I can't just leave them!" he meowed loudly, feeling like a helpless kit.

"You must not change your destiny, Patchfur. Your Clanmates will be proud of you."

Patchfur sighed, and reluctantly nodded. "Well, okay. But…" he thoughtfully scratched his head with his hind paw. "But what about the other cats in CloudClan? Haven't you chosen any warriors?"

The dark brown tabby gave him a slight smile. "That, Patchfur, is all in your decision. You will choose the cats for CloudClan, whether they are fallen warriors in StarClan or warriors from the Clans of the forest. But you must choose quickly. We will give you a quarter moon to choose your cats."

The black and white tom had a quick vision of furious cats refusing to to listen to him and going back to their Clans.

"What if I choose the wrong cats?"

"If a cat, is not right for CloudClan, you will know. Your instincts will guide you."

Patchfur nodded, but was doubtful.

The cats got up from their spots and circled him, dipping their heads with respect. The she-cat touched noses with him and gave him one last whisper.

"We thank you for doing StarClan a favor. You will be honored. But before you jump right into CloudClan, you and Flamestar must hold a meeting tonight. Good luck to you both."

And with that, everything around Patchfur faded away, and he soon found himself back in the warriors' den of ThunderClan., back to normal.

Things were almost as they were before.