A Tail of Two Cats

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of, or relating to, the Warriors and Warriors: A New Prophecy series (except for this story and the book copies I bought with my hard-earned money). All quotes that may be used in this story are credited to Erin Hunter.

Summary: This is the story of Firestar, from kittypet to Clan leader, and his true love, Sandstorm.

Prologue

Rusty purred with satisfaction as he caught the scent of a mouse on the air. It was coming from the forest! Was his dream coming true? He lowered himself into his best hunting crouch. Suddenly very hungry, Rusty slowly stalked through the grass towards the mouse. Just as he was about to pounce, however, he heard a noise coming from the depths of the forest. Rusty sighed. The mouse, hearing the noise, bolted out of sight. He had no warning for the attack that was about to come.

In another part of the forest, Sandpaw was dozing off. She knew she was expected to go out on border patrol soon, but she simply had to take some time to rest.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the clearing at Fourtrees. She had never been to a Gathering before, but she recognized it by the four oaks clustered around the Great Rock. Almost at once, Sandpaw spotted a group of cats gathered around the base of the huge rock. They all looked stern and proud, with flaming white pelts. I must be dreaming, Sandpaw thought. These are messengers from StarClan!

Sandpaw watched in awe as one cat with long, fluffy fur emerged from the group and padded over to her. "Greetings from StarClan, young one." Sandpaw could do nothing but gaze up at the tall warrior. "My name is Mistpelt," she continued, "and I have come to tell you of your destiny. Do you wish to know what lies before you?

My destiny? Sandpaw thought. I hope I don't die young or get banished from ThunderClan! Finally finding her voice, she stammered, "I-I think so." She thought she saw a spark in Mistpelt's eyes, but it vanished in a heartbeat. "You have chosen well."

Sandpaw realized she had been holding her breath. She forced herself to relax, and listened attentively as the larger she-cat began. "Danger lies in wait for your Clan on the long path ahead, but fear not! Soon you will realize that the path to happiness lies with another cat. He will not seem it at first, but do not judge him to quickly solely because of unpopularity. Time will show you the way. Fire alone can save ThunderClan. Your destiny and ThunderClan's are intertwined. Things will not always be what they seem."

Having finished, Mistpelt bowed her head and retreated back to the other StarClan warriors that awaited her. Then, slowly, they began to fade away. "Wait!" Sandpaw cried. "You're speaking in riddles! What do you mean?" But the StarClan cats merely smiled and disappeared, until all that was left was a whisper on the breeze:

"Fire alone can save ThunderClan."

Sandpaw opened her eyes. Redtail's head was poking through the entrance to the apprentices' den. "Sandpaw, wake up! We need to patrol the RiverClan border. We've scented enemy cats there." With that, he withdrew his head. "Coming, Redtail!" Sandpaw called after him. She was still thinking about her dream. Then she got up and slowly padded out of the den, and over to where Spottedleaf, ThunderClan's medicine cat, was sitting. "Spottedleaf!" she called out. "There's something I'd like to tell you. You see, I had this dream…"