Prologue: The Tortoiseshell and the Mouse
memo: I do not own the warriors series, I only own my two original characters; Star and Rose. :) Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!
A tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat padded through the forest. Her ears pricked while her gaze wavered until she spotted the gray mouse nibbling on some nuts and grass. She crouched low, her blue eyes never leaving the mouse. But before she could pounce, rustling nearby sounded, and the tortoiseshell jerked her head up in surprise. The mouse scurried off and she let out a hiss of annoyance, eyes narrowing in anger. Whoever scared off her prey was going to pay!
Ding ding!
The tortoiseshell yawned, blinking lazily as her vision focused. She was in her human's house, resting in her bed. Stretching, she blinked as she sleepily made her way to her food bowl. The cat food was sitting there, untouched. Yawning, the she-cat dipped her head down and took a few mouthfuls. She retched immediately, coughing on the bitter, disgusting taste. Once she had stopped gagging, the she-cat stretched. Her pale orange collar scratched against the itchy spot on her neck and she purred with satisfaction. The nametag glimmered when the sun's rays hit it. It read Star in black letters.
Star looked around, then padded out of the house through the cat door. She jumped onto the fence dividing her human's house to the forest unknown. Her ears twitched with curiosity. Her eyes began to survey the outside world of the forest - what lay beyond there? Was Rusty there? She had heard so much of the Clans from her best friend, Rusty. He had gone to live there a while ago, and never returned. Star assumed he had found his place to live, but she couldn't help but worry for her friend every day; after all, he never attempted to visit.
She missed him deeply.
"Still mooning over Rusty, Star?" a mew sounded as a slim, cream-colored she-cat with blue eyes jumped onto the fence, sitting down next to Star. Her jump was clumsier than her sister's landing, but she regained her balance as she met Star's gaze evenly, smirking.
Star rolled her eyes. "Hello, Rose," she meowed, turning her gaze back to look at the forest. "And no, I'm not mooning over Rusty."
"You miss him," Rose pointed out.
"Yes, I miss him," confirmed Star. "But that doesn't mean I love him. Let alone moon over him." Or does it? Star had always admired the handsome ginger tom, and the way his green eyes glimmered whenever he'd speak about living a life different from the one with their humans - a life that held adventure as he lived in the forest, tasting mouse for the first time.
Rusty and Star had been friends for as long as Star could remember. Although her sister had been the one to introduce Star to Rusty, the two remained inseparable. He had lived next door to the two sisters, but ever since he had left to live in the forest, his owners decided to adopt a new cat - this one was a she-cat called Hattie.
"If you miss him so much, why don't you go visit?" Rose questioned simply, licking her paw and draping it delicately over one ear, her eyes closed. She then opened them and met Star's gaze challengingly. "Or are you too scared?"
"Scared?" Star snorted. "Yeah right!" She jumped down from the fence, beginning to head for the forest. "I'm not scared!"
"S-Star? Where are you going?" stammered Rose, clambering after her sister as she followed her into the undergrowth.
"Proving that I'm not scared. I'm going to find Rusty!" Star declared, laughing slightly as she sped up her pace, pelting through the woods.
Rose was having some difficulties keeping up with her, but finally was able to keep up the pace to run alongside her. "You can't be serious!" she exclaimed.
Star's response was a smirk as they continued to maneuver through the dark forest. Her eyes narrowed in determination while the dark leaves of bushes raked across her flank. Although she and her sister would argue now and then, and would never do things together, she could still hear Rose's thumping pawsteps beside her as she attempted to keep up with her. To be completely honest, Star was glad her sister had decided to join her. She didn't want to go through this alone.
Star didn't want to admit it to Rose, but she was quite scared. How would she know where she's going? How would she know where to find Rusty? The forest seemed to go on for ages, until they finally reached a fast-flowing river. Star and Rose skidded to a halt.
"Star, where are we?" Rose panted as the two littermates slowed to a stop. Star frowned as she watched the rushing water. There were some rocks scattered around, some large enough for cats to sunbathe in.
She looked back at her sister, who was also scanning their surroundings. "I don't know…" she muttered honestly. She began to head for the water. "But I'm about to find out!"
"Star, don't!" Rose warned. Star warily poked at the rushing water. It was cold against her paw-tip, but it felt good. She then dunk her whole paw into the water. The waves crashing against it was almost calming in a way.
"Star, get away from there now!" Rose hissed.
Star looked over her shoulder. "Come on, Rose! Lighten up! The water feels great!" she encouraged, her blue eyes glimmering.
Rose's own dark blue eyes stayed wide and alert, not caving in to the encouraging mews coming from her sister. "Star, please, I highly doubt Rusty is here. Cats don't swim!"
The sound of splashing coming from the other end of the river told them otherwise. Star jumped in shock at the sight of a cat swimming towards her. She had silver fur from what she could tell, but Star didn't want to find out anything else. She backed away from the edge of the river, standing next to her sister.
"I told you to come back…" Rose muttered.
Star glowered at her sister but watched as the she-cat made her way towards them. "What do you think you're doing on RiverClan border?" she demanded.
Star's eyes widened as she exchanged a glance with Rose.
"I-uh…" she stammered.
The she-cat's eyes narrowed. Star was beginning to get the feeling she wasn't very friendly.
"I said, what are you two doing trespassing on our border? You're crossing into ThunderClan's as well," she added.
"Um… we were looking for someone," Star meowed. Rose nudged her pointedly. She looked at her sister, who met her gaze evenly.
"Are you crazy?" she hissed. "She doesn't know Rusty!"
The strange she-cat's ears twitched. "Rusty?"
The two kittypets looked back at the swimming cat. Star's gaze lit up. "Do you know him?" she asked hopefully.
Her blue eyes narrowed. "No. And I'd get out of here while you have the chance."
"But…" Star's voice trailed off. She knew deep down that the plan wouldn't work as well as she had hoped. But she wasn't going to give up so soon!
"Why is that?" Rose challenged. Star closed her eyes. She knew if her sister was ordered to do something, she wouldn't do it - she'd get angry.
The silver she-cat met her gaze evenly. "My father wouldn't appreciate two kittypets trespassing on our border," although now her blue eyes glimmered with amusement.
Rose's eyes narrowed. "Kittypet?" she scathed. "Who are you calling a kittypet?"
Star sighed. She assumed that kittypet was term for housecat. These forest cats and their weird ways of saying things…
"You two," the silver she-cat meowed simply. Her pretty coat glistened from the water that she had previously been in. She stretched. Star noticed her claws were sheathed. Maybe she isn't hostile…
Rose frowned. "Is it because we're housecats?"
"You live with twolegs," mewed the she-cat. "And you obviously didn't understand what kittypet meant. Either means you're a loner, kittypet, or rogue. But judging by your twoleg collars, I doubt the other two are options." She smirked, although it was good-natured.
Star mewed, "what's your name?"
The she-cat turned to look at her. "Silverstream," she meowed. "Pleased to meet you. Although, I do suggest you leave now. My father sent out a morning patrol and I highly doubt he'd want them to find two kittypets, and me talking to them."
Star blinked, then took a thought into consideration. If Rusty had been able to join the Clans, shouldn't she?
Rose nudged her. "Come on, let's leave. We're not going to find Rusty swimming with the fishes."
Star shook her head, turning to face Silverstream. "Do you think… we could join your Clan?"
Silverstream's eyes widened. "Join?" her eyes narrowed. "Why is that?"
Star looked down at her paws, shuffling them awkwardly. She then looked back up to meet the she-cat's gaze evenly. "I'm sick of my housecat life."
The she-cat blinked, looking highly amused. "Oh, really?"
Star nodded, exchanging a look with her sister. "My sister Rose is too, I'm sure."
Rose sighed. "I guess…"
"And what makes you think you're capable of being a RiverClan cat?"
Star blinked. "RiverClan?" she echoed.
Silverstream sighed. "My Clan's name. There are four different Clans. ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan and ShadowClan. RiverClan is the best, in my opinion. But judging from you kittypets, I don't know if you can swim."
Star's blue eyes narrowed. "I'm not afraid of getting a little wet," she mewed.
Silverstream smirked, gesturing to the rushing river behind her. "Be my guest," she meowed. "If you can swim across that river to get to the other side, I'll take you to Crookedstar and give my opinion to let you join our Clan. If not… I'll save you from drowning and take you back to your twolegs."
Rose looked back at Star. "Star…" she mewed warily.
Star ignored her, meeting Silverstream's blue gaze evenly. "Don't worry. No drowning cats today." She glanced back at her sister. "Come on, Rose - let's prove to Silverstream that we can be Clan cats too."
Rose sighed, following her sister to the river. "This is a bad idea…" she muttered. Star ignored her yet again. She was tired of this "kittypet" life. And she was going to prove to a RiverClan warrior how well she can swim.