Mist shimmered as the moon rose. Crystals of silver sparkled in the depths of the woven cloud. A gentle breeze tossed the river reeds into one another, a wonderful hushing sound being produced. The reflection of the sky was visible in the river, splashing gently as it slid past the bank. Fronds of willow trailed in the shallows, creating winding trails of leaves behind them. The black river shone gently with the light of the moon.
Only one thing was missing; the stars. From the mist around the willows, glowing shapes rose, and the varied frames of the cats took form. Light glimmered, trapped deep in their fur, and on a closer examination, it seemed as if the essence of the cat itself was formed from those missing stars. They padded closer, hackles on edge as they argued about something that was inaudible from this distance. Crickets fell silent at the appearance of the new creatures, only to start up once more a heartbeat later.
Finally, one of the cats exploded. "I'm telling you, Flamestone! We need to hide them better!" a pale silver and blue grey tabby snapped. Fog wreathed around her like a halo, shifting constantly to make her seem like an unreal being.
"Calm down, calm down!"
"This is not something that can be calmed down, idiot!" The tabby huffed.
"I promise, Bluerush, no Clan cat will find the pair." The orange and black speckled tom was gesturing with his paws to prove his point, fur lighting up the fog like a candle easily sets flames to dry hay.
"That's not good enough!" She hissed once more at the placid tom. "What if one of the cats finds them? The pair's bare power will eliminate the Clans if their strength is used irresponsibly."
"I've told you already, Bluerush. I'll tell you again. No Clan cat will find them." Flamestone's eyes betrayed just a sliver of his non-provokable anger.
Bulrush growled at the calmer tom. "And I'll tell you again, that is not-"
"Flamestone. Bluerush. I thought I told you not to talk about this. Flamestone-" a pause as the tom grinned triumphantly, "-has told me how well he has hidden them." Out of the mist, and imposing figure approached, her words slicing through the air like claws. She was a white cat, with black streaks marking her fur. Her pelt was slick and thick, hinting that she was a RiverClan cat.
"Heronfire." Bluerush bowed her head, nudging Flamestone to do the same.
"I understand your caution for RiverClan, Bluerush, seeing that the two hidden are both in the Clan's territory, but you must not doubt Flamestone's ability." The white furred shecat narrowed her eyes at them, before widening them to their natural size, looking satisfied.
Heronfire whipped around, her movement accurate and as smooth as a fish navigating the river. As she strode off, the two remaining StarClan cats heard her last sentences.
"Remember, don't tell anyone of this. And I hope that neither of you argue again." Heronfire threw this over her shoulder as she vanished back into the gloom of the willow. It wasn't more of a hope than it was a command.
The cats left behind glanced at one another before heading their separate ways.
{~}
Ten season cycles later...
The cats of the stars were grouped in the centre of the lake. Each one, a cat who had been there all that time ago, sat on driftwood that swayed and bobbed in the weak current. A single floating golden lily marked the centre of the circle, and every other cat was placed around it. Those who had joined StarClan recently shared large pieces of bark, and others simply floated in the water itself. A gentle lapping filled the silence as they all stared at one cat, perched on her moon-white log.
Heronfire gazed around at the gathered dead. "Only Bluerush, Flamestone, Hearth, and I, know why this meeting was called for. The rest of you don't." The white and black shecat sat, and bowed her head to a cream tom, whose eyes were brighter than lightning, and flashed in the strange light of the lake.
"Long ago, before most of you had come to join us in our realm, we had an issue. From the final deaths of Firestar and Tigerstar two stones were formed. Each were neither good, nor bad, but any cat who wielded the power of these relics would affect the use of the magic. We had to hide them, knowing that the cats of the Dark Forest would soon return, looking for these pieces of those mighty souls, and use them for their own dark measures. So, we-" Hearth swung his tail at Heronfire, Flamestone and Bluerush, "- decided that they had to be either hidden, or destroyed entirely, rupturing the fabric of our current Clans.
The only way we could ensure that the Clans remained safe was to hide the stones. Flamestone, the only one of us with blood ties to the living realm, agreed to hide them where they were first found, in the territory of RiverClan. They couldn't be moved past the Clan's border lines, and so he spent weeks traveling within the territory to find the perfect spots. Once that was done, we left them and never told any cat, even if they needed the stones, of their whereabouts. And so far, this plan has worked.
Until now. Last night, we received a prophecy. We don't know who or what sent it, but it revealed to us our new deadline. Bluerush will tell you all of it." Hearth sat, his gaze not wavering from the audience's.
Bluerush breathed in deeply.
"Two of each, sister-brother, day to night and air to earth,
Find the others, the stones of souls,
And reap the world of their power."
There was no sign of the shecat's normal attitude as she gulped, then continued. "We can only assume that these two will find the stones and use or destroy them, and either option will end in chaos for the living realm. We have to find a way to stop the prophecy. Before the Clans are gone."
Why hello, everybody! What is this? This is my first ever day of National Novel Writing Month! And because I'm me, I left my plan for the actual story at my school! So it'll be a few more days before you'll see that. But I've wanted to start something that will decide my next story after this month (to go along with My Name is Bluesage) And I've had four to five ideas that I wanted to start. This is the first 'preview' to one of those ideas. It's called The River's Secrets, and for some reason, I was going to write it when I first started FFN. But it wasn't fully thought out, and I didn't have a plan, so I decided not to do it. So instead, I'm posting it here, along with a few other ideas that I'll post in the next few days.
At the end of these previews, you can vote using a poll that I'll hopefully have up by then or by just reviewing to this section.
Anyway, thank you for reading this strange AN and I'll hope to see you tomorrow! Have a great day!