Light fluttered through the thin tree branches, illuminating the clearing behind them. A small she-cat opened her ice blue eyes to see the first rays of light. She sat up, and stretched her legs. Her soft, white fur was ruffled, and her right leg had a huge X shaped scar on it. She wrapped her tail neatly around her paws, and gazed at her mate, who was still sleeping. It had been a whole moon since they had left their Clans, and now they lived far away from the Clans. She sighed, walked over to her mate, and pounced on him.

"Wake up, sleepy head," she meowed.

The grayish-white tom opened his eyes and yawned. "Yes, Swiftheart?"

Swiftheart looked at him in disbelief. "Remember, you said you'd find food!" She playfully bit his tail. The tom clawed at the thin, black stripes that covered Swiftheart's tiny body.

"Come on, please, Icefang?"

Icefang reluctantly got to his feet. He shook himself to get rid of any unwanted thorns or leaves. He quietly jumped into the bushes, and Swiftheart was left alone.

She sighed to herself. I hate being alone. She began to remember her denmate, Starfur. He was her best friend before she left WindClan. His black pelt was covered with tiny, white dots that looked like stars. He always knew how to see the bright side of things, but there was no bright side to Swiftheart's problem. Would the endless suffering ever end?

Swiftheart sat under a tree, remembering that terrible day. She was accused of working for Darkpath, the rotten warrior with a black heart. He was the coldest cat to have ever lived! He had killed her father, Whitepelt, in cold blood. Swiftheart had promised to avenge her father's death by killing Darkpath, but now she didn't think that it was possible. Could she really kill the black and white rogue cat in cold blood?

She heard a rustling in the bushes, and saw a flash of black fur. Could it be Darkpath? The creature got closer and closer, and Swiftheart closed her eyes, waiting for it to attack her. To her surprise nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes to see a black cat standing in front of her. His ears were a little on the short side, and his yellow eyes brought back memories of Darkpath. He had unusual, round markings on him. They looked like small circles with tiny, light purple dots in the middle. His black pelt shone in the pale dawn light.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

The cat tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Who am I? Who are you?"

"I am Swiftheart, a former WindClan warrior," she replied.

"I see. I'm Pantherpelt, a former ThunderClan warrior," he answered.

"Pantherpelt? Well, that explains those weird markings!" Swiftheart exclaimed. "Why are you here?"

"For the same reason that you're here," he meowed. "By the way, I brought a friend. She is of your Clan, but was captured by Twolegs."

A young tortoiseshell she-cat walked up behind him, making Swiftheart step back a few fox-lengths. "Don't worry, I come in peace," she assured her, smiling sweetly.

"O-okay." Swiftheart returned the smile, but it soon faded. "Why are you here? And who are you?"

The she-cat looked at Swiftheart in disbelief. "We were denmates! Remember, when we were apprentices?"

Swiftheart looked at her closely. "Dawnpaw?"

"I'm Dawnfur now," she explained.

"Oh." Swiftheart circled them, and playfully pounced on Dawnfur "Oh, how I've missed you!"

"Same here, old friend."

Pantherpelt watched the two friends play for a few heartbeats, and then he turned his gaze to a near by bush.

Swiftheart stood up, sniffing the air. A familiar scent floated to her along with the scent of a freashly-killed mouse. Icefang walked though the bushes. A mouse hung from his mouth. Icefang dropped the mouse at her feet, and growled at Dawnfur and Pantherpelt. "Who are you?!"

Pantherpelt raised his head to look at Icefang. "I am Pantherpelt, a former ThunderClan warrior," he answered.

"And I am Dawnfur. Don't you remember me? We played on the moor together!" She insisted, watching him frown.

Icefang shook his head in confusion. "Dawnpaw?"

"You remember!" Her eyes lit up, and she playfully tackled her old friend. Pantherpelt watched from a safe distance.

When Icefang got up, he glared at Pantherpelt. The black warrior held his gaze for a long moment. "What business does a ThunderClan cat have here?"

"We are outcast," he began. "Warriors that were shunned from their Clans. Forgotten memories…"

"Yes," Icefang confirmed grimly.

"Therefore, I think we should make our own Clan. A Clan that is outside of the others!" He declared.

The three cats starred at him in disbelief.

"Who will be our leader?" Swiftheart cried.

"What about a medicine cat?" Icefang asked.

"We don't have a camp!" Dawnfur protested.

"Look, StarClan came to me in a dream! They said that I should form a Clan with the outcasts! That's you, no offense," Pantherpelt watched their expressions change from confusion to outrage.

"Why should we believe in StarClan?" Icefang growled angrily. "They left us to die!"

"Why should we trust their warrior ancestors?" Dawnfur questioned.

Swiftheart watched them fight. She knew that Pantherpelt was right, even though she didn't want to admit it. Without a Clan, they were left for dead. But if they formed a Clan… maybe things would change?

"I had the same dream," Swiftheart said slowly. All eyes turned to her, and she continued. "Pantherpelt is right. If we are to survive this coming leaf-bare, we must create a Clan of are own!"

Pantherpelt nodded his agreement, followed by Dawnfur and Icefang. Swiftheart studied their expressions, hoping to see happiness. She couldn't read Icefang's expression, and Pantherpelt was looking at the ground. Dawnfur was smiling brightly at her friend, and Swiftheart smiled back. Their smiles soon faded when Dawnfur asked a question that was on everyone's mind: "Who is going to be Clan leader?"

Swiftheart winced at the question. Who was going to be leader? She glanced around the faces and raised her head. "You are going to be leader." She pointed to Dawnfur with her tail.

The tortoiseshell cat starred at Swiftheart in disbelief. "M-m-me?" She stammered.

"You were a great warrior, until Twolegs captured you. I believe that you'll be a great leader," Swiftheart meowed sweetly.

Dawnfur smiled shyly, and spoke again. "I'm not sure about this."

"I agree with Swiftheart! You were a great, loyal warrior. Please, will you be our leader?" Icefang waited for her to answer.

Dawnfur looked at them for a few heartbeats. She thought hard about this. Being leader was no easy task, and it would be hard enough to form a Clan of four cats. She thought long and hard about it, and realized that the others were watching her. Picking her words carefully, Dawnfur decided to speak. "I'm not sure about this."

"I agree with them," Pantherpelt purred. "You'll do great."

"In that case… I'll do it!" She watched as every cat smiled. She reflected their happiness by smiling too. "I'll go to the Moonstone tonight."

"But you'll have to pass through WindClan territory," Pantherpelt gasped.

"I know. I'll leave tonight, alone."

Everyone turned to look at her, gasping.

"A-alone?" Swiftheart had a worried expression on her face.

Icefang's whisker twitched twice. "Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine," she assured them.

Pantherpelt nodded, and began to speak. "Where will our camp be?"

Everyone looked around. The small clearing they were in wasn't protected. It was open space with trees surrounding it. "Here," Swiftheart declared.

"Why here?" Pantherpelt asked.

"Because it's a clearing. It will be well protected once we fix it up," she assured them.

"Where will our dens be?" Icefang asked.

"Anywhere," Dawnfur answered.

"What will our Clan name be?" Pantherpelt wondered.

"Where will our fresh-kill pile be? And the nursery? We have no apprentices!" Icefang yowled.

"So I've noticed," Swiftheart meowed.

"One question at a time," Dawnfur growled. "Our clan name will be…" She thought for a long heartbeat, running through a list of names in her head. "LightClan," she finally said.

"LightClan?" Icefang echoed. "Why?"

"Two reasons," Dawnfur answered. "First, we were outcast in the dark, and now we're a Clan. Everything should get brighter! Second, Dawn means light."

"Then why not DawnClan?" Pantherpelt argued.

Dawnfur thought for another long heartbeat. Then, she said: "DawnClan it is!"

"Great! Now all you need to do is get your new name," Swiftheart purred.

"New name?" At first Dawnfur looked confused, and the she remembered the leader's names all ended with 'star'. "Right! Then I'll be Dawnstar."

The cats cheered, happy that they might have a chance at a normal Clan life. But little did they know that a dark shadow was watching them. His round, yellow eyes seemed to hypnotize anyone, who was foolish enough to look in them. He stood in the shadows for a long time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.