Prologue
A pale yellow tom crept nervously through the undergrowth, the gray tabby kitten he was holding snoring lightly. With a flick of his tail he slipped across the border and into the river, holding his head high so that the kitten didn't get too wet. Once on the other side he set the kitten down so that he could shake himself dry. The kitten woke as he picked her up again.
"Mmwhat?" she murmured sleepily.
"Hush," the tom purred around her fur. "It's okay." Waking up more fully, the kitten persisted.
"Who are you? Where are we?" With a quiet sigh, the tom sent her down again.
"My name is Yellowtail and you're near the river."
"Why?"
"So you can learn to swim, of course."
"But I thought swimming was for Riverclan cats?"
"Didn't your leader tell you? The clans are sharing techniques with the young cats of other clans."
"Really? Ospreystar never told us anything."
"She must have forgotten."
"Oh, okay. So how do I swim?"
"Well, first you have to get in the water." Yellowtail picked her up as he spoke and deposited her in the water. The kitten squeaked and spluttered as she fought to keep her head above water.
"Yellowtail! Help!"
Yellowtail walked calmly over to the river bank and sat down, watching her struggle. His ear twitched as he heard something behind him and he turned in time to see a dappled gray and white tom barrel into him. They both tumbled into the river.
"What are you doing, Pickerelpelt?!"
"What am I doing? You're the one drowning innocent kits! Why? And especially, why them? You knew how important they were to me!" Pickerelpelt's voice took on a desperate tone.
"Exactly. They had bad blood in them," Yellowtail snarled, and then spat out the last word; "Yours."
"They would have grown up completely ignorant of their parent's crimes."
"With your blood in them, they probably would have committed the same crime you and that worthless Shadowclanner did."
"She's not worthless!" Pickerelpelt snarled, lunging at Yellowtail. Yellowtail was forced underwater by Pickerelpelt's superior weight.
A speckled gray and yellow she-cat sat, saddened, as she watched her two sons fight. With a sigh, she stood up and bounded over to the water, sliding in with not even a ripple. She swam strongly over to the drowned kitten's side.
"Wake up, Kestrelkit." She murmured gently.
Kestrelkit turned around to look at her.
"Who are you? Why do you have stars in your fur?"
"I am Sunfish, a cat from Starclan."
"Starclan? …So, I died." Kestrelkit concluded sadly.
"Yes." Sunfish agreed quietly. Then she spoke a bit louder. "But we need to go; there are some other cats you need to meet."
Sunfish led Kestrelkit out of the river and into the sky. After traveling for a while, they arrived at a clearing with several other kittens, some looking more comfortable than others.
"I need all of you to pay attention," Sunfish called to them. Then she began explaining Starclan's plan for them.