Prolouge

The half-full moon shone down upon the forest. The leaves rustled as a breeze rippled through them, bending aside the fronds of a clump of ferns. Inside, a litter of kits slept peacefully in a nest of moss.

A calico she cat stood over them, her pale blue eyes moving over her kits. Her gaze stopped on the smallest kit, a she cat whose calico pelt was a mirror image of her own. Bending over her tiny daughter, the she cat whispered, "Wake up, Cherry. I have something that I need you to do."

The kit yawned, blinking over blue eyes. "What?" she murmured sleepily.

Her mother nudged her to her paws and propelled her towards the entrance to the den.

Cherry balked at the entrance. "Where are we going?" she asked nervously. "Why can't I stay here?"

The older she cat sighed impatiently. "I already told you; I have something for you to do. Now, start walking unless you want me to carry you."

Reluctantly, Cherry began to walk again, casting one last glance at her sleeping brothers. She stumbled through the forest behind her mother, bewildered but too sleepy to actively protest.

Cherry's mother padded silently through the forest, lost in thought. Her daughter was only one moon old, so she wouldn't remember much of anything about her origins. Even though Cherry didn't know it, she was a pure-blooded Thunderclan cat. She, Willow (or Willowspots as she had been called), had been born in Thunderclan, as had her former mate. The cold, disgusted look in his eyes when he learned what she had done has hurt her more deeply than any physical wound ever could. Willow's heart still ached when she thought of him, though she tried to mask it with the slow rage that had burned in her belly ever since she had been exiled.

There was a soft thud behind her, and Willow turned to see her tiny daughter sprawled out on the ground.

"A root tripped me!" she mewled.

Willow licked her between the ears in an attempt to soothe her. "Are you all right?"

Cherry sniffed the afflicted paw. "I-I think so."

"Good. I need you to keep moving then. Can you manage that?"

The little calico nodded, struggling to her paws and following her mother through the dark woods.

After a little while, mother and daughter crossed into Thunderclan territory.

Cherry sniffed the border marks curiously. "It smells a bit like you." She observed. "Did you put this here, mother?"

Willow shook her head. "No, little one. I know the cats that did though. You'll meet them soon."

They continued to travel deeper into Thunderclan territory. Willow crept through the undergrowth, constantly tasting the air and listening for any sign that one of her former clanmates were close by. When Cherry sat down and declared that she couldn't go any farther, the former warrior carried her kit through the woods.

Eventually, they reached a large hollow. Four mighty oaks stretched their limbs toward the stars, casting wavering shadows on the massive rock below them.

Willow set her kit down just inside of the Thunderclan scent line. She licked Cherry's ears, then stepped back.

"Someone will find you soon." The calico she-cat meowed. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you here, but I need you to do this for me."

"Don't leave me, please." Cherry begged. "I'm scared."

"Be brave, Cherry. You'll be a wonderful warrior." Willow padded away into the trees, ignoring her daughter's pleas to come back. The former warrior's eyes gleamed as she turned back towards the moonlit hollow. A cold breeze carried her final words back towards Cherry.

"Avenge me, daughter."

Cherry awoke to the sound of strange voices approaching her hiding place. After her mother had left, she had tried to follow, but she was too exhausted to stumble more than a few mouse-lengths. The kit had curled up under a juniper bush to wait out the night, and fell asleep despite her fear.

Now, she peered out from under the bush to see three cats standing together in the hollow below her. As she watched, a red tabby tom and a young blue-gray she cat crossed the hollow and vanished into the pine trees beyond it. The third cat, a ginger tabby she cat, padded towards Cherry's hiding place.

As the ginger she cat crossed the Thunderclan scent line, Cherry crept forward until she was sitting in front of the bush. Maybe this cat could help her get home!

The strange cat's startling blue eyes alighted on the little kit, and she padded towards the juniper bush.

"Hello?" she meowed. "Are you lost?"

"Sort of." Cherry whispered. "But mother will come back to get me. She wouldn't leave me here forever."

The strange she cat's eyes softened with what looked like a pitying expression. "What is your name, little one?"

"Cherry."

"I am Mistystream. Now Cherry, were you here all night?"

"Mother left me here at moonhigh."

"Well, how about you come with me for now." Mistystream meowed, curling her tail around the kit's shoulders. "I'll ask Redstar to tell the warriors to look for your mother, alright?"

Cherry hesitated. "But what if she comes back for me and I'm not there?"

"We'll know if she was here, and we'll find her." The ginger she cat soothed.

The calico she kit stood. "I guess I'll come."

Mistystream guided Cherry through the forest and down the ravine to the Thunderclan camp. They were greeted by a red tabby tom, who Mistystream identified as Redstar.

"Who do we have here?" he asked, looking curiously at Cherry.

"This is Cherry." Mistystream answered. "I found her on my way back from Highstones." Lowering her voice, she added, "I think her mother abandoned her."

"Well, Cherry, you're welcome to stay here." Redstar meowed. To Mistystream, he added, "Will you ask Mosspetal to take care of her? I'm sure she won't mind taking care of this little one. Graykit and Shrewkit will love having another kit to play with."

The ginger she cat nodded, then led the calico kit away.

Redstar stared after them for a moment. Something about the kit seemed familiar, but he wasn't sure why. Shaking his head slightly, he turned away. He had to remind the patrols to keep a lookout for any sign of WIllowspot's return. It had been four moons since she had been exiled, but only Starclan knew what she was plotting to get back at the clan that had turned its back on her.