A swirling blizzard howled around a group of cats, clustered in a deep crevice in rocks. The group consisted of five older cats and four mewling kits. A dark grey tabby tom with black stripes was curled around three small wriggling kits. A brown and white patched she-cat was nursing another kit not much further off, her tail over the skinny kit's back. A dark brown, almost black, tom was clawing at a dead leaf in the corner of the crevice, upset with something.

At the front of the crevice sat a light brown tabby she-cat, her yellow eyes fixated on something unseen in blizzard, scanning for anything. "Halfstar," a dark brown she-cat with black stripes trotted over, "I don't think the patrol is coming back. Adderstar and Owlflight have been out there with their patrol for ages. StoneClan is far stronger than us every leaf-bare and I fear this is the last time our clan will be together…"

The light brown tabby whipped her head around, "Pineshade… You've been my medicine cat for so long… and Brightpath," she turned her head to gaze at the nursing she-cat, "Was the best deputy I could ever ask for. I'm sorry I've only brought chaos and destruction to CreekClan…"

"Oh, no, Halfstar, you haven't brought destruction to our clan at all!" The brown and white she-cat gave a hushed protest, "Our ancestors have been fighting tooth and claw for as long as anybody can remember to keep CreekClan strong. It would only be a matter of time before this clan could no longer thrive. CreekClan has always been small from the beginning."

"But the kits…and Darkpaw," Halfstar gazed around at her small clan.

Brightpath gave a soft mew, "Perhaps Adderstar will show mercy when he finds us."

"That's wishful thinking," the grey tabby tom snarled, "CreekClan is dead. The bitterness of killing she-cats between the clans has always stood. Darkpaw lost both his sisters when CloudClan attacked us in leaf-fall. We'll all be lucky if any of us make it out alive. I'm sure StoneClan and SunClan will be glad to have more territory."

"Don't talk like that, Ravenstripe," Pineshade gasped, "It will be a bad influence on the kits!"

"The kits," Ravenstripe snarled, "Are nothing more than tiny scraps of fur at this point."

Halfstar stood up to face the tom, fur bristling, "Our sons will survive even if we don't. I will make sure of it."

"Pay him no mind, Halfstar. Your mate has simply been cooped up for too long. The hunger has made us all snappy." Brightpath touched her tail tip to Halfstar's shoulder. "But then again, your mate has always seemed like he sits on thistles."

Ravenstripe kept his scowl, though his blue eyes shone with a bit of humor. Halfstar gave a soft purr before trotting over to him and giving him a soft nuzzle before the two switched places and Halfstar was curled around her kits. Ravenstripe seemed glad to get up and stretch his legs but couldn't help but notice the apprentice sitting in the corner, the leaf shredded by now. The apprentice's father had died in battle when he was still a kit and his mother died of something Pineshade refused to share with the clan. Darkpaw had lost his sisters a few moons ago when CloudClan attacked and he had a reason to believe he would never see his mentor again.

Ravenstripe had his attention brought back to his kits when one of them let out a squeal. The loud kit was white with a very fluffy black mane and tail; Cloudkit. To his right was a kit that almost looked exactly like him, only with a fluffy brown mane and tail and was quite the opposite of Cloudkit. This kit was very quiet from birth and had yet to say a single word. For that reason he had been named Silentkit. The third kit on Cloudkit's other side was a grey tabby tom, who was the oldest of the three but the smallest. Rainkit had opened his eyes earlier than most kits and was tottering around quite early too. He had bumbled over to the other kit in the nursery, which was older than him by four moons. Amberkit was Brightpath's; a lively brown tabby tom with bright, shining eyes.

Whenever Cloudkit and Silentkit played together and left Rainkit out, Amberkit was the one to comfort the younger, telling him stories and making up games. The warriors could almost safely assume Rainkit felt happier around Amberkit. But now the grey tabby kitten was shivering, his mother's tail was not long enough to wrap around him. He was envious of his brothers' thicker coats and often nestled between the two just to keep the cold from freezing him.

"There's not enough milk!" Cloudkit mewled unhappily, even though he fed more than both of his littermates. Silentkit just looked at his mother with a sad, starved look and Rainkit was curled up in a shivering ball. Halfstar sighed and pulled Cloudkit and Silentkit closer to her. She hated to admit it, but she quietly discussed with Ravenstripe that if they had to lose a kit, it would be Rainkit. The little tom was scrawny and had a thin frame unlike his brothers. He wasn't quite a runt, but he wasn't quite average for a kit of one moon. But where Rainkit lacked in size, he was intelligent for his age and could tell he was unwanted by his parents. Silentkit played with him from time to time but otherwise his littermates stayed away.

Amberkit had picked up on the neglect several moonrises ago and from his spot curled up by his mother he could see neither of his parents were making an attempt to keep him warm from the cold claws of leaf-bare. Amberkit had a rather short pelt as well but got up and padded over to the small kit and lay next to him, desperately trying to warm Rainkit. Rainkit opened his eyes at the feeling of fur brushing his own; upon realizing it was Amberkit, he pressed his trembling form against the older kit for warmth. After a short while the two kits fell asleep, pressed against each other.

"They look like mates resting together," Darkpaw sniffed from his corner, glaring at the two.

Brightpath hissed at the apprentice, "It is much too early for that nonsense! They're only kits!" Darkpaw snarled something under his breath and went back to clawing at the already shredded leaf. Ravenstripe muttered something too but no cat paid attention. Eventually the cats began to settle down for the long, freezing night ahead; Pineshade trotting over to curl around Amberkit and Rainkit. Halfstar, Cloudkit, and Silentkit were joined by Ravenstripe while Darkpaw reluctantly came to lie beside Brightpath. Brightpath had been his mother's sister, and it struck something in the apprentice when he realized he could scent his mother deep in Brightpath's fur. Darkpaw was calmed greatly by this and fell quickly into an easy sleep.

But what seemed like a few moments after every cat had fallen asleep; they were all struggling back to their paws. Pineshade had shoved all four kits into the furthest corner of the makeshift den and was standing in front of them protectively, viciously attacking a ginger and white tom. The tom hissed and slashed at the medicine cat's face. The young warrior didn't have time to gloat, however, as he was bowled over by Ravenstripe. Pineshade watched as Ravenstripe disappeared behind a mass of fighting cats. An impressive white tom leaped onto Ravenstripe, pinning him down and Pineshade was sure she heard a screech from her clanmate before he was silenced forever.

Halfstar let out a grief stricken wail as she flung off a long furred light grey tom and pounced onto the white warrior that killed Ravenstripe. "Get out of here, Winterstorm!" She slashed the white tom across his eye. Winterstorm let out a furious hiss of agony but bolted from the den, half blind. Halfstar hissed furiously before leaping onto a grey and white tom.

Pineshade pressed the kits further back behind her as she scanned the clearing. Brightpath was flailing uselessly under a massive dark brown tabby – Adderstar, StoneClan's leader. Pineshade turned away as the ambitious leader bore his fangs into the CreekClan deputy's throat. When she dared look again, Brightpath was limp and Adderstar was glaring at Pineshade. The tabby she-cat fluffed out her fur but turned to face the kits, "If any cat tears us away from you, do not watch what happens. Promise me!" The four kits gave terrified little nods and turned their backs to the battle, huddling together.

At that moment, Pineshade let out a wail as several cats attacked her, leaving the kits defenseless. And after a final wail, the rock shelter grew silent. Cloudkit was the first to turn and look. Darkpaw was dangling from a short furred black and white tom's jaws; still alive but extremely weak. "What do we do with the kits, Adderstar?" The long furred grey tom stepped up beside the dark tabby.

"They belong to StoneClan now." He turned to face his victorious patrol, "Take the kits and the apprentice. We're finished here. Tonight we feast in your honor!" Yowls of joy filled the rock shelter as most of the cats filed out into the blizzard, back to their territory. Cloudkit mewled when tom that looked like a fox snatched him by his scruff roughly, calling out to his brothers. Silentkit jumped from his spot in the corner to bounce after his littermate, only to be picked up gently by a long furred silver tom. Rainkit and Amberkit crept out slowly; Amberkit being grabbed by the scruff by a brown and white tabby she-cat, Rainkit being scooped up by Adderstar. He whimpered and tried not to look at the bodies of his dead clanmates as he was carried into the blizzard.

AN:/ Fwaahhhh I know I should be writing 'Beyond Golden Hills' but I've recently gotten back into the Warriors series DX Forgive me ;A;

Crossover time! :D

Halfstar - Native America
Adderstar - Ancient Rome
Owlflight - Germania
Pineshade - Native Canada
Brightpath - Aztec Empire/Native Mexico
Darkpaw - Cuba
Ravenstripe - Random OC
Cloudkit - United States
Silentkit - Canada
Rainkit - Confederate States
Amberkit - Mexico
Winterstorm - Prussia