Prologue
In a large, beautiful grassy clearing, many cats with stars shining in their fur gathered. Each one looked apprehensive, and nervous. Some cats had bristling fur, while others remained calm.
A large black tom stepped forward, out of the crowd, "You all know why were gathered here," he began. "There will be a cat with a natural warrior's instinct, and a darker future than any cat before him, even darker than Mapleshade's." At his words, several cats shifted nervously. Mapleshade had been a killer.
"What do we do Blacktail?" a ginger she cat asked, "We can't let the poor cat suffer his fate without giving him a sign. The least he deserves is a little guidance."
Blacktail nodded unhappily, "I know Gingerheart, that is why one of us will try and guide him before a Dark Forest cat does."
"What if he's mentored by both? Like Lakeclaw was?" another cat called out from the crowd. Lakeclaw had been guided by both Starclan and the Dark forest, yet in the end he had chosen the dark forest over his ancesters.
"We can only hope that this cat will be strong enough to resist the darkness that will grow," Blacktail meowed, "That is why I want none of us to interfere with this cat's fate. We can guide him, but driving him towards something that will never be will only help the dark forest dig their claws deeper into him".
"I'll guide him," a dark brown stripped tabby tom cat meowed coming out of the crowd of cats. Blacktail looked up at him in surprise. This tom had been around when Mapleshade had lived in Thunderclan.
"Are you sure Beetail?" he asked softly, though he already knew the answer.
"Yes, I will guide this cat as best as I can," Beetail promised.