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A heavy-set dark brown tom with copper eyes padded up to a giant tree standing in the centre of a clearing. The Great Oak. But the tom wasn't paying any attention to the tree, despite its gargantuan size. No, his gaze was fixed on the small, pale object sitting at the base of the tree. As he walks towards it, his ears were pricked with curiosity and his tail was high. The tom was at ease. But all this changed once he is able to see the object clearly. His fur puffed up with fear and he jumped back, because now he can see that the object is the grinning skull of a cat.
A rumbling noise made the tom raise his head and look around wildly, eyes wide with fear. Thick, dark water crashed through the surrounding bushes, crushing the masses of twigs and leaves as if they weren't even there. The tom yowled in fear and tried to run, but the water caught up and swept him into its destructive current. The tom opened his mouth to let out another instinctive cry of fear and liquid filled his mouth. The tom's heart filled with dread at the coppery taste. This wasn't water, it was blood.
He spat the foul liquid out and paddled desperately to try and keep to the surface of the blood-torrent.
Suddenly, he heard a shriek of pain and fear. The tom struggled to turn toward the sound, when another shriek cried out. Then another. Then another. Soon, the agonized shrieking of cats is all the tom could hear other than the rushing of the blood. He looked around, trying to locate the suffering cats, but they were nowhere to be seen.
The tom slammed into a tree and he latched onto the bark with his claws, pulling up his body safely away from the murderous liquid that was destroying everything around him. All he could hear are the shrieks of cats, the rush of the blood below him and the beating of his own heart. And a voice.
The tom looked up at the sky, where the voice came from, but all he can see are the stars. The voice speaks:
"An old enemy approaches to finish what they started,
Look to the skull to receive your only warning,
Or blood will reign forever."
Oakstep shot to his paws, gasping for breath. Still hearing the shrieking cats, he looked around wildly, before breathing a long sigh of relief upon realizing that he was in the medicine den. He licked his puffed-up coat so the fur lay flat again and made his way out of the den.
Oakstep raised his tail happily at the bustle of activity in the Thunderclan camp. He glanced around the groups of cats sharing tongues, coming back from the dawn patrol or sharing fresh kill. His gaze alighted on a lean black tom with bright green eyes, which right now are narrowed with worry.
"Hey, Ravensong!" The black tom looked up and pricked his ears happily at the sight of the Thunderclan medicine cat walking over to him.
"Hey Oakstep," Ravensong replied, sitting comfortably back on his haunches. "What's up?"
"Have you seen your sister, Emberheart?"
Ravensong shook his head. "Not recently, but she's probably organising the patrols right now. She usually does it early."
The black tom cocked his head. "Speaking of sisters, have you seen my other littermate, Sparkfire? She's gone missing again and you know what kind of stuff happens when she's left to her own devices."
Oakstep shuddered. "I only wish I did, tom. That she-cat's way too unpredictable."
Ravensong chuckled, "Can't argue with that, dude. Need anything else while we're talking?" Oakstep shook his head. "Nah, just wondering where Emberheart is. Good luck finding Sparkfire!" Ravensong sighed. "Knowing her, I'll need it." He ran off into the forest to try and find his littermate.
"Snowfeather, I need you to lead the first hunting patrol with Sunleaf and Riverpaw. Jayclaw, you will lead the second with Addertongue and Cloudrunner."
Oakstep padded over to the tortoiseshell she-cat separating the cats into their chosen groups.
Emberheart was the deputy of Thunderclan, and very determined to do a good job of it. She'd always been a hard-worker, so it came as a surprise to no-one when Skystar chose her to be deputy.
She was quite a pretty she-cat, not the first to catch your eye, true, but still pretty. Her head was ginger, and her ears were black. Her forelegs and back paws were also ginger, while her middle was white and her back legs were black, and she had a ginger and black spotted tail with a white tip. But not many toms try and flirt with her, mainly for the fact that Emberheart is most certainly not interested in having kits. She always said it's because she's too busy with her deputy duties to have a family, but Oakstep knew it's because her heart had already been captured by a handsome, smooth-talking tom. A tom who, in Oakstep's opinion, didn't deserve it at all: Addertongue.
The reddish-brown tabby tom in question stepped forward. "Emberheart," He began in a voice as smooth and subtle as the snake he was named after. Oakstep could practically hear the deputy catch her breath at the sound.
"not to question your excellent decisions but, maybe it would be best if I lead the patrol of Sunleaf and Riverpaw and Snowfeather can join Jayclaw's patrol." Addertongue bowed his head in respect. "Of course, it is your decision and I'm sure you'll choose the perfect groups for the patrols. I just thought a little input couldn't hurt."
Emberheart shifted uncomfortably. "Well… the groups you suggested could work I guess… yes, yes we'll use your groups." Addertongue dipped his head again and walked over to his new patrol.
Oakstep couldn't help but feel a little admiration for Addertongue's manipulation of the otherwise strong she-cat, even it was a bitter sort of admiration. That tom was as smooth as Oakstep's mama's honey-berry paste. And no one can compete with honey-berry paste, it's really useful for getting the kits to swallow some of the more bitter herbs.
Oakstep regarded Emberheart with pity as her gaze noticeably darted over to Addertongue every now and again. The poor she-cat's going to wind up with a broken heart.
He padded over to her and she turned toward him. Instantly, she went from a lovesick she-cat to a strong, confident deputy.
"Hello Oakstep, everything all right in the medicine den? Do you need me to assign patrols to look for herbs?" Oakstep shook his head. "Nah, everything's good in the medicine den. I just need to talk to Skystar." Emberheart nodded in understanding and walked off, signalling with her tail for Oakstep to follow.
Emberheart pushed aside the bramble tendrils hanging over the entrance to the Thunderclan leader's den and Oakstep padded inside. Skystar looked up from the piece of fresh kill he was eating and shifted into a sitting position. "Oakstep, what brings you here?"
"I need to tell you something." Oakstep glanced nervously at Emberheart before adding, "In private." Emberheart's ears pressed flat against her skull with anger that she should be excluded, but Skystar nodded and turned to his deputy. "Leave us." Emberheart's eyes grew wide with shock, but she dipped her head submissively and exited the den, tail twitching with barely veiled annoyance.
Skystar turned back to Oakstep. "What is it you need to tell me?"
Oakstep inhaled deeply, and then let the breath out before replying hesitantly, "I think that… Starclan has given us a prophecy."
A/N: And there you have it! My first chapter of my third fanfiction! I won't be able to update this one as much as the other two but I will try to manage at least a chapter a week! Try and guess who the cat's human counterparts are in your reviews! Let me tell you now that Snowfeather, Sunleaf, Riverpaw and Cloudrunner are OCs and do not have human counterparts and that you don't have to try and guess Jayclaw or Skystar since I haven't said anything about Jayclaw yet and Skystar's human counterpart doesn't appear canonically and that he's pretty much OC. Please Review! Edit: Changed the tense. Present tense doesn't really work with third person.