Welcome to my brand new fan-fiction of Warrior Cats! I do not own Warrior Cats (obviously, or this would be a real book) although I love the books and I hope you like my story! Please read and review.
-Bookworm5757
Prologue:
The lake was liquid midnight, reflecting the faraway white fire of the stars. On a small island, set in a river heading into the lake, the silence of a beautiful night was destroyed by the agonized cries of a she-cat.
Casting a worried glance back into the camp, a light tabby tom padded to the edge of the island and gazed up at the stars. He was clearly nervous. Everything will be fine, he told himself. The birth will go smoothly. If there is a sign, you WILL find it.
Falconpaw was the RiverClan medicine cat apprentice. His mentor, Dappleshade, was trying to help Snowpelt have her kits, but by the sound of it, it wasn't going well. He tried to focus on his job – StarClan sometimes sent signs when kits were born, and he needed to find it if it existed.
Then he froze. That scent… it couldn't be…
"Falconpaw," a voice whispered. A voice he knew well, mixed with the clear, beautiful scent of stars.
"C-Cinderpaw?" He took a step forward, hesitantly. "Is that really you?"
She shimmered into existence, hovering over the water surrounding the camp, and he caught his breath. Her grey pelt glowing with starlight, she was even more beautiful than she had been before she died. "Falconpaw, I need to bring you a message."
"Forget the message, I need to talk to you." His amber eyes shone. "Cinderpaw, I miss you. You didn't come when I went to the Moonpool."
Her blue eyes were full of anguish. "I can't. I had to beg them to let me bring you this. They think I'll distract you from your duties."
He sighed, the light in his eyes dying. "Let's hear it then."
"She shall have the river running through her veins, yet the wind will call her a sister. Her choice will fell a leader and tear apart a Clan."
He pulled back in horror. "Snowpelt's kit?"
"You can't tell anyone, Falconpaw. Least of all her." Cinderpaw began to fade, and he lunged forward. "Stay with me!" But by the time he reached her, she was gone.
He turned back to camp, tail drooping, only to face his leader, the huge tom snarling. "You're a medicine cat! What are you doing out here while Snowpelt's in pain? Go and help her!"
Falconpaw dipped his head, fearful. Usually, the leader was level-headed and calm, but Snowpelt was his mate. "Yes, Ravenstar."
He raced back to the nursery. Dappleshade looked frantic, and there was lots of blood – too much. "Stay with us, Snowpelt!" Dappleshade and Snowpelt were sisters, the young tom remembered.
The tiny white she-cat closed her eyes. "Tell Ravenstar I love him – and to look after our kit."
Falconpaw looked down. There was a tiny, squirming kit in the moss. His head spun. If Snowpelt died, who would care for the kit? There were no other nursing queens in RiverClan. Mossfur had just announced she was expecting, it would be a long time before she could mother the kit.
Ravenstar burst in. "I had to see-" He spotted the limp body of Snowpelt. "She's not-?"
"I'm sorry, Ravenstar," replied Dappleshade, a sob entering her voice.
"No!" he wailed. The little kit mewled in response, and he looked down. "Is that… our kit?"
"Yes," Falconpaw told him, "and we need to get her moving as fast as possible." The others looked at him, confused. "There aren't any nursing queens in RiverClan," he explained, "we're going to have to get another Clan to look after her."
"We can't!" Ravenstar's tail curled protectively around his kit.
Falconpaw growled softly. "She'll die if we don't!"
"He's right, the kit's life is at risk," Dappleshade added quickly.
Ravenstar looked back and forth between them for a moment, before sighing. "You're right. We've been on good terms with WindClan recently, we should take her there." Wasting no more time, he picked up the kit with a last grief-filled glance at Snowpelt, and rushed out of camp. Falconpaw followed.
They hurried across the territory. It was a good thing for once that RiverClan's territory was smaller compared to the other Clans', as the kit would not survive long in the cold of the night. Without waiting for a patrol, they pressed on through WindClan. At this speed, they were able to reach the camp before the kit froze.
The cats were met by a surprised-looking Lionstar. "Ravenstar? Falconpaw?" He leaned closer. "Is that a kit? What are you doing at our camp?"
Ravenstar gently put down the still-mewling kit to talk. "Lionstar, Snowpelt has just died giving birth to our kit." His voice was full of grief. "We have no nursing queens in the Clan. If there are any here, would you be willing to look after her until she's old enough to come home?"
Lionstar hesitated. "She'd be eating our fresh-kill and learning some of our techniques…" Then he shook his head. "What am I saying? The warrior code says we must always help kits. My own mate had her kits yesterday, I'm sure she'd be happy to take your kit."
They headed into the nursery, one of the few sheltered dens in the camp. Inside, a ginger she-cat with blue eyes woke up at the scent of RiverClan. She frowned. "RiverClan cats?" Her tail curled protectively around two kits. "What's going on, Lionstar?"
"Brightdawn, this is Ravenstar's kit." As Lionstar pushed her forward, Falconpaw realised he'd never had a close look at the kit. It looked as if she had dark fur, probably black like her father and his entire family. "They have no nursing queens, and her mother is dead. Would you be willing to look after her until she can go back?"
Honeypool hesitated too, then nodded. "How could I say no?" She nudged the kit towards her.
Ravenstar turned to go, trembling slightly. Falconpaw felt sorry for him; losing the cat he loved and having to give up their kit must be heart-breaking. "Wait!" called Honeypool. "What's her name?"
The huge black tom looked back. "She's called Riverkit," he announced, "so she never forgets her true home." He swept away and Falconpaw hurried after him.
When they got back, Dappleshade came up to him. "I forgot to ask – did you find any signs?"
He opened his mouth to tell her about Cinderpaw's prophecy, then remembered what she had said – You can't tell anyone, Falconpaw. Least of all her. "Nothing. I couldn't find anything."
As he remembered the ominous words, he sighed. Oh, StarClan, please don't let that Clan be RiverClan!
