Prologue

The breeze whispered through the swaying trees, spraying and swirling dead brown leaves on the peaceful, sleeping camp of WaterClan. Every cat was asleep under the twinkling lights of silverpelt on a chilly, leaf-fall night. Everyone, except for one cat.

Arrowfur, the thick-furred, reddish-brown tabby medicine cat, couldn't sleep. She was restless and she didn't know why. She sat in her cold stone den, taking in all of the rich smells of the medicines and herbs, knowing each one by their smell. Arrowfur decided that she needed to take a walk-a long, relaxing walk. She let her legs and paws guide her out of her den and the camp entrance, not even thinking about where she was going. The dead leaves that covered the ground felt good under her paws as they made satisfying crunching noises.

Arrowfur walked for hours. She was sure that the sun would be rising soon. But before she could even realize it, she was already at the Moonrock's cave entrance. She didn't know why she had decided to come here. She figured that it was a sign from StarClan that she was here, because the Moonrock was the best way to communicate with them. Arrowfur cautiously started to walk inside the incredibly dark tunnel, and made her way through. She had memorized which way to go, just like every other medicine cat. If you go the wrong way, you could get lost... forever.

As she entered the small dark room, she could see the faint outline of the Moonrock. It was huge, and it was tinted pink. Her old mentor said that twolegs called it Rose Quartz. She knew this because her mentor was originally a kittypet and knew many things about them. She smiled when she thought about when she was alive, and a deep sadness washed over her when she remembered the horrible monster accident, the day her beloved mentor died. She shook her head, trying to forget about it.

It was the biggest and most gorgeous crystal any cat has ever seen. Just then, the moon started to shift in view from the ceiling, and the beautiful Moonrock started to glow and shine. It was the most magical thing that Arrowfur had ever seen, even though she had seen it many times from moons and moons of traveling here. She touched her nose to the cold crystal and almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke up, she could tell she was in StarClan. She was laying on white, fluffy clouds, and she could see twinkling silver stars in the distance. As they got closer, she realized they were indeed not stars- they were StarClan cats. She recognized their leader who died when she and her siblings were small kits, Gingerstar, and her mother, Mistyecho. They were both beautiful she-cats, but they had a stern look on their faces.

She dipped her head in respect. "Gingerstar, Mother," she said kindly. They both acknowledged her greeting, but they both still looked very serious. Arrowfur started to get nervous. "What's wrong?" she mewed weakly.

Gingerstar's yellow-orange eyes and her mother's green eyes turned even brighter than they were before. Keeping a stern face, they meowed fiercely, "Two of the same will be born, and lives of the clans will change forever."

Arrowfur was startled. It was a prophecy! The words echoed around her and she started to get a headache. "What? What does that mean?" She yowled. "Who is two of the same? How are the clans going to change?" But it was no use. The two she-cats were already fading away quickly.

"No! No!" She yelled. "Please, come back!" Her clan couldn't deal with a prophecy right now. They were already dealing with enough, especially the horrible luck leaf-fall had brought them so far! Valuable cats were dying, there wasn't enough prey to go around...

Arrowfur could feel herself slipping away from the StarClan world. She didn't want to leave. She needed to stay and figure out this prophecy! But she realized there was nothing she could do. She slipped back into the real world, the prophecy still fresh in her mind.

Two of the same will be born, and lives of the clans will change forever...

3 Months Later...

"Come on! It's going to be ok, Nightfeather! Push!"

Nightfeather's sleek black fur felt hot and sweaty. Her golden eyes were bloodshot, but she continued to push.

"Your first kit is almost there! Just keep pushing!" urged Arrowfur. "You're doing great!"

Nightfeather muttered curse words under her breath, but she still continued to push. Finally, she felt relief as her first kit slid out.

"Congratulations! Your first kit is a very handsome orange tabby tom," Arrowfur exclaimed.

Nightfeather sighed, relieved the pain was over-but not for long. She felt it coming on again. "Arrowfur! I thought you said you felt only one kit inside of me!" Nightfeather yowled.

"Sorry, it's kind of hard to tell sometimes..." She mewed sheepishly. She put her paw on her stomach. "Oh, yes! There are two more!"

Nightfeather groaned in pain. "Lets just get this over with!"

She pushed. And she pushed. But these two kits were stubborn. It almost felt as if they wanted to come out together, and by all means she wasn't letting that happen. She strained her face, pushing hard, and with great relief she felt one slide out, and then almost immediately the other one. She put her head down, panting and sweating.

"What are the last two?" She mewed between gasps. Expecting an answer, she looked over at Arrowfur, slightly lifting her exhausted head. But Arrowfur was dead silent. She looked down where the two kits were with wide amber eyes, not saying a word.

Nightfeather sat up quickly, now starting to panic. "What's wrong? Are they ok? Please tell me they're not..." She couldn't even say it. It would be too horrible.

"No. No. Nothing's wrong with your kits. You have two healthy she-cats," Arrowfur finally responded.

She sighed with relief. "Oh, thank StarClan," she muttered. But... why was Arrowfur being so hesitant? "Why so surprised, then?" she mewed, holding her orange tomkit close to her body.

"Take a look for yourself," Arrowfur whispered as she stepped back, no longer obscuring the view of her two daughters. Nightfeather repositioned herself so she could take a good look, and gasped deeply. There was nothing wrong with them. They were both perfectly healthy and beautiful, and Nightfeather was happy. But there was something very amazing about these two she-cats. The looked exactly the same. Every marking, every color, even their size and shape... This could only mean one thing

They were identical twins.

"The prophecy..." Arrowfur muttered inaudibly. "Two of the same..."

Just then, Snowstar, WaterClan's fluffy white leader, walked in. "Is everything ok? How are the kits?" She mewed happily.

Arrowfur looked up. "They are perfectly healthy. Two she-cats and one tom. But Snowstar... you are going to want to take a look at this..."

Snowstar padded over, taking a closer look at the two she-cats. Her icy eyes widened as she took in the sight. "Oh StarClan..." She turned towards Arrowfur. "Do you think..."

"The prophecy," Arrowfur stated sternly with a nod.

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Nightfeather asked, her golden eyes darting from the brown medicine cat back to Snowstar. Arrowfur and Snowstar exchanged worried glances.

Snowstar sighed. "I think it's time we told our clan the the truth."

"Betcha can't catch me, Pebblekit!"

Pebblekit looked at her Riverkit, still amazed at her sister's strength. She was already attempting to climb the walls of the nursery, and their eyes had opened not too long ago. She began to be lost deep in thought. It was like her to be spacey and out of it.

Just then, Bramblekit pounced, becoming an orange blur. "Attack!" He squeaked as he tackled Pebblekit. He pinned her shoulders down on the ground, and when she tried to wriggle out from his heavy paws it was no use. "I am a FireClan warrior! I hate WaterClan cats, and now, I will eat you!" Bramblekit began playfully nipping at her neck and underbelly, and Pebblekit started to giggle uncontrollably. "S-stop!" She said through laughter. Riverkit jumped to the ground and joined in on the fun.

Their mother watched them and chuckled. "My little ones," she mewed. "Come here to your mother."

Riverkit flattened her ears. "Aww, mom, can't we just play a little longer?"

Nightfeather smiled. "I think you will much rather hear the good news I am about to tell you."

Riverkit's ears perked up, and the three kits stumbled towards their mother, laughing as they clumsily ran into each other. They stopped when they arrived by their mothers side. Two pairs of green eyes and one pair of amber eyes gleamed as they looked up lovingly at her.

Pebblekit worshipped her mother. She loved her more than anything, besides her siblings, and she thought Nightfeather was the most beautiful cat she had ever seen. She hoped every day that she looked like her.

"Its time I gave you the privilege of letting you leave the nursery and go outside," their mother mewed calmly. "You are now old enough to hold the responsibilities."

Riverkit's eyes widened. "Really? Awesome!" She squeaked. Bramblekit bounced excitedly, but Pebblekit stayed excited on the inside, trying to appear calm and collected. They were actually going to go outside and meet other kits! And real warriors of WaterClan... Nightfeather had told them about warriors and the incredible things they did for this clan. They had only seen a few real warriors, because only the occasional queen and warriors came in the nursery. All of the other kits were older and were already spending all of their time outside and in the bigger nursery where the older kits stayed. Now they were finally old enough!

"Now remember- you must never leave camp. It is very dangerous in the outside world and you are not ready to handle all of that danger. Someday you will be- but not now." Her golden eyes were very serious. "Please don't disobey me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost one of you."

Pebblekit laughed. "Don't worry mom! We'll behave! I'll make sure of it." Pebblekit was always the responsible one out of the three. The kits sprinted their way towards the exit and took their first tiny pawsteps into the bustling outside world.

The kits oohed and ahhed as they looked around at the camp, wide-eyed. Warriors looked at the three and chucked- they remembered the first time they went outside and how exciting it was. But others looked at the two she-cats with wide eyes. Pebblekit listened into two warrior's conversation.

"Arrowfur says those two identical she-kits are part of the prophecy. What else could 'two of the same' mean?" one said.

"I don't know, but whatever the change is going to be for the clans, I hope its good. But... how could those two kits change anything around here? They're both so small!"

Pebblekit was shocked. Surely they couldn't be talking about her and Riverkit, could they? She wasn't sure what prophecy meant, but she definitely knew what twins were.

"Hey guys, lets go to the edge of a pool, and see our reflection!" said Pebblekit. She had to see if they were twins.

"Okay! That sounds fun!" mewed Bramblekit. They raced over, almost trampling a small tan-colored tom with dark brown spots and stripes covering his thick, long fur. "Hey! Watch it!" he yelped as Riverkit accidentally stepped on his dappled tail.

"Sorry! We're trying to find a pool so we can see our reflection!" Riverkit yelled behind her, still running with her siblings excitedly. His ears perked up, and he decided to come along with them. Because the tom was much older and bigger, he caught up quickly.

"I'm Spottedkit, by the way!" He meowed, giggling along with the other kits. Pebblekit already liked this tom- she could tell they were going to get along well.

They skidded to a stop by the Elder's den. There was a puddle a few feet away. Bramblekit heaved in a big breath and let it out. "Someone go first. I don't want to," he mewed nervously.

"Riverkit! Lets go together!" Pebblekit mewed, intertwining her tail with her sisters. Pebblekit noticed that they had very similar coloring. Maybe what she overheard was right... Maybe they were twins!

"Ok!" she squeaked. They pranced forward and quickly looked in the puddle. After a few seconds of taking it all in, Pebblekit gasped.

"Riverkit..." She mewed softly. She could see in the reflection that Riverkit's green eyes were wide open. She saw it too.

"We're not just sisters, we're..."

"Twins," she finished for Pebbekit. They looked at each other and both kits grinned.

"We're twins! We're twins! This is so exciting!" Riverkit yowled, tackling her sister.

But the happiness didn't last long.

A black tom burst through the camp entrance, on the other side of camp many fox-lengths away. Many cats suddenly stood up, and a few hissed. Most just looked confused and frightened.

Then there was silence for a few moments. Other cats filed in. One of the WaterClan warriors, a brown tom with unusual reddish and ginger flecks, stood up, barring his teeth.

"FIRECLAN INVASION!"

Many cats screamed. Mothers quickly rushed their kits and young apprentices into the nursery, and some younger cats hid in the dens. Big, powerful warriors immediately tackled the cats, but they fought back hard.

A she-cat ran by quickly and picked up Spottedkit quickly by his scruff. Muffled by Spottedkit in her mouth, she turned to the kits and started giving instructions. "Find your mother! Hurry! It's not safe!" She ran towards the nursery.

The three kits were so shocked they all just sat there for a few heartbeats. The FireClan cats continued to file in through the camp entrance, and the view of the nursery, which was next to the camp entrance across camp, became more obscure by the commotion. Then, Bramblekit, trying his best to be the brave older brother, yelled, "Riverkit! Pebblekit! Get behind me! We're going to get through this together! Remember what mom said- she couldn't bear to lose us, and we can't let her down!"

The two she-kits exchanged worried glances. "Ok, we trust you," said Riverkit, her mew trying to hide how scared she was. Shaking and cautious, the three began to make their way towards the nursery. They started off walking, but then walking turned into running. They dodged all of the fighting, spitting cats that they could, and did their best to try to stay together and make their way back to the nursery.

Suddenly, a huge, muscular tom barged through the fighting cats. He was all darkish gray had a large scar running down his right green eye. He looked down on the kits and smiled. "I have found them!" he meowed viciously. He smiled horribly. "Hello little twins. My name is Ashstar of FireClan..." he mewed softly. He suddenly picked up Pebblekit by the scruff. She could feel his teeth dig into her skin as she quickly lifted off the ground.

Riverkit screamed. "Let my sister go!" she yowled. Pebblekit squirmed, trying to get out from his grip, but his grip was too strong. She could feel warm streams of blood running down her body from her scruff. Pebblekit began to yell for help, but when she started, Ashstar threw her on the ground. Pebblekit felt horrible pain shoot up her back.

Ashstar cackled. "Time for you to die, you horrible rat! Then, that wretched prophecy won't ruin our lives!" Pebblekit tried to get up, but her legs weren't doing what she told them to do. Her body was too shocked and hurt to move.

"Pebblekit! Run!" Bramblekit screamed.

But Pebblekit knew it was too late. Just as she prepared for the horrible, green-eyed leader to lean down and end her life, she saw a flash of white, and before she knew it, Ashstar was knocked down on the ground next to her.

Snowstar had saved her life!

"Its time for your reign of terror to end, Ashstar!"

Ashstar didn't even try to wriggle from her grasp. His emerald eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't kill me," He hissed. "Especially not knowing that I'm on my last life. You are too good of a cat!"

Snowstar frowned. "Watch me!"

Pebblekit couldn't look. She could hear Ashstar's last breath being sucked in from surprise. A FireClan warrior looked over to see her dead leader. She yowled in misery. "Snowstar killed our leader!"

Everything stopped. It was as if someone froze time. They all turned to Snowstar.

"FireClan! Attack HARDER! Take revenge for your leader's life!"

War calls were yowled. Cats pushed their way towards Snowstar. Pebblekit realized that she had lost sight of her siblings. "Bramblekit! Riverkit! Mommy!" She yelled for anyone. The commotion was too much for her tiny body to handle. Before she knew it, everything went black.

...

When Pebblekit woke up again, she was sure she'd find herself in StarClan. I died, she thought. I let mom down. But when she fully opened her eyes, she saw that she was still in fact in the same exact place she passed out in- a few fox-lengths away from the nursery on the edge of camp. They were so close to making it!

The moon reflected off of her dirt-filled, bloody fur. She slowly got up, feeling pains in her scruff and back, and limped towards the nursery. Why hadn't Arrowfur treated to her wounds yet?

"Mom?" She meowed as she walked into the nursery.

To Pebblekit's horror, the nursery was completely empty.

She rushed out. This wasn't happening. She sprinted over to the medicine cat's den, a small stone cave. But no one was in there.

Pebblekit started to panic. Her heart quickened as she ran towards the warriors den. She barged inside.

No one.

Pebblekit blinked several times. "No," she said in shock. "No, no, no, no, no. NO!" This had to be some sort of horrible nightmare. She would wake up, and Bramblekit's soft orange fur would be against hers, and Riverkit would be bursting with joy about how they were twins with her. But in the back of her head she knew this was no nightmare. This was reality. Her clan must have abandoned camp because of the FireClan invasion.

Pebblekit wailed. It was the only thing she could think of to do. She had no one. Everyone had left, and they didn't even realize that they had left her behind. Did they leave her on purpose? No, they couldn't of. Then why? She hoped to StarClan that they left because of the FireClan invasion.

She stopped wailing. Why would StarClan do this to her? She didn't care. No matter what happens, she would never count on StarClan. She didn't even think that it existed anymore. "Even if they did exist," she whispered to herself, "I have turned my back on them."

Pebblekit no longer was Pebblekit. She realized she would probably never find her clan ever again, so she wouldn't need her clan name. From now on she was Pebble. If life was forcing her to grow up right then and now, then she would. She was a rogue. But still, Nightfeather's words still echoed in her head.

I don't know what I'd do if I lost one of you...