THE START OF A NEW STORY!

Man, i just love doing that.

This book has a slight crossover with Destiny and Fate, as well as a few other cats such as the gods and goddesses. Four or five new ones will also be added to the intertwining plots, and the first one is in this chapter. Enjoy!

The moon was high in the sky by now, and the tired and sore RiverClan warriors were just making their way back from their battle with ShadowClan on the northern border. A large, snowy white tom, fur turning a strange gray-silver with age, supported a lean, wiry black-and-gray tom on his wounded shoulder, while another cat dragged the body of a reddish brown tom.

There were four of them in all, and all were the proudest of RiverClan and the pride of their families. Together they had created a band that had stayed together for seasons and never wavered from their trust in one another.

One was the lean black-and-gray tom, with strange yellow eyes and a sharp temper. He was the fastest in the group, easily outrunning even the fastest WindClan camp, much to their disgust. His name was Shadowstripe, and he was only a season younger then the white tom, though his body remained young, fit, and flexible.

The second was a small brown-and-white tabby she-cat, with bright green eyes and quiet steps. As a former rogue, she was a little unpredictable, but was an expert in defensive fighting. She was also Shadowstripes' mate, though her days of being in the nursery were long over. Her name was Emerald, and she was a season younger then Shadowstripe.

Third was the she-cat who pulled the big reddish-brown tom through the forest. She was the complete opposite of Emerald, with violent brown-red eyes and a solid black pelt with loud steps and broad shoulders. She made her emotions output and it was very easy to tell when she was angry. Her name was Featherpelt after her sleek and elegant black pelt.

And finally was the big white tom, despite his wounds and weakness, he carried himself with pride, and his blue eyes were afire with the blaze of leadership. Anyone could tell from the way he held himself a little bit in front of the other cats when he was addressed that he was their leader. He wasn't as fast as Shadowstripe or as defensive as Emerald or as powerful as Featherpelt. But he was a mixture; light on his feet, quick to dodge and to attack, as well as a few other perks. Though he was not deputy or leader of RiverClan, but he held as much respect as both positions. His name was Whitesnow.

The battle that night had been bloody; they had gone out under the command of their deputy, Crabclaw, and had met up with a ShadowClan ambush. Crabclaw was slain almost at once from the surprise, but Emeralds' sharp reflexes and senses managed to save the rest of the group.

"Shadowstripe, look to your left!" Whitesnow managed to shout over his shoulder as he attacked another ShadowClan warrior and gave him a vicious bite to the ear, shredding it and sending the warrior back to his camp yowling. Shadowstripe dodged the other cat with his unusual speed and landed four blows before the warrior decided to run off.

It seemed like all of ShadowClan was there to take them out, including the highly skilled deputy, Swallowfeather. She and Emerald were fighting at the moment, as always Emerald was light on her feet and dodged each blow like she was dodging a snail racing towards her. But Swallowfeather was quick too, and a few times she almost landed a crippling blow to Emeralds' head or neck.

"Featherpelt, to the right!" snarled Shadowstripe now, calling his friend to the aid of his mate, while he took on two warriors at once. With a snarl he turned his attention back to them and rushed towards one, letting him land a direct blow to his shoulder, without flinching and embracing the pain, while he lunged upwards and grabbed his lower jaw with his teeth, digging them in a shaking savagely. Hearing the bone crack, he jumped back and dodged another blow from the other tom, while the cat with the broken jaw ran off into the ShadowClan territory.

"The warriors are back!" yowled a tom from the entrance of the RiverClan camp. Cats rushed forward to help the four cats into the clan, while others took Crabclaw from Featherpelts' grip, including his mate, Mistcloud. The Medicine Cat and her apprentice, Corntail and Puffpaw, hurried forward to treat the warriors' wounds as they sat in front of a mound in a ring. Shadowstripe sat on the far right, next to Emerald, and then Whitesnow and Featherpelt.

Leafstar, a big golden tom with bright green eyes, crept out of his den and onto the mound, looking down coolly at the large body of his former deputy that had been laid in front of the mound for mourning rituals. He took his place at the mound and the cats grew silent, eyes fixed on their leader.

"The battle against ShadowClan was devastating enough to claim yet another deputy from me," growled Leafstar, "Very well, before I change my mind, I want Whitesnow to take over the duty as Deputy and take over Crabclaws' apprentice, Moonpaw. I want no excuses, no late patrols or less fish. Make sure everything is done well, and make sure the apprentices grow strong. Now, we will miss Crabclaw dearly, but we will never forget him and the strength he brought to his clan, alright?"

The other cats nodded, and Leafstar stepped down from the mound and paused by Crabclaws' body. She bent down and licking the top of his head twice before flicking her tail and vanishing back into her den. Whitesnow and the others in his group paid their resects and pulled back to the far side of the camp, crouching in the thickets they made their nest.

"Crabclaw!" cried Shadowstripe, shaking the old deputy, "Crabclaw, hang on a little longer, we'll get you to the clan and they'll heal you!" He reached down and grabbed Crabclaw by the scruff, but his jaws hardly met the brush of his fur before he collapsed under the strain of his shoulder.

Whitesnow hurried to prop Shadowstripe up on his injured side. Not only the injury, but he also got extremely exhausted after a battle, no matter how long. It was the speed he used, by tapping into his muscles at that speed for too long, he wore them out quicker, and lately, the rebound of his speed had been getting more shaking and fiercer.

"

"Leafstar was pretty blunt today," murmured Featherpelt, stretching her long body and curling herself back up in a small circle, "But then again, she's always blunt. It's a pity we don't have more of a compassionate leader."

"I don't think I should have been given the duty of being Deputy," grunted Whitesnow, pawing at the leaf in the branches as he laid on his back, "I was thinking of retiring in a couple of seasons, but this is going to keep me hanging." He rolled over, looking up at Shadowstripe, "You think I'm ready to be deputy at my age?"

"Sure," Shadowstripe gave his usual smile – an odd snigger, "And that apprentice is a pretty nice one too, I hear. She's Crabclaws' only daughter, twelve moons old, almost ready for becoming a warrior. Though, I doubt you can pass her. Remember you're last apprentice?" Whitesnow sighed and rolled his eyes while the other three cats burst out laughing.

Whitesnows' first apprentice had been a disaster waiting to happen, and he wasn't afraid to tell him that. Devastated that he wouldn't be a good warrior or deputy or leader, he decided to take up being a Medicine Cat, and died later that winter by accidentally eating deathberries.

"Shut up," grumbled Whitesnow, "I'm deputy now; you're all on separate border patrol tomorrow." The other three cats groaned and flicked dead leaves in his direction as they settled down for sleep. Not long later, every cat in the Clan was asleep, and everything for a moment, as rare as it was, was at peace.

Up in a large tree overlooking the RiverClan camp, tail twitching in amusement, was a black tom with gray eyes, and a blue-gray she-cat with gray eyes.

"So," murmured the she-cat, "It has begun."

"Such fine warriors," muttered the black tom "Isn't that right, my daughter?" The she-cat nodded.

"Mother has set her work upon the forest," Meowed the she-cat, "Terror will seize the forest in a few moons. And we shall test the true strength of Whitesnow."

"And more importantly," muttered the black tom, "Whether or not he deserves to be the mate of the legendary Winged Heart."

"I think he will," meowed the she-cat, rolling skillfully onto her back on the branch without so much twitching in the direction to unbalance herself, "It would be a cute couple, really. And don't you think it'll be so romantic?" the black tom snorted.

"You would think that, wouldn't you, Love?" he growled. Love laughed and rolled back onto her belly.

"But of course, I'm always true to my name," giggled Love, "The Winged Heart cannot be controlled by any matchmaker in the beliefs. And instead of us choosing the mates, it chooses its mate out of the toms without mates or ones to love with their whole heart." The black tom blinked.

"You knew who his father and mother are, right?" he growled. Love giggled and hopped up onto the branch, balencing on the two-tail thick limb.

"Father!" she gasped, "HOw could i not?" she laughed and spun around, dropping back onto the branch again, "Such a cute couple, i remember when i first saw them, their connection was so strong-"

"Yes, yes," growled the black tom, "And you know the power in him, correct?"

Love sighed, "How could i not, Father? He landed right ontop of me when he last used it."

"You seem a little distant today."

"Oh, yu noticed? I was just thinking back to the time in the other territory when you placed that kittypet in the Clan." she giggled, "He was so lonesome, and there were no conections between any of the other she-cats and him." she giggled harder now, "And then i noticed that she-cat for him, the perfect one, and when i connected them it was just magic." she laughed again, "Sooo romantic."

"Don't fool around on the job."

"You can hardly call this a job."

"Well, I call it a job. And I'm you're father, so listen to me."

"And if i don't?"

"At least listen to your mother."

"Right then, Father!"

"Now get back to work and don't fail."

"You left me with the duty to find her a mate, father," she giggled, "But Wish and Hardship are also coming to help me out. Wish seems a little distracted recently, have you noticed, father?"

"All too well," grumbled the black tom, "It's that Dreams, he's always meddling with the wrong spirits, even in the land of the dead." Love shrugged.

"Ah, well, Father, don't you have another time to be in?" she meowed; "It's almost time for that dog-god to be sent to the Eternal Twilight, right?" the black tom nodded and stood up, shaking out his fur.

"Don't cause to much chaos," he growled sharply, "I mean it." And with that he cut a slip of green light into the air and jumped through. Love laughed and turned over, reaching down with her spiritual paw and into the heart of a young warrior, Redstream. She pulled out the bases of it, the strands of white light and searched it for darkness. Find none, she smiled.

"Such a nice heart," she murmured, and then sighed, "Pure and his fur and untainted with darkness. I wish I could have this heart." She shook her head, "Well, might as well use this." And reached down to another cat, "Well, Father did say not to cause too much chaos…"

Interesting conversation between Love and Destiny, no? I like this chapter. By the way, this story will be MUCH longer then Destiny. Now, Review! of Destiny will send you to the Eternal Twilight as a mouse for the Pink Deamons Fenseris and Foxfire to hunt!