Hello everyone! I had this idea in my head for a few weeks, and I finally wrote the prologue! This story is going to be a trilogy, so it's going to take quite some time to write ^^
I know I have other fanfics that need updating, but I wanted to write this one in parallel, so as to change things a little when writing.
Hope you enjoy!
Prologue:
I am the Spirit. Since my death, I was condemned to live eternally in the world of the living. I am a shadow. A mere shadow, with nothing more than a conscious and a mind. Nobody can see me twice in their lives. The first time I see a cat, I am a shape, a dark, moving shape with no eyes or feet. I cannot talk. Only move, just like a shadow on the ground. The second time I see a cat, the cat sees me no more. I am cursed. Cursed to live in the world of the living when I am dead. I have no name anymore. I have been forgotten because of my past, of my actions. Let me tell you my story.
There is a group of cats, not far away from here, who live in an abandoned gorge in the middle of nowhere. Trees grow on the edges, and the forest seems to go on and on in perpetuity.
This group of cats, seasons and seasons ago, used to live under the command of one leader, one deputy, and one healer. Kits grew into apprentices, apprentices into warriors, and some cats made a family, which renewed the cycle. It was as it should have been, and as it should now be.
But this never-ending peace never lasted. Two toms fell in love with the same she-cat, but the she-cat was in love with only one of them. The other cat, consumed by fury and sadness, gathered half the group and attacked the mates and their allies, killing them both in the process.
The murderer killed himself of grief, and joined the ranks of his ancestors, who had pardoned his actions. It could have stopped there, but no. The she-cat had given birth to one sole kit, who later became deputy, then leader of the group, and decided to never let that happen again.
The leader thought that her parents had been killed because of love at first, but suddenly understood that it wasn't completely that. Her parents had been killed by a lack of love, because her mother had chosen one tom over the other. So the leader decided that everyone should have a chance to be happy and have kits, and assigned each lonely tom a lonely she-cat, who later grew up to become mates. It worked really well at first, and all the group was happy. But the time came when there was one cat who had no mate.
That was when everything went wrong, for both the leader, and the cats in the group.
Not wanting to abandon their idea, the leader decided that there should be the same number of toms and she-cats in the group, so that no cat would be alone. Since then, the leader made sure that queens with unpaired kits had them killed, so that every cat could have a pair. The leader also made sure that, if kits had no pair, they were to be killed before two moons old, so that there wouldn't be a separation too big between the ages of the pair, and so that the kit wouldn't have to be killed when they were fully conscious.
Eventually, the leader died, and the deputy took over. The mate of the dead leader had died in a battle a few moons before their death; but the mate of the deputy was alive, and argued that since every cat had a pair, and were all equal, they should also be leader alongside the former deputy. So the rule that both the she-cat and tom from the same match were to have the leader, deputy or healer position was established.
Time went by, and more and more rules, which seemed logical at first, were established, some restrictive, others fine, but the cats of the gorge never argued.
Rules became laws, laws became reality, and every cat had to respect them, unfair or not.
Here are the Rules:
1) There must be a pair of leaders, deputies, healers and under-healers at all times, one cat of each gender in each.
2) The pairs must be mates, so be from opposite genders. Cats are always matched, and do everything by pairs.
3) Pairs can only have two moons maximum between them.
4) If a queen has unpaired kits, those are killed if they do not have a pair at two moons old, or if they are sure not to have a pair before they are two moons old.
5) If a few kits are unpaired, the oldest is to be paired first. If one kit dies, but his/her pair is under two moons old, this kit has the priority to be paired if there is an option. If not, the kit is killed.
6) Littermates cannot be paired.
7) If a cat dies, not from old age, his or her pair must be killed, unless that cat was leader, deputy, healer or under-healer.
8) If a cat runs away or disappears, his or her pair is killed.
9) Love is not forbidden: but cats can only love their pair and no one else.
10) If a cat has kits with someone else than their pair, or if a cat is found loving someone else than their pair, the pair of the she-cat is killed if it is only love, and the pair of the tom is killed if the she-cat has kits.
11) The words of the leaders are law.
12) When the leaders die or retire, the deputies take their place.
13) If a cat dies from old age, the other cat of the pair retires.
14) Kits are paired as soon as their match is found.
15) Kits are apprenticed when the youngest member of the pair is four moons old.
16) Apprentices become warriors when the youngest of the pair is eight moons old.
17) Kits from outside the group who are under than two moons old will be accepted in the group, but only if it can prevent a unpaired kit to be killed.
18) Breaking the rules can be punishable by death.
19) When the Healers die or retire, the under-healers take their place, and the next pair to get apprenticed become the under-healers.
20) There is no division between she-cats and toms: on the contrary, the pairs are one.
21) Taking orders from one leader is the same as taking orders from the other leader. The same rules applies to the deputies, healers and under-healers.
22) Before becoming warriors, apprentices must travel to the Spirit's cave and pledge it loyalty.
Of all these rules, the last one is the fatal one. Blinded by the power of the rules, one leader, some generations after the rules were established, saw me. But this leader wasn't like the other ones: he could see me all the time, and also hear me. I took this as a chance, and tried to persuade him to make the group forget these stupid rules and go back to the way they were, but unfortunately, this cat had no desire to do so. Instead, he tricked me in telling him my past and abilities and used me to enforce the rules even more.
Knowing that I could be seen by normal cats only once in their lives, he made me the Spirit, and named me the power which held the rules together. Like that, no cat would break the rules, because a menace would always float on their heads.
As time went on and on, the cats of the gorge forgot about the skies and their ancestors in it, and thought that I was the one and only creator of the rules. Because of my inability to talk to normal cats, I couldn't do anything more that just look desperately at the shattered world in front of me.
But why don't you just go away and make them not see you, so as not to believe in you? some would ask. Because I am condemned. Cursed to live on their territory. They would see me anyways, some time or another. Let me explain why.
The key to my curse is a stone. A pure, simple stone, that I cannot approach, and certainly not touch. The leaders have it hidden in their cave, and only leaders and deputies have access to it. By touching it, they acquire The Knowledge, and they can control me, the Spirit. They cannot control my mind, but they can make me talk and move as they please. They can also see me whenever they touch the stone, but only cats with special abilities like the leader who discovered me are able to hear me and see me at all times.
And that is why, each time a pair of cats becomes deputies or leaders, the power of the stones consumes them, and make them absolute followers of the rules.
Because of the stone, apprentices travel to the place where I live, and hear nonsense about the rules coming from my mouth. The stone makes me say words that would freeze anyone's heart, but the cats of the group have already hearts made of ice by the time they become warriors.
If anybody was to think seeing me was a dream, or unreal, they would be killed. But rare are those cats, since by being two when seeing me, it cannot be a dream.
As you may have guessed, the kit of the she-cat and the tom who were killed by the jealous tom, is me. Nobody really knows that it is true, but the tale is there, reinforced by the power-hungry leaders.
But why were you cursed, and not the jealous tom? some would ask. The answer is simple: because of my actions, hundreds and hundreds of kits and cats have been killed, and that is unforgivable. The tom had committed his actions with a half-conscious mind, and was sorry about it before dying. On the contrary, I was quite happy of what I had done, because nothing bad had happened while I was alive. If I had known the consequences of my actions, I would have changed everything back to the way it was. But I had no idea that the rules I had invented would become so feared and respected.
I only wanted what was good for the group of cats, but the ancestors in the skies thought otherwise about me, and condemned me to this never-ending curse. The cats of the skies understood their mistake only when the stone was discovered, but the past cannot be undone, and the consequences of my curse could not be changed. It is not only the cats of the gorge who have lost their connection to their ancestors, but also the ancestors who have lost theirs with their descendants. Despair and guilt have destroyed the skies, and they are now unreadable to all of us, even to me.
Nothing can be changed, unless a cat with different eyes and a good heart comes across me. This cat will hold the power to destroy the stone when no one else can, and restore the connection between the living and the dead.
But even with this minimal chance, will one cat be able to convince an entire group with frozen hearts and stones in their minds?
Okay, so here was the prologue! I have to admit that this story is going to be a little special, so if you have any questions on the prologue, don't hesitate to ask!
The story will be narrated by two point of views: except for the first chapter (next chapter) and a few other exceptions.
So, this is set in the future, I'd say maybe 30 to 50 years after the arrival of the Clans to the lake. And for those who are wondering: no, this isn't SkyClan's gorge, it's just a random other one, situated north from both the forest and the lake the Clans lived and live in.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Warriors! Erin Hunter does. And if I did, then Twigbranch's suffix wouldn't have been 'branch'!
Please review ;)
~Lightning