Prologue

The Beginning of ForestClan

Once, there were five clans: ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, RiverClan, and SkyClan. Each was known for their talents: stalking, night hunting, chasing, fishing, and jumping. They had been around for a very long time, and there was not a clan cat alive who hadn't heard the story of how the clans began.

But now there was trouble. Prey was dying from diseases brought by the Twolegs. The Clans were fighting more over less food and territory as the said Twolegs put up more nests: first in ShadowClan's territory, where they chopped down trees with their giant monsters. ShadowClan, being the proudest clan, the least willing to accept help from others, began to battle with ThunderClan over territory.

And then the monsters struck WindClan. WindClan had to flee, and so they sheltered at the Island. But they were not used to hunting in a woodsy area. Their elders starved and their kits died not long after birth. Their apprentices grew sickly and their warriors overworked to exhaustion.

Meanwhile, in RiverClan, their leader Thornstar ate a fish and fell dreadfully ill, eventually dying and losing his fourth life. RiverClan feared for the safety of their kits, and they tried to catch other prey. But they were not suited for it, and many of them died as well.

ShadowClan were being hunted. Once the Twolegs discovered that there were cats in the pine forest, they sent dogs out to kill them. They lived with this until brave Thunderstrike, the deputy, challenged a giant dog and was cruelly slaughtered. Then they too tried to move to the Island, and they fought WindClan for it. ShadowClan won, and WindClan had nowhere to go. ThunderClan offered them shelter, and they gratefully accepted. The ThunderClan leader, Blazestar, was a good friend of the WindClan leader, Foxstar.

Now that ShadowClan was out of their forest, it was totally taken over. Cats in ThunderClan and RiverClan couldn't sleep at night for the loud noises of the monsters. When the monsters moved into ThunderClan territory, Blazestar declared an emergency meeting of the clans at the Island.

It was extremely crowded with all the cats there, but the kits, elders, and nursing queens were well protected.

The ShadowClan leader Silverstar announced that his clan would be living on the Island unless the other clans forced them off. Foxstar lamented on his territory, which now was nothing but a flat barren plain with no prey. Blazestar said that his territory simply couldn't support ThunderClan and WindClan. Thornstar stated that RiverClan's home didn't hold the amounts of fresh-kill that they needed, and that they would fight for the Island. Silverstar and Thornstar were about to attack each other when a large group of cats appeared at the fallen tree.

These cats looked much like the others. Their pelts were ragged and torn, you could count their ribs, and they breathed through their mouths out of fatigue. They introduced themselves as SkyClan cats, led by Cheetahstar. She said that they had been driven out of their territory by a huge clan called BloodClan. They were going to live by the lake.

A fight was about to erupt when Blazestar had an idea: the leaders and medicine cats would all go to ask StarClan. This was protested; many cats believed that StarClan couldn't help them at all. But the other leaders and medicine cats agreed and met at the Moonpool the next night.

StarClan's answer was simple: "Unite or die."

When the leaders told their clans, the young warriors and apprentices remembered that the same words had been spoken at the beginning of the clans. That time it had meant that the individual cats should join. The leaders concluded that StarClan's message had meant for all clans to join together.

This brought a fervor. ShadowClan especially thought that that was the biggest load of foxdung ever. But Silverstar reluctantly agreed that he would do it to save his clan. Only half of it stayed with him after that.

The clans agreed instantly. They met again and decided the new clan was to be called ForestClan. It would be a large clan. There would be no enemies. One warrior asked how the leader and deputy were to be chosen, and the medicine cat.

Foxstar, the eldest of the five leaders, knew at once that he did not want to be the leader. He would retire. Blazestar, who was young but wise and confidant, was a worthy candidate. Silverstar wanted to be leader. Thornstar, a young and somewhat battle-hungry leader, was eager to accept the challenge.

During the Gathering, a group of WindClan warriors decided they'd rather be rogues than live with ShadowClan. Some ThunderClan and RiverClan, but very little SkyClan, left as well. Cheetahstar said that the leaders should go to the Moonpool again with their medicine cats, and there the leader and deputy would be chosen. And so the leaders went again.

It was decided by StarClan that Cheetahstar would be the leader of the combined clan, for she was courageous, intelligent, and compassionate. Her deputy would be Blazestar, or Blazeclaw now. Silverstar became Silvercloud, Thornstar Thornfang, and Foxstar became Foxtail and retired.

The medicine cat would be ShadowClan's, Owlvoice, and as he had no apprentice, he took RiverClan's Swanpaw. The other medicine cats either became warriors, apprentices, or they retired as well. The WindClan medicine cat apprentice was so angry at not being chosen that he left.

Cheetahstar accepted her position as leader, and her first act was to take the clans to a place she knew they all could be safe.

The journey was long and hard, and some cats died, but the brave leader pulled most of the cats through, and her courage and determination would be remembered for seasons and seasons to come.

When they finally reached their new home, they found a camp and settled in nicely. Herbs were found and cats were nursed back to health. Warriors and apprentices were made, some cats retired, and all in all they were at peace.

It was that newleaf that Cheetahstar had two kits. One was a tawny brown with golden eyes, the other looked just like her: golden with black spots, and ice-blue eyes.

Little did she know that they would carry on her legacy….