EDIT - This chapter and the epilogue take place in the future. The middle - the real chapters - are set directly after Moonrise.

This original idea belongs entirely to Queen Annie-Ferny Cullen, who gave me permission to write it into my own fic. And I thank her for that. :)

I give credit for the title to Rayne, because her PenName "Shattering" inspired it.

Disclaimer: Recently, after a long time of trying to uncover her true identity, it was revealed that Erin Hunter does not write FanFiction under the PenName of -Hope- In the Name of Love. Therefore, Hopa orders you to just read the danged story.

Shattered, Prologue
by: -hope- in the name of love

Mothwing stared desolately off over the rocky cliffside, wondering where it all had gone wrong. The vivid, friendly colors of the cheerful sunset seemed to mock her life. A radiant blue sky was slowly fading into darker hues tinted violet, and overhead clouds began to stain gray. The former medicine cat watched the fiery ball of energy slip off the earth with a mere whisper. "Goodbye, sunshine…"

She had no idea where her brother Hawkfrost lived, or if he was even alive. As for her mother, Mudfur and the rest - the same went for them. ThunderClan, WindClan, RiverClan and ShadowClan had scattered.

Actually, she reflected, shattered was probably a more appropriate word.

She could feel the oldness and tiredness settling in her ancient bones; her joints creaked ominously as she heaved herself up from the dusted land. Slow, careful pawsteps brought her to a thick wooden door with a curved, shining handle. She leaned in to become face-to-face with the mail-slot, and her amber eyes drank in the image of her home hungrily.

Deep inside her, Mothwing knew this was the last of her days. She did not want to die inside that house, cooped up like a trapped bird dreaming of flight. She stared at the comfortable old couch with squishy cushions on which she had grown into an elderly feline. Her eyes roved over the carved wooden chest containing the clock her Twolegs so adored. She spotted, at last, the cat she was looking for. A kitten. Her kitten.

Stormfrost was her name. Mothwing's kit. And as Mothwing let herself swim backwards into memories of the young kit's days and of her father, Stormfrost bounded toward her. With a flying leap at the door, Stormfrost flashed into the air and wrapped a paw about the handle Mothwing knew adorned the door's other side as well. The other cat's weight was just enough, and the door swung slightly open. The dark-gray female slithered out the door and up to her mother. "Is it your time? Are you joining ShineClan?" she asked softly.

Mothwing didn't correct her daughter. "Yes, this is my final hour," she whispered.

Stormfrost visibly deflated, her head drooping over to touch her chest. "But Mother, I need you here. I could never dream of ShineClan without you helping me conjure up the images."

She didn't tell her daughter that if Stormfrost couldn't even remember the name 'StarClan', then she certainly did not believe in them. Mothwing herself had lost faith innumerable moons ago.

The younger ashen-furred cat tried to fake happiness, or at least not utter mourning yet. "Well…"

Don't say anything; you can't turn back time. Let me go in peace. Mothwing thought discharitably. Stormfrost did the opposite, of course; "Mother, what was it like?" she inquired.

Mothwing sighed, and evaded the story. "What was what like, Stormfrost?" she returned.

"The journey. My father. How did everything disintegrate - just because of your love?"

Stormfrost's questions made Mothwing squirm as memories washed over her like a rising floodwater. She let out her breath without realizing she'd been holding it. "Your father's name was Stormfur," she breathed dreamily. A short gasp of surprise jumped from Stormfrost's throat involuntarily. "The journey was amazing…every step of the way was like a struggle, and it brought me so much closer to StarClan." Her eyes widened as she realized the lie she'd just uttered into life. She could feel it growing between her and her daughter instantly, like a terrible seed stretching tiny tendrils through the air and wrapping her around and around in them. The lie would choke her and taint her death forever.

"Well - that is - I would have been closer to StarClan."

Stormfrost stared at her. "What'd you mean? We believe, do we not?"

Mothwing sighed, staring sadly off at the faraway stars. Stormfur's face seemed to appear in the sky, and as she stared longingly at it, a wisp of wind blew clouds over the apparition. "We do not, Stormfrost. StarClan never knew you because of me and your uncle, and your father. Anyways, you still call it ShineClan half the time."

Narrowed golden eyes pierced into what felt like the marrow of her bones. "What do you, Hawkfrost, and Stormfrost have to do with anything? That's disconnected," she argued.

Mothwing blurted, "I was never a medicine cat. Hawkfrost - my brother - planted a fake sign so that I would be elevated to the position. We were originally rogues. You have one-fourth RiverClan blood, one-fourth rogue blood, and one-half ThunderClan. You might never have belonged. And StarClan would have accepted you even then…except for the snag - I wasn't allowed to take a mate."

A dropped jaw was her only response, so the golden she-cat plowed onwards. "Medicine cats were not allowed to mate in the eyes of StarClan, and once you did - all your visions from before still came true, but if you tried to meet with them, all you received was a veil - a veil of shadows and deceit, lies and darkness. Especially if you welcomed it, as I did. Before the ranks of StarClan - as Stormfur's mate - it would have been too much for me to bear," she admitted.

Stormfrost bravely tried to sweep it all away, like her tail she was animatedly swishing through the air. "Tell me…tell me about the journey. Tell me about how you and father fell in love." Her demands were soft and pleading, very much unlike a normal order, yet Mothwing felt compelled to answer truthfully.

"I've never told any cat the full details of what we did," she finally whispered.

Stormfrost meowed obstinately, "I want to know."

A dip of her triangular head, and Mothwing began to pour out her memories, her past life, and what seemed like her soul - what made her who she was - to Stormfrost. "The day Stormfur and the others returned to the Clan was decidedly sunny, but you could feel leaf-fall settling in your bones inevitably. The patrol of five cats, all from different Clans excepting Squirreltail and Brambleclaw, walked in on the middle of a Gathering. I was present. Brambleclaw was invited up to the Highrock by Firestar, his leader, and they began to tell us of the sign from Midnight…"

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-grin-
Review, please. :)
Hope xxx