The world was dark. Bushes cast shadows that faded into the dark night grass. Trees blended into the background, becoming the shadows that haunt the night and scare weary travelers. The leaves and grass were heavy with dew, and a mist trailed along the ground, leaving its damp trail and returning when it could. The only light was a faint swirl from a beam of moonlight breaking through the trees.
The forest always looked like that at night, but it was no less scary. Only the cats who lived there thought it normal. And no Twoleg ever saw the wild cats that would sometimes terrorize their kittypets.
Two pinpricks of green glowed into the dark night. A white figure emerged from the hidden bushes and shook itself to rid it of the frosty dew. A solitary mewl broke through the silence, but was joined only a few seconds later by another, and then another, and then a final, fourth one. The white cat, as she turned out to be, stopped mewling and stepped forward into the lone patch of moonlight. Her piercing green eyes swept through the entire forest, searching, waiting.
The leaves rustled again, and another cat stepped out into the small clearing, his blue eyes matching the unrelenting stare of the first cats green ones. The cat's pelt proved to be only a slightly grayer version of the white cat's own.
He padded over to the white cat, and gently touched noses with her before squaring himself down in the moonlight besides her. The cat turned his blue eyes in the same direction the white cat unblinkingly gazed.
Two more cats emerged from the dark undergrowth. They were, in order, gray, and black. Both pairs of eyes stared at the two first cats, glowing brown and amber. The two cats padded side by side over to the moonlight, where they, joined by the blue-eyed tom, stared expectantly at the white she-cat.
The white cat stared at them, counting them, looking through them to their very souls. "Are the Mists of the Forest all here," she asked, although it was more of a comment than a question.
The other three meowed their agreement that the Mists of the Forest were, in fact, all there.
The white she-cat bobbed her head. "As you know, another horror may be approaching the four Clans, yet again," she began. "Our time seemed to have passed. But we now feel the need to rise up again, and fight back the terror that may behold our very own Clans. Yet again must another Mist join the ranks of one of the most respected StarClan groups. Soon, we will face the choice; will she be allowed, or will she follow her ambition."
The black she-cat looked up. "She must be accepted here. The Clans will need her help, and the help of the other Clans. Remember, we are not alone in our work. She will be joined, just like Firestar and Bramblestar were…"
The light gray one bobbed his head. "Miststar, Mistshadow is correct. Even if her own ambition starts to overcome her, the friends she will find will set her on the course. What ambition is stronger than friendship? Even Tigerstar, and Hawkfrost…"
Miststar, the white she-cat, hissed. "Remember, this is not fully StarClan territory. Be careful which names you speak! Those names are not to be thrown out, and uttered so carelessly."
She turned to the light gray tom. "Indeed, Miststripe, Tigerstar and Hawkfrost were not more ambitious than friendship. But they had no friends! And why? Because of ambition!"
Miststar turned back to address the whole of the Mists. "She must have a good heart deep down underneath. She must be brought up well. And we will accept her. And she must not be shown what ambition can accomplish for her. She will need to save the Clans, and not become part of the scheme against them."
The darker gray tom nodded. "Miststar is right. She will have to be taught that the Clans come first. We cannot risk having a new enemy rise up after the first is defeated. The Clans will need peace."
Miststripe looked distrustfully at the darker tom. "Indeed, Mistpelt, they will need peace. But peace only comes after war. She will need friends, Miststar, and will get them, whether we like it or not."
Miststar bowed her soft head. "I never said that was incorrect. I just hoped she could be shown the way…"
Mistpelt nudged the white she-cat. "She will be, only by friends. StarClan can only do so much. Do not despair. We must only send the prophecy. And she will learn how much she needs her Clan, and will become one with the cats."
Miststar looked up. "Thank you, Mistpelt. I will send her the dream. Then we may watch and hope, and at least we are still within StarClan and will suffer no pain. Mists of the Forest, I thank you for coming. We may now disperse."
Mistshadow, Miststripe, and Mistpelt nodded in their turns. The exited the way they had entered, with the two darker cats first. Then Miststripe slid back under the brush, back to the ranks of StarClan.
Only Miststar remained now. She looked down at the moonlight, caught in the mist, which was swirling around her paws. She glanced up, and willed the moon to grow brighter, that she might see what to tell the prophesized cat.
And lo, it did. Miststar gazed up at it for a very long time. And then she began to mutter, growing into a chant.
"Darkness may cover
But Mist can crawl into
Peace has yet to come
But still there is blue
Find the way through."