Prologue: "On Deaf Ears", Forest Territories, WindClan Territory

A WindClan warrior kept her head down as the rain poured down on the moor, shielding her eyes. The biggest storm in seasons let loose torrents, turning the soil into mud. It seemed like StarClan was dumping a river on the forest. She jumped over a particularly large stream of rainwater flowing towards the distant RiverClan border.

Her solo hunting patrol was in vain, quashed by the sudden rain. All the rabbits were hidden in their burrows, and no thrushes or sparrows could be seen through the grasses. Lashing her tail with frustration, she resigned herself to another hungry night. WindClan was low on prey, and they needed every piece of fresh-kill they could get.

Wait. What was that?

A high, thin mewling noise, barely noticeable above the drumming of the rain, had come from her left. There it was again. It sounded like a kit.

The warrior code forbade leaving a kit in distress, regardless of Clan, so she turned and padded towards the source. As she poked her head through a gap in the scrub and grass, she saw a dusky golden kit lying on its side, soaked and shivering.

The kit let out another wail as she picked it up by the scruff. She immediately set off towards the WindClan camp. The kit was likely freezing in the rain, and it could die. She knew that her sister had recently lost a kit to hunger, and had enough milk for this golden one.

If she knew the kit's future, she likely would have dropped it then and there.