Prologue

In the distance, a golden yellow cat with orange tabby stripes padded among the fields. Along came a gray tabby, a black tom and a white she-cat a few tail-lengths away.
"Blazewhisker, are you sure we might find Aquaclaw?" the white cat asked.
Blazewhisker just stared into the ground; she was the last one to see her when the badgers attacked BlazeClan. It was her fault that she hadn't been able to return with Aquaclaw.
"Of course we'll find her!" snapped Wolfshade.
Everyone stared at Wolfshade. Wolfshade suffered the most out of the patrol. His green eye glittered with vengeance.
"Wolfshade's right. If we're going to find Aquaclaw we might as well try to sound positive." The gray tabby meowed.
"Ivyleaf, why not come with me to search up north?" Blazewhisker asked.
"Very well then, let's go, we're burning sunlight here!" Ivyleaf pointed out.
The white tabby looked at the sun and saw that it was almost sun-high. They had started their patrol before the Clan had even woken up.
None of them had told anyone that they were going into the Badger's Cave, even though they had to have permission from Petalstar. No one in the clan was allowed to go to the Badger's Cave borders unless Petalstar was in the patrol or gave them permission. The Badger's Cave wasn't always called by the beast' home, it was called Cave of Crystals. The Cave of Crystals had glittering crystals hanging everywhere, on the rooftop, the ground and on the walls. The Cave was for every cat, but the most mystical thing that happened in the cave was that whoever slept there will get dreams that carry messages, and also dreams that show what will happen a few moons after. However, a group full of badgers had just recently moved into the cave and killed many cats.
Ivyleaf and Blazewhisker padded into the Badger's Cave borders. Ivyleaf opened her jaw to taste the air to see if the badger's scents are stale or fresh. Blazewhisker tipped her head and sniffed the floor. The yellow tabby saw a tuft of black and white fur. She dipped her head closer to the tuft to see if it were really a badger's fur.
"By the scent of this fur it's fresh! We better not let our guard down or we'd end up like the dead cats we found in the Badger's Cave a few moons ago," Blazewhisker meowed.
Ivyleaf nodded and unsheathed her claws in case of danger. The gray tabby looked around the area cautiously and kept clear. She knew the suffering of badgers because when she was an apprentice she was attacked by a badger and survived. Now she keeps an eye out for badgers, she almost lost her leg thanks to that badger but when she was in trouble Silentwing and Aquaclaw came to her rescue.
"Be on the lookout for badgers or even StormClan." Ivyleaf mewed.
Blazewhisker padded along the grassy land and searched for Aquaclaw. By the time she had reached the river she realized she was going too far from BlazeClan borders.
"Blazewhisker don't go too far!" she had heard Ivyleaf yowl.
She ignored the warning and kept on running further into the outside borders.
She thought she had found something that might help her find Aquaclaw. It was paw prints that she had found on the sandy ground, it possibly looked like a cat's paw prints instead of a badger or a fox.
Suddenly a loud rustling came from a bush behind her; she turned around but saw the creature dart to the next few bushes. Blazewhisker saw a brown blur whip right past her. One more time she spun around to see what was lurking in the forest. Then a ferocious paw smacked her in the face, leaving the she-cat on the floor. The paw unsheathed its claws and dug right into her chest; pinning her down onto the ground just like a trapped mouse.
"Looks like we have another intruder!" spat the creature. Its icy blue eyes shone into the darkness of the woods; staring at the helpless warrior.