Prologue
Dead leaves crunched underpaw as Thunder pushed his way through the undergrowth. As he walked, a chilly wind ruffled his ginger fur, causing him to shiver.
Once again, StarClan was stuck in a permanent leaf-bare, however this time there was no known reason behind it. The Dark Forest had long been defeated, so what would possibly cause this once-lush paradise to turn into such a wasteland? More importantly, when would things return back to normal?
I want to go home, Thunder thought sadly. Ever since StarClan's territory had been trapped in an eternal leaf-bare, he and the other Clan founders had been banished to the farthest corner of the territory. They weren't allowed back until things had returned back to normal, which frustrated Thunder. We don't control StarClan, so how do they expect us to fix this?
Sighing, the large ginger tom pushed the thought away. As he approached his den, he could see the other founders all laying outside, basking in the weak sunlight.
"Hey," Clear Sky greeted halfheartedly.
Thunder dipped his head towards his father, before padding over to the pitifully small fresh-kill pile. As he bent his head to pick up a vole, Wind Runner intercepted him.
"Absolutely not!" the wiry brown she-cat snapped. "That prey is for cats who actually manage to bring something back."
Barring his teeth in a snarl, Thunder retorted, "I'll eat if I want to!"
"Rules are rules, Thunder. Until you bring prey back to the den, you can't eat," River Ripple mewed, his eyes full of sympathy.
"Come here, Thunder. You can have a bite of this thrush," Clear Sky called, signalling for his son to come over.
Giving his father a thankful look, Thunder hurried over to where the pale gray tom sat, before taking a bite out of the skinny bird. As he chewed, he could hear Wind Runner snort in disgust.
"Do you have a problem?" Clear Sky asked, his neck fur starting to bristle.
Wind Runner nodded, glaring. "Thunder needs to follow the rules just like the rest of us. Just because he's your son doesn't mean he deserves special treatment!"
"'Special Treatment'? Are you kidding me? Gorsestar and Mothflight sneak you extra prey all the time!" Thunder growled, swallowing the last bit of the thrush.
"They've done no such thing!" Wind Runner hissed, her tail thrashing back and forth wildly. As Thunder stared at her, he could see she was bunching her muscles for an attack.
"Stop!" a loud voice screeched, making the four cats jump.
Looking over, Thunder spotted Tall Shadow padding out of the undergrowth. As ShadowClan's founder padded towards the group, her green eyes were narrowed in annoyance. "If we are to stop this leaf-bare, we have to work together as a team. Fighting will get us no where," she said.
"How will we stop this leaf-bare, though?" Clear Sky spoke up.
Tall Shadow shrugged. "I don't know, but we must continue to try."
Suddenly, Wind Runner toppled to the ground, her entire body twitching madly.
Quick as lightning, Thunder raced towards the brown she-cat's side. A worm of anxiety crawled in his belly as he stared down at Wind Runner, and he just knew something was not right. Looking at River Ripple he asked, "What's wrong with her?"
The silky gray tom simply shrugged. "I don't know, Thunder."
For the next ten minutes, the four cats stood over Wind Runner's body, waiting for her to sit up or stop moving all together. To their relief, Wind Runner sprang up, coughing. Despite being okay, the wiry brown she-cat had a haunted look on her face, and her entire body shook. "T-They're coming," she rasped, struggling for breath.
"Who's coming?" Tall Shadow demanded, looking confused.
"What are you talking about?" Thunder asked.
As Wind Runner opened her mouth to speak, a gigantic bolt of lightning split across the sky. The force of the lightning was so strong that Thunder and the other founders were thrown to the ground, knocking the breath out of them.
As Thunder struggled to his paws, a loud rumbling sound alerted him. Looking up, he realized that many cats were pouring into StarClan all at once, more cats than ever. A look of pure horror spread across his face as he realized all of these cats had just died. "What happened?!" Thunder screeched, looking at Wind Runner.
"T-the connection between StarClan and the living Clan's has just been cut off, and I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to fix it!"