Disclaimer: I only own my made up characters. I don't own Warriors or any of the real characters.
Warnings: Gore, Cursing, Abuse.
Cats Met In This Chapter:
Tigerkit - A mackerel brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes and long black ear tips. Daughter to Dune.
Dune - A sandy she-cat with green eyes, loner. Mother of Tiger. Formerly from BloodClan.
Spider - A long-legged black tom with amber eyes, loner. From BloodClan.
Snake - A dark brown mottled tabby she-cat with grotesque green eyes, loner. From BloodClan.
Badger - A muscled black and white tomcat with amber eyes, loner. From BloodClan.
~X~
A sand colored she-cat trekked down the stone alleyways, flinching as the screech of a monster flooded her sensitive ears. She would not stop for anything. Her precious cargo, a kit, barely a moon old, squealed as she ducked down to partially cover her ears from the roar of the Thunderpath. The kitten's eyes opened only yesterday, and the small she-kit looked around from her mothers jaws, unaware of the dark, enormous world that surrounded her.
"I'm sorry, baby, but we need to hurry." The she-cat's name was Dune, unknowingly sister to Sasha. She had successfully escaped from BloodClan, and given her kits to RiverClan, where they had been accepted. Now that she had given birth, it was her turn to run the gauntlet to the forest. Scourge was dead, it was barely a moon since the battle, and grief still struck her when she thought of Tiger's father. Tigerstar had been stuck down by Scourge, for commanding BloodClan to attack upon the Clan-Cats without his permission. She was expected to fight for him after he had killed her mate! Never.
Heavily pregnant, she snuck out from the battle, and proceeded to immediately go into labour. Giving birth on her own had been hard, but it was worth it. The kitten she now held tightly in her jaws would be a reminder of this for the rest of her life. Looking behind her and swiveling her ears around, she ducked down underneath a large green dumpster as three harsh voices sounded from the other side of the alley. Tigerkit squealed in surprise, and the sandy she-cat pressed her paws comfortingly against the fluffy she-kit's muzzle, and she calmed a little. Hopefully the stench from the dumpster would mask her scent.
"Where would the bitch go, then?" One of them questioned, snarling in hatred as he thought about her. Dune knew he was talking about her. She had left a day ago, but having lived in the middle of the city, it had taken her all day to reach the outskirts, and the forest had finally come into view when the sun had set. It was now nearing midnight, and she had to stay silent. If they found her, they would most likely kill Tiger, and almost certainly Dune herself. No cat was allowed to leave BloodClan, and since Scourge's death, things had escalated quickly. Most cats ran from the battle and never turned back once the death of Scourge had been realised. She had done so before, and the current leader, Stitch, had seen her light colored tail leave just as the war had begun. Once the BloodClan cats had fled the clearing, he had issued a hunting party to find her, and kill her.
Snapping out of her reverie as the cats drew near, she heard again the voice of Spider, a whiny long legged black tom. "Can't we just go back? It's getting cold, and we've been out her all day." A small scuffle broke out after this, ending with a yelp and a growl. "Okay, we'll carry on." The tom agreed. She saw out of the corner of her eyes one black and white paw, and another dark brown paw. Great. Stitch had sent out the best trackers for her. Badger and Snake had accompanied Spider, and they were just barely a few mousetails from her position.
"No, I agree, Spider." The deep masculine voice of Snake had sounded out, and it took all of the she-cat's bravery to not cry out in terror. "We should go back." There was a debate after that, ending with Badger sulkily agreeing to trek back to the main BloodClan camp after a night of searching. She could no longer see the three toms, but their pawsteps grew quieter and quieter untill they could not be heard at all. Finally, the sandy she-cat crawled out from underneath the dumpster and sighed in relief, before picking Tiger up again and running silently into the forest.
She was now deep into the forest, contemplating what Clan to take her to. She did not intend to send her to the Clan her unknown sister had chosen, her kit, admittedly, had someone there, though she thought that she would not fit in there. She did not want to send her to the cats of darkness, either, fearing her daughter would become corrupted, and would not understand love or happiness. No, she would take her to her fathers' birth Clan. They were loyal and compassionate, and hopefully, they would accept her for who she was.
Dune did not know where she was going to go after Tiger had joined ThunderClan, she just hoped that she was happy in the Clan. Maybe she could join also. Yeah. She'd ask, and if they said no, she would... Shaking her head, she told herself she'd worry about that when the time came. Unfortunately, she'd have to make that decision sooner than she'd think. She tilted her head and could hear that this Clan were still awake, or at least some of the members were, as she hesitantly stepped closer to a ravine that smelled of several cats, four large cats raced up the steep rocks and began to leap at her before realizing she had a kitten in her jaws, therefore couldn't speak. She set Tiger down on the soft green grass and curled her tail around her protectively.
"What are you doing on our territory?" A dark brown tabby asked, curious yet defensive, as the she-cat had gotten into the heart of the territory without getting caught; amazingly. The three other cats with him were a dark grey longhair with amber eyes, a green eyed tom with a fiery pelt, and a black and white she-cat. The ginger tom held himself differently than the others, more calmly interested in the sandy she-cat than angry. That's what she wanted Tiger to be like. Realizing she'd been asked a question, she nodded down to the mackerel tabby she-kit and smiled.
"I wish for Tiger to join your Clan, and if possible, me also." The brown tabby tom nodded and stepped back, and looked to the grey and ginger toms to answer her question. The ginger tom stepped forward, dipping his head to her in respect before beginning to answer her question. "Does the kit carry any traits to any cats in here? Do you?" He held his precision green gaze on her, eyes flickering down to Tiger before resting his gaze back on Dune. The she-cat swallowed hard before answering.
"Tiger is... Tiger is Tigerstar's daughter." Recognition flickered in the ginger tom's green orbs, and something else, before they quickly retained the same curious look. The dark brown tabby however, had a different reaction altogether. He took a step back and peered at Tiger worriedly. She glared at him with her dark green eyes and he retracted his gaze from her kit and introduced all of them.
"I'm Brambleclaw, son of Tigerstar." It was now Dune's turn to act surprised. She nodded in respect, a smile coming to her muzzle. He smiled a little, too, and flicked his tail towards the ginger tom. "This is Firestar, leader of ThunderClan. Him and Tigerstar didn't really... get along." She looked again to Firestar, nodding in respect, but flicking her gaze back to Brambleclaw in confusion. "You'll hear about it." He dismissed it quickly, simply nodding to the grey longhair tom next. "This is Greystripe, deputy of ThunderClan." She smiled and nodded to him, in which he waved his tail in a friendly manner, glancing down at Tiger before nodding. "And this is Swiftcry, a warrior like me." The black and white she-cat nodded, but kept flicking her gaze down to Tiger, so Dune was forced to shelter her kit from the unwanted attention. She still nodded to the warrior, however. Swiftcry nodded too, and took a step back. She turned to Brambleclaw as he began to speak again.
"You see, it won't be easy for the Clan to accept Tiger, because of the history her father has with the Clan. Yes, I got hate aswell. I was called unimaginable things, but hopefully if you're in the Clan, it'll be easier for Tiger to get used to the names, and just ignore them, like I did." He turned to Firestar, a pleading gaze in his amber eyes as he turned to his leader. The fiery tom nodded warmly to Dune. "Welcome to ThunderClan. We will keep Tiger's name, though she will now be named Tigerkit. We will hold your warrior ceremony after you have recovered from your ordeal." He looked down at her, and so did Dune, invesigating her own body, and realized what he was talking about. She was starving, and her ribs were poking through her thin fur. A joyous smile grew on her muzzle, and she picked up Tigerkit before carefully traversing the ravine rocks and entering the camp. She was a part of ThunderClan, and more importantly, so was Tigerkit.
~X~
So there you go! Prologue finished, I hope you like this story, as it unfolds into awesomeness. Leave a review, it makes Dune and Tigerkit happy, and I'll see you for Chapter 1!