Prologue
The wind blew gently over the forest, making the giant willow tree sway in the wind. A gray and white she-cat walked beside it, her sapphire eyes shining like stars. The she-cat's paws moved swiftly, but seemed to turn to mist where they met the ground. She settled by a pool of water near three other cats. An old brown tabby tom rose to his paws and spoke, "Ah, Mistyfur. You have decided to come join the meeting." Mistyfur nodded, and then remained still, her eyes filled with worry. "Dark times are coming to the forest," he continued, "and it is up to us to warn the clans." A golden she-cat stood up, "But Treestar, how will we warn them?" He paused for a moment, and began "Each cat here must choose a cat from their clan to send a prophecy to. I shall go first." Treestar looked into the pool of water. "For Cloudclan, I choose Streamwhisker." The image of a blue-gray tom appeared in the pool, then quickly disappeared. A black tom, Mouseclaw, stepped up for his turn. "For Fernclan, I choose Clawtail." A perky black and white she-cat appeared in the water. The black tom took a step back and sat down. The golden she-cat,Sunfur, walked calmly to the pool and proclaimed confidently, "For Rainclan, I choose Firestem!" A fierce looking orange tom's image appeared and then quickly vanished as she sat down. Now it was Mistyfur's turn. She shyly padded to the pool. "For Stoneclan," she said, her voice barely audible, "I choose Dapplepaw." Murmurs of surprise rose into the air from the other cats as the small tawny apprentice's image entered the water. Mistyfur looked like she would explode from embarassment. "I...I promise she is worthy of this huge honor! She is loyal a..and wise and-" "We've heard enough, Mistyfur," he cut her off, "Starclan have made their descisions. We must send these cats the prophecies at once!" With a flick of his tail, he and the three cats vanished, leaving the rippling image of Dapplepaw in the water.
"Dapplepaw! Russetpaw! Dapplepaw! Russetpaw!" the crowd of cats cheered. This is what it feels like to be an apprentice, Dapplepaw thought with the crowd of congratulating cats had returned to their duties, Dapplepaw bounded over to her mentor, Talonwhisker. She felt as if her heart were about to bust with joy. She had the Clan deputy for her mentor! "What will we do first? Go training with Russetpaw? Travel to the Moonstone? Ooh, or maybe have an adventure!" Dappletail couldn't help but squeal with excitement. Talonwhisker let out a mrrrow of laughter and shook his head. "Actually, I was going to teach you how to hunt." Dapplepaw's fur was hot. "Oh, yeah! That will be so much fun!" Her mentor purred in amusement. His russet fur blew gently in the wind as they bounded near a small rocky pond. Dapplepaw trained hard that day. She bounded hopelessly after prey, although her efforts were useless. She arrived at camp panting and exhausted, wanting to collapse in her new nest. "DEAR STARCLAN! NO!" she heard a cat screech. Dapplepaw recognized the tom's voice as Darkpad, and rushed over to his voice. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw who he was screaming about. Her mother, Dawnreed, lay still on the ground, puddles of red forming around her.
Chapter 1 is coming soon! Stay tuned!