Prologue
Violent Disasters
They had been few and far between, at first. Then they had become more frequent. Coupled with attacks from our rivals, these ultimately became the cause of our downfall.
Then the biggest one happened. The earth beneath our paws shook violently, not stopping no matter how much we asked StarClan. The rock walls of our camp had become increasingly dangerous since the quakes had started.
That day our leader Rattail died, crushed beneath a rock. He had just succeeded Coldstar. Rattail hadn't even had a chance to appoint a deputy, or even go to receive his nine lives. Not that all the lives in the world would have helped him.
Even more devastation was caused to the surrounding areas and territory. We medicine cats discovered that. The earth-shake had caused the Moonpool to die. We came back more often, but ecery time we came the sacred pool was lower. We came back one day to find we could no longer reach the water. We now had no way to speak to StarClan, except in dreams. We all felt useless, and we despaired, especially after we went out and surveyed other damages. The earth-shake had caused the tunnels to completely collapse in on themselves, making our territory ever more dangerous. The shake had caused the river to move, forcing us to cross other Clan's borders to get the water we so desperately needed. The shake had also caused our bridge to the Gathering place to fall away into the lake.
And we can't forget that we had no leader. We were a leaderless Clan, vulnerable to attack. ShadowClan and WindClan attacked a few days later.
Now, we are all prisoners-WindClan took half of us, ShadowClan took half of us. ThunderClan's once mighty Clan is now gone, destroyed by the earth-shake, and destroyed by the other Clans. I know there are a few who wish to revolt and re-create ThunderClan, but it seems hopeless, seeing as the other Clans were hardly affected at all. I have not had a dream of our ancestors in moons....
I woke to a starlit forest. I looked around and quickly realized that I was in Starclan's hunting grounds. "Coldstar? Rattail? Anyone?"
No one was appearing to me, so I had no idea why I was still in StarClan. Then a warm, familiar smell hit my nose. "Bramblethistle? Is that you?" I called out into the forest that was so unusually dark. "Mother?"
No sound, just a fleeting, comforting scent on a breeze that came from nowhere. I sighed and turned to leave.
Chapter 1
Prisoner
I woke to a dark, but warm, cave. I was looked around and realized I was laying beside a dark calico she-cat. I knew this cat; I had been a medicine cat long enough to know Calicoheart, Stormpelt's apprentice. For a minute I lay confused, wondering why I had gone home with these WindClan cats.
Then it hit me, just like it did every morning. I was a WindClan prisoner, one of the remaining ThunderClan cats still alive. After the great earth-shake that completely destroyed our territory, and ultimately ThunderClan itself, we had been attacked by ShadowClan and WindClan. Half of us were taken to WindClan, myself among them, and the other half to ShadowClan. Some of those ShadowClan prisoners were not seen again, and rumors of murder haunted every remaining ThunderClan cat. We all wondered what would happen to us. I could hear the questions they asked us medicine cats: Are we next? What will happen to us now? I had no answers for them. I could not visit StarClan without the Moonpool, and I hadn't dreamed of them since my apprentice had met his end at the bottom of the dried-up Moonpool.
I sighed at the sad memory. My apprentice, Shiningpaw, had been almost ready to recieve his true medicine cat name when he fell. The Moonpool was so much deeper than we had ever imagined.
I shook my head, trying to rid my brain of the many horrible memories that still haunted me. I stretched and padded out of the WindClan medicine den. I looked around and saw Stormpelt pushing his way into the camp. Poor cat. He should retire.
I turned and padded outside into the sun. The sun was always nice in WindClan territory,I had noticed. Maybe it was because of the lack of tree cover. I looked up as the leader, a pretty dark calico-and-brown tabby came out of her den. She was Calicoheart's mother, but her mate had died in the battle that destroyed my Clan, or so everyone thought. No one seemed to remember her mate.
I watched as she jumped up onto some brambles. I sighed at the thought of yet another Clan meeting, but I padded over to the brambles and tried to listen, rather than sleep.
"WindClan! Tonight, as you know, is the first Gathering since the tree bridge collapsed. We will be bringing our prisoners with us, because it was asked that we bring them."
I quit listening then. I had no words of hope to give to what remained of my Clan. I had a sneaking suspicion that WindClan wasn't asked by the two other Clans. ShadowClan probably asked WindClan to bring us. There were rumors about how close the WindClan and ShadowClan leaders were.
"I also have another announcement. Stormpelt wishes to retie. Stormpelt, is it truly your desire to retire, and become an elder?"
"Yes."
"Then so be it. May StarClan give you many seasons of rest." She jumped off the brambles after that. I would miss laying next to my old comrade, but he had earned his life of ease in the elder's den. Calicoheart looked proud, and I knew she would be a good medicine cat. I turned to her. "Calicoheart, we need more tansy and yarrow."
"Alright. We'll go get them. Would you go and see if we need anything else?"
I padded into the back of the den. It was dark and dusty, as though no cat had been here for moons. I looked over the stores, and realized we needed borage too. One of the queens was going to have her kits any day now.
I padded back to Calicoheart. "Borage. That, and tansy and yarrow."
"Let's go, then."
As we padded out of camp, I could feel the distrustful glares of the WIndClan cats on my pelt. We decided to look at the lake first, to see if anything was still there. "We should look for catmint. Leaf-bare isn't far away." I meowed over the light breeze. That was the truth. Already Stormpelt had felt the chill of the creeping winter nights in his bones. His pelt had also grown thicker. I sighted the lake from ontop of a hill, and looked down. "Where will the Gathering be held?"
Calicoheart shook her head. "I don't know. Only the leaders know that. I don't know why they haven't told us."
I sighed, frustrated. "Oh well." I picked some catmint carefully;I had almost walked on it.
We padded around for awhile, and I simply helped look, because my mouth was full of catmint. I was enjoying the freedom of being outside, like I always did, prisoner or not. I knew WindClan didn't trust me, but they had no reason not to trust me. I was a medicine cat, and I was there for every cat's benefit.
By the time we got back to camp, it was past sunhigh. I didn't realize we had been out so long. I put my herbs in the medicine den for Calicopelt to sort, and I picked out two mice for us. "Calicopelt, eat." I meowed quietly.
"Thanks."
I dipped my head and lay down in a nest. A welcome nap came over me almost instantly as I finished my prey....