Appleshire was not known for being smart. She was not known for being a good runner, either, or a good fighter, or even a good listener. No, Appleshire was known for having the best loyalty in her clan, and that was the only thing that earned her the responsibility of deputy. She glanced over cautiously at her leader, Woollystar. The older she-cat had a painfully annoyed look on her face, so Appleshire looked away quickly. However, the only other cat there, Spiderbite, wasn't much better. The grouchy medicine cat had never approved of Appleshire, and the glare he sent her way only hammered that fact further into place.

Appleshire swallowed thickly as the three of them approached the Shimmering Tree. As a member of Sweepclan's climbers, she was to be the one to climb to the top and learn what the Star Walkers wished to tell her clan. Despite her pride in being so close to her ancestors, she was still wracked with nerves every time she was to commune with Them. After all, she was never that close to any of Them.

Finally, their little group slowed. Woollystar turned to Appleshire, a mixed expression on her face. Appleshire knew Woollystar never really wanted to choose her as her deputy, but the majority of Sweepclan had voted on Appleshire's promotion. Woollystar, though, had tried to no ends to discourage this, and the leader often implied Appleshire was just a bit too childish to ever be deputy. "Appleshire," Woollystar began, eyes hardening just a little, "I know that this is a scary experience for you, yes?"

Appleshire nodded vigorously, eyes bright and almost feverish looking in the light of the Shimmering Tree. "Yes, sir, it is quite, uh, very scary. But, it's an honor to be allowed to speak with the Star Walkers."

Woollystar seemed almost relieved at Appleshire's response, a smile spreading over her features. "Yes, well," Woollystar mewed, placing her tail on Appleshire's shoulders, "I have full faith that you will be able to learn from Them tonight, even if you never can learn from your clan."

Appleshire beamed, holding her head up higher and ignoring the passive aggressive compliment. "I won't let you down, sir!" she chirped, giving a mock salute. She turned to face the tree, extending her claws and getting into a low crouch. No cat was allowed to harm the tree, so she would have to make quite a large jump to the lowest branch.

"Wait!" Spiderbite hissed, pelt rising. "How are you supposed to know how to interpret anything they say to you? You're dumber than a fly! Let me go, Woollystar, I won't freak out the second a cat begins to whisper to me."

Appleshire frowned, turning back to the tom with pouty eyes. "Well, it's not like you know how to climb the tree safely," she spat, "and Woolly Wonder here says she trusts me. If I need an interpretation, I'll just ask after!"

Woollystar gave a deep sigh. "Enough. Appleshire, you will speak to the Star Walkers. And when we get back to the camp, I will make sure you begin to respect Spiderbite, and call me by my real name. Spiderbite, you will stay here with me and learn to have more faith in your deputy. Now, go quickly, before the moon sets."

Appleshire gave a bright smile, hiding her fear at the thought of a later scolding, and bounced back into position. After a few moments of examining the length of the jump, she shifted her weight back and leapt at the lowest branch, eyes narrowed in determination. She barely made it, swinging dangerously as the branch dipped and swayed under her weight. Letting out a shrill peal of laughter, she giddily dragged her body onto the branch. "I did it!" she called excitedly, bouncing on her toes.

"Yeah, yeah, now hurry up!" Spiderbite snapped with his teeth bore in a snarl.

"You're no fun!" Appleshire shouted back, sticking out her tongue. She began to make the journey to the top of the tree, planting her feet rather purposefully, more so than she usually would. She preferred climbing cliff faces over trees, since rocks didn't tend to dip under her feet, but she made do.

As she climbed, the light of the tree grew brighter. Named after the strange, crystalline substances that hung off the tree, the Shimmering Tree was known as a second sun to the clans. Only when the light was becoming too much for Appleshire and she could recognize the high pitched whining coming out of her throat did she reach the top. Almost immediately, she sat on the thickest branch, eyes trained on the sky. She lights around her began to spin and she slumped forwards, a cold, sick feeling coming over her stomach. She retched despite herself, skull pounding. She hated this part the most.

A figure began to form in her vision, looking very much like a hazy, swirling cloud of mist. Her head swam even more so now, and her legs were absolutely trembling. She began to pant, feeling far too hot and yet ice cold all at once. The figure opened what must have been their mouth, and suddenly an impossibly loud voice boomed,

"A bird will soar into the ground

and learn to fly in the soil,

but this fledgling,

not ready to leave the nest,

will send out a warning cry

and call upon a place down below

until it learns

where it is home-"

Appleshire gasped, her throat burning. She clawed at her chest, white filling her vision. "Who are you?" she wheezed, dangling precariously close to the edge of the branch she sat on. "I don't understand!"

Everything was too loud, suddenly. She could hear the rustling of the forest, the creaking of the Shimmering Tree, the whistling of the breeze, her own heart, thumping in her chest, the chirping of crickets and the croak of frogs and the muffled voices of the Star Walkers above her. "I don't understand!" she began to repeat, and then, like a broken record, she was stuck playing back those words again and again and again.

Appleshire's paws slipped from the branch. She was spiraling to the ground for a moment, but her body, working on autopilot, managed to catch onto another branch. Too loud was her landing, too loud were her repetitions, and too loud was that voice of the Star Walker, still trying to speak in her ear. She began to frantically leap to the ground, her voice now wheezy and incoherent. She crashed to the floor, stumbling on her paws. "I don't understand," she repeated one final time, before her legs unceremoniously broke out from under her and the sounds overcame her senses.

"-and know that now, no clan will belong."

Hey there y'all! Thanks for opening up this story! It won't have any canon characters, so if that irks you, I'm sorry about that! This is all about four clans of cats that live right at the ocean. I hope you enjoyed this little prologue part, and that maybe you'll stick around for more! And like, as always, the Warriors series is owned by Erin Hunter, Harper Collin, all that good stuff. I'm just a dork who likes cats.