There were many cats in StarClan, Bluestar mused as she padded around in search of her mate, Oakheart, and her sister, Snowfur. Many had died after the Great Battle, including her successor, Firestar, but many more lived on.
"Hello, Bluestar!" Stonefur meowed from where he and Mosskit chatted happily on Warmrocks.
"Hello, you two. Having fun?"
"Yes!" The little grey and white she-cat flew toward her mother, but Bluestar stopped her from crashing just in time. "Stonefur was telling me about what RiverClan was like! It was fun!"
"I think you would have liked ThunderClan better." The blue-grey leader purred mischievously. "ThunderClan rules!"
Mosskit snickered.
"ThunderClan rules!" She chirped after her mother.
"Hey!" A red-furred tom with bright green eyes padded over at the sight of his family.
"I take offense to that!"
"Daddy!" Mosskit barreled into Oakheart, who received his daughter with open paws. "I bet it's true!" She grinned.
"Yeah, sure, kit. RiverClan cats can swim, but what can you stinky ThunderClan cats do?" He challenged playfully.
"We climb trees!" Mosskit yowled. "Look, Daddy! I can climb!"
Stonefur, Oakheart, and Bluestar watched as Mosskit scrabbled onto a low-hanging tree branch from a nearby rock.
"Very good!" Bluestar purred. "Now get down before you hurt yourself!"
Firestar glared down at the pool to the living. He'd been in StarClan for more than a quarter moon, and he already missed Sandstorm and his kits desperately. It wasn't fair! Why did he have to go when Sandstorm needed him? Why couldn't she come too?!
"You can wish all you want, but she won't join you before her time." A dark grey she-cat with a broad, flattened face and piercing orange glare loped over to where the great ginger leader sat. "None of them will."
"I know, I know; it's no good to whine, but what's the point of StarClan when Sandstorm isn't here to make everything perfect?"
"StarClan is here to wait on those living and help them spend their lives the best they know how, so that when they join us, it is without regrets."
"What do you know about regrets, Yellowfang? Or Sandstorm and I, for that matter?"
"I know plenty about regrets, Firestar. I also know what it's like to lose your mate. It will heal over time, but you must wait. You cannot interfere with the living. There are plenty of cats in the same predicament as you, Firestar. You are not alone."
The grey medicine cat left her would-be son to his own devices. He would have to learn.
The living cats weren't much better off, but they would heal. ThunderClan themselves hadn't suffered many losses, but the other Clans had. Things would certainly get better as time went on. Life was as normal as any other day when their Clanmates began to disappear. At the end of the chaos, the Great Journey cats, the important cats Firestar knew as a warrior/leader, and most of his family were settled in a large clearing lined with trees. At the center was a pile of books. Firestar crawled over to the books, sniffing them for danger and prodding them with a curious paw. When nothing happened, he raised his voice to a loud yowl and read the words at the very top.
Dear Warrior Cats, the letter read.
These are books. Twolegs (humans) use them to record history and ideas so they are not forgotten. Since these particular books contain your life story in some way, I figured that you would be interested in reading them. The reason you can understand this is because this clearing is enchanted. As long as you stay in the clearing with every cat present, the reader will recognize the words. The forest is filled with plenty of prey, so feel free to hunt as needed.
Good luck and happy reading!
The Erins.
A quick glance at the top of the stack revealed the first book. It had a picture of him at around six moons old with his collar shredded at his paws. Below that, two cats snarled at each other in confrontation.
"Who wants to read first?" He called.
"I will!" He recognized Brightheart's yowl immediately and passed the book to her. If this was what he thought it was then he didn't want to read it. Let them find out his life story on their own.
"Prologue." Brightheart began.
A half-moon glowed on smooth granite boulders, turning them silver. The silence was broken only by the ripple of water from the swift black river and the whisper of trees in the forest beyond.
"There's going to be a lot of detail in this." Cloudtail groused. "It'll take forever!"
There was a stirring in the shadows, and from all around lithe dark shapes crept stealthily over the rocks.
"I bet it's ShadowClan!" Dovewing snorted. The ShadowClan cats present rolled their eyes.
Unsheathed claws glinted in the moonlight. Wary eyes flashed like amber. And then, as if on a silent signal, the creatures leaped at each other, and suddenly the rocks were alive with wrestling, screeching cats.
At the center of the frenzy of fur and claws, a massive dark tabby pinned a bracken-colored tom to the ground and drew up his head triumphantly.
"Oakheart!" the tabby growled. "How dare you hunt in our territory? The Sunningrocks belong to ThunderClan!"
"After tonight, Tigerclaw, this will be just another RiverClan hunting ground!" the bracken-colored tom spat back.
"Sunningrocks again?" Sandstorm mewed crossly. "That'll get old."
"I have a feeling that this one is a bit more than your average battle, Sandstorm. Ravenpaw mused. There was something wrong with Tigerclaw, but there was always something wrong with Tigerclaw. His mentor gave him the creeps.
A warning yowl came from the shore, shrill and anxious. "Look out! More RiverClan warriors are coming!"
Tigerclaw turned to see sleek wet bodies sliding out of the water below the rocks. The drenched RiverClan warriors bounded silently up the shore and hurled themselves into battle without even stopping to shake the water from their fur.
"Awesome!" The younger cats exclaimed.
The dark tabby glared down at Oakheart.
"You may swim like otters, but you and your warriors do not belong in this forest!" He drew back his lips and showed his teeth as the cat struggled beneath him.
The desperate scream of a ThunderClan she-cat rose above the clamor. A wiry RiverClan tom had pinned the brown warrior flat on her belly. Now he lunged toward her neck with jaws still dripping from his swim across the river.
Tigerclaw heard the cry and let go of Oakheart. With a mighty leap, he knocked the enemy warrior away from the she-cat. "Quick, Mousefur, run!" he ordered, before turning on the RiverClan tom who had threatened her.
"You cared?!" Several cats chorused, staring in confusion at the dark brown tabby.
"Even I know a useless death when I see one." The evil leader retorted cryptically.
Mousefur scrambled to her paws, wincing from a deep gash on her shoulder, and raced away. Behind her, Tigerclaw spat with rage as the RiverClan tom sliced open his nose. Blood blinded him for an instant, but he lunged forward regardless and sank his teeth into the hind leg of his enemy. The RiverClan cat squealed and struggled free.
"Whoa!" The younger ThunderClan cats mewed in awe. Evil though the ex-leader may be, you had to admire his skills.
"Tigerclaw!" The yowl came from a warrior with a tail as red as fox fur.
"Redtail!" Sandstorm, Dustpelt and Greystripe mewed sadly. Now they remembered.
"This is useless! There are too many RiverClan warriors!"
"I remember this one…" Ravenpaw whispered, scooting more toward Sandstorm and Firestar. Tigerclaw bared his teeth in an evil smile. He remembered it too, apparently.
"No, Redtail. ThunderClan will never be beaten!" Tigerclaw yowled back, leaping to Redtail's side. "This is our territory!"
Blood was welling around his broad black muzzle, and he shook his head impatiently, scattering scarlet drops onto the rocks.
"ThunderClan will honor your courage, Tigerclaw, but we cannot afford to lose any more of our warriors," Redtail urged. "Bluestar would never expect her warriors to fight against these impossible odds.
"He's right. I would rather avoid needless bloodshed over territory."
We will have another chance to avenge this defeat." He met Tigerclaw's amber-eyed gaze steadily, then reared away and sprang onto a boulder at the edge of the trees.
"Retreat, ThunderClan! Retreat!" he yowled. At once his warriors squirmed and struggled away from their opponents. Spitting and snarling, they backed toward Redtail. For a heartbeat, the RiverClan cats looked confused. Was this battle so easily won?
"Apparently, so." Mistystar mused.
"Bluestar made the choice to fight another day." Tallstar informed the RiverClan leader. "That was wise. Even Brokenstar would agree, and look at what he's done." Aforementioned brown leader sat beside his fellow Dark Forest companions, sneering as Yellowfang glared at him. Firestar let a low growl rumble in his throat. He'd seen much more since his apprentice days, but even Tigerstar had better morals than Brokenstar.
Then Oakheart yowled a jubilant cry. As soon as they heard him, the RiverClan warriors raised their voices and joined their deputy in caterwauling their victory.
Redtail looked down at his warriors. With a flick of his tail, he gave the signal and the ThunderClan cats dived down the far side of the Sunningrocks, then disappeared into the trees.
Tigerclaw followed last. He hesitated at the edge of the forest and glanced back at the bloodstained
battlefield. His face was grim, his eyes furious slits. Then he leaped after his Clan into the silent forest.
In a deserted clearing, an old gray she-cat
"Old?! I wasn't that old!" Bluestar yowled indignantly.
"Yes you were," Tigerclaw snorted. "You were on your seventh life."
"Pinestar was on his ninth when he left." Bluestar challenged.
"Which is why he left. He was old and wanted to be lazy. Can we get back to the story?" The dark brown tabby spat. Brambleclaw rolled his eyes. It would seem that these issues ran in the family.
sat alone, staring up at the clear night sky. All around her in the shadows she could hear the breathing and stirrings of sleeping cats.
A small tortoiseshell she-cat emerged from a dark corner, her pawsteps quick and soundless.
"Sounds like Spottedleaf." Sandstorm offered.
The gray cat dipped her head in greeting. "How is Mousefur?" she meowed.
"Her wounds are deep, Bluestar," answered the tortoiseshell, settling herself on the night-cool grass.
"But she is young and strong; she will heal quickly." The younger generation shook their heads as they tried to see the cranky elder as the young she-cat mentioned in the book.
"And the others?"
"They will all recover, too."
Bluestar sighed. "We are lucky not to have lost any of our warriors this time. You are a gifted medicine cat, Spottedleaf." She tilted her head again and studied the stars. "I am deeply troubled by tonight's defeat. ThunderClan has not been beaten in its own territory since I became leader," she murmured. "These are difficult times for our Clan. The season of newleaf is late, and there have been fewer kits. ThunderClan needs more warriors if it is to survive."
"But the year is only just beginning," Spottedleaf pointed out calmly. "There will be more kits when greenleaf comes."
The gray cat twitched her broad shoulders. "Perhaps. But training our young to become warriors takes time. If ThunderClan is to defend its territory, it must have new warriors as soon as possible."
"Are you asking StarClan for answers?" meowed Spottedleaf gently, following Bluestar's gaze and staring up at the swath of stars glittering in the dark sky.
"It is at times like this we need the words of ancient warriors to help us. Has StarClan spoken to you?" Bluestar asked.
"Not for some moons, Bluestar."
"That's strange." Leafpool commented. "Why wouldn't our ancestors guide you the same way they did us?"
"Things are different than they were when we were younger. If this is what I think it is, then you'll see more of it as we read." Greystripe informed the tabby medicine cat.
Suddenly a shooting star blazed over the treetops. Spottedleaf's tail twitched and the fur along her spine bristled. Bluestar's ears pricked but she remained silent as Spottedleaf continued to gaze upward. After a few moments, Spottedleaf lowered her head and turned to Bluestar.
"It was a message from StarClan," she murmured. A distant look came into her eyes. "Fire alone can save our Clan."
"Fire?" Bluestar echoed. "But fire is feared by all the Clans! How can it save us?"
Spottedleaf shook her head.
"I do not know," she admitted. "But this is the message StarClan has chosen to share with me."
The ThunderClan leader fixed her clear blue eyes on the medicine cat.
"You have never been wrong before, Spottedleaf." she meowed. "If StarClan has spoken, then it must be so. Fire will save our Clan."
"That's the end of the prologue." Brightheart announced.
"Why would fire save the Clans?" Dovewing asked. "Bluestar is right. Fire is dangerous!"
"Why thank you," Firestar chuckled softly. "I'm glad you think so."
"Oh!" Ivypool, who had overheard Firestar, nodded in agreement.
"Keep reading."