Hi there! My name is Moosie, and I would love to be the first to welcome you to my first fanfiction! I'm doing this because I love the Warriors series and just for fun! Hopefully you will have as much fun reading as I do writing. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments feel free to comment or PM me! I'd love to hear what you guys think.

ALSO, it is strongly encouraged that you read the prologue. It will help clear up confusion later on.

Enjoy!

Prologue

It was that time of night again. The sky was pitch black and the only source of light illuminating the ground was the bright moon from above. The leader of Thunderclan stepped out of her den cautiously, only glancing around for a moment to make sure no other pesky cat was out and about at these hours before trotting out of the camp and into the familiar forest that she knew so well.

This "sneaking out of camp" situation had certainly not been going on long – only for about a week now, but the she-cat had already grown used to it. Escaping for a little while would give her time to think. Tonight was a night that she had more to think about than usual, however.

Silently making her way through the brambles and bushes stuck in her way, she soon found her spot: right in front of the small pond. Before sitting down, she looked around one more time to make sure that no cat had decided to be sneaky and run after her. After a couple of seconds of seeing and hearing nothing unusual, she turned around and simply stared at her reflection in the water.

That was nice. Sitting there without a worry or a care at all. It was eerily silent.

"HEY! I know you're there. Don't you dare move a pawstep."

A voice suddenly came not from far off, and it took a lot of courage for the leader not to jump in surprise. She had been found, despite making sure that nobody was around her before she came. A smirk grew on her face as she heard the familiarity of it. Obviously this mousebrain had no idea that it was her sitting there in the moonlight. If he did, why in Starclan would he talk to her like that? She chose not to respond to her clanmate and instead wait for him to come to her.

But she heard nothing. She waited for quite a while to hear his pawsteps approaching her. The night had once again turned silent. The second that thought came to her mind, however, she felt a warm breath on the back of her pelt.

"Quailstar." He breathed.

Quailstar didn't flinch. Her expression didn't change. Her eyes were still fixed on her reflection in the puddle. Then from the corner of them she could see the tom. Once again, she did not speak. She wasn't much of a talker, but had no doubt that her clanmate would continue for her. Sure enough, he did.

"You can't fool me," he continued, "and WHY in Starclan do you think that you DO this?"

As he spoke, his voice rose. It was apparent that he had been watching the leader sneak off like this at night but had only now decided to speak up about it. Quailstar still said nothing.

"You might be able to hide and fool everyone else like this, but you can absolutely not fool me. Why, Quailstar? Why do you do it? I have spent countless nights awake thinking about what could be the answer even before you started sneaking out of camp like this. And when I saw you do it that first time, it made the answer to my question even more complicated."

The tom paused for a moment. He looked over to his leader as if he were waiting for her to respond, but she just let him continue.

"Quailstar… Don't you remember when we were kits? We were best friends. Nothing could separate us. Don't you remember when we were apprentices? We never left each other's side. Goodness, Quailstar, don't you remember when you were even a WARRIOR? Everyone always thought of you as the nicest cat in this whole clan. You were sociable, you had dozens of friends, you were hilarious…"

He sighed.

"What happened? Why did you change, Quailstar?"

Then there was silence. The she-cat hated to admit it, but he was right. And she didn't know the answer to his questions. But she knew that she couldn't ignore her clanmate anymore. He wasn't letting her. So she sighed too, and then replied in as simplified of a way as she could.

"Everyone changes, Shortstare."

It was all she could manage to say. It was awkward talking to her old best friend again. It didn't feel right. Yet, he still came back with a reply.

"But you haven't just changed. You've become a whole different cat. You don't even acknowledge me anymore. You barely acknowledge anyone unless you have to. All you do is sit in your den all day. That isn't a leader's job. You could care less about this clan!" He meowed, disappointed.

"That's not true." Quailstar quickly lashed back.

"Then prove it, Quailstar! You know what's sad? Nobody knows that you have this other side to you. Nobody in this clan except for the ones who grew up with you know that you used to be different. I know that you still have it in you. What happened? Why did you change so much?" Shortstare hissed back, becoming upset.

It took Quailstar a moment to find the right words for a reply. She may not have been able to prove to the clan that she cared, but she could at least prove it to Shortstare.

So after some thought, the she-cat turned her head and looked Shortstare right in the eyes. That wasn't something that she had done in a good ten moons to anyone. He looked shocked at first, but then stared back into hers. And Quailstar wanted to make sure that he knew how serious she was being before she spoke.

"Shortstare. There is a lot that you do not know about yourself. There is a lot that you do not know about this clan. But most importantly, there is a lot that you do not know about me. I didn't just change myself because I suddenly felt like it one day! I didn't just start blocking everybody out because I didn't want to be loved anymore! I didn't start hiding in my den everyday because I didn't care! I did it because I was SCARED, Shortstare. I am just like any other cat! I have feelings and emotions!

And when Starclan chose me as the Thunderclan leader, I had no idea what to do! I didn't want the responsibility of making everyone happy and keeping everyone alive! Because if something happened, who would get blamed? ME! Who would get punished? ME! Who would get hated forever? ME! I never WANTED to be leader. I just wanted a normal life. That… That was my only wish that I have ever made in my life. And it never came true."

Then for what seemed like the millionth time, there was silence again. Quailstar looked away without thinking, but Shortstare's gaze was still on her.

"I knew you hadn't changed. That's the Quailstar I know."

He finally found the courage to meow, and Quailstar quickly became confused at his words. The last she remembered, he had been wondering why she HAD changed.

"Yet, you have chosen to hide it from the rest of the clan…" He added, looking just as confused as Quailstar felt.

"Well, no cat can ever trust every other. Especially if their name starts with Quail." The she-cat replied with a smile. She could hear Shortstare laugh.

"That's about right." He meowed back, and with that last comment it was time to depart back home as dawn slowly came and the sun peeked through the trees at the two happy cats.

Yay! This is so much fun to write already. Hopefully you're enjoying. There is much more to come

~ Moosie