A/N Begins Here.
Hello, welcome, and thank you for taking the time to read Return. This is a story created by my brother and I, and written by me.
I don't own Warriors, clearly, or else Hollyleaf would still be alive, and there would be inconsistencies galore.
I'm looking for a beta reader, so this chapter was not beta read.
Prologue
A forest of shadows, filled with cats that had the dank mist of the forest clinging to their battle-scarred pelts, lay in darkness. Silverpelt could not be seen in the skies above the forest, giving up the horizons to blackness. In a clearing in the forest, several severely wounded cats lay, stretching their aching muscles and growling softly. The whole forest seemed to be engulfed in a quiet, potent hate.
One cat, a massive dark tabby, crouched awkwardly on the forest floor in the center of the clearing, his amber eyes gleaming in the gloom. He seemed to be daring any cat to come near him, and no cat seemed brave enough or able to oblige. The grass beneath him was dark with fresh and drying blood, oozing from various wounds on his body, but most of all from a puckered wound at his throat.
Across the clearing, the undergrowth suddenly began to quiver and shake wildly. A ginger and white she-cat stepped out, her golden eyes blazing. She stalked purposefully across the clearing to the dark tabby, cats clearing a path before her. The dark tabby lifted his head and glared at the she-cat.
"Mapleshade." he growled in greeting. The other narrowed her eyes.
"Tigerstar." Her gaze raked over the broad-shouldered tom, golden eyes lingering on the tear at his throat. "You've looked better." She sneered. "I thought the kittypet killed you in the battle."
Tigerstar hissed angrily. "I managed to pull out in time. How did your run from Sandstorm go?" The massive tabby said mockingly.
Mapleshade snarled, raising a paw as if to rake it across the younger's cheek. Before she could, though, the injured tom lunged forward, grabbing the white paw in his jaws and pulling it forward, lurching the she-cat off balance. Mapleshade stumbled, but caught herself quickly. Her eyes darted around, and she dipped her head to the dark tabby, admitting defeat.
"What did you come here for?" Tigerstar asked, his amber eyes mere slits.
Mapleshade crouched down, settling herself on the slimy ground and tucking her paws beneath her, looking carefully at the massive tabby as if sizing him up. "Our battle," She mewed, keeping her voice low. "It caused something strange to occur on the boundary with Starclan." Other cats from around the clearing, though they knew these two held an abundant amount of power in their shoulders and that they should not be eavesdropping on them, could not resist sending the occasional curious glance at the two, pricking their ears to pick up even snippets of conversation.
Tigerstar flashed an amber-eyed look of surprise at the she-cat. "What?" He growled, a note of shock entering his growl.
The she-cat snapped at him. "Keep your voice down!" She looked warily around, meeting the dark eyes of those cats who were watching; they swiftly ducked their heads and busied themselves licking their healing wounds and scars. "It's easier to show you than explain." She growled, standing up and flicking her tail.
Tigerstar stifled a groan as he stood up. Mapleshade led him through the shadowed woods, pawsteps muffled on the mossy dirt, to a long stretch of forest where the trees began to grow less twisted and the mist began to dissolve. A small stream ran down a small slope on the border from the misty forest and the clear forest.
"There." Mapleshade waved her splotched tail at the river. Tigerstar studied it for a few moments.
"Where are the others?" He growled. "Fetch the senior warriors. This needs to be hidden from the weaklings in Starclan." He scored his thorn-sharp claws across the damp earth of the dark side of the forest, fixing his eyes on the stream, wounds forgotten.
The ginger and white she-cat smirked as she threw a sideways glance at the tabby. "I'm sure I will be able to find Darkstripe, off licking that sorry pelt of his somewhere." Her voice was mocking, though it was unclear whether she was mocking Tigerstar or the cat she had mentioned.
Tigerstar twitched. "I didn't mean that coward." He protested, fur spiking. "Darkstripe is useless to me." Shaking out his ruffled tabby pelt, he added, "Find Shredtail, Thistleclaw, someone like that. Someone useful." He sank his claws into the peaty soil beneath his paws.
Mapleshade nodded and backed into the shadows. Her golden eyes burned for a heartbeat longer before disappearing. Tigerstar looked again at the river, at the clear path leading down to a lake, surrounded by a moorland and a forest. Though he couldn't see them from the top of the path, he knew there were many cats in that forest. Some resided in the oak forest, some in the pine forest, some in the moorland, and some where the streams bubbled. Tigerstar bared his teeth, amber eyes glittering with pleasure and ambition.
"This changes everything."
