Prologue: Never Alone
In the deep darkness of a pine forest, two tomcats crouched, facing each other. Their amber gazes locked, the grey and black, smaller tabby stared into the large, scarred, dark brown tabby's. Finally, in the dead of the starless night, the smaller cat meowed, "I've a plan."
"Go on," the larger tom replied in a quieter, deeper voice. At this, the smaller cat flinched, and sat up, and the other stood.
"W-Well, I've recently recalled a story the elders told me from my kithood. About the cat who fell from StarClan, into a kit's body?" the grey cat mewed, obviously intimidated by his shadowed partner.
"Yes, what about it? Is your plan really just about an old queen's tale?" he growled, his tail tip flicking as he stood.
"No! No, no. There's facts to it. I just thought that..." Then he leaned in to tell his comrade the plan, keeping all secretive, but clear and specific. Only StarClan would ever know what their plans were, if they were alive.
On a starless night, 7 season-cycles later, a ginger and white she-cat appeared in the same spot, in the same dim-lit forested area. In an eerie light, these lands reminded the cat of her homelands. In a strong and confident voice, despite her hidden terror of the unknown, she called out, "Hello? Anybody out there?"
Suddenly, the mottled cat's nostrils flared. A whiff of an unfriendly and unfamiliar scent passed by her sensitive, soft pink nose, and immediately a dark, feline silhouette materialized behind her. "Welcome, Russetcloud! I've heard so much about you."
"Who in StarClan's name are you, you fox pile?" she snarled in reply, whipping around to face him. ...But he was gone.
She glanced back to where she started looking, and was startled to find a grey tabby's demented grin. His pale golden gaze glowed in a light unlike she'd ever known. "Ahh, I knew you'd be perfect!" he purred, slinking around her with his eyes locked on her body. It was strong, muscular, yet still elegant enough to be beautiful. No wonder the ginger and white she-cat had a mate already.
The cat's silver eyes went from blazing with an anger built out of concealing her fear, to pure confusion at the situation. "Um... perfect for what, exactly? And you never answered my question- who the hell are you?"
"You'll find out soon enough," the tom replied, before pouncing onto the she-cat with claws unsheathed.
Under his strong grip, the ShadowClan cat quickly recognized the famous ThunderClan criminal, but not until she was on the verge of fainting. The painful sensation she felt was too overwhelming. Claws in her haunches and shoulders, teeth gripping her scruff and tearing into an ear pinned to her head... Soon unconsciousness possessed the young warrior, and she did not wake for a long time.