Prologue
A young dappled she-cat stood in the midst of a huge field, her eyes blinking and her nose twitching. The grass danced and swayed to some unheard song while the mist encircled her, clinging to her fur. Confusion was sketched across her face, her soft brown eyes looking above her, gazing in awe at the expanse of pure black stretching out, endless.
Suddenly, a warm scent floated into her mouth, her nose tingling, causing her heart to freeze. "Roseheart?" she meowed, almost a whisper. Turning, she attempted to find the she-cat, the sister she had lost a few moons ago, the river claiming her life.
"Twilightpaw," came the response. Twilightpaw looked upward, her white paws kneading the grass anxiously as she watched, stunned, as a cat appeared in the night sky, stars forming her body and lashing tail. She began padding downwards, the young apprentice scuttling backwards, trembling. Soon, the star-cat stood in front of Twilightpaw, smiling at her little sister.
"Roseheart," Twilightpaw meowed again, her voice thick with emotion, tears already gathering in the corners of her eyes. She shook her head in disbelief, squeezing her eyes closed and keeping them that way until Roseheart spoke once more.
"A Shadow will Consume the Minds of the Wise
The Bones will Rattle as they Dangle from his Neck
The Cougar must come to Devour his Prey
Or The Clans will be murdered in the Dead of Night
While StarClans Weeps as it, too, is Slayed."
An eerie silence came over the field as Roseheart's last meow trailed off, echoing for a few moments before disappearing all together. With that, the she-cat took a step backward, dipped her head to the dappled apprentice standing in front of her, eyes wide and blinking disbelievingly, before beginning her climb back into the black world of nothing.
Twilightpaw raced after her, growling. "No! Roseheart! Explain, please! No! No! No! Roseheart!" She began sobbing, clawing at the air in frenzy, watching her sister disappear into the inky blackness.