almost posted this up without replying to reviews oops-

BRUH - thanks so much, i hope that i can deliver up to your expectations! c':

SkyTheLoner - stormeyes is definitely planning quite a bit up his sleeve, hope you'll be sticking around to find out~ ;3c

Infinite Drops of Rain - thanks so much! sorry it's a little late at this point, but this is continuing and will be for a while to come! owo/


"You'll never win this fight, you snake-hearted fox!"

Green eyes flashing, the black cat snapped his teeth together ferociously at his opponent. Her black-and-ginger fur was glossy in the midday sun, and she held one paw on the back of her pale-furred prisoner, giving her the impression of a cat that was strong and confident in her abilities. "Please, help!" The pinned she-cat squeaked, gazing desperately at the jet-black tom.

But the she-cat trapping her just held her down tighter, smirking. "Well, what are you waiting for then?" She taunted the tom, glowering. "Come and get me!"

Growling, the black cat pounced, the black-and-ginger she-cat taking him on with open paws. Together, they tumbled through the grass in a bundle of flailing legs and fur, the silver-and-white tabby getting to her own paws and shaking out her fur. When she realized how far they had gotten away from her, eyes wide, she scrambled after them. "Hey, wait for me!"

Watching from the comfortable shade of the tree a few fox-lengths away, pale green eyes carefully kept track of the three young cats. They never strayed, following every pounce and swipe, ears pricking up as they caught the sound of their squeals and playful growls. The she-cat let out a deep, humming sigh, closing her eyes in pleasure as a light breeze feathered through her thick ginger tabby pelt. Another beautiful day in Greenleaf, another day spent watching her kits and wishing deep down that things would never change.

A movement on the other side of the field caught her eye. Two dark shapes were making their way up the slope, prey dangling from their mouths, and the ginger tabby stood and stretched. "Kits!" As she called out to them, they broke free from the mess of a scuffle they had been having and turned to look at her at the same time. "It's lunchtime!"

Excited, high-pitched mews was all she got back in reply as they started racing across the hill. They kept trying to get ahead of each other along the way, and their mother shook her head, purring. Must be racing to see who gets the first pick of food.

The two dark-furred cats reached the tree first, and the ginger tabby trotted out with her tail high to greet them. One of them met her partway, regarding her with warm amber eyes, and touched noses with her. "Hey, Apple. How were the kits while we were gone?" His deep purr vibrated in Apple's ear fur, and he shifted his focus to the three siblings still hurrying toward them.

"They were absolute monsters." Feigning weariness, Apple swayed on her paws, earning an amused grunt even from the sharp-eyed black-and-white tom by her mate's side.

Just then, the kits were upon them, eager and happy squeals battering their ears as they swarmed their father and the prey he carried. "Attack!" The black-and-ginger she-kit declared before they all latched their tiny claws into his fur.

Gasping, he fell onto his side, letting them climb all over him and leave the rabbit he'd been carrying lay limp in the grass. "Oh no, I dropped my lunch!" He moaned, closing his eyes in defeat. "Now anyone can take it for themselves!"

Taking the bait, the kits abandoned their conquest and leapt for the rabbit, but Apple intervened before they could reach it and pushed it away. "Mama!" The jet-black tom-kit whined. "But we're hungry!"

"I know you are, Bat." She swept her tail across his back. "I'm sure Embers and Heron are too, but we must wait a couple of moments longer. We have visitors coming to join us this afternoon."

Ears perking back up, Heron kneaded the ground, blue eyes sparkling. "Is Auntie Tulip coming?" At Apple's nod, she bounced happily on her paws.

"Now, go and play for a little bit longer my dears, okay?" She watched fondly as they raced away again, closer to where their parents sat this time, and continued their play-fighting. But her attention jerked away when she felt her mate's tail tip brush her shoulder, and she glanced at him curiously. "Raven? Is something wrong?"

He shared a look with the black-and-white tom, whose golden gaze was as serious as ever. "While we were out hunting, me and Hawk didn't run into any other cats. At all." He flicked an ear. "Normally, we see at least some of that we know; Whitney, Littlepaw, Marlin… But the whole forest seemed to be empty of anyone else."

Apple tilted her head, a mixture of concern and confusion starting to churn in her belly. "You don't think something happened to them, do you?" A sudden thought struck her, and she took in a sharp breath. "Do you think this is why Tulip is late as well?" Sometimes, it took some time for the housecat to find a good time to slip away from her housefolk, but…

"I don't think we should be so hasty to come to conclusions." Hawk grumbled. "Just because we didn't see them doesn't mean they all died suddenly, or something."

Apple still didn't feel so certain. It wasn't the first time cats had disappeared from the forested area beside the Twolegplace, and they almost always never came back when they did. She recalled, the pang of loss still ringing in her heart, when her sister and mother had been stolen away by Twolegs when she just a kit. The only way she had managed to avoid the same fate was by clawing her way up a tree as fast as possible and hoping they didn't notice her as well. Raven seemed to understand what Apple was thinking about and pressed closer to her.

"Apple!"

A breathless gasp, carried by the wind, suddenly caught Apple's attention. Along with it came a familiar scent, and a slim, pale gray shape soon followed over the horizon. "Tulip!"

Without waiting for her mate or his brother, Apple tore across the grass, leaving stray stalks flying in her wake. She could already tell that her housecat friend was very much out of breath, her slim flanks heaving as she ran, and her normally shy, gentle eyes glittered apprehensively. They skidded to a halt as soon as they were close enough to speak, and Apple immediately touched noses with her. "What's going on, did something happen, are you hurt?" She didn't mean to overwhelm her friend with questions, but they poured out of her as she tried to catch her breath.

Tulip shook her head a couple of time, taking one last gasp before speaking. "T-this weird cat showed up… In the Twolegplace." Her blue eyes glanced quickly at something behind Apple before continuing, but she could already tell that Raven and Hawk had followed her and were now listening by their scents. "H-he started gathering as many cats together as he could. Then he started saying something about a great opportunity, a way for us to learn more about our heritage. That we… had greater destinies than we could ever have dreamed of."

Apple felt relieved to know why so many cats had suddenly disappeared, but now she was filled with an entirely new sense of confusion. A strange cat? He definitely sounded strange, by what Tulip was currently telling them. But what did he mean, a 'chance to learn more about their heritage'? Apple knew who her family was, even if they were now gone. Raven and Hawk had always known that they were brothers, obviously, and she knew that Tulip's family were all housecats as well, living with housefolk of their own. Something about this felt deeper than any of them knew…

But Apple still couldn't forget how she knew nothing about who her father was. It was far-fetched, but just the thought that maybe this cat could possibly know of their kin made her heart rate quicken.

"An opportunity?" Hawk echoed Tulip with a tone of skepticism. "A 'great destiny'? This just sounds like some cat trying to show off to me."

"It certainly sounds like this cat has a way with words, at least." Raven mused, although he still looked curious to know more.

"Well, if you want to know more about it, he said he was going to be holding some sort of meeting for anyone who was 'ready to know the truth'." Tulip's tail twitched anxiously. "Around that one big rock in the forest a little ways away from here. You know where it is, right?"

Apple nodded. "Of course. We've passed by it many times before while hunting." Then, she paused, glancing at Tulip in surprise. "Why, are you planning on going?"

Tulip hesitated, shifting her weight back and forth. Hawk snorted. "Well, I suppose going could be good for a laugh, right, Raven?"

But Raven didn't reply right away; instead, he looked thoughtfully at Apple. "…Maybe this is something we should check out." He suggested. "It's not like there's any downside to not going, right? What if we don't realize how important this could possibly be?"

Hawk just snorted again, but now seemed more open to the idea considering his brother actually wanted to go. Apple frowned, casting a glance at the kits still playing in the distance. "Do you think we should bring the kits too?"

"I don't see why not; if it affects us, it affects them too." Raven rubbed her muzzle comfortingly with his own. "Besides, they're getting older now. They have their own minds and opinions. Plus, I'm almost sure they'd just sneak off and follow us on their own if we tried to leave them alone."

Apple had to admit that he had a point, on both counts. Bat, Embers, and Heron were quickly approaching their sixth moon. They weren't just kits anymore, and they wouldn't appreciate still being treated like they were either. "I suppose you're right. Tulip," the pale gray she-cat met her eyes as she faced her, "you can come along with us too. I know you want to know more about what's going on too."

Looking relieved, Tulip touched noses with her friend gratefully. Hawk jerked his head toward the prey they left several fox-lengths away. "Well, come on then. We'll eat our lunch first and then head out."


Apple caught wind of the crowd of cats before they even saw a glimpse of them through the trees, various scent trails all heading toward the same place. It was almost overwhelming to sense all at once, the amount of cats that had apparently decided to give this gathering a try. At her paws, Bat screwed up his nose, and Heron sneezed. "Mama, I didn't even know there were this many cats in the whole world!" Embers gasped, causing her mother to purr in laughter.

"They must be just up ahead." Tulip murmured, looking nervous. Apple knew how much the housecat hated to be in large crowds and flicked her tail against her shoulder sympathetically.

The faint sounds of conversation had started out quiet from a distance, but now that they were close, the various meows overlapping each other was almost like thunder against the calm forest air. Then after one more push through the bushes, they were upon the gathering place. Familiar and unfamiliar pelts melted together into a lake of multicolored fur, brushing past each other in an attempt to find friends and cats they knew as well as a good place to settle. Apple felt her three kits press into her fur as if they were trying to hide, and even Tulip huddled closer to her friend and her family.

"Over here!" Hawk had broken away without them even noticing, having found a spot to sit beside a snowy-white cat that Apple recognized as Whitney, from the long-healed tear in her left ear. Pushing their way through the crowd, Apple, Tulip, Raven, and the kits joined them.

So many cats… Apple flicked her tail at Whitney in greeting before scanning the crowd once more. Names floated to the surface of her mind as she spotted cats they knew: Pine, Sunny, Kindling, Stripe… But a yowl coming from above them all caused her to jerk her attention to the very top of the large stone on the edge of the clearing.

For a moment, she locked eyes with the cat she assumed had gathered them all here, almost startled by the storm of blue and gray in his gaze. His silver-gray fur was long and glossy, defining lines of muscle beneath his pelt, and he carried himself with a confidence and pride that Apple didn't think she had ever seen in any cat. Not only did he look strong, but he also carried the marks of many old wounds, from a nicked ear to a long line of a scar that cut across his shoulder. How many battles had this cat taken part in? Who… is this cat? Apple felt the fur along her shoulder rise in anticipation.

Once everyone seemed to have quieted enough for him to continue, he slowly ran his gaze across all those who had chosen to come, and Apple thought he looked vaguely impressed. "A fine crowd." His meow was a deep rumble, like the coming of a distant thunderstorm. "It pleases me to know that you all are interested in knowing the truth – the truth about your bloodline, the truth of who you all really are."

Apple noticed many of the cats around her glancing curiously at each other. It almost felt as though there were electricity crackling through the air, a palpable sense of excitement at what he was about to tell them. Even her three kits had removed themselves from hiding in their mother's fur, and were now staring up at the stranger with round, awestruck eyes.

"You will not be disappointed, for I am here to change all of your lives forever!" He stamped his paw against the stone, claws unsheathed and eyes glittering. "No longer will you simply be cats trying to make it by on your own. You all have a destiny, a destiny to shine as bright as the stars in the sky!"

He stood tall, head held high, muscles rippling along his shoulders. "And I am here to lead you all onto the path of that destiny. My name is Stormeyes, warrior of the honorable SkyClan, and I have been sent here to teach you all I know of the ways of the warriors."