Prologue


Blood!

The scent clung to the air, choking his lungs, making him want to wretch. Great Starclan! He thought, staring out at the chaos from where he sat crouched in a thick bush. The ground below Four trees was covered in blood, the bodies of his former clan mates and friends laying in the dirt. How could something like this be possible?

"Ravenpaw!" a soft voice whispered, making him nearly jump out of his fur. A strangled yowl escaped his mouth.

"Quiet mousebrain!" a different voice snapped. "Do you want to give us away?"

Ravenpaw's heart slowed slightly. He knew that grouchy voice, he could recognize it anywhere. He turned his head, eyes wide with fear, and saw them crouched a few tail lengths away from him. Sandstorm and Cinderpelt. How had he not heard their arrival?

He opened his mouth to reply, but the words died in his throat as he saw the grief on their faces, the very same grief that was making him tremble.

"We lost." It was all he could manage to say.

"Yes." Cinderpelt mewed softly, her head downcast. "We lost."

"Firestar, is he…"

"Yes." Cinderpelt's voice shook. "He's dead. Scourge killed him. Nine lives gone in one battle. Just like…" she trailed off, anger flaring in her blue eyes.

"Yeah." Sandstorm growled, "Just like Tigerstar."

The three fell into a grim silence. Ravenpaw stared out at the battle field miserably.

"Where did the Bloodclan cats go?" he asked.

"Who knows?" Sandstorm mewed, her voice sounding strangely blank. "Probably off to raid the Clan camps and make sure no one is left."

"A few survived." Cinderpelt protested. "Scourge allowed a few to live, as long as they joined him…"

"If they joined him then they are traitors!" Sandstorm said harshly. "I would rather die as a warrior defending my clan than live to serve that foxhearted murderer!"

Suddenly, Sandstorm's body began to tremble, and her eyes seemed almost glazed. "He killed him." she whispered. "He killed Firestar."

Ravenpaw looked on in confusion, baffled by the emotions in her voice. Sandstorm loved Firestar?

"Hush." Cinderpelt said soothingly, though she looked every bit as shaken. "Firestar fought bravely. Now he lives on in Starclan. We will see him again someday."

"Sooner rather than later if we hang around here much longer." Ravenpaw pointed out, feeling as if he were intruding.

"Where will we go?" Sandstorm whispered.

"Back to the barn with me of course." Seeing the looks of discontent on their faces, he added, "At least, until we figure something else out."

"H-Hello?" a small voice called from somewhere nearby. "Fernpaw? Dustpelt?"

Ravenpaw stiffened, but the she-cats seemed almost relieved.

"Ashpaw, is that you?" Cinderpelt called.

There was a short pause, then, "Cinderpelt? Cinderpelt, is that you? Where are you?"

"Over here, in the bushes."

A few moments later, they were joined by a young tom, Ashpaw, Ravenpaw recognized.

"Sandstorm! Cinderpelt! Ravenpaw!" Ashpaw mewed in relief. "I thought I was alone."

"Calm down." Cinderpelt mewed. "We're in this together."

"Calm down? Calm down?" Ashpaw's eyes narrowed. "My sister is missing, our clan mates are lying dead, and you want me to calm down?"

"Hush." Sandstorm hissed. "If we aren't quiet we might be dead too!"

Ashpaw whimpered, but didn't offer a response.

"We need to get out of this bush." Ravenpaw said thoughtfully. "There could be others left; cats like Ashpaw wandering around looking for clanmates. We need to converge, we'd stand a better chance together."

Sandstorm sighed shakily. "You're right. We should look for any other survivors; then head out after nightfall. I'm not comfortable with traveling by day, especially since we'll be crossing the moor."

"Right." Ravenpaw said, seeing that everyone was looking at him expectantly. "Let's go then."

One by one, they silently crawled from their hiding place, blinking in the sunlight, and wincing as a fresh breeze wafted the fresh scent of blood toward them.

"What will happen to us?" Ashpaw asked, despair in his voice. "What do we do?"

Ravenpaw stared out over the battlefield. His friends were dead. The clans were no more. The warrior code was dead. There was no way he could just return to his simple life at the barn, especially since his friend Barley had been among the fallen. So, what would they do?

The light was already beginning to fade from the sky, and the first stars of Silverpelt were starting to appear. Tonight there would be many more stars than usual.

"Now," he said, "we survive."