Prologue
The layers of snow glistened in the moonlight. Cold winds blow through the clan territories. All the clan cats were curled up in their nests; none of them suspected that a big chance was coming.
A yellow, long-furred, Thunderclan she-cat walked quickly through the snowy forest. She didn't run, fearing that she would knock the three shivering bundles off of her back.
"Can we go home please?" The tiny tortoise-shell she-kit asked desperately.
"I want our warm nest!" Another she kit, this one as gray as cinders shivered.
"I'm so hungry! I need milk!" The reddish-brown tom was the loudest out of the three. He yowled these words at the top of his small lungs.
"There is milk and a warm nest across the stream. There will be cats that will take care of you." The mother she-cat said, trying to calm her freezing, desperate kits. She prayed to Starclan that he would be there as promised.
"Will you stay with us when we get there?" The tortoise-shell she-kit asked, touching a subject that the ThunderClan queen wished she could have avoided.
The mother she-cat stopped at looked at the kits on her back. Their eyes were like tiny, full moons as they pleaded for the answer that was burning in their little hearts.
Her eyes and striped tail drooped. She wished that she could say yes to reassure them, but WindClan wouldn't let her join their clan. She couldn't lie to her kits.
"No, I can't. I can't come with you. As much as I want to, I can't. I'm sorry." The queen felt tears run down her face. The little kits squirmed on her back.
"Why can't you come with us?" "Where are we going?" "Who will take care of us?" The burst of questions the kits fired at her struck the queen in her heart.
"I'm sorry, my kits. There is nothing I can do. Your father should be here soon." The mother said as they reached the stream that marked the border of ThunderClan and WindClan.
"I thought that Sparrowfeather was our father." The gray kit said in confusion.
"My kits. I know that I told you that Sparrowfeather is your father, but he really isn't. I wanted to keep you safe by pretending he was. I have to bring you to your real father."
"Then… Who is our real father?" the red-brown tom asked.
At that moment, the stone-furred deputy of WindClan ran across the snowy moor. He ran toward the queen and her confused kits. When he got closer, he started speaking.
"So, these are our kits?" Stonedust used his tail to gesture at the small kits that got off of their mother's back.
"Yes. They are." The queen puffed out her fur proudly.
"They're beautiful, Lightningtail." Stonedust touched her flank.
"Who are you?" The reddish-brown tom asked.
"Hello, little kits. I am your father."