Prologue
The forest was silent oddly silent, despite the warm feeling in the air. Birds twittered occasionally, their voices bouncing off the trees. From somewhere in the trees, a shriek of rage sounded, quickly followed by the roar of a monster; a moment later the bushes exploded as a small looking monster tore away from the clearing, a scared looking twoleg kit sitting on its back as it ran away.
In the clearing were three cats; a light tabby tom, his fur spiked and a snarl on his face, and one of his legs twisted at an odd angle. The next cat, a white she-cat, stood crouched over him, worriedly flicking her tail back and forth. The last cat, a big golden tabby, glared after where the monster had disappeared, his fur spiked and tail lashing.
"Birchfall, your leg…!" The she-cat meowed, gently touching his leg with her nose. The tabby hissed and jerked backwards, clenching his teeth in pain. "I-I think it's broken!"
"We'll need to get him back to camp, then." The golden tabby said after a few moments, turning back to the two. He walked forward and examined Birchfall's leg before turning back to the white she-cat. "Whitewing, help me get him onto my back." The white she-cat nodded as the tom crouched down, and she gently grabbed Birchfall's scruff and pulled him onto the golden tabby's shoulders.
"Are you sure you can carry him without hurting him?" Whitewing fretted as the golden tom stood up slowly. He nodded.
"As long as Birchfall keeps a good grip, he should be fine." He reassured the she-cat, and started through the undergrowth. "Go ahead and clear the path so I don't trip." He meowed, twitching his tail. She nodded and dashed off, and the three cats made their way slowly through the forest, down a small slope, and towards a huge barrier of thorns.
Whitewing watched the golden tabby carry Birchfall into camp worriedly, pacing back and forth and looking up with ears pricked as Birchfall hissed in pain as a thorn caught in his fur. As the three cats entered the camp, cats all around looked up and poked their heads out of dens, looking shocked.
"Lionblaze!" The golden tabby looked up at a rocky ledge to see a dark brown tabby tom standing there, his tail lashing. At his shoulder stood a ginger she-cat, her eyes wide as she watched the three cats. The tabby tom bounded down to Lionblaze and overlooked Birchfall, his eyes narrowed with concerned. "What happened?"
"Bring Birchfall to my den before you make your report!" A silver tabby snapped, coming up to Lionblaze's side. Lionblaze nodded and began to drag Birchfall towards a bramble screened den with the silver tabby following, his tail flicking. Whitewing turned back to the dark tabby and began the report.
"Another mini monster." She said shakily. "It caught us off guard; we thought we were running away from it, but it tackled Birchfall and he hit a tree. We think he broke his leg…but the twoleg that was on its back came up to him; I-I thought it was going to hurt him, so I attacked…it looked scared, to be honest. The twoleg couldn't have been older than an apprentice." She continued, her tail lowered. The tabby nodded, his tail flicking.
"Anything else?"
"Not really…The monster ran away not long afterwards, heading towards Windclan territory." She relayed.
"Alright. Squirrelflight," the tabby continued, turning towards the ginger she-cat beside him, "I want you to take a patrol around and make sure the mini monster is gone. Travel by trees, I don't want anymore cats getting hurt." He meowed. She nodded and trotted off, flicking her tail towards two warriors before bounding out of the hollow. He turned back to Whitewing.
"Go to Jayfeather's den and get checked over."
"Thank you Bramblestar." The white warrior meowed, dipping her head before swiftly making her way towards the bramble screen. She entered the den as Lionblaze came out and trotted towards Bramblestar.
"Whitewing told me what had happened." Bramblestar meowed as Lionblaze came up to his side.
"To be honest, I don't think that twoleg meant to hurt Birchfall." Lionblaze mused, his hear flicking. Bramblestar gave him a questioning look, and he continued. "When she first hit Birchfall, it looks like she made the monster stop and ran up to him. By the look of it, she looked really worried, but before she could do anything Whitewing attacked her."
"Are you sympathizing for the twoleg?" Bramblestar asked, cocking his head towards Lionblaze.
"No, I'm just saying…maybe twolegs aren't as bad as we thought. I mean, she wanted to help by the looks of it…she was being gentle, I think. She and the monster ran away soon after Whitewing scratched her." Lionblaze meowed, blinking. Bramblestar sighed, shaking his head.
"We'll never know what twolegs are thinking." He said, standing up. "Go and rest; I'm sure you're tired after your ordeal." Lionblaze dipped his head and started towards the warriors den, while Bramblestar turned and made his way back up the rocky slope to his den and pushed his way inside.
Jayfeather sat beside Birchfall's nest, listening to the rhythmic breathing of the tom. He had bound his leg with rush and cobwebs, and given poppy seeds for the pain. He was finally asleep, after spending a good while assuring Whitewing that he was going to be fine.
Jayfeather sighed and padded to his nest, curling down into the moss and wrapping his tail over his nose. Too much has been going on lately; what with the mini monsters running through the forest, and a fox being scented so close to camp a few days ago. Not to mention Cinderheart kitting just yesterday, so the hunt for the fox is also accompanied by the worries of her.
Things just need to calm down a little, he thought, shutting his eyes. Not even a heartbeat later a breeze stirred his fur, and he blinked open his eyes. Sunlight streamed down between the trees above him as he sat up and looked around, ears twitching. Odd, Starclan hasn't visited him outside the moonpool in a long time…
Standing up, he walked forward, stopping as a dark gray she-cat thrust her head through the undergrowth ahead of him, her ragged fur bristling slightly. "Yellowfang." Jayfeather greeted, taking a step back and dipping his head.
"No time for introductions." She hissed, jerking her head towards the trees and starting towards them, flicking her tail for him to follow. Blinking, he followed her quietly, holding his tongue despite the string of questions that had formed in his head. Finally, after a few long, silent moments, Jayfeather broke the silence.
"Is something wrong?" Yellowfang stopped and rounded on Jayfeather, her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Something is VERY wrong, Jayfeather." She began, her voice low and calm. "Trouble is coming our way."
"More trouble from the Dark Forest?" Jayfeather asked, blinking. Surely they wouldn't cause trouble again after all the damage that was done…? But Yellowfang shook her head.
"No, it is a different kind of trouble…" She trailed off and looked away worriedly, her tail lashing.
"What is it?" Jayfeather pressed, feeling frustration building up. Spit it out already! Yellowfang looked back at him, her eyes distant as she spoke.
"A warrior of different birth will light the way to peace." Her voice seemed to float around in the air for a moment as the dream faded.
"What?" Jayfeather called, springing to his paws. But the forest was fading quickly, and darkness slammed over his vision as he sprang up, panting.
"Something wrong?" A groggy voice from a nest close by asked, and Jayfeather heard a shuffling sound. Quickly smoothing his fur, he took a deep breath and shook his head.
"No, just had a weird dream." He meowed to the she-cat, brushing past her. He felt her claw snag his tail gently, and he turned and glared at her.
"I can see something's wrong." She meowed, hauling herself out of her nest. Jayfeather shook his head again.
"I need to speak with Bramblestar." He meowed quickly, heading towards the bramble screen again. "Keep an eye on Birchfall, Briarlight."
"Alright." The she-cat replied, obviously not convinced that it was just a dream. Jayfeather didn't care at the moment; pushing out of the brambles, he padded quickly through the cool air and towards Bramblestar's den.
"Bramblestar!" He hissed at the den entrance, his claws scraping the ground in anticipation.
"Jayfeather?" The groggy voice of Bramblestar drifted through the den, and, without waiting for an okay to enter, he pushed his way inside, tail lashing. "What is it? Is Birchfall alright?" Bramblestar asked, sitting up. Squirrelflight stirred beside him, and Jayfeather shook his head.
"Birchfall is doing fine."
"Then what is it you wanted?" Jayfeather took a deep breath, hesitant to relay the dream to him.
"I received a prophecy from Starclan." Surprise flooded from Squirrelflight, while Bramblestar nodded slowly.
"Go on." He prompted, wide awake now. As Jayfeather retold what had happened in the dream, he could sense both cats in front of him becoming tenser.
"A warrior of different blood…" Squirrelflight mused, her tail brushing across the ground. "What do you think that means?"
"I don't know…" Jayfeather replied quietly, his tail twitching. "All I know is that more trouble is coming for the clans."
"Do you have any idea what kind of trouble?" Bramblestar asked hesitantly. Jayfeather shook his head.
"I don't."
Bramblestar huffed slightly, his claws picking at the moss underpaw. Finally he stood up, twitching his tail. "Alright. No sense worrying over it if we don't know what it means." Jayfeather opened his mouth to protest, but closed it as Bramblestar continued. "I want you to report any more signs that you receive to me as soon as possible. If you figure out what it means, then I want to know." Jayfeather nodded, and, with a flick from Bramblestar's tail, backed out of the den.
He padded down the rocky slope, his fur brushing the side of the wall as he went. What exactly did it mean, a warrior of different blood? Does that mean that a new cat would be joining the clan? A kittypet, or a rogue? Shaking his head, he padded back into his den, ignoring the questions from Briarlight, and settled into his nest again.
No sense worrying over it right now…He thought, closing his eyes again. Why couldn't Starclan be straight forward with their prophecies?