First chapter! Ish...well, no. I lied. This is the prologue. It takes place in Stormcloud's POV-ish. Yes, I'm aware that Stormcloud is dead. But this prologue takes place a few moons before the actual story starts - let's say four or five? It's leaf-bare, FYI.

By the way, I chose ThunderClan simply because the real series is based on ThunderClan, right? So we know their camp better than, say, RiverClan. Well - no, we know RiverClan too due to a certain black she-cat with green eyes's nosiness, but it hasn't been described as much. Therefore, it's more difficult to write about, as are WindClan and ShadowClan. I'm taking the easy way out this time and sticking with the camp that's been described in the most detail. This doesn't mean that I am basing my story on ThunderClan (ick). In fact, to say that would be very far from the truth! But - okay, I've started ranting again.

Thanks to Featheredwing for reviewing the Allegiances.

Oh, and before I forget: this chapter wasn't very good, due to my rather poor editing skills. Is anyone willing to be my beta for the rest of the story? Keep in mind that I am very picky and selective, so don't be offended if I turn you down. That's just the way I am: picky and selective.

On with le prologue~

The sky was a sheer black that night. The darkness was such that it was broken only by a thin crescent-shaped sliver of the moon. Even the warriors of StarClan were shining only faintly, very feebly, as though they had lost most of their luster. They could hardly be spotted amongst the black sky.

Below the sky stood a lone cat, his amber gaze fixed on the forest that lay beyond the entrance of the camp. His ears were pricked, his eyes intent as he stood alertly on guard.

A soft meow interrupted his concentration. "Is all well?"

The muscular gray tom bristled as he turned, but he relaxed upon recognizing the strong shoulders and gleaming amber eyes of his leader. "Thornstar," he murmured, dipping his head. "Yes—I haven't scented any intruders."

Thornstar nodded. "Good. Tell Lionwhisker to take your place—we need to talk. Rainfall has had a dream, and she wants to share it with us." Without waiting for a response, the powerfully-built tomcat strode off, presumably to his den.

The gray warrior hesitated for a heartbeat, startled. On any other night, he would have followed his leader's orders without another thought. But tonight…the tom shivered. Unease was prickling at his pelt as he gazed at the outside of the camp. He didn't know why, either—his ears detected no unusual noise, his nose smelled no threatening scents, and his eyes couldn't make out the faintest shape of a potential threat. Yet something was tugging at his fur, yanking his whiskers, whispering, this is bad, very bad…

Doing his best to shake the disquiet off, the ash-colored tom padded to the warriors' den. Slipping between the branches that screened the den with a dexterity that belied his brawny shape, he stepped inside, letting the warmth of multiple sleeping cats' bodies soak into his cold body before remembering his task. The ThunderClan cat scanned the mass of warriors until his amber eyes picked out a large tabby tom with long, golden fur that gave him his name, curled up into a ball. "Lionwhisker," he hissed, pawing his way over to prod the lump of fur.

"Wha—wuzzat?" mumbled Lionwhisker, his tawny tail flicking into the air defensively.

"Wake up, Lionwhisker!" The gray cat poked his replacement again, more firmly this time.

Lionwhisker grumbled, but at last he opened his blue eyes, dark with annoyance. "What do you want?" he snapped. "I was having a delightful dream about Creamfoot and m—" He stopped midsentence as he realized he was staring into a very irritated face. "Oh, hi, Stormcloud. Aren't you supposed to be guarding the entrance?"

"Shh!" whispered Stormcloud as a few cats stirred, ears twitching at the volume of the toms' conversation. "Mousebrain—you'll wake the whole Clan up. Thornstar wants you to switch positions with me. Now." Ignoring his Clanmate's horrified protests, he spun around and pushed his way out of the warm den, flinching slightly as the chilly air scraped across his face like a pair of unsheathed, sharpened claws. I can hardly blame Lionwhisker for not wanting to be outside; it's freezing! Doing his best to ignore his discomfort, Stormcloud padded to the leader's den, where he assumed Thornstar and Rainfall were.

He was right. The two cats were sitting inside, clearly waiting for him. As Stormcloud appeared in the entrance, Thornstar nodded to him. "Sit. We have a lot to discuss."

The gray-furred tom sat obediently, paws trembling with nervousness at his leader's grim tone. Something told him that Thornstar was not in a good mood. Was he going to strip Stromcloud's deputyship from him? He can't do that! He has no reason to—I've been a good deputy…But he couldn't eliminate his apprehension—Rainfall hadn't greeted him yet, and she was one of his closest friends (mainly because she was the sister of his mate, Petalflower). Her green eyes were clouded with anxiety and fear as she stared at something only she could see, and suddenly his throat tightened with dread.

"We have a lot to discuss," Thornstar meowed. "I told you that Rainfall has had a dream from StarClan, and she wants to share it with us. Well, Rainfall," he turned to the blue-gray she-cat, "the deputy has arrived. Go ahead and tell us what you've seen."

The medicine cat nodded, looking up and seeming to notice Stormcloud for the first time. "I didn't really see anything unusual," she began, "unless you count my mentor, Cloudflight. But she regularly visits me in dreams. She comes to me with words of comfort and occasionally tells me where to find herbs and such. However…" The medicine cat's ears flattened as she took a deep breath before continuing. "However, this time, she sent me what you could consider…a warning, I suppose. Or an ominous sign. Either one isn't very good."

"I'll go with warning," murmured Stormcloud in an attempt to cheer his mate's sister up. "Warning sounds less scary than ominous sign." It worked partly; Rainfall's whiskers twitched, but only halfheartedly.

"This is no time to joke around," snapped Thornstar, muscles rippling under his sandy-brown pelt as though he were bunching them together. He looked like he was about to pounce upon invisible enemies. "Rainfall, continue."

Nodding, the small she-cat complied with the order. "Well, Cloudflight warned me that I had better start stocking up on my herbs, because I'll need every bit of medicine I can find." She shivered, staring at the leader and deputy with unconcealed trepidation. "I think she means that a lot of ThunderClan cats are going to be either wounded or sick soon."

Hackles rising, Thornstar let out a faint hiss; Stormcloud tensed as well. The forest was still recovering from a particularly rough leaf-bare. Every warrior was scrawnier and hungry; many had caught nasty bouts of greencough. A few cats had even died from it. ThunderClan were in a very weak state at the present—suffering anymore blows would just make them an easy target for enemy Clans. It's ironic, the gray deputy thought grimly. An attack will weaken us so we can be attacked again. Or perhaps a disease will weaken us so an enemy can finish us off.

"I think it's a disease," Rainfall murmured after a long period of silence. "It seems more likely than two Clans teaming up on us…"

A hush pervaded the den again, but this time the den was crackling with tension. At last, the golden-brown tomcat broke it with a sigh. "It doesn't sound like we can do anything about it now. But you'd better heed her warning, Rainfall. I want you to start stacking up on as many herbs as you can starting tomorrow—prepare for battle or disease. Each would prove to be deadly to ThunderClan at the moment."

"Mmm," agreed Rainfall. "It would be helpful if I could get an apprentice to help me."

"Go ahead and borrow one of the younger apprentices," Thornstar gave his permission. "Start looking through one of the queens' kits as well—I think Rabbitclaw's are nearing six moons." Rainfall nodded. "You may go now." The blue she-cat hastily dipped her head to each of them in turn before padding off to her own den.

Thornstar turned his piercing amber eyes onto Stormcloud. "Anything to report?"

"Nothing too worrying," the tom replied. "Cloudstripe and Frostpaw chased off two foxes—and speaking of Frostpaw, I think we'd better give her a warrior ceremony soon. A kittypet wanted to join the Clan, and I think those rogues exiled from ShadowClan a few moons ago were on our territory. Foxtail and Mallowleaf reported scenting two unfamiliar cats."

Thornstar purred—Frostpaw was his daughter. "Wonderful," he meowed, obviously bursting with pride. "Get Cloudstripe to assess her tomorrow. If all goes well we'll have a new warrior in our ranks by dusk tomorrow!" Stormcloud let out an inaudible sigh of relief; thank StarClan. Frostpaw would be a healthy, strong warrior for ThunderClan. "Now, about those rog—a kittypet tried to join ThunderClan?" The deputy could hear the shock in his leader's mew. "A kittypet? And…you turned this kittypet down, yes?"

"Yeah," replied Stormcloud, knowing that Thornstar was wondering if the kittypet was anything like the legendary Firestar, who had been leader of ThunderClan many seasons before Thornstar. "But she was soft and very easy to chase off; nothing like I expect Firestar was. I don't think we'll see her again."

The tabby tom nodded, trusting his deputy's words. "Anyway, those rogues may have been the two warriors exiled from ShadowClan a moon or so ago—what were their names again? Eagleclaw and…Fogfur, I think. I heard from Clawstar that Eagleclaw is powerful, with claws almost as sharp as Clawstar's himself. Where did Foxtail and Mallowleaf scent him and Fogfur?"

"Along our borders with WindClan."

The ThunderClan leader's eyes narrowed. "Then it's their problem now," he said at last. "WindClan should be able to deal with those rogues. From what Clawstar told me at the previous Gathering, Fogfur isn't as powerful as Eagleclaw. I expect those rogues will probably move on to new territory soon, anyway."

Stormcloud mewed agreement before standing up and meowing politely, "If that's all, Thornstar, I'm going to sleep now."

A grunt that sounded like assent came from Thornstar. Dipping his head courteously, the gray tomcat turned and strode out of his leader's den.

As he picked his way back to the warriors' den using only his knowledge of the camp's layout because the blackness of night made it impossible to do so otherwise, Stormcloud heard a soft purr and caught a whiff of something that smelled wonderfully tempting. He stopped at once. "Petalflower, is that you?"

A deeper purr came this time. "Yes, it's me."

It was Stormcloud's turn to purr as his mate's delightful scent flooded the air. Even through the dark he could make out her trim shape—though that just might have been because she was standing right next to him. How Petalflower managed to find him without snagging a claw he never knew, but suddenly Stormcloud felt his tail intertwine with hers. He purred some more, wrapping his body around hers.

"I've been waiting for you," she murmured, pressing her muzzle against his. He felt lightheaded as her sweet breath flooded into his nose. "Creamfoot told me you were on guard—and I was just about to go to sleep when I noticed you padding back into the warriors' den and then Thornstar's den. So I waited."

Whenever Stormcloud was around his mate, something happened to his thought processing. He began to stammer in half-broken sentences that made him sound like he had speech impediments or a tongue problem, forget what he was thinking, forget what he was about to do, and say stupid things. It had been a nightmare trying to even befriend her during their warrior days; he'd blundered as clumsily about as a badger in most of his attempts—but for some reason, Petalflower had liked him back. And to his relief, she'd let him know that before too long. Thank StarClan, too, because if Stormcloud had had to woo her…He shuddered at the thought. He probably would have been the laughingstock of the Clan.

"How are the kits?" he asked, swiping his tongue across her ear.

"They're fine," replied Petalflower. "I left them sleeping inside. I'll check on them soon."

Stormcloud swiped his tongue across her mouth. He felt Petalflower shiver, but to his surprise, she gently shook her head away. "Not tonight," she whispered. "Maybe tomorrow—but not now. We have kits, remember? And I certainly don't intend to be a queen my whole life." Her voice was teasing, but Stormcloud felt slightly hurt and embarrassed at her rejection, which just mortified him all the more. "Don't worry," added Petalflower, as though she knew what he was thinking (which she probably did, as the two were always on the same wavelength). "Soon; just not now. And speaking of our kits, you'd better come in soon and take a look at them. We need to give them names."

The deputy smiled. His mate always knew how to cheer him up. But just as he licked her ear, her bright green eyes leaped out at him. He stopped dead. Petalflower and her sister Rainfall had the same eyes; a lovely grass green. And the thought of Rainfall brought back Cloudflight's warning, which quickly shadowed all his happiness. He shuddered as he remembered the clear message it had brought: that Rainfall would soon be treating a lot of cats.

Then he looked at Petalflower, and his stomach twisted with horror. Yes, ThunderClan could not afford to lose anymore warriors than it already had. But more than that…what if Stormcloud lost Petalflower or one of his precious kits? If he did…it might be more than he could bear. Life without his kin would lack much happiness, and he wouldn't have any incentive to live besides loyalty to his Clan. Oh yes—that was still, of course, a motive for staying alive. But Stormcloud knew his mind would be twisted with grief at the loss of his mate or kits, and he might do something he regretted. Which would be worse than being dead.

"I'll be in tomorrow," he promised. "Get some rest now. Our kits need you—they can't have a tired mother now, can they?" Petalflower gave him a quick lick on the head before darting off into the nursery. Stormcloud stood there for a moment, blinking, before he turned and made his way back to the warriors' den, getting himself pricked successively by sharp branches in the process.

For a while, however, the gray warrior couldn't sleep as he shifted uneasily in his mossy nest. What if his beloved she-cat died? What if one of his little, still-unnamed kits died? Stormcloud closed his eyes and sighed. Rainfall was a brilliant medicine cat; that was for sure. But even she wouldn't be able to save every life. Some unlucky cats would die. And one of his loved ones might be one of those cats.

But I'll never let that happen, vowed Stormcloud, suddenly feeling fierce determination pulsate through his body. As long as I'm alive, I won't let my mate die. And I will protect our kits' lives with my own. I will keep Petalflower and my kits safe. I will protect them forever…oh, and ThunderClan too.

And with that final, comforting thought, Stormcloud allowed his body to succumb to the increasingly-insistent calls of sleep.

Cheesy ending, hmm? Sorry - I can almost never end a chapter uncheesily. The fact that this is a prologue just makes it worse. Oh well. Be grateful I didn't choose to stage the prologue in StarClan. Now that would have been as cheesy as...Swiss cheese? -blinks- Sorry. My similes get worse everyday.

Let me repeat myself: Stormcloud is dead. He's in StarClan now. I just chose him for...convenience, I suppose? To say it through the eyes of Thornstar...ickk. Why not go with the cat who's gonna die anyway? Fairness is a virtue, young one. -waggles finger annoyingly-

This chapter was kinda romantic, I know. But the rest of the fic isn't too romantic. There may be a few mild romances, but the majority of them will probably be friendships with hints at romance.

Again, I really need a beta for the next chapter. -grimace- First chapter; I can't have it ruined by my nubbiness. If anyone would like to beta my story, show me your beta profile. I'll tell you if I'm interested or not. Chapter One will be posted tomorrow, or Saturday. Reviewers: if one of you would like to beta this story, tell me in a review. You have Friday to do that. By Friday night, if nobody is interested, I'll just go...search one. o-o Yes, nooby me...how do you tell someone you want them to beta your story, anyway? PM them? Ahh well.

R&R please~ :D.