Hello, everyone! This is Stormshadow3- Storm, if you'll please- here with you today, with a new book. Hymn of the River: Finding Truth.

From where we last left off, let's see: Glowpaw of LightClan (which was completely obliterated) killed herself after slashing her sister, Flutterpaw to bits in a rage (long story) and we don't know where she went to- StarClan or the Dark Forest. The other clans are still very much in trouble, with ThunderClan and WindClan in a Hunger Games kind of scenario with cats and no Hunger Games and RiverClan... well...

In fact, this book is entirely about RiverClan and what happened to them, as you may have guessed from the title. Or not. The point is, this is about the life of a young tom who goes to find the meaning of life and how to be loyal and brave to his clan and-

No. Seriously, just no. What exactly am I talking about, then? Well, to start it off... this story begins with a flashback, a few moons before the first book even took root, in which a very much confused wandering cat (who claims that he has escaped from LightClan... wonder what that was about!) is taken prisoner.

Then, back to the present in which our main character and new hero, Cedarkit (now Cedarpaw) is busy being vain. More on that later.

Chapter 1

"Stop! You fiends!"

I peeked out from the temporary nursery entrance- everything was temporary around here, the dens, the camp, sometimes even the cats- and peeked out to find a very confused-looking tawny tom being dragged before the director's den by a couple of Hunters. "You're staying here; suspicious business is going on and we don't want anything to do with that," my father growled, his pale eyes in slits.

The tawny tom seemed to sag under his own weight. "But... I thought I had escaped! LightClan has spies everywhere..."

"What's happening to him?" I asked my mother, who was busy patching up a loose corner of the den and pretending not to notice what was going on.

She turned, her unblinking green eyes fixed on me. Paused her work. "Oh, just some poor cat who can't get some peace and rest," she sighed. "Most likely just some wandering loner that happened to get too close to our camp. I can relate to that; aren't we all wanderers at heart?"

It was true. RiverClan- the Wanderers, as we've come to call ourselves- have moved around so much that every half-moon, we would clutch close to ourselves what little we had and continued on our journey to find a new, temporary home. I sometimes asked my dad why we couldn't just stay in one place for once.

"Because, it's not safe," he had explained, his voice slow, as if he were talking to a very dumb kit. "Dangers arise when we choose to settle down. It's best not to have any roots of attachment. It's for the greater good. There are bad cats out there- cats that would do things like, I don't know, capture us and take us prisoner or something, sweetie."

Like us. We had taken Owlear prisoner that day, and I didn't know it yet, but he was only one piece of a larger puzzle. The Incident, as LightClan will eventually come to call it, but for us, it opened up many new pathways that we never thought existed.

The Rising. Cats who have found out and managed to leave.

I was busy staring at my own reflection in a puddle of water by the camp entrance when my mentor called me out.

"Jaggedfeather," I started as soon as a steely-looking cat began stomping his way towards me. "I have something to ask you... why does the water reflect my own image?"

He looked at me strangely. "How am I supposed to know? Go ask StarClan if you really desire." Small growls started making their way up my throat. That was low. Only foolish kits believed in StarClan.

"Whatever," I muttered, trying to keep my own cool. "What are we doing today?"

"It's a pretty busy day," Jaggedfeather admitted. "First, we need to go start up on your battle training unit- since you're just starting up, you'll be going against a Scavenger. Quietripple, I think. Then, it should be about the time of the half-moon again and Stormwing would be taking over Clovershadow as director- not to mention the moving."

Oh. Great. I had just forgotten about that. The moving. I sighed, feeling more than a bit tired. "Yeah, sure."

The battle training arena was nothing more than a slight dip in the ground where bushes and trees did not completely overwhelm the area, but no one had bothered to clean out the extra ferns and small stones by the side- probably because it was just temporary.

Quietripple was standing alone in the middle, her dark gray tail swishing back and forth quickly. "So I'm the weakest of them all?" she snarled. "Just because I'm a she-cat and because of my name?"

"Now, now," Jaggedfeather soothed, stepping forward. "We don't mean any of that. You're not weak, the others are just..." he looked back at me for support. "Stronger."

She muttered something under her breath. "So I, a strong cat, happens to be weak when compared with, like, thirty random cats? That's a lot of overpowered cats in this place."

"Just go," Jaggedfeather advised, hissing in my ear. "It's best to approach her in surprise."

Quietripple's ears perked up immediately. "I heard that! You're gonna pay for this." Growling, her claws automatically unsheathed as one and she crouched down, weight on her hind legs.

I gulped. Jaggedfeather began stepping away slowly- great mentor, he was- and I tried to say something like, "No claws in regular battle training!" But as I have found out, speaking is hard to do when you are surrounded by an angry she-cat.

Quietripple pounced.

I didn't know how to dodge, even, and my reflexes must not have been on at the time, so I stood, perplexed and frozen in shock as she leaped towards me, claws at the ready. I winced- and she flew right past me.

I turned my head around slowly. Quietripple was groaning as part of her long tail got tangled in a holly bush and her pelt snagged on quite a few thorns. "I had that," she growled. "Stupid tiny cats. How was I supposed to know how to target when all I've been exposed to is that fat Bluepuddle..."

Jaggedfeather tapped me on the shoulder. "Come on. She's all talk, no skill. Best not tell her I said that."

So this is the end of the first chapter! I feel so accomplished... here are some questions for you to answer:

1. How do you think the Wanderers eventually came to have different roles for toms and she-cats?

2. The Wanderers move camps and switch leaders every half-moon... what is the reason for that?

I will be giving a little Spider (Glowpaw) cutscene next chapter, so just be aware!