Author's Note: This is a lot longer than I expected it to be, as it is merely a prologue. Originally it was much shorter and simpler, but then I got some more ideas and ran with them. Anyways, it doesn't appear nearly as long on here, at least. This prologue is set back in the original territories long ago at some point between SkyClan being there and the original series and Bluestar's Prophecy and such so yeah, the four cats in here were just made up. Some stuff in here may be confusing but it'll be explained later for the most part. A lot, lot later.

It was a dark, silent night in the territories of the four clans, as most living creatures were safely tucked away in comfort to sleep. The sky was relatively clear and the weather quite calm as it was the end of newleaf. The moon sat bright in the sky, accompanied by an array of glittering silver stars that were able to observe all that went on below them. Serenity was spread out over the silence like a soft layer of frost.

"Thornfang!" a friendly voice called out, cutting through the thick silence. The owner of this voice, a white-and-gray she-cat, came bounding from WindClan territory eagerly. Her blue eyes shone nearly as bright as those of a StarClan warrior.

The tom she was bounding towards, a rather old brown tabby tom with amber eyes and a mangy pelt, gazed irritably at her as she came to a stop in front of him. "Are you trying to wake up the whole forest?" he snapped harshly.

Haretail smiled, ignoring his remark. "It's been a while since I've seen you," she mewed cheerfully. "I suppose you know what this is about?"

"No, I don't, but I'd really like to so I can understand why Darkpelt insisted that we get up and go to Fourtrees to meet him in the middle of the night. Of all the nerve! Isn't it enough when we go to Highstones at half moon and the Gathering at full moon?" Thornfang grumbled bitterly.

"I certainly think so," said a new voice. The cats turned to see the RiverClan medicine cat padding toward them, her sleek golden spotted pelt illuminated by the moonlight. "Greetings Haretail, Thornfang," she mewed coldly, dipping her head to the WindClan and ThunderClan medicine cats in turn.

"Hello, Spottedfrost," Haretail greeted her warmly. "You're doing well, I hope?"

"Well, I'm up in the middle of night because of a ShadowClan cat's whims, so what do you think?" Spottedfrost responded steely. "I'd ask either of you but I'm not in the mood for some happy little run off of everything you're loving right now or an annoying, rambling complaint about each and every thing in life. So I think we should just get to Fourtrees and see what this is all about."

And with that the three medicine cats walked the last little ways to Fourtrees, Spottedfrost leading with a graceful, proud gait. When the three got there they could see the ShadowClan medicine cat, a small black tom with nervous yellow eyes, awaiting them.

"Oh, you're all here, good," Darkpelt meowed happily as he saw them arrive. He scurried over to them quickly after glancing left and right as if to check for any threats. "I hope your clans are doing-"

"Oh, shut up and just cut to the chase, it's late and I'm in no mood for your nonsense," Spottedfrost interrupted abruptly.

"You don't need to yell at everyone tonight," Haretail scolded her lightly. Turning to Darkpelt she mewed kindly, "I'd love to chat, but it's much too late at night and we're all tired so if you could please just tell us why you asked us to come out here that would be nice."

Darkpelt nodded. "Yes, well, you know how we discovered that one prophecy that StarClan didn't seem to know about? The one that talked about a few cats that could save the clans?" The others nodded and the tom continued, looking at the floor nervously. "Well, I ended up going back to where we heard it the other day in my dreams, and I felt like there was something there… Not a someone really, you know, but more like a something… And, well… I had a feeling that there was something strange going on there. So I went to where we heard the first prophecy that one time and I waited, and heard it again after a little while. But somehow I felt as if there some more to it, so I waited for a while longer, and the feeling that something was there with me that I couldn't see built and built, until suddenly I could hear a hissing voice telling a prophecy. Not the same one as before, but something different…"

"What was it?" Thornfang asked, trying not to seem too curious.

"Out of the darkness of those forgotten, four cats shall be born of ancient powers, and their evil will consume all that warriors have known…" Darkpelt recited gravely.

"I thought the other prophecy said that the four with powers were going to save the clans though," Haretail exclaimed fearfully, her tail twitching anxiously.

"It does," Darkpelt replied. "Maybe this is another prophecy that could come true. Or maybe these aren't the same cats or something. I don't know, they're connected somehow I guess, but…"

"How do we even know that you actually heard this?" Spottedfrost demanded, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "I bet you're just making this up. Or you imagined that you heard it."

"Yeah, and what is it talking about, a darkness of those forgotten?" Thornfang growled disbelievingly.

"I really did hear it! This prophecy is real!" Darkpelt protested indignantly. "I'm not really sure what it all means, but if StarClan isn't aware of it then it must be something serious." He blinked, his eyes wide with fear and uncertainty.

Haretail shuddered. "I believe you, Darkpelt, no matter what they say," she informed the small tom. Darkpelt smiled at her appreciatively, then suddenly frowned and began to shiver.

"What is it now?" Spottedfrost hissed in annoyance as she glared at the fearful medicine cat. "Did you hear something else that isn't real?"

Darkpelt shifted his paws uncertainly. "It's that sensation again. Of something there, watching us…" To this Spottedfrost snorted disbelievingly and opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it as a violent chill came over the cats. Within moments they could all feel that sensation of being watched growing and growing, seeming to fill their minds and leave no room for anything else but terrified, panicked thoughts.

Darkpelt let out a horrified shriek as something leaped out of the darkness on top of him. Looking up, he peered at the faceless, misty form of a cat. It was nearly as dark as the night sky and had a spirit-like appearance about it. At first glance it seemed as if a paw could go straight through it, however in reality the creature was definitely solid and extremely strong. So close to it the ShadowClan medicine cat was able to hear whispers and hisses too faint to comprehend that seemed to be a part of the dark figure itself.

Three more of these strange spirits appeared, each one facing one of the other medicine cats. For a moment they remained motionless, their bodies taut and ready to spring. Thornfang and Spottedfrost glared at each of theirs as Haretail stared at hers in shock. Darkpelt struggled weakly against his own, which did nothing but keep him pressed to the ground. And then a chilling hiss that seemed to come from nowhere rang through the air. Kill.

Instantly the spirit cats were set in motion and they pounced on the medicine cats, their claws and teeth ripping at flesh fiercely. Darkpelt struggled under the weight of the one and finally managed to shove him off before the misty figure could sink his teeth, which were set in a murky mouth that disappeared when closed, into the black tom's neck. As he stood, shaking with fear, he turned to confront the savage creature who came jumping at him with his claws extended.

Just like Darkpelt, Spottedfrost and Haretail had no true fighting experience and were forced to rely purely on instinct, slashing at the spirits wildly. Thornfang had trained as a warrior before a serious injury had caused him to pick up medicine cat duties for a couple of moons and had begun to apprentice in that instead after a sign from StarClan. Now he put those long dormant skills to the test as he carefully took on his opponent, landing and dodging blows with some expertise. At last he managed to dig his claws into the figure's throat and it disappeared, leaving him to assist his fellow medicine cats, who were having little success.

Just as Haretail managed to dispatch hers thanks to help from Thornfang, several more of them appeared, surrounding the living cats. Thornfang glanced at Haretail, whose eyes had widened with horror at the sight of the new arrivals. He rested his tail on her shoulder reassuringly for a moment, and mewed, "Stick close to me, alright?" The WindClan she-cat nodded swiftly and kept with the ThunderClan tom as they were assailed by several spirits.

As the fighting resumed, the clan cats fought with desperation, aware that they were battling for their own survival. They did not know what their enemies were, but they knew that they could surely kill them or be killed by them. This was quite clear all too soon as a single scream hit the air and was followed by a harsh cracking sound. Turning, Spottedfrost saw Darkpelt lying motionless on the ground, a spirit removing his teeth from the tom's neck. The ShadowClan medicine cat was dead, and within moments his body seemed to disappear like those of the spirits.

The battle intensified. By now all three of the remaining cats were miserably injured. The worst wound was worn by Haretail, whose left back leg had been practically torn apart by a figure that had been dealt with by Thornfang. But the wound remained, and the she-cat found herself having trouble moving, and her dependency on Thornfang was becoming greater. The ThunderClan tom knew that they would not last much longer, especially seeing as he kept having to rescue Haretail. Looking over at Spottedfrost he could see that she was having trouble on her own now too. Gazing at the spirits surrounding them he made a split decision. Racing over to where Spottedfrost was struggling with a spirit on top of her he grabbed the creature with his teeth and flung him over towards a large group of others. Running towards them he found that they were rapidly swarming him, and yelled to Haretail and Spottedfrost, "RUN!" as he fought the horde of figures to his last breath.

At Thornfang's mew the she-cats did not hesitate, quickly overcoming their present opponents and fleeing together. After finishing Thornfang, all of the spirits began to pursue them, seeming to be nearly as fast as they were strong. Muscles burning, the medicine cats ran their hardest but quickly started running out of energy. Glancing over her shoulder, Spottedfrost realized that the figures had merged into a single mass of darkness that was advancing toward them at an alarming rate.

Something similar appeared in front of them all of a sudden, but it was considerably smaller and seemed to be of light rather than darkness. Too fast to stop, the she-cats crashed into it and found themselves running along a strange, colorless forest, made up of blank, white trees and grass. The mass of light was gone but the mass of darkness seemed to still be behind them, chasing them. So they continued onward, exhaustion creeping up on them swiftly.

The mass of darkness now appeared to be growing smaller, perhaps weakened by the forest somehow. But Haretail was lagging, her injured leg failing her. Spottedfrost slowed to keep with her, and stared into the she-cat's despairing eyes.

"Hold on, we're almost safe," the spotted she-cat meowed urgently. But Haretail shook her head, gritting her teeth with pain.

"I can't, you go on," she replied weakly, gritting her teeth in pain as she came to a stop, unable to run any farther.

Spottedfrost glanced back at the mass of darkness, then at the WindClan medicine cat before she turned and forced her tired legs to carry her farther. She went as fast as she could, and forced herself not to look back as she heard Haretail gasp when the darkness reached her. As the RiverClan medicine cat began to wonder how much farther she could possibly go, she looked back to see that the darkness was gone. Halting, she sat down, panting and feeling as if her whole body was broken.

And then a low hiss filled the strange forest, reciting the prophecy that was unknown by all but a medicine cat that was trapped alone. Out of the darkness of those forgotten, four cats shall be born of ancient powers, and their evil will consume all that warriors have known…