|| Wrath of the Ancients ||

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Star felt herself drift in and out of consciousness as Sharptooth carried her away from her home.

Her head rolled limply as she was taken. She was oblivious to the pain now and of Sharptooth's teeth firmly embedded in her side.

At one point, she had a dream – or an illusion, she wasn't sure, that she was back in the Tribe of Rushing Water.

Her Tribe stood behind her in comfort and support, while Stoneteller stood before her, beckoning her to look into the pools that lay at the back of the Cave of the Pointed Stones.

His eyes were urgent but guarded, and the whispers behind her ruffled her fur like a pestering breeze.

Star stepped forward to look down in the water and she had a strange sensation that told her she was no longer with the Tribe.

Glancing up, she found herself in a place she had never seen before. Green land stretched before her and where the green ended, there was cliff. She realised she was on a bluff, the top of a mountain like the one she lived upon.

Around her were the distinctive shapes of many cats. Ones she had known and ones she did not, their eyes blazing with knowledge and wisdom.

None of them spoke, but Star did not need their voices to know that she was being judged by the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

With guilt she bowed her head and spoke to the immortal warriors.

'Tribe of Endless Hunting, I stand before you with words of truth. I am truly sorry for the mistake I made moons ago.'

Her eyes brimmed with pain and anguish at her confession to the highest power she put her faith in. What hurt the most, was that she could not relinquish her mistake.

'I accept my punishment that you have sent. Forgive me.' She mewed.

One cat stood forward, Star recognised him as the last Stoneteller.

'Star That Shines on Water, we did not send Sharptooth to kill you as punishment. That is not our way. We are guardians of our Tribe, that all of us have lived in and loved. We do not believe in revenge.' He meowed, his voice laced with a timbre she could not match to any living cat.

Star raised her eyes to meet his, finding comfort in his words, but was shocked by the powerful emotion that she saw reflected in them.

'You have brought this on yourself. It was not our doing.' He ended, stepping back.

Star was speechless at the harshness in his tone.

But the cats were already fading from her, even though she called out to them, for justice, for retribution.

Star shook her head weakly, groaning as she did in a mixture of pain from the dream, and from her wounds.

With great effort, she looked down to see her wounds were still bleeding, - but very slowly. So she wasn't dying – yet, at least until Sharptooth decided to finally eat her.

Thinking of him, Star looked up and saw his black eyes narrowed as he padded onwards.

Glancing at her surroundings, careful not to draw attention to Sharptooth, she could not see any familiar landmarks. In fact, it was further down the mountain than she had ever travelled.

When she looked forward again, her mouth opened yowl of shock: before her lay a flat area of stone and rock, and a huge cave mouth and a river that flowed with ease nearby. It was a perfect place for a home.

Sharptooth lowered her to the ground, and Star knew this was the end.

With what little strength she had, she flailed her claws at him and roared with anger.

Sharptooth didn't even look at her, he merely opened his mouth in a roar of his own, that echoed eerily off the stone surrounding them.

Thinking it couldn't get any worse; Star felt a jolt of fear run down her back when a ferocious roar of equal viciousness responded.

She understood why Sharptooth had ignored the tempting scent of her blood; because he had a mate, and maybe a family, to feed.

With a last desperate attempt she tried to escape.

She felt pathetic as she tried to crawl away and Sharptooth simply placed a paw on her to stop moving, as if she might do to a mouse.

As the creature in the cave roared once more and Sharptooth bent down to reach her, a different yowl of challenge rose from further down the mountain.

Star twisted in confusion, trying to see what was happening.

She did not know whether or not to feel relieved when she saw four cats leap towards Sharptooth with ease.

With a challenge of his own, Sharptooth leapt forward to battle the new threat, as the creature in the cave made its way forward too, and Star could see it was a pregnant female.

Fearing for the new cats who she couldn't see would survive a fight against the two lion-like creatures; she turned to one of the cats who had made her way over to Star.

'Greetings, you will be safe, I promise. Get up, we must run.' She mewed with a heavy accent, unlike the Clan cats that visited the Tribe, but similar to her own.

Star obeyed the gentle she-cat with effort, while still curiously glancing at her.

The she-cat was a brown tabby, who she could tell had never used mud on her pelt like Star, and that she had round gentle green eyes that glittered. If the situation wasn't so dire, Star thought she could have really liked this cat. But what Star noticed the most about the she-cat, was her size. She was easily twice the size of Star, but not as big as Sharptooth. From her distance, Star hadn't seen the comparison, and felt renewed hope that these cats could win.

'Thorn, we're ready!' The she-cat yowled, as one of the huge toms looked up and nodded.

The she-cat helped Star hobble away from the battle, as the other cats joined them in a rush of fur and tails.

As she was escaping, she heard the last Stoneteller's voice echo in her head.

'You have brought this on yourself and so we give you a chance to redeem yourself, Star That Shines on Water.'

Now? She thought.

Star felt a rumbling purr in her head.

'What kind of chance would that be? No, go forth and live Star. You will get another chance.'

Star was almost breathing normally at his gentle words, until Sharptooth charged at them with a yowl of pure fury. Star guessed he wasn't too happy about his mate getting beaten up and her theory was proved as he bowled the strange cats over with his paws. Star closed her eyes as she felt herself propelled forward with a force of sheer power.

She opened her eyes wide when she saw she was being thrown into the river. She had no energy to try and save herself and she gave a cry of terror.

The river took her further down the mountain from what she could see as she occasionally resurfaced. Star felt herself knocked around by the water and the rocks, and she wanted desperately to call out for help, but she knew that she needed to save whatever energy she did have left as a last resort. As she broke the surface once more, she saw the bank wasn't too far away.

With a heave of effort she managed to catch her paws on a stone jutting out from the bank. 'Great Tribe, help me!' She yowled as her paws began to slip.

Star felt her inner strength begin to fade, and her will to live dimmed with it, as each heartbeat had a greater gap between the last.

She barely noticed her paws letting go, or the feel of a cat hauling her out of the river.

As she lay on the bank side, trembling with exhaustion and fear, she saw a dark grey cat with a long sweeping tail lean over her.

His bright blue eyes were a comfort to her as she panted weakly, her heart hammering in her chest.

'I know you,' she mewed, just before she lost consciousness.

Hope the first chapter was alright! Thanks Hayley Griffens, Spottedtalon for reviewing :)

Spottedtalon: No I'll tell you now it's not a romance between them, though that would be fun to write :P

Review and I will post the next chapter! :)

- Mooneh.