Thanks for reviewing and reading! Just remember that the modern story takes place YEARS after the prologue. Much has happened since the prologue so keep that in mind. :P
Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter
Cats belongs to me
Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!
Spiritwalker awoke; his bright green eyes gingerly casting glances around him. He lay in an open clearing with large dark blue rocks surrounding him. The ground beneath him was covered in pale, soft green grass. A fallen pine tree was leaning on its stump to his right and several smaller bushes laced around the clearing. Colossal pine trees surrounded the boulders, with smaller fir trees dominating the lower grounds.
I remember this place… Spiritwalker thought as he glanced around the surrounding landscape. Suddenly long forgotten memories filled the young tom's mind as ghostly cats filled the clearing. The clearing was bursting with multiple cats. Several older cats were resting in front of a plant with large leaves that hid a hidden entrance among two boulders. Several other cats were sharing a rabbit not far from the fallen pine while five other cats entered from behind Spiritwalker, each carrying a piece of fresh-kill. Three kits played moss-ball to Spiritwalker's left as a lone white she-cat sat outside another cave entrance, glancing around the camp. A black tom was quietly conversing with a white she-cat near the largest boulder with two other cats next to them. Finally, two younger cats, one a cream-colored tabby tom and the other a paler cream she-cat, playfully chased each other around the camp, laughing and obviously having a good time.
This is the old FrostClan camp! Spiritwalker mused as he recognized the cats all around him, and even himself as the young cream-colored apprentice. The sound of chattering cats and playful laughter soon died down as the spirits soon faded away, leaving the young tom in the empty camp.
"But…if this is the FrostClan camp…" Spiritwalker meowed as he leapt upon the Frost Rock, where the Clan leader would gather the Clan for meetings. "Then…where is everyone?"
Spiritwalker detected no fresh scents, for the Clan cats have left seasons ago. The scent he could detect was the scent of the evergreens and the sweet scent of prey.
It suddenly occurs to the FrostClan tom that there was something different about his fur. The once ageless and glimmering stars that used to lace his cream fur were gone; instead, they were placed by the solidity of a real, living body.
"That could get some getting used to," Spiritwalker mumbled to himself.
The leaders told me to reunite the Clans…but where should I start?
Suddenly, the scent of another cat alerted the tom from his thoughts.
A cat! A real living cat!
Spiritwalker quickly padded towards the source of the scent towards the nearby fir trees. He quickly got sight of a speckled black and white she-cat stalking a few fox-lengths away.
Perhaps she knows about the Clans!
Spiritwalker called as he padded from the fir trees towards the she-cat. The she-cat sharply looked up and before quickly glancing ahead of her.
"Mouse-dung!" she cursed and dashed forward into the undergrowth.
"Hey, wait up!" Spiritwalker cried and dashed after the she-cat. He barely made it a few fox-lengths forward when the she-cat reappeared from the undergrowth and reared towards him.
"Now look what you've done!" she snapped, her ears drawn back and her lips drew back to a snarl. "I had that squirrel until you chased it off!"
"Sorry!" Spiritwalker winced. "I didn't know you were hunting!"
The she-cat gave him an odd look. "What did you think I was doing then?"
"I'm…I'm not sure," Spiritwalker confessed. How was he supposed to know that she was hunting?
The she-cat stopped glaring at him and sat down. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"How do you know?"
"You smell like frost and morning dew," she explained. "And you didn't know I was hunting. Every cat knows that."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Where I come from, cats don't need to hunt," Spiritwalker explained.
The she-cat tilted her head. "Then…are you a kittypet?"
"A kittypet?! No!" Spiritwalker exclaimed. "I just come from a long way."
The she-cat stared at him for a few heartbeats before nodding and accepting his answer.
"So…" Spiritwalker meowed. "What's your name?"
The speckled she-cat blinked and looked startled for a heartbeat before relaxing. "My name's Pepperfeet."
"Greetings, my name is Spiritwalker," the tom replied.
Her name is like a warrior name! I wonder if she's part of a Clan.
"That's an unusual name," Pepperfeet remarked. "Spiritwalker. Almost like a ghost or something."
"You might say that," Spiritwalker responded.
Pepperfeet flicked her ears before turning to pad away. "Well, I suppose I better go and find some more prey to catch."
"Wait!" Spiritwalker yelped and Pepperfeet quickly turned back around. "Do you know where I can find some other cats?"
Pepperfeet narrowed her green eyes. "No, I do not," she replied before vanishing into the undergrowth.
"Well there goes my chance," Spiritwalker mumbled and glanced around him at the colossal trees.
Perhaps I can see more from upon a tree.
Grateful that he was taught how to climb trees, Spiritwalker quickly ran up to a sturdy pine and dug his claws into the tough bark. Skillfully, he climbed the tree, using his hind legs to push himself further up the tree. Deciding he was high enough, Spiritwalker settled on one of the highest branches and gazed out at the landscape in front of him.
Directly ahead were more trees, mostly oak, maple, elm and birch trees with more evergreens mixed in to the left. More closer to where Spiritwalker sat was a marshy clearing with a large river secluding it off from the rest of the area. To Spiritwalker's furthest left was a large open clearing filled with tall grasses and tall trees surrounded the perimeter of the large meadow. In the center of all the landscapes, was a small opening with large rocks surrounding it.
"At least the territories haven't changed that much," Spiritwalker meowed as he began to climb down.
"Perhaps Pepperfeet knows where more cats live," Spiritwalker thought out loud after he leapt down from the tree. Something told the young tom that the speckled she-cat knew more than she was saying. Scenting the air, Spiritwalker detected traces of their scent, and soon picked out the she-cat's scent. It didn't take long until he managed to find her trail, and began to follow it. As he weaved around pine trees, Spiritwalker noticed that he was beginning to get further away from the familiar territory. He soon found the former border, as he recognized it from its looks, since the familiar FrostClan border was long gone. As he traveled further away from the old territory, Spiritwalker found himself in a deeper part of the evergreen forest and soon, after a few minutes of walking, detected more scents.
Cats!
Padding quickly, Spiritwalker hid behind a bush next to a tree and glanced out at the small clearing in front of him. There were multiple boulders and bushes that were scattered among the clearing. Two toms, one a silver-black and the other a black, sat next to each other near a boulder, quietly conversing. Two queens sat under a bush as their three kits laughed and chased each other around the bush. A pale gray she-cat groomed herself not far while two toms, one black and the other black and white, shared tongues. Two other toms, one a golden tabby and the other a brown and black, appeared into the clearing, each carrying a squirrel. Spiritwalker recognized Pepperfeet as she padded towards the two toms near the boulder. The three exchanged a few words before glanced around the clearing.
It's almost like a Clan camp!
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" a snarl came from behind Spiritwalker and he slowly turned around to see a snarling young ginger tabby tom. His yowl alerted the rest of the cats as the queens hid their kits and the other cats raced forward.
"Go on!" the tom hissed as he roughly shoved Spiritwalker forward. Spiritwalker stumbled into the clearing and the cats greeted him with snarls and growls.
And they did not look happy.