Prologue
Just under six moons later, a silver she-cat emerged from the cave, closely followed by another, but with green eyes, both shining like jewels. Behind them came a dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes, then a black tabby tom, a pale brown tabby tom with pale blue eyes, a grey tom with amber eyes, a cream-and-grey tabby she-cat with amber eyes, a snowy white she-cat with blue eyes and a cream-and-brown tabby with brown eyes. They halted at the mouth of the waterfall, ears flicking back and forth, eyes studying the barren, windswept landscape before them. The larger silver she-cat with blue eyes stepped slightly in front of the others, obviously the leader of the other eight cats. She padded forwards strongly, her pelt rippling with muscles. The other cats copied her, their pelts similarly muscular and their stride not as lengthy. The leader sniffed the air, mouth slightly open and nostrils flaring and she suddenly bristled in alarm. The eight cats behind her spun around, their jaws parted – they had smelt it too. The silver she-cat nodded and they formed a strong line.
Through the shifting silver mist, a black tabby tom, almost exactly the same as the one in company of the tabby she-cat, emerged, six cats following him. Without any warning, the line of cats leapt on their seven opponents, and they were caught off their guard. The silver tabby yowled as she landed on the small of the black tabby tom's back and he collapsed into the snow. '
"I've beaten you once," she hissed. "I can beat you again."
The black tabby tom struggled under her firm grip as she scratched him mercilessly, meanwhile stating calmly,
"All you have to say is 'Retreat!' and I shall stop."
"I have come to reclaim my kits," he hissed. "Give them back to me and I shall stop."
The silver she-cat glanced around the clearing, sneering as she found that all her companions were on top of a cat.
"I think," she whispered menacingly. "It will be for the best."
The black tabby tom fought to catch his breath and then howled meekly,
"Retreat!"
"Music to my ears," the silver she-cat retorted, and leapt off him, watching scornfully as he backed away.
"Don't think it's over yet," he jeered. "You're never safe from a storm."
The silver tabby laughed.
"Not from a storm," she meowed. "Yet you are always safe from Storm – he can't fight – at all."
Storm whipped around into the steadily decreasing fog. His friends disappeared with him, and the other cats walked on, until the silver she-cat reached a cliff. She stood, her chin raised, at the teetering edge of the precipice, and the other cats crowded around her. She whispered a faint message into the breeze, flattening her ears against her head.
"We are coming," she said quietly.
A/N: How was that for the last chapter? Okay, I am definitely calling the sequel Belief, and it is about Silver and Brambleclaw and their kits. Please review and tell me what you think. I might need some more characters for the next book – apprentices and kits for ThunderClan, and any positions but leaders and deputies in the other Clans. I might be using SkyClan in the sequel but all I need to do is redraft the plot. Review! Rate this book!