Prologue
When Birchstar opened his eyes, he found himself in a beautiful wooded valley. He could hear the trickling of a stream not far off and could sense prey lurking under the leaf litter. He resisted the urge to hunt. He knew where he was- the hunting grounds of Starclan. He must have been called here for a reason.
When he was a young leader, he had not often been summoned by his warrior ancestors to speak with them in his dreams. But things were different now. Even without the power of the stars in his eyes he could feel that the atmosphere around him was tense, even more so than it had been a few nights ago, the last time he had spoken to the cats of Starclan.
A rustle came from the bush nearest him, and Birchstar whirled around to face the sound. There stood a deep brown tabby she-cat, her fur and amber eyes glowing with the light of stars. Her face was familiar to him and he purred. "Heatherfur!" he greeted her, rubbing his muzzle against hers.
"Hello, brother," she purred in response, clearly pleased to see him as well. But then she pulled away, something close to sympathy in her eyes. "Come," she said, pointing her tail toward the area beyond the bushes. "He has something important to tell you."
Birchstar's fur bristled. He knew exactly who Heatherfur was talking about, and did not feel eager to speak to him. "Yes," she said, answering his unasked question. "You must. This is important." Birchstar's tail drooped, but he followed his littermate through the bushes toward the small stream he had heard earlier. There, sitting on a rock, looking up into the endless sky, was a nearly hairless tom, his pink skin worn and wrinkled from moons of age, his large gray eyes cold and unseeing.
"Ah. So, you've finally arrived, Birchstar," said the tom. Birchstar recoiled at the sound of his voice, low and raspy from being used for far too long.
"I'll be here the whole time," whispered Heatherfur, wrapping her starry tail around Birchstar's broad shoulders.
"Hello, Rock." Birchstar said, projecting his voice loudly, hoping to sound more confident than he felt. "What do my ancestors need to say to me?" Rock said nothing for a long moment, still gazing up at the stars, although without seeing them. "I do have a clan to lead, you know." Birchstar grumbled. 'I cannot sit here forever waiting for you to decide to speak."
"Please, be calm." Rock spoke slowly, lowering his head to finally face Birchstar. "I have spent more moons waiting than you have spent living." Birchstar's fur stood on end. He didn't need anymore reminders as to how ancient this cat was. He was looking right at the evidence in those cloudy gray eyes, full of the wisdom of the ages.
"Be respectful and listen," hissed Heatherfur into his ear. Birchstar lowered his haunches and sat down, wrapping his tail around his front paws, feeling reprimanded like a naughty kit.
"Something is coming," Rock said finally. "I cannot tell exactly what, but it is powerful. Evil. Your clan will need a strong leader if they hope to face it and survive."
"Pardon me for saying so Rock, but I believe that my clan already has a strong leader." Rock laughed, a terrible rumbly sound from deep in his throat.
"No matter how strong you believe yourself to be, you will not live forever. Nine lives can only stretch so far. How many is it that you have left, two?"
"Three," mumbled Birchstar. He knew the old cat had gotten it wrong on purpose, to force Birchstar to recognize the fact himself. There was not a thing in the woods that this ancient tom did not know.
"Your clan's salvation is waiting, somewhere in your camp. I cannot tell you where, but I know, that down there lays a cat with the true heart of a warrior. They can stop what if coming, if you can find them in time, and teach them what they need to know." Birchstar had nothing to say to this. He didn't like the idea of this cat telling him who should lead his clan. He's not even a Thunderclan cat, he thought to himself, what does he know about what my clan needs? But deep inside himself he knew that over the moons and moons Rock had lived, he had never been wrong. "That is all," said Rock, unceremoniously lying down on his rock, seemingly to take a nap. "Leave me now." Birchstar didn't need to be told twice. He spun around and walked back through the bushes, only glancing back once to ensure that Heatherfur was following him. Once they were back in the clearing, he opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him.
"You must wake now. As you said, you have a clan to lead." She pressed her nose to his forehead softly, and then Birchstar woke up in his nest in the Leader's den in the Thunderclan, wrapped around his mate. He sat up and blinked his eyes.
"Are you alright?" muttered Lilyflower. He must have woken her.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just, er, stick in the moss," he lied.
"Oh. I'll ask Leafpaw to fetch us some clean moss in the morning," she said, closing her eyes again. "Now go back to sleep. The clan needs a well rested leader." Birchstar nodded and laid back down, but he did not sleep. His mind was replaying what Rock had said over and over again. Someone with the true heart of a warrior...how was he supposed to know that when he saw it?