Prologue
The pool shimmered, with cats sitting around it. The cats' pelts glittered like stars.
"The cat is coming, Leafpool, even you can't deny it." A pale grey tabby tom with blue eyes rasped.
"I'm not denying it, Jayfeather," The brown tabby she-cat shot back, "But who, or what is it?"
Her words caused an effect on the cats, some shivered at the word "what".
"This cat, or this thing, is far beyond StarClan's reach." A grey tabby tom spoke up, his amber eyes glittered with confusion, "I don't think warning will do any of us any good, and we don't know if this is a threat yet."
"Yes, yes, you are always careful, Shadowsight. But better scare off a rabbit than welcoming a badger." Jayfeather replied.
"Maybe we could wait until she comes," A pale grey tabby suggested, "Then we can give warnings if she is a threat."
"The Clans might face destruction if our waring comes late! Remember Darktail, Willowshine?" A black and white tom snapped, "They should be prepared!"
"Fidgetflake, we all know that SkyClan suffered the most from that rogue," A golden tabby said softly, "But we shouldn't panic them. You too, Jayfeather, we don't even know for sure that she'll stay long."
Jayfeather rolled his eyes, "Mothwing, you always think the best of every cat. For all our sakes, we should be at least alert!"
Leafpool pressed, "But do you agree that we should keep this to StarClan, for now? There's no need for a waring yet."
Jayfeather murmured something under his breath, too soft to catch.
"I say I would agree. The Clans will be warned when there's a real threat." A ginger tom, Alderheart spoke, "Why should we panic them for what might be nothing?"
Murmurs of agreement rose from the cats.
Suddenly the pool shimmered, a flash of silver light came and went quickly, almost too quick to catch. Then the pool went dark, even darker than before.
"It's an omen!" A mottled grey tom with white splotches, Kestrelflight, exclaimed, "A silver leopard will flash, drawing an end to the peace when darkness will rise again."
"Silver leopard? That thing is a leopard?" Willowshine stared in disbelief.
"I have no idea." Jayfeather muttered, "The omens StarClan receive are as vague as the ones we receive alive, perhaps if we try harder, we can make it blur even more."
"So? Should we speak to the medicine cats at half-moon?" Fidgetflake asked.
Leafpool thought for a heartbeat, "I think we should wait until we see more. If we tell them the whole thing, it will cause too much suspicion."
"Even we don't have a whisker of idea for what it means. They should hear about darkness rising." Kestrelflight agreed.
"It's settled, then. We will only tell them about the second part of darkness rising, unless any of us sees more." Mothwing said, "I guess we could break up before we all freeze from sitting on one spot for too long."
. . .
Sylvia stood on the grassy hill, gazing at the lake. Her robes flattering behind her, blown by the wind.
Finally. She though with satisfaction. I have found the Clans.
She thought clearly of a snow-leopard-like cat, then she was gone.
A silver cat with big, grey, leopard-like dapples stood in her place.
She had made up the cat's Clan name long ago, Bluebelltail.
She picked up her wand and dug a hole. She carefully placed it under the thick earth, leaving it to be picked up a month and a half later. She was planning to go and join one of the Clans, enjoy the Clan life over the summer holidays, and fake her own death when it's coming to an end.
She had finished her Hogwarts homework ages ago; her school things are now lying safely in the cupboard in her bedroom.
She will miss flying on her Firebolt Supreme and doing magic, but then she reminded herself that this is magic, too. She was in her Animagus form, the skill she had longed to have for years and years.
She had trained herself to be swift in her animal body, she had searched for this very lake for months. She had been preparing for this.
O.W.L.s exams were a little less than two years away; she has plenty of time to start thinking about that. She had been looking forward to her fourth year, the Quidditch team captain was graduating and Sylvia, as the Seeker, had a chance of becoming the captain.
Sylvia, now Bluebelltail, drew a deep breath and padded towards the forests. She was going to try ThunderClan first, though she was in Ravenclaw, which might fit into RiverClan better. She could do for trying a brave life.
The silver leopard has come.