Chapter 1

Author's Note: This story is a darker twist on the Warrior's tales we all know. Therefore, each chapter must read with caution as some themes may be more mature. Other themes may be hinted at without directly told.

Cactopus: OCs are welcome, with the understanding that they may face dark fates. Most characters met in this story would often be considered the "villains" in other stories. If you wish to submit an OC, I will need these things: 1) a physical description, 2) special skills – which will allow me to place them in the appropriate Clan, 3) a personality description, and 4) warrior or medicine cat – no leaders, though if "warrior" I may place them as a deputy. Feel free to add any further details you wish to help me write your character more accurately.

"You've heard the same message?"

"The one of darkness, blood, and ice?"

"Yes…(cough, cough)…The one that spells certain doom for all Five Clans…(wheeze)…Time is not on our side."

"We don't know that for certain, Crescenttail. All we know is that Starclan has foreseen this future and we must prepare our Clans for its arrival."

The ragged, dark-pelted tom turned his misted eyes to the she-cat on behind him. They were the last two to leave the half-moon meeting. His twisted tail, earning the tom his legendary name, lashed across the ground with aggression. He hated it whenever cats second guessed him. Crescenttail had been alive far longer than any other Clan cat currently breathing. He knew when Starclan was uncomfortable with the message they were forced to give. He had developed a six sense for when a prophecy was much closer to being unleashed upon the forest. However, the light brown tabby refused to back down. She knew where her own strengths lied. Crescenttail could sense the condescension in her golden-amber eyes. His hooked claws unsheathed as rage built up within his ancient, starved frame.

"Don't you get prissy with me, Mirefeather. (Wheeze) Remember your place."

Mirefeather slowly stepped around the elderly tom, the tip of her fluffy tail causally flicking. She hummed softly, "My place, huh? What would be my place again…father?"

"Foolish kit," Crescenttail rasped. He lurched unsteadily to his paws, "Be grateful for your pathetic existence. You know Hillclan would never let you live unless I spoke in your defense. It was too bad your sister had to abandon her post in Gorgeclan for the plump life as a Forestclan bitch." He stalked closer to the willowy she-cat, "We must prepare our Clans. If this prophecy is true, it will undermine everything I have achieved."

Golden-amber eyes flashed with anger. Her flicking tail tip froze as hackles raised, "All you have achieved! I believe my sister and I achieved far more than you ever did. Hillclan is under my paw. You guide the mouse-brained leader of Rockclan with your feeble voice." Mirefeather thrust her pink nose into her father's black, "Be grateful my sister fled to Forestclan. You know Amberstar would have sooner killed her than allow her to kit. Due to her actions, your blood flows in Forestclan's veins. By Starclan, your own great-grandson now rules them with fear and blood. I'm sure he'll keep Marshclan in check should they attempt to use this prophecy against anyone."

"Then you have learned nothing!" Crescenttail yowled.

Claws flashed in the moonlight. Mirefeather ducked under her father's uncoordinated strike. Snaking up the right side of her face was an old scar. Crescenttail had always guided her pawsteps. He always wanted certain things from his illegitimate daughters. The tom was lucky Rockclan had no other Medicine Cat with which to replace him. Mirefeather's mother had been executed for treason against the Battle Code as soon as her kits were weaned. Golden-amber eyes could still remember being forced to watch her execution before all Five Clans. Yet her father never cared. All he did was turned his beatings and abuse onto his daughters. He trained them and bent them to his will. Even being in different Clans never spared the pair. Only in Forestclan did Yarrowspring find relief from the abuse. Mirefeather was never able to escape. She was trapped by her father's side as a dependent kit. Her fate got worse when her own mentor chose her to be his apprentice.

Stepping sideways, Mirefeather stuck out her hind leg. With a surprised grunt, Crescenttail stumbled. Small rocks clattered down the rocky hillside leading to Starclan's Den, a large cave built naturally by falling rainwater. The she-cat heard her father let out a short cry of fear. A twisted smile snaked up her face as each thud was accompanied by sickening snaps and crunches. Calmly she walked down the trail. Not once did she look back to see where her father's body had landed. The ancient tom could never survive the tumble. If by some miracle he did, the dark-furred tom would have landed in dense thornbushes. Without a Medicine Cat, he would die long before a patrol found him.

The she-cat released a long sigh, happy to be free of his grasp. She smiled coldly, "Blood pours into twisting paths of ancient feuds. Be warned, for a new darkness will rise as ice takes over the forest, marsh, hills, rocks, and gorge." Her gaze rose to the first hill that marked the well-trodden fields of Hillclan territory. Seeing a long-legged form, she raced forward.

"Mirefeather," a deep voice meowed. Golden eyes shined with a cold, unforgiving light. "Is it done?"

A calm, sinister chuckle escaped her throat, "Don't worry about that old crook. Crescenttail had an accident that he could never dream of surviving." Her eyes rolled beautifully, "It's funny, really. He survived famine, drought, a trial for breaking the Battle and Medicine Cat Codes, and countless battles. Yet he couldn't survive a single tussle with his own daughter."

"It seems many are stuck in their ways. That time, however, will come to end shortly," the tom meowed, his red-russet fur turning silver as he stepped into the moonlight.

Mirefeather tilted her head, "You found the kit already, Alderstar?"

"Aye," the tom replied. He looked at her over his shoulder, "Took her and three other kits from Marshclan during the previous full moon. My Medicine Cat confirmed her existence."

The Hillclan Medicine Cat raced to stand next to him. Her ears flattened to the sides of her head, "And what will you do with the kit?"

"Unleash the darkness within," Alderstar purred. He smiled, "I will unleash the darkness within us all."

"That'll mean absolute chaos if Crescenttail was correct."

"Indeed."