By the lake, a breeze stirred. It flew over the lake, over the territories of the five clans. It soared over the mountains, where the Tribe of Rushing Water resided. It flew over the Sisters, traveling to find a new home. All were at peace. Above them,their ancestors watched. The Tribe of Endless Hunting and StarClan, both at peace. And in the Dark Forest, all was normal again, having recovered from Ashfur's reign. All was at peace. But in another part of the world, where forgotten cats and dead rouges roamed, evil plotted.
The cat watched the land around him in disgust. A twisted version of their lake territories, which he reflected, had taken him some time to find. However, ever since the flame-colored cat had killed him all those moons ago, he had sworn revenge on all the Clans, swore to kill them all. This place was the perfect place for him to carry out his revenge from, and he also had the bonus advantage of having complete control over this twisted realm. His attention was diverted however, by the blue-eyed gray cat who dragged another pale-gray cat behind him. How ironic, the cat thought, one of those that killed my deputy would become one of my top generals.
"This is the cat that killed me the second time," the gray cat said with a tinge of anger in his voice.
"Then she will be a valuable warrior," the cat said.
He then turned his attention to the pale-gray she-cat and, with something that came close to a smile, reached out to the Power that lay just beyond the reaches of normal cats. He let the Power flow through him, smiling now, and, envisioning the result he wanted, directed it at the pale-gray she-cat. She screamed in pain and convulsed on the ground, her fur falling off, her limbs growing longer and her skin hardening into a tough exoskeleton. That was when her head began to change.
When it was all over, a creature that somewhat resembled a cat stood up. It appeared to not have a face, until its mouth opened like a flower, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth.
Yes, the cat thought, vengeance shall be mine. He then turned to the gray cat.
"You nearly destroyed the Clans once before," he said in his normal icy tone. "You shall become my deputy and assist me in finishing what we both could not."
He then used the Power and, directing it at the gray cat in the most complex way he ever had before, broke down the barrier that blocked most cats from the Power. The gray cat screeched in pain and fell down, writhing on the ground. When he got up, it was clear that he was experiencing the same exhilaration that he himself had, when he first discovered the Power. If only he had known that he had that while he was still living.
"Do you swear to help me destroy the Clans by any means possible?"
"I do," the gray cat said.
"Then from now on, you will be known as Shadewalker. Now, Shadewalker, tell me everything you know about the Clans."
Yes, the cat thought while listening to Shadewalker's report. The destruction of the Clans starts now.
Baypaw shivered. He had been assigned to a patrol with his mentor Mousewhisker, Cinderheart and her apprentice, Finchpaw, and Lilyheart. Normally, he loved to go on patrols, especially with his best friends, Flamepaw and Stempaw, but neither of them had been assigned to this patrol. And it's just my bloody luck that this one happened to be the night patrol. Finchpaw noticed his discomfort and asked, "Are you alright, Baypaw? You looked a bit unwell for a moment." Baypaw mentally winced. Had he really looked unwell?
"I'm fine. Just cold and tired," he replied.
"Yeah, it's just our luck that we had to go on the night patrol, in middle of leaf-bare of all seasons!"
Baypaw silently chuckled. She had essentially echoed his thoughts, if not word for word. I take it back. It's nice patrolling with her as well, he thought.
"Cut the chatter, you two. You're falling behind, and Mousewhisker and Lilyheart are already at the SkyClan border, so you two need to catch up," Cinderheart called from up ahead. Baypaw and Finchpaw glanced at each other in amusement, chuckled and ran to catch up. When they caught up too the rest of the patrol, however, they caught them examining something on the base of a tree. As they got closer, they saw that it was a glowing orange goo with what seemed like lines made of black goo stretching across it.
"What is that?" Finchpaw asked warily.
"I don't know," Lilyheart responded, "but Bramblestar should hear about this."
Baypaw was the only one not looking, for he had seen something moving in shadows. He started to say this to the others, but then that shadow leaped at them. Baypaw just barely had time to shout out a warning before it leaped onto Lilyheart. As she screeched and fell, Baypaw got a look at it. Or rather, it's flower-shaped mouth, with all of those teeth. He inwardly shuddered, right as Mousewhisker and Cinderheart attacked it, yowling. The creature leaped over them, and with one seat, sent Mousewhisker flying away. It then dodged a swipe from Cinderheart and bit down on her head. Baypaw and Finchpaw could only watch in horror as it bit her head clean off, causing Finchpaw to let out a howl of grief as Cinderheart's limp body olfell to the ground. The creature then turned it's attention to them after swiftly knocking out Lilyheart. Finchpaw ran away from that spot, but Baypaw, in a panic, ran away from the creature and collided with the orange goo on the tree. He then fell through it, stood up and looked around in shock at his surroundings, which looked like ThunderClan's territory, but an empty and twisted version, with vines running everywhere.
"What in StarClan is this place?" he asked out loud. And then he realized, as he saw the orange goo seal shut, that he had made the most mouse-brained decision that he had ever made in his life.
Flamepaw woke up after being prodded to see that everyone else was awake. He grumbled about being woken up, and then realized that Stempaw was the one responsible. Before he could prod him back, Myrtlepaw said, "Morning sleepyhead."
Flamepaw asked, "How long have you all been awake for?"
"A while," she said, affectionately nudging him. He purred and nuzzled her in response, before Stempaw said, "The night patrol's back. But Baypaw and Cinderheart aren't with them."
Flamepaw sat bolt upright and dashed out of the den, Myrtlepaw and the others close behind. Baypaw probably got himself into trouble. But what about Cinderheart? Flamepaw couldn't think about what would get Cinderheart into trouble. After all, she was one of the best fighters in the Clan, almost rivaling Lionblaze, as she proved during the recent border skirmishes with WindClan.
It seemed that every cat was there in the clearing. Lionblaze was at the front, pushing his way to Mousewhisker, Lilyheart and Finchpaw. Mousewhisker was limping, and Lilyheart was covered in scratches, and they were taken to the Medicine Den. Only Finchpaw was unscathed.
"What happened?" Bramblestar asked FInchpaw, right as Lionblaze furiously demanded, "Where's Cinderheart?"
Finchpaw responded, "We were attacked by some sort of creature." Everyone listened in disbelief at Finchpaw's description of the creature.
"Baypaw disappeared during the fight, and we don't know don't know where he is." She prepared to continue, but then Lionblaze broke in and said, "Where is Cinderheart?"
Finchpaw instantly stepped back, for it seemed to her that Lionblaze was ready to kill if he heard the truth.
"I said, WHERE IS SH-"
"That's enough, Lionblaze," Bramblestar interrupted sternly. "Now," he went on in a more kindly tone, "What happened to CInderheart?"
Finchpaw 'hesitated. Stempaw could see the grief in her eyes, and so he felt a chill run through his body right as he heard her say, "The creature just… tore her head off," she finished, choking out the last few words in her grief.
Flamepaw and the other apprentices stared in horror. For a moment, everything was silent. And then Lionblaze let out a wail of grief, and the clearing suddenly filled with them. Flamepaw let out a yowl of grief as well. And Stempaw realized that from this moment on, everyone was in danger.
