Chapter I -

The older tom twitched feebly within the comfort of his soft, moss-lined nest. Restless, his dreams were full of nothing but empty darkness. It threatened to swallow him. And then, strangely enough, a storm began. Lightning cracked, and the thunder rumbled.

The first few drops landed on his forehead, and he blinked upwards in a bit of confusion. It felt so real. And then all at once, the clouds parted and the rain came down all at once, much much heavier.

He broke into a desperate run, dashing across rocks, jumping from one to the other, trying to escape the oncoming swell. The wind tugged at his fur, almost blowing him over, and he pinned her ears back against it.

Pausing only to catch his breath, his ears flicked back at a new sound. Just as loud as the thunder, but different in it's own way. Water!

The river was flooding…!

"No!" He yowled, starting to try and run away again, desperate to save his life. But all around him, he could hear the sound of other cats screaming. Mothers wailing, and kits crying as they were pulled away by the strong, swirling current. Faster, faster!

But then, he tripped. Stumbling tail-over-ears, the tom tried to get to his feet, but it was no use. His back paw was wrenched in the fall. Looking behind him, his eyes widened in horror and despair.

It's too late.

The oncoming wave of brown, murky water and debris had caught up with him. He never stood a chance.

"H-Help! Help me, someone!" He wailed for salvation. But all he could do was brace his three remaining good legs, and cower at the coming wall of water. He knew no one would come for him. It was hopeless.

His resolve wavered. He was pushed over, easy as a newleaf sapling, and disappeared down deep beneath the surface. Kicking and thrashing all four legs, he struggled to regain his sense of direction and find his way up again…

There was no fight left in him. His body felt heavy, and his eyes were growing dark all around him.

'Starclan…'

But just then, when he was certain all was lost and he would be joining his ancestors - Something grabbed him roughly by the scruff, hauling him out of the water, kicking strong, powerful back legs towards the bank.

He felt himself being dragged, and his eyes rolled, trying to see what, or who, it was.

The she-cat grunted with the effort. Her paws finally scraped marshy ground, soft but firm, laden with pine needles. Dropping him on the earth, she flopped down beside him, panting heavily.

"Whitecloud!" She said, after a time, leaning over to him to rub his shoulders, licking his fur the wrong way to try and stimulate breathing and warm him up again. All cats were taught the basics of medicine, so it was almost second-nature to the molly.

"...What…?" He wheezed, exhausted, but recognized her voice and her green eyes. "Tawnypelt?"

Tawnypelt saved him?

There were other cats with her, too. Three of them. But they were at a distance, too far for him to make out who they were in the darkness.

"Whitecloud, wake up…!" She begged.

Whitecloud groaned, trying to pick himself up onto his front paws. He hacked loudly, and spat up a great deal of water. There was a relieved sigh, which turned into a small chuckle.

He gave a feeble smile, turning his head to her. "Thank you, Tawnypelt. I don't know what I would have -" He began, but she was gone. Her visage faded out completely, being replaced by a new, much older cat. One who he recognized immediately.

"...Nightstar?" He asked, tilting his head. "You…" He cleared his throat, sitting up a bit straighter. "This is an omen."

The other tom nodded slowly. "There is a time of great darkness coming, Whitecloud. Starclan have come to attempt to help to prepare you." Nightstar began. "I do not have much time, you know this."

Whitecloud nodded, staying silent, but completely attentive to his former Clan leader.

"Darkness, wind, water, and thunder will come together, and shake the forest to it's roots." Nightstar repeated the terrifying words of Bluestar, from only the night before. Time was of the essence. "There will be four cats chosen, and you have seen the cat from Shadowclan." He explained.

Whitecloud's eyes widened in shock, his fur fluffing up to twice his size in horror. "Chosen? For what?" Whitecloud asked in clear confusion. "Who, Tawnypelt?" She was the only one he could make out clearly in this nightmare.

Nightstar nodded. "We aren't sure, all we can tell you is that something is coming that will change the forest. Nothing will be the same. And it will never be the same again. I cannot get through to Tawnypelt, so you must be the one to prepare her for this."

The medicine cat opened his jaws to speak again. There were so many questions, and not enough answers. But the words would not come.

Nightstar's silhouette was beginning to fade, the starlight that littered his fur growing stronger, as Whitecloud began to wake up and return to the living world. This abrupt meeting with the ancestors was over.

"Nightstar!"

"Tell her, Whitecloud. She must find Midnight."

Midnight?

The dark, flooded clearing slowly died away, a calm, brighter light sweeping over him peacefully. Whitecloud knew what was coming, so he sank back down to his belly, laying his head on his front paws and closing his eyes, letting himself sink back down into a sleep-like trance, exhausted.

'I must warn Blackstar…' Were his last thoughts.

Later on that same morning, Tawnypelt was recovering from her own strange dreams by joining the mid-morning patrol with Russetfur, Cedarheart, and their apprentices Smokepaw and Snowpaw. They were promising young apprentices, and a part of her wished that she was mentor to one of them.

But she had to remind herself that there would be more kits born soon enough, and ready to become apprentices not long after that. Kinkfur was currently nursing Redwillow's kits, and Ivytail's belly was swollen with Owlclaw's kits. She would be kitting just any time now.

Perhaps she could have Russetfur put in a good word for her to Blackstar about one of Kinkfur's kits? There was a young, spunky molly-kit that had particularly caught her eye.

Returning from the patrol, and rewarding herself with a solo-hunt, she made sure to bring a piece of her catch to her adoptive mother, Poppyflower. The old, graying she-cat knew that she could never replace Goldenflower, but Tawnypelt was always grateful to her for taking her in and under her wing.

Her own mentor, back during her apprentice days, looked on with a bit of pride still shining in his eyes. Oakfur wasn't much older than her, so it was easy for them to connect when her father, Tigerstar, had given her to him to finish her training. He had a new apprentice now, Blackstar's son, Ratpaw.

That was the only good thing her father ever did for her. She blinked at him, dipping her head respectfully to her fellow warrior.

Poppyflower purred her thanks and greetings, licking her forehead, and Tawnypelt suppressed a laugh.

Waving her tail in farewell, Tawnypelt moved off away under the welcomed shade of a pine tree to enjoy her own meal, a mouse. Tucking in neatly, she licked her whiskers, and inevitably, with the silence, she was soon lost in her mind thinking about her dream from last night again.

Darkness. A storm...The river flooded. Riverclan's river? She couldn't tell. But it was terrifying. She was washed away, and woke up with a start back safe and sound in the warriors den.

A twig cracked somewhere behind Tawnypelt, but at first, she didn't notice.

Another cat was watching, their eyes narrowed, and glittering from their hiding place in the thick undergrowth. Creeping closer, their paw crunched on a leaf this time, and they cursed under their breath, when one of Tawnypelt's ears flicked back.

They paused. Slowed their breathing, and waited a heartbeat before -

"YAAAAH!" They pounced, dropping their entire weight on Tawnypelt, sending the two of them into a roll, and leaving the half-eaten mouse in the dust.

The scuffle was quick. "Hey!" Tawnypelt had claimed her victory, sitting upon her assailant, glaring daggers at who dared to disturb her. At least, until she recognized who it was.

"Rowanclaw? What in Starclan was that for?" She asked, incredulous, crouching down while still on her attacker, looking down at the tom.

"Heh, gotcha, Tawnypelt. You didn't even know I was coming until I was almost right there!" He said, giving himself a mighty shake to get Tawnypelt off, and she conceded, stepping off and away, sitting down with her tail curled around her paws.

The she-cat rolled her eyes at her friend. They were apprentices together, with Rowanclaw being just a moon younger than herself. "Whatever." Tawnypelt muttered, looking away.

By the tone of her voice, Rowanclaw offered a small smile. "Aw, I'm sorry, Tawny." He said, coming over to nudge her by the shoulder gently, in a show of good faith. She looked tired. "I'm excited, that's all!" He said, dropping down into a crouch, hopping from side to side like he was blocking a squirrel's escape.

She couldn't stay mad at him, finally giving a smile of her own, shaking her head. "No, I know. It's alright. I'm just...Tired, that's all." She had to admit, moving back over to finish her mouse.

He followed, tilting his head. "Mm. You alright?" Rowanclaw asked, now noticing that his friend did, indeed, look exhausted. "You were kind of muttering in your sleep last night." He said.

"Yeah." Tawnypelt nodded. "I was part of the midnight patrol last night, maybe that was it." She theorized. "Had weird dreams, that's all." She finally shrugged dismissively.

"Really?" The young tom asked. "Wanna talk about it?" They were always pretty close, and he knew that she knew that she could talk to him about anything, if she wanted.

Shaking her head, Tawnypelt finished off her mouse in a few more clean bites. "Nah, I'm alright. But thanks, Rowanclaw." She finally answered, after chewing and swallowing.

"No problem." He smiled with a nod.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Clanrock for a clan meeting!" Blackstar's loud, commanding voice rang out, now that all of the patrols had returned, and all heads turned to look at the large, imposing white tom.

His black, pointed face, and oddly-toed black paws were groomed to near perfection, despite the many scars that littered his body, serving his time as Tigerstar's deputy and living through Brokenstar's tyrannical rule.

Rowanclaw jumped to his paws, claws flexing, and whiskers twitching excitedly. "My ceremony!" He gasped. "Come on, Tawnypelt! C'mon!" He said, already pushing against her flank, nudging her shoulder, trying to get her to her paws.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" She laughed, and they joined the rest of their clanmates. Nettlenose and the other elders emerged from their den, and Whitecloud poked his head out of his den, too. He looked as exhausted as she did, Tawnypelt realized, seeing the bags under his eyes.

Blackstar waited, tail twitching idly, and his sharp golden eyes going over his clan. His chest swelled at the sight of them all, especially when Ratpaw and Snowpaw, his kits, joined their mentors, and Russetfur took her place beside them.

"This is a great day, Shadowclan." He began, and murmurs of excitement passed through the group of cats. He smirked, silencing them all with a flick of the ears. "I have discussed it beforehand with the cat in particular, and we have a warrior among us who wishes to have their name changed before the clan."

Tawnypelt looked over at her friend, smirking. Rowanclaw was fit to burst, almost physically buzzing. "Careful you don't keel over.." She leaned over, muttering into his ear.

"Not on your life..!" He whispered back.

"Rowanfur, step forward." Blackstar called, and Rowanclaw smoothed his chest fur down with a few quick licks, trying to compose himself. Striding with a faux sort of confidence, he stood before the clan leader, eyes shining. It was only then that Tawnypelt remembered that Blackstar trained Rowanclaw himself, back when he was still deputy.

"Spirits of Starclan, you know every cat by name. I ask you now to take away the name from the cat you see before you, for it no longer stands for what he is. By my authority as Clan leader, and with the approval of our warrior ancestors, I give this cat a new name." He paused, from where he had been looking up at the sky, and now down at Rowanclaw, hopping down and walking towards him.

Face to face, Blackstar towered over Rowanclaw, and Tawnypelt shivered in anticipation. Her friend had been waiting for this for a long time. She knew what was coming.

"From this moment on, Rowanfur will be known as Rowanclaw. Your old life is no more, and we welcome you as a member of Shadowclan." Blackstar finished, reaching forward to touch his nose to Rowanclaw's head and, as custom, Rowanclaw licked Blackstar's shoulder in return.

Tawnypelt blinked, and just like that, she was thrown back in time, to when she and Rowanclaw had first been given their warrior names. The name had fit, for a time there, but Rowanfur soon realized that he was a tom, not a molly.

And after a long talk with Blackstar, the agreement had been made to change his name. The rest of the clan kind of guessed what was going on, but really, only Tawnypelt, Blackstar, and Rowanclaw's parents knew about it, so they had been calling him by his new name for some time now.

But now, it was public. Rowanclaw was reborn as a new cat.

And Tawnypelt couldn't be happier. "Rowanclaw! Rowanclaw!" She took up the chant, and in no time at all, the whole of Shadowclan was yowling the tom's new name. He was popular, so it was no surprise.

"Rowanclaw! Rowanclaw!"

The tom's ears were burning, but he did not duck his head in embarrassment. He closed his eyes, and let the praise wash over him.

After a time, Blackstar signaled for silence again. "You have already completed your night of vigil as a new warrior, so you don't have to do it again, unless you wish it." He said, and Rowanclaw nodded. "Tonight, we feast!"

Everyone let loose more loud cheers. It wasn't very often that Shadowclan got to celebrate like this, but Tawnypelt knew that Blackstar felt he had something to prove. To the clan, and to himself, being the leader that followed her father's shadow. He had to keep up morale, and regain a sense of unity for his cats.

And so far, it was working.

Tawnypelt stood, prepared to come up and congratulate her friend, but he was immediately swarmed by almost everyone else first. Shaking her head with another chuckle, she turned away, content to wait her turn after things died down.

Only to be met, nose to nose, with Whitecloud.

The medicine cat stared at her for a time, completely silent.

"Er.." Tawnypelt pinned her ears awkwardly. "Yyesss, Whitecloud? Can I help you?" She asked.

"We need to talk." He broke the silence. "Us, and Blackstar. Do you have a moment?" He asked, though by the way he worded it, the she-cat didn't feel like she had much choice.

She blinked, brows raised, and looked around, back over her shoulder. "Ah, sure? Whatever you want." Tawnypelt shrugged.

Whitecloud nodded, his whole body tensed, and his pupils dilated. "Come, then." With a sweep of his tail, he turned her 'round, and led them along to Blackstar's den, towards the back of the camp, where he had disappeared after he had dismissed the clan.

'Well,' Tawnypelt thought. 'Looks like I'll just have to catch Rowanclaw afterwards.'