AN:

Hello! The prologue is finished... and short. But I promise Chapter 1 will be posted tomorrow. It is already written and is much, much longer. Chapter Two is in progress. Thank you to all who reviewed:

AnimegirlTohru

spotty-bee

Ninjakitty

Dragonclaw11

Amberstorm

meri47

Wildstar of Windclan

Starwish10

Horndawg

CatLoverCato

There is still room for more characters! Please make sure to follow the rules at the bottom of the Allegiances when submitting. Now, here is the story...

Prologue

A pale gray tabby stood motionless beside a river. His sky blue eyes focused intently on the movement in the river. He zoned out the rustle of the leaves in the chilly wind. The birds chirping and animals rustling and a small noise of chatter back at camp were all in a different world; this cat was hunting using all the skills he had learned. He peered past the splashing and gurgling of the water, spying a large fish fighting the current.

He waited patiently as it slowly crept upstream; closer to him. He crouched by the edge of the water, so his prey would not notice him. Hopefully. But as he prepared to strike, the fish's scales caught the sunlight and shimmered in his eyes. He flinched slightly, holding in any noise. He kept as silent as possible, but a rustling bush sounded and the fish darted away.

"Mouse dung." The cat muttered under his breath. He turned to look at this tail, which he knew had twitched when the fish caught the sun, but there was no bush within several tail lengths worth counting. Something must be nearby, he thought. He sat quietly, waiting to see if he could identify the noise. Nothing revealed itself and he decided it was a passing animal or fellow pridemate.

He started pacing downstream to find a new fishing area and thought, I need to catch something for my Pride. Beneath his once-sleek fur and thin body, his stomach growled. And maybe something for me, he added with discontent.

He got no further than twenty pawsteps when he heard another noise. He paused in his search and glanced around, still calm and unalarmed. The forest was motionless, besides the swaying trees in the breeze, but that made it seem the entire forest was moving defeating the point of calling it motionless. He realized the birds had stopped singing and couldn't remember when they had stopped. They probably stopped after the first noise which means, if they did, this was a predator; probably another cat.

"Hello?" He called out, expecting reply from a pridemate. No one responded. He wondered with guilt if he had just disturbed another cat who was hunting and possible chased away their prey. Another noise; this time closer and on the opposite side.

If these noises were another cat hunting, their prey would already be gone from his talking and the noises it was making itself. So it wouldn't matter if he talked again, plus now he was nervous. "Okay, you got me," he called with a tremble, "You can come out now." He scanned his surroundings and after doing a complete turn, he faced back in the same direction.

SNAP! He spun around to the noise directly behind him. There stood, ready to fight, a menacing dark gray cat, but that was not all. At least six others slunk out of the surrounding forest, all staring at him with bloodthirsty glares.

The dark gray cat in front of him flicked his tail and caterwauled, launching himself forward. In a moment, they were all attacking him. He fought vigorously and yowled out for help, but he had already called out before the attack and knew no one was nearby. The next day, the dawn patrol found his body, dead, by the river.