Dark clouds filled the sky, rain falling onto the lands below. The moon, only as big as a kits claw that night, was completely obscured by the clouds.
Far below, in a rocky forest, the angry screeches of cats rung out. The night echoed with the sounds of fighting cats as a black tom, with silver specks in his fur, gleaming like stars, fought for his right to power. He fought fiercely against a dark brown tom, the lighter patches on his paws, neck, tail, and face darkened with blood, both his own, and his attackers.
"The clan is mine, Mudstar," the black tom hisses, ears plastered to his skull, and lips drawn back in fury. "You should have listened to me! The clan will prosper under my care!"
Mudstar, the brown tom spat at his foe. "The clan will die if left to you!" With a yowl, he lept for the tom, narrowly missing his throat.
The tom leapt backwards, with a hiss of surprise. Never did he expect his leader to put up such a fight. The fur on his shoulders spiked up, despite the heavy rain that was keeping the rest of the clan at bay. As lightning arced through the sky, the dark tom was suddenly glad he decided to ambush his leader alone, and take what was his. He was broken from his thoughts, as Mudstar lept again, catching hold of the toms shoulder, and biting down with as much force as he could muster. The tom tried to twist around to dislodge Mudstar, hissing and spitting. He felt the leaders claws ripping down his flank, and the warm trickle of blood through his fur.
"The code is broken," the tom yowled, savagely attempting to claw Mudstar in return. "It protects and encourages weakness! It needs to be changed!" Finally breaking away from Mudstar, he bolted back to camp, yowling over his shoulder, "The clan will agree! Then I shall be the one to fix the code!"
Thrown off by the toms sudden departure, Mudstar hesitated only a heartbeat before giving chase. The two streaked through the forest, both knowing that whoever got to the camp first would be the one to decide the battle's favor.
Mudstar quickly outpaced the darker tom, and dashed through the rock tunnel, yowling a warning to his clan mates. The tom skidded to a halt behind him, hissing in frustration, but not yet giving up. He gave a yowl of his own, one of defiance, bringing the cats of Crystalclan out of their slumbers and into the camp clearing even quicker.
"Cat's of Crystalclan," Mudstar began loudly, without bothering to leap to his normal speaking place. "One of your clan mates has turned against us, Bl-"
The dark tom cut him off, jumping onto the crystal spire, and calling to his clanmates, "Crystalclan! The warrior code is broken!"
The cats below looked around in confusion. Traitor? Broken? What could they mean?
A dusty grey tom with darker markings appearing like wings along his sides spoke up. "Mudstar...what does he mean? Who's the traitor?"
"Blackpaw, my friend, I've trained alongside you for many moons. You should be the first to understand," the dark tom spoke now in a gentle, reassuring manner. "The code does nothing to help us, instead it hinders us. We go into unnecessary battles with the other clans, when we could easily have peace if we joined together."
As Blackpaw nodded uncertainly, Mudstar hissed.
"That is not true! The code help protect us, and to go against the code is to go against Starclan!" Mudstars tail lashed in anger, as he aggressively swung his head from side to side, watching his warriors contemplate what they've just heard.
From the center of the crowd, tabby ginger tom spoke up. "I agree with Mudstar!" His tail lashed. "And if you're going to go against Starclan, then you're no friend of mine, or the clans! Traitor!"
Several cats echoed his cries and the black tom raked his gaze across the clan, fur pricking uncomfortably.
Another white speckled, black tom stepped forward, head raised boldly. "I believe what my son is saying is true. The code must change!" He yowled the last words to the sky, in clear challenge of not only his leader, but of starclan as well.
A white she-cat with black paws, snarled in reply, "Moontail, you are wrong. You and your son are nothing but traitors to the clan!"
Mudstar, seeing now how few of the clan agreed with with the two other toms, raised his tail for silence, then leapt onto the crystal spire,forcing the traitorous tom to leap down, spitting angrily. Mudstar looked down on the two with cold eyes, as he spoke, "As traitors to the clan, the warrior code, and our warrior ancestors, you are hereby banished from the clan!" As if to reinforce his command, thunder cracked across the sky, making the very trees tremble, and the clan cats to plaster themselves low. Mustar alone stood tall. "Starclan agrees with my judgment! Leave now!"
When neither cat moved, Mudstar gave a slight nod to his clan, who circled the toms, hissing and spitting at them.
Finally realising there was no hope for them to win any longer, they ran for the camps exit. The first tom sped through the rock tunnel, spitting curses as he went. Moontail, however, spun around and hissed at the clan. "We are not wrong! And in the end it will be us who prevails!" He bristled a moment longer, then turned to flee.
The white she-cat was faster, leaping onto the fathers back as he turned, her teeth clamping down firmly onto his scruff.
A sharp crack echoed through the camp, now eerily quiet, and Moontail slumped to the ground, his eyes slowly clouding over, losing focus on even his son.
The tom, having paused to wait for his father, bristled in alarm. His father was dead. He was alone. He ran from the clan as fast as his paws would take him, fleeing from his clan, and his fathers murder. As he ran the rain slowly died off, until the sky was clear again. Still he ran. He ran until his legs gave out, and he lay panting as his vision faded. Two voices rung in his ears before everything went black. He struggled to hang onto them.
"Hey, Deathcap, look here! Fresh meat." Definitely a she-cat, her voice heavy with mockery.
"Ridge, we don't eat other cats." A tom, sounding wary at both the newcomer, and his companion.
The black tom struggled to stay awake, but when he tried to struggle to his feet, his exhaustion caught up to him, and he knew no more