prologue
The forest was quiet except for the casual chatter of cats in thunderclan. A beautiful calico sat pleased with her clan, on the highest rock. She twitched her whiskers when her mate stepped from behind the shadows. He was sturdy, and had a broad white face with delicate blue eyes. " Hello, love." she couldn't help but shiver, even though it was warm. " Hi, gorsefang." she purred back. He stepped to stand by her, his pelt brushing against hers. " Beautiful night isn't it?" he asked tilting his head back and gazing at the stars that twinkled like fireflies upon thunderclan. She nodded. " It is." She flickered her green eyes to her swollen belly, an expression of love plastered over her face. " You thinking of the kits?" Gorsefang asked laughter glistening in his blue orb eyes. She blushed licking her chest embarrassed. " When am i not?" he sighed drawing her in with his tail. " Stop worrying. They'll be fine." She nodded even forcing a smile, but in the depth of her stomach she couldn't get the feeling of fear out of her. What if their stillborn? Will They be healthy? How many kits will i have? She shook the thoughts away. Her mate was right, why worry? But as she opened her mouth to say more, an overwhelming amount of pressure collided with her. She fell to the ground in a fit of seizures. " Dapplestar!" screamed gorsefang suddenly leaping to her side. She could hear cats drawing around her murmuring worries. The last thing she saw was a white face. " You can wake up now." purred the voice. The pain had lifted, and groggily she awoke. But she wasn't in thunderclan. She was somewhere in a field. The land was covered with mist, and stars, and was forever in sunlight. Ahead of her was the cat she had known for seasons. Her mother. " Frostfeather!" she exclaimed to the starry silver cat, before rubbing her cheek against her mother's. " Oh daughter, it's so good to see you." she stopped and twitched her whiskers. " Well i do watch over you, it's just been long to talk." Dapplestar chuckled a bit, then horror flashed in her green eyes. " Am i dead? Did i kit to early? Impossible i wasn't due until 2 moons!" she padded back and forth lashing her tail. " No.. no.. i just became a leader! What will happen to gorsefang?" But her mother merely shook her head. " You're not dead, dapplestar, quite the opposite." Her mother's soothing voice calmed the she-cat, however she was still puzzled. " Then what happened?" the star lit cat sighed getting to her paws. " Follow me." and turned to the direction of a forest. She blinked, but followed. " Where are we going?" she panted running desperately to catch up to her mother. However no matter the speed, her mother was always ahead. Eventually she found herself lost. " Frostfeather!" she called, but received no reply. Only the bitter that silence sliced the air around her. Then she heard it, soft but harsh. " Beware of the enlightened flame, for it has the power to destroy everything, or be the light of the clans." Suddenly the once quiet forest exploded in screams of terror, and of the midst of cats fighting she caught a glimpse of someone. He or she wasn't very clear, but she knew of the ginger pelt. " i hope to see you dead." it yowled to someone- but who? Then the image shifted again, and she was standing in a ball of fire. " Help!" she choked out. And soon, she was standing in the star field again gasping for air. Her mother only stared. " That my dear is fate. You must always keep looking back, keep running, never let the claws of fire embrace you." But she didn't understand. " What do you mean? What's the purpose of all of this?" she screamed. Frostfeather shook her head, whispering:" It will make sense in time. Just remember, the fire hunts, trying to quench its hunger. If it finds you... " she didn't finish, before she was awoken. " Dapplestar, dapplestar!" She groggily managed to peer open a green eye, gazing into those of her worried mate's. Beside him stood the medicene cat, fur glossed, and milky blue eyes emotionless as she stared down at her. " Get off of me gorsefang, i'm fine." she mumbled struggling to stand, but a pain shot through her left paw. " Careful," the white cat from before mewed. " You broke your paw, so you'll have to stay here for a while." she blinked in astonishment. " I did?" she gently lifted her paw up from the ground, finding it was wrapped securely around vines. " Oh starclan, i was so worried! I thought you were kitting!" her mate cried. Dapplestar rolled her eyes, but she was chuckling. " Don't be dumb. I was fine just…" she shivered remembering the dream. She had to be aware of fire. " Just what?" gorsefang inquired. She shook her head and smiled. " I dont know, maybe the kits are wanting to come early." he relaxed and purred. " Okay, okay gorsefang leave dapplestar to rest." the white cat stood practically pushing the tom out who fought to stay in. " B-bye love.." he called. She smiled and leaned her head onto her paws softly, and fell into a deep sleep. " Beware of the enlightened flame…"