Chapter One: Into the Wild

A/N: Hey guys, I appreciate the reviews. I'm not going to be able to update for the next week, though. I'm heading off to camp until 7/15. I'll try to get a new chapter up as soon as I can after that. Thanks. Attackweasel

"You fight well for a Twoleg pet." As Bluestar fixed her gaze upon him, Rusty wondered whether he should be honored to receive such praise, or to be inflamed for being called a Twoleg pet. He went over the recent brawl in his head. As he was about to pounce on the mouse, that Graywhatsit had thrown himself at his flank. They had rolled into a patch of nettles, scratching Rusty's fur all over. Then, taking a huge risk, he had flipped over, exposing his soft underside. Luckily, the ploy had worked, throwing the enemy cat off of him. He had raced off, back towards his garden, but, deciding to stand and fight, had stopped sharply. The ThunderClan apprentice had cannoned into him, causing him to fall back in a daze. At that point, Bluestar and Lionheart had interrupted them before they could do anymore harm. "We patrol this border frequently," she continued, "so I have often seen you watching the forest." She exchanged a glance with Lionheart. "You seem to have a natural hunting ability, and we need more warriors. Perhaps you should find out what it's like to be a Clan cat yourself. Would you like to join ThunderClan?"

Rusty couldn't believe it! He was actually going to become a ThunderClan warrior! After taking a day to think about it, he had met Lionheart and Whitestorm at sunhigh, and was now racing through the woods toward the ThunderClan camp. I wonder what it will be like, thought Rusty. Maybe I'll even become Clan leader like Bluestar one day! His thoughts were interrupted as they approached the entrance to the camp. As he passed through the prickly gorse tunnel, Rusty could smell many cats, but their scent was unfamiliar. This must be what ThunderClan cats smell like, he thought to himself.

As he emerged on the other side of the tunnel, an amazing sight met his eyes. Rusty had never seen this many cats before! They were everywhere; little kits running around while queens tried unsuccessfully to calm them down, apprentices play fighting by a clump of bushes, and warriors sitting tall and proud around a pile of fresh-kill. Just then, however, Bluestar, who was standing on the top of a tall rock, called out in a loud voice: "Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting." All the cats immediately stopped what they were doing and padded over to the base of the rock and sat, staring up at Bluestar. "We have a new cat here who wishes to join ThunderClan," she said. All eyes immediately fell on Rusty. Murmuring broke out among the cats, and one pale tabby called out, "Look at his collar! He's a kittypet!"

Lionheart leaned down to him. "That's Longtail. Will you not take a challenge?" Angry from the tabby's snide remarks, Rusty pinpointed his location and suddenly flung himself at his tormentor. Taken by surprise, Longtail fell back under Rusty's weight. He soon recovered though, and started pulling on Rusty's collar. Rusty went limp, not being able to breathe. Suddenly he heard a snap, and he collapsed on the ground. Standing up, he spun around to face his enemy. He found him snarling a couple tail-lengths away, with his broken collar lying on the ground in front of him.

Bluestar sprang down from the Highrock and padded over to them. "The newcomer has lost his Twoleg collar in a battle for his honor. StarClan has spoken its approval – this cat has been released from the hold of his Twoleg owners, and is free to join ThunderClan as an apprentice." Then she spoke in a low voice so that only Rusty could hear, "You look like a brand of fire in this sunlight." Her eyes flashed briefly, as if her words had more meaning for her than Rusty knew. Then she announced to the Clan, "From this day forward, until he has received his warrior name, this apprentice shall be known as Firepaw, in honor of his flame-colored pelt."

As he let the praise from his new Clanmates wash over him, Firepaw noticed a dark tortoiseshell sitting in a fern-enclosed corner of the camp. "Who's that?" he asked Graypaw, his new friend. "Who? Oh, that's Spottedleaf, our medicine cat. She's younger and prettier than most…" But Firepaw was already padding over toward her. When the medicine cat looked up and saw Firepaw, he thought he saw her eyes flash.

"Hi," he said shyly. "I hear your ThunderClan's medicine cat." Spottedleaf looked at him for a long moment and then replied, "Yes, I am. Are you hurt?" Seeing Firepaw shake his head, she continued, "Oh, well that's good, because there's something I wanted to tell you." She looked around to make sure no one was listening, and then said, "Last night, I had a dream where I spoke with StarClan. Medicine cats often receive messages from StarClan," she added, seeing Firepaw's confused look.

"Anyway, in my dream, I saw you. You were sprinting across an open field with the sun shining on your coat, making it look like fire. Then a messenger from StarClan appeared and told me that fire will rise among the stars, and sand will feed the flames." She secretly kept the rest of the dream to herself. She had seen Firepaw become the leader of ThunderClan, and Sandpaw was at his side. She thought it best if Firepaw discovered that on his own. She couldn't help wondering if it held some deeper meaning, though. StarClan did not usually send messages solely about love.

It had been a long day, and Firepaw, exhausted, padded through the entrance to the apprentices' den. He saw sitting there Graypaw and two other apprentices he didn't recognize. "Hey Firepaw," Graypaw said, "this is Dustpaw," flicking his tail towards one of the other cats. Dustpaw was a dark brown tabby tom. "And this is Sandpaw," he added as he pointed towards the other apprentice, who was a pale ginger she-cat. "You mean we have to sleep with a kittypet from now on?" Dustpaw sneered, and looked to Sandpaw for backup. But Sandpaw, who looked like she was about to say something, merely closed her mouth and gave Firepaw a reserved, calculating look. Firepaw, surprised at Dustpaw's hostility, turned away and gathered some moss together to make a bed. Then he practically fell down with exhaustion and went to sleep.

Firepaw opened his eyes. Wait a minute, this isn't the apprentices' den! He was in an open field. Narrowing his eyes against the bright sun, he looked around, bemused. With a shock, he realized that there seemed to be no end to this field. It stretched on and on, up to meet the horizon. This seems a lot like the place that Spottedleaf described to me. Then another thought occurred to him. How would he get back to the ThunderClan camp? Suddenly, a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Is that you, Firepaw?" Firepaw turned around slowly, and became even more confused when he saw who it was. "Sandpaw? What are you doing here, or more importantly, where are we?" he asked. "I don't really know where we are, but I think that I'm dreaming." she replied. "But are you really the real Firepaw that's sleeping a couple fox-lengths away from me, or are you just an image of him in my dreams?" "What do you mean? Of course it's really me! But then, you do have a point. How can I be sure that you're really you?" Firepaw said. "How about this: when we wake up, we acknowledge each other so that we know that it's real." the ginger she-cat said. "Although, if it is real, then that would mean that somehow we're sharing dreams." Firepaw paused to think about that. But how is that possible, he thought. He nodded, accepting the notion. "But what do we do now?" he asked.

"Well, you could listen to what I have to say." Both apprentices spun around to see where the new voice was coming from. To their surprise, they saw a StarClan warrior descending from the heavens. "Mistpelt!" Sandpaw cried out. Firepaw looked at her. "You mean you know this cat?" he asked, bewildered. "I met her in a dream once before, just before you joined ThunderClan."

"Thank you for the introduction, Sandpaw." Mistpelt said with a twinkle of amusement in her eye. "Now," she continued, "you both are probably wondering…"

"Where are we?"

"Why are we here?"

"How do we get out?"

"What…"

"STOP! One at a time!" Mistpelt said with exasperation. "Now, where are you? Well, you are in a land where time doesn't exist." she said "You mean we're dreaming?" Sandpaw asked. "Yes and no," the StarClan cat replied, "you see, you are asleep right now, in your den. However, if you were truly dreaming, Firepaw would not be here, because being in someone else's dream is impossible. Instead, your minds have both gone to the same place while you are sleeping, and have taken the shape of yourselves."

"So-"

"So no more interruptions, please." Mistpelt held up a paw for silence. "Think of it this way: your mind needs something to do while your body is resting, so it flocks here."

"And where exactly is here?" Sandpaw asked.

"Well, you may understand that a little more once you realize what the prophecies you have been given mean. So I suggest that while you are here, you work together to decode the message." Mistpelt's whiskers twitched with amusement. They obviously have no idea that they're destined for each other, she thought. "But Mistpelt, couldn't you just decode the message for us?" Firepaw was never really good at riddles.

"What! Where would the fun be in that?" said Mistpelt. And with that he faded away, until nothing but the breeze accompanied the two companions.