Chapter 1 is here my friends! Have fun reading

We reveal a very important character in this chapter

Chapter 1: Bloody Stranger

The sun was rising slowly across the purplish sky, the stars fading slowly as it got higher in the sky. The sun casted shadows across the stone hollow, sunlight peeking through little gaps that the thick foliage didn't cover, waking up the felines that inhabited them. It was a calm morning is Thunderclan camp, the snow on the ground seemed to melt into slush. Cats lazily exited their warm dens knowing that the clan couldn't function without its members. The Thunderclan deputy, Frostclaw stood in the middle of the clearing giving orders to the sleepy cats around him, not expecting anything to sneak up on him, as he was fairly tired as well.

The gray and white tabby yawned loudly, his tail twitching slowly as he paused for a moment to lick his paw. Behind the deputy where two mischievous shadows stalking the high ranked tom cat, chuckling softly to each other. One of the shadows crouched down, its eyes glowing brightly as it stalked forward. The creatures eyes where focused on Fostclaw's back, the gray and white tom cat too tired to notice anything due to a current battle against Windclan, and some cats got badly hurt. Nightfall was one of these warriors, and he being the annoying furball he is, kept every cat awake complaining on how badly he was hurt by Windclan, but he seemed fine, seeing that he was literally pouncing off the walls of the warriors den.

The shadow who was stalking him was almost upon him now, the other shadow walked around the deputy and was in front of him, waiting. Frostclaw suddenly felt something ram into his back, causing him to stumble forwards, but he was still standing as he managed to catch, but as he did that he felt something else ram into his chin. He fell onto his back and gasped for air, the slush soaking his fur, and he attempting to get up but he felt a tiny paw go onto his neck before he could do so. Frostclaw squinted to see what was on top of him, the sun light blinding him a bit, until he recognized the gray tabby pelt of one of Grayfang's kits, but he couldn't really tell the difference between the two kits, no one really could. The clan deputy rolled his eyes and poked the little tom on the nose and he squeaked loudly, stumbling off him and landing in the slushy snow. Frostclaw got a better view of the tiny kit.

Unlike most cats in the clan, Frostclaw could somewhat tell the difference between the two kits, this kit that was in front of him was Sixkit, he could tell because his feet where bigger than his brother's, Stormkit. Frostclaw rose to his feet, chuckling softly. Sixkit rose to his feet with a pout on his face he crouched down, preparing for the battle of his small life and pounced, attempting to catch the gray and white tabby off guard again, but the only thing he accomplished was getting a face full of yucky slush. The small kit raised his head, hearing the laughing of his sibling, Stormkit. Frostclaw watched as Sixpaw pounced on his brother, causing the other tom kit to squeak loudly. The clan deputy shook his head, and walked away as the two kits wrestled, knowing he had a job to do. He looked around, searching for a certain apprentice who as usual was late for training. Frostclaw shook his head slowly and walked towards a pretty gray she-cat who was currently communicating with another she-cat, who he recognized as his sister, Saltstone. He bowed a greeting to the two she-cats and mewed

"Is your brother awake, Runningpaw? If not can you please got get him?" His tail twitching in annoyance as this was the normal routine of his apprentice, Grasspaw. Runningpaw blinked slowly and nodded, walking quickly towards the apprentices den.

"You really are a mouse-brain Frostclaw" He heard his sister mew, hearing the purr in her voice which caused Frostclaw's ears flatten against his head as he glared at his sister, which caused her to place a paw in his face. Frostclaw smelt the many layers of dust that formed on her pads and he sneezed loudly. He growled softly and raised a paw attempting to move Saltstone's paw away from his face, but his plan failed, another paw was placed his face. Frostclaw yelped as the she-cat added more pressure to his face and he fell onto his back, the slush making his pelt wet once again.

Runningpaw exited the den and behind her was a droopy eyed tom cat that seemed to limp a bit as he walked. Crimson colored cobwebs cascaded his shoulder he was limping on and peaking underneath the bandages was chewed up horse tail. This remained the tom cat of how this apprentice, Grasspaw fought bravely against the Windclan patrol that threatened their clan, but he was one of the cats who got badly hurt. Frostclaw got to his feet, suddenly feeling really stupid at the moment and it wasn't because he was defeated by a couple of kits or because of his sister, but because he forgotten how badly hurt this apprentice was, and now he knew why his sister called him a mouse-brain, because he was one.

"Runningpaw said you needed me?" Grasspaw asked, blinking away sleep as he looked at his mentor slightly confused, and Frostclaw sighed loudly."Sorry Grasspaw, I forgot that you were hurt, you can get back to sleep if you would like." The gray and white tabby explained, looking the tom cat right in his bright amber eyes. Surprisingly the lazy tom shook his head slowly, sitting on the muddy ground."When I wake up in the morning, I cannot go back to sleep, so tell me what you need" He mewed, suddenly looking like an exited kit which cause Frostclaw shaking his head. No matter how lazy his apprentice was in the morning, he was probably the most energetic, annoying cat in the clan next to Nightfall and Saltstone.

"We need to patrol the Windclan border we haven't been there since the battle a few days ago, and we need to make sure they have claimed any Thunderclan territory. Saltstone, Runningpaw, would you like to come?" The muscular tom cat asked his sister and her apprentice, who jumped at the sudden mention of her purred loudly and gave Frostclaw a wet lick, much to his disgust. "Sure my amazing big brother! Letsa go!" She mewed, already stomping towards the entrance of the camp, her tail high in the air as if she was proud of herself for something. The tabby sighed and walked after his sister, Runningpaw dashing after them and Grasspaw limping behind.

…

The sun had floated higher into the sky when they arrived at the rival clan's border, slightly tired from the journey. Frostclaw was surprised that he still had to trudge through giant piles of snow and ice while walking in the forest as well as the large puddles that cascaded certain areas. The tom turned his head and looked back at his companions, who were a few fox-lengths away from him. He stopped suddenly, waiting patiently for the rest of the patrol, his tail slicking side to side impatiently. The sound of the stream that separated the two clans seemed to be louder than usual, which meant that the frozen ice that once imprisoned the water had disappeared due the warmer weather.

Frostclaw sighed loudly as the other cats caught up and not waiting for another second he began to walk forward towards the roaring sounds of the stream. The half-melted snow splashed at each paw step he took, making his pads numb from the semi-cold he caught sight of the Windclan border, he began to feel uneasy for some reason he didn't know of. The Thunderclan deputy looked around to indicate what made him feel uneasy, but he couldn't catch sight of anything unusual so he shrugged it off, looking over to the other cats in his patrol, and sat down, no matter how uncomfortable it was.

"Saltstone and Runningpaw, you set markings from here to the lake, wait there when you are finished me and Grasspaw will go up towards Moonpool and when we are done we will meet you by the lake, got that?" He explained as best as he could to the other felines, and the all nodded in agreement. The two she-cats began walking in the direction of the lake, setting markers as the two tom cats turned towards the opposite direction, Grasspaw panting slightly because of his shoulder. Frostclaw looked at his apprentice from the corner of his eye with concern. Maybe I shouldn't have let him come on the patrol… He thought, but shook the thought from his head; he knew the young cat would be too stubborn.

Suddenly, he scented a strange scent near the stream. He lowered his head to get a better whiff of the strange scent, and he figured out that it lead into the forest. Frostclaw tilted his head and mewed at Grasspaw, trying to gain his attention. The younger tom looked at his mentor, and began to sniff the air, and then looked at him, now knowing why his mentor wanted his attention. Frostclaw stalked forward, and without looking he knew that Grasspaw was close behind him. As the two toms got closer, he heard the quiet sound of mewing, which caused his eyes to widen. Frostclaw stood up straight, knowing that whatever was out there was no threat at all.

As he walked over the foliage and snow covered floor, he saw a small white body caked with red colored mud underneath a small branch, but it seemed big to the small animal trapped under it. As the Thunderclan cats got closer, the creature must have scented them because it began to squirm franticly under the bush and cried loudly, and Frostclaw figured out what species this animal it was, as it was the same species as all the clan cats by the lake. The tom quickly grabbed the branch that was on top of the kit, relived to see that it didn't seem to cause any breaks in the kits back, it just caused her to be stuck. As soon as the kit was realised it was released from the branch it bolted, attempting to get away from the strangers.

"Mama! Where are you mama?" The kit cried before ramming into a tree causing the Thunderclan deputy to gasp and run to her side to check if she was alright, and that's when he noticed that her eyes where shut because of the mud that caked her face and body. He spoke quietly to the young kit, trying to sooth her. From the look of her, she was around a moon, the same age as his two kits. The kit seemed to calm down a bit, but she was still shivering in fear. He began to lick her eyes, trying to get the muck off of her so she could see, but after the first lick, he could tell that the substance that caused her blindness wasn't mud, but blood.

Trying not to alarm the small kit, he continued to lick her face, trying not to wince at the metallic taste. Grasspaw looked at the small white kitten with pity and looked around, seemingly scenting something as he walked back towards the stream, Frostclaw left unprotected. It took a while to get the blood off of her face; he assumed the blood was a day old, seeing that most of it was dry now. The small she-kit's eyes where still closed and he could hear her snore quietly, causing him to purr a bit. Even if blood still coated her body, she still looked adorable. He heard the bushes rustle and he raised his head, seeing that Grasspaw had returned, but by the look of his face he discovered something terrible.

"Frostclaw, y-you might want to see t-this…" He stuttered and Frostclaw nodded, picking up the sleeping kitten and followed his apprentice. Frostclaw walked slowly behind the younger cat who was limping still and slower then he usually was because of his injury. As they got closer and closer to the border, he caught sight of a sleek black pelt covered in crimson blood and something beside the body that was a pinkish color. The tom gasped suddenly and put down the kit, looking down at the black and white corpse. She looked like a beautiful she-cat once, but now it was hard to look at her with her entrails floating in the water and her delicate throat torn to the bone, blood cascading her thin body. Her ribs poke out of the large cut from her belly and her blue eyes where wide open and dried of all moister. He felt something brush past him causing him to look at down to see the white kit, her eyes wide reviling the color of blood.

"M-mama?" She said, her voice shaking with sorrow and fear.

This took longer than expected, but I got it done!

Poor little girl, seeing her mother all mangled up and stuff. ANYWAYS, that battle with Windclan is important for later.

STARRY OUT!