A/N : Eek! I finished Outcast and have pre-ordered Cat of the Clans! dances

Anyway, here is the next chapter of A New Beginning. And softball season has ended, so I'll have more time on my hands

Sixteen more days of school!

Echostorm looked around curiously as the Sky Oak he had been under dissapeared and was replaced with the Island that Gatherings were held at. The young tom's fur bristled, unsure if he was in any danger, but ready to fight if he was.

"Greetings, Echostorm. You have no reason to feel threatened here."

He spun around to see a large tom with black paws. At first, he thought that he was seeing his own reflection. The only thing was that this cat seemed older, wiser, and stronger. "Who are you?" he finally managed to get out.

"I am Blackstar. I led ShadowClan when I was still alive." Blackstar replied.

For a few moments, Echostorm just looked at him, a shocked expression on his face. "You've got to be kidding me," he growled. "The only way I would be meeting you is if I was..."

"...Able to speak with StarClan," The StarClan cat finished for him. "I know that. You and five other cats have been chosen to...relocate."

Echostorm's look of hostility and suspicion turned into one of curiousity. "What do you mean by relocate? What's wrong with where we are now?"

Blackstar sighed and looked at him straight in the eyes. "Have you ever heard the story of the Great Journey that ShadowClan, WindClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan made many seasons ago?"

The tom thought for a second and then nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact. Grayrain -she was an elder when I was a kit- would tell Crystalheart and I stories about it all the time before she died. She said she was kin of the cat Ashfur, who was one of the warriors who made the journey. She also said it was because Twolegs destoryed your old homes."

"I see," Blackstar replied. "Well then, you should know what I mean by history is about to repeat itself."

"The Clans are going to have to move?"

"No," he shook his head. "Twolegs are about to ruin your lives. Like I said, you and five other cats are going to have to leave here. You must start a new life."

Echostorm tilted his head to one side. "Wait, so only six of us will survive?"

Blackstar smirked. "You have many questions, Echostorm. No, there will be more than six of you. Each of you may choose one cat to come with you, so you'll have enough cats to hunt and if need be, defend your borders."

Echostorm nodded as he took this all in. He was a bit overwhelmed, but he didn't dare reveal that to his ancestor. When Blackstar had finished, Echostorm mewed, "Has StarClan chosen who will be leader?"

The old leader snorted in amusement. "No, Echostorm, we haven't chosen. You all must come to that decision on your own. As for the position of medicine cat, if one of you don't choose a medicine cat or medicine cat apprentice, StarClan will decide that."

We choose, huh? Echostorm thought. I'll have to make sure to prove myself to the others that I would be a good choice for leader!

As if he was reading his mind, Blackstar added, "Don't think about showing off to become leader, either. In my opinion, you're still too young. There will be other warriors that are much stronger and wiser than you on this journey, so don't think you're the superior one."

The TreeClan warriror felt his ears grow hot with embarassment as his kin lectured him. "Well, can you tell me what kind of 'strong and wise' warriors are travelling with me?"

"I can't tell you who, but I can tell you this much. The other five cats that have been chosen are apprentices."

"I'm the only warrior?" Echostorm yowled. He didn't want to be stuck with wet behind the ears apprentices!"

Blackstar hissed. "Let me finish! They're about ten or eleven moons old, so they're not as young as you're thinking they are. The cats they choose to accompany them haven't been determined yet, as they're being told this by other leaders around this time."

Echostorm sighed, but nodded. "I see. All right, is that all?"

As if to answer his question, Blackstar began fading away. Once he had vanished, a tiny bramble had appeared. Padding over to it, Echostorm noticed a small wisp of smoke coming from the center. Suddenly, there was a tiny ember that soon grew into a large wildfire. Yowling in fear and surprise, Echostorm tried to get away from it, but it soon had surrounded him on all sides, burning the bushes and four trees that were on the island.

"Blackstar!" he screeched helplessly. "Blackstar, where are you?! Help!" He looked around to see if the ancient tom had heard him, but all he saw was flame and smoke. When he looked up at the starless sky, he noticed that some of the smoke had morphed into a cat's head.

"Fire was a common enemy for the four ancient Clans," Blackstar's voice echoed all across the area. "That hasn't changed, Echostorm. Remember that."

Echostorm gasped as he awoke from his trance-like state. Looking around, he saw that the burning island had turned back into the peaceful forest. Shaking his head to clear his mind, the warrior turned around to set back for camp. He had only been speaking with Blackstar for a short time, but it felt like he had been in the middle of the roaring flames for moons. All he wanted to do now was to go back and get some rest.

As he entered through the entrance of the camp, he noticed that Mistpelt and Crystalheart were sharing tounges by the fresh-kill pile while Leafstar and Miraclepool were discussing border patrols. Turning at the sound of rustling leaves, he saw that Silverleaf and Stormpaw were behind him, coming back to camp with their mouths full of herbs.

"Hello, Echostorm," Silverleaf meowed through the dock he had in his mouth. "Are you all right? You seem a bit skittish."

Echostorm forced and smile and replied, "I'm fine. It's just from...lack of sleep."

The medicine cat gave him a doubtful look, but nodded. "I see. Don't push yourself too hard, you hear? You just recently became a warrior, so don't expect to be able to have the capacity of doing all the things that the older ones can do."

Echostorm nodded and continued over towards his friend and sister. Once they saw them, they stopped grooming each other and stood up.

"Hey, Echostorm!" Crystalheart mewed. "Where have you been? You should have seen what wen on!"

Echostorm tilted his head to one side. "What happened? Nothing bad, right?"

Mistpelt shrugged. "I guess it wasn't terrible, it just was a bit...unexpected.'

"What happened?" Echostorm repeated, becoming impatient. Had what Blackstar warned him about all ready begin?

"Ravenfeather, a warrior from LakeClan came into camp," the silver she-cat continued. "He looked terrible, even more skinny than the LakeClan was at the Gathering half a moon ago. He wanted to see Leafstar, but didn't have the strength to climb the Highledge, so they met in the middle of camp. Of course, all of the Clan surrounded them to hear what was going on."

"What had happened was the apparently the Twolegs had poisoned the fish in the lake." Crystalheart picked up where her friend left off. "It was the reason behind Summerstar's strange behavior at the Gathering. As a matter of fact, he lost a life from it. Also, Shadepaw was klled by the disease. Ravenfeather said Hawkpool can't find a cure for it. Silverleaf offered to help, but both Leafstar and Ravenfeather said no because they didn't want the sickness to spread to the other Clans. Apparently he wanted to warn us not to drink the water from the lake or the river that flows to the Moonpool."

Echostorm's ears pricked. "Wait, so does that mean the medicine cats can't go to the Moonpool? I mean, what if it's poisoned as well?"

Both the she-cats exchanged glances. "That's the thing," Mistpelt whispered. "They don't know what to do. It's not like we can completely isolate ourselves from StarClan!"

Don't worry, he thought. StarClan still speaks to us.

"But what was really surprising was Leafstar's reaction," Mistpelt meowed. "Whne he finished, she looked really afraid of something. I heard her say 'I'm sorry, but TreeClan can't help in any way. The last time that one Clan helped another through a time like that, the Clan died out."

"Was she talking about the four ancient Clans?"

"We think so," Crystalheart replied. "That's probably how TreeClan, LakeClan, and MeadowClan became what they are today. One of the four Clans must have died out. But what made the other three change their names?"

Echostorm shrugged. "Who knows? That was seasons ago." Inside, he was scolding himself for not asking Blackstar about what happened to their ancestors. "I'm going to get some rest. You two should as well. Maybe Leafstar will explain tomorrow." With that, he turned towards the warriors den.

Suddenly, he froze in his tracks and it hit im. He had to figure out which cat he would take on the journey. But there was only one problem, he realized.

Mistpelt or Crystalheart?

I know, I'm evil. I killed an apprentice and am making Echostorm have to choose between the cat he loves and his sister.

But let me tell you Echostorm, Mistpelt isn't the cat for joo! I'm sure my beta knows what I mean. XD

Anyway, this is pretty random, but a friend of mine asked me about where I got the ideas for the cats, so I thought I would tell y'all.

All the cats' personalities are based off of my friends, teachers, etc. Their appearances are based off of cats I've seen and my friends' ideas, except Ravenfeather. Ravenfeather's appearance is based off of my favorite Beanie Baby (Yes, you can love your kitty Beanie Baby at thirteen) that I got when I was four. I named him Raven, but I used to have trouble with my 'R's, so for two years, he was call 'Waven'. XD

I love my Raven... Review and you can huggle him!

Sachi maro oomeni no suki!

AliKatNyah