Disclaimer: I based the Clan structure on the Warriors books by Erin Hunter.

Thanks to everyone for reading this story. Thanks to sanders1800 for favoring this fanfic.

Now here is the first chapter. Enjoy and please review.

Chapter 1

A young black-and-ginger she-cat stepped into an encircled opening. The new-leaf sun warmed her sleek, carefully groomed pelt. She still remembered last new-leaf when she and her sister were kits; she couldn't wait to be apprenticed and become a warrior the Clan would be proud of. But since then so many things have changed. Duskstar, her former Clan leader and greatest inspiration of her life, was dead and the old tom had chosen her as his successor.

Falconstar had been Clan leader for a few days. She still couldn't believe that she was the leader of MeadowClan. She and her sister Hawkfeather were the youngest warriors in the Clan, and both were leading their Clanmates: as leader and deputy. Falconstar still remembered the day when Foxstep retired and Duskstar made her deputy. She had been given her warrior name only a moon earlier and had trained her apprentice for a quarter moon. The whole Clan was surprised by Duskstar's choice, although no-one was as surprised as Falconheart; that used to be her warrior name. Duskstar was on his last life when he appointed Falconheart and three moons later he died of some unknown sickness. When she returned from the Sacred Stone, the place where medicine cats and Clan leaders spoke with their warrior ancestors, Grasswhisker told her of the prophecy that he had when she and her sister were born. A falcon and a hawk would keep MeadowClan safe. The medicine cat had urged Falconstar to appoint Hawkfeather as new deputy. The young she-cat wanted to have an experienced warrior as her deputy, but Grasswhisker insisted that she named her sister. In the end, Falconstar gave in. The last thing that Duskstar had done was to give Hawkfeather an apprentice. The warrior code required that a deputy had to have trained at least one apprentice. Well, Falconstar and Hawkfeather were still in the process of training the young cats.

The young black-and-ginger she-cat stood on a boulder and looked over her Clan. Grasswhisker came out of his den and went to the elders' den that was half hidden under some low hanging branches of a honeysuckle bush. The black-and-white tom's body was covered with scars. For as long as she lived, these scars would remind Falconstar of the day her mother died.

xxx

"Cloudstorm, can we be apprenticed?" Hawkkit asked her mother again.

"You have to be six moons old before you are apprenticed. Don't worry. Duskstar will give you your apprentice names soon." The black queen answered her daughter.

"I am going to be the best warrior ever." Falconkit mewed and pounced on her sister.

"No, you are not. I am going to be the best." Hawkkit mewed and drew her sister off.

They used to be the only kits in the Clan but now Lilyheart was in the nursery, too. The pretty tortoiseshell would be kitting soon.

Hawkkit and Falconkit were fighting and rolling around in the small den.

"Why don't you two go and play outside for a while." Cloudstorm mewed. She could see that Lilyheart was tired and needed to rest.

"Okay." Hawkkit mewed and the two sisters left the hazel thicket.

The weather was beautiful. The cold season was long over and the warmth of new-leaf was very pleasant. The sun was shining from a blue sky and a light breeze ruffled their pelts.

"How about we go and explore the territory, Falconkit. We'll be apprentices soon."

"Yes, you are right. We have to get to know our territory. Let's go that way." Falconkit pointed to a crack beside the elders' den which cats used to go to the dirt place.

"Oh, it smells yucky." Hawkkit complained. "Over there is an open field."

The two kits had left the shielded part of MeadowClan's territory where bushes and smaller trees protected them from danger. They had gone into the field and soon started playing again.

"Look at my hunters' crouch, Hawkkit. You are my prey and I will catch you." The black-and-ginger kit mewed and flung herself at her sister. But Hawkkit was prepared of Falconkit's attack and dodged it expertly. The two sisters were rolling around in their play-fight and didn't notice the giant bird that circled the air high above their heads.

In he meantime, Cloudstorm had left the nursery to check on her kits. She panicked when she couldn't find them in the camp.

"They seem to have left the camp through the dirt place passage." Honeyflower mewed. "Let's follow their scent." The white-and-grey she-cat told the black queen.

By the time Cloudstorm had found her daughters an eagle was swooping down to catch them. The black queen had pelted toward the bird and flung herself over her kits to protect them. The eagle sunk its huge claws into Cloudstorm's body. Grasswhisker saw the attack and tried to help the black queen. The medicine cat racked his claws across the bird's wings to drive it off, while the eagle continued its attack. Tallfoot and his apprentice Birchpaw came running and together they managed to scare the prey hunter away. The bird had ripped through Cloudstorm's throat and she died; Grasswhisker was severely injured. It was only thanks to Twigbreak, HedgeClan's medicine cat, that the black-and-white tom survived. However, his body has remained scared from the wounds he received.

xxx

"Falconstar, are you listening?" Hawkfeather mewed. The black she-cat looked questionably at her sister. Falconstar had been lost in her thoughts and her fur still bristled when she thought of the moment when she realized that she would never see her mother again.

"Sorry, Hawkfeather. What did you want?"

"The Gathering is tonight. I want to take Shinypaw out for some training later. I thought it would be best not to take her to the Gathering. She would be too tired." Shinypaw, who looked so much like her mother Honeyflower, was the youngest apprentice in the Clan. She had left the nursery less than a moon ago.

"Yes, of course. We'll take Graypaw and Mudpaw. I will take Graypaw on a hunting patrol later. Have you assigned the sunset patrol?" Falconstar asked her deputy.

The young she-cats were still getting used to their new positions within their Clan. It was the deputy's job to assign cats for the dawn and sunset patrols, as well as the hunting parties. Hawkfeather wasn't used to organizing any patrols and Falconstar tried to help her as much as she could.

"Yes. Stormtail, Birdflight and Mousepelt are going."

"Good. I am taking Honeyflower with me on the hunting mission. Why don't you ask Birchheart to lead the dawn patrol? It's better to settle it before we leave tonight. It will be late by the time we come back."

"That makes sense. I'll let him know. Who is coming to the Gathering? I could ask Birchheart to pick his patrol accordingly."

"We'll take Tallfoot, Lilyheart, Featherstorm, Graypaw, Mudpaw, Blacktail and Foxstep." Falconstar replied.

"That leaves Whiskerheart and Honeyflower to go with Birchheart on the dawn patrol. Oh, it's so difficult to keep track of which cat is going on which patrol and not to assign them on two patrols at the same time." Hawkfeather mewed.

"You'll get the hang of it. It just takes some practice." Falconstar encouraged her sister.

Continues soon...