I'm in a den. That much I can register. It's dark in here, with light only filtering in between the gaps in the brambles. There are about two of those.

Despite the fact that I'm curled next to my mother's soft belly fur, I feel cold. There are two other bodies next to mine, shivering with cold. I can smell many cats underneath a layer of cold.

I gaze into the eyes of another cat. Much larger than me and with a gray tabby pelt, but with warm blue eyes that feel like home.

"Stormkit," she murmured. "Welcome to ThunderClan, little dear.'

I squeaked and wriggled closer to her. ThunderClan.

"Wake up, wake up!"

"Wake up, Stormkit!"

I heard the voices of my over-excited siblings and opened my eyes. Right away, I was gazing in the golden eyes of my sister, surrounded by gold, brown and white fur. Honeykit was small and full of energy, but not the brightest kit.

My brother, Stonekit, pushed his face in next to hers. He was smart, big, and strong, but had about as much energy as Honeykit. He looked like a boulder with legs, pretty much my mother but smaller and sturdier.

"What?" I asked. They were excited about something.

"We might get to go out of the nursery!" Honeykit shrieked.

I shot out of my nest. "No way!"

"Yes way! The snow let up for a while, so we can go see the elders!" Stonekit added.

I ran over to my mom.

"Can we, can we, can we, please please please?" we chorused.

"Of course," Cinderheart purred as she went back to grooming and gossiping with her friend Hazeltail.

We hadn't left the den in the entire one moon we'd been alive. As our mother had told us, we lived permanently in Leafbare and had for the last 24 moons. Nobody knew what was causing it, and nobody knew how to get us out of it.

Together, we spilled into the elder's den to listen to stories. We were soon interrupted by a shriek from the nursery where we lived.

"Jayfeather!" Cinderheart cried. "Squirrelflight's kits are coming! Hurry!"

The blind tom rushed out of the medicine den, paws churning through the layer of snow that reached up to his belly. Herbs were dangling from his jaws.

"Impossible!" he muttered. "They're at least three moons early!" Still, he beckoned with his tail to the eager Lilypaw running behind him with more herbs and a big stick.

"Go on, kits," Sorreltail mewed. "Go back to the nursery and see if you can help."

Honeykit and Stonekit shook their heads, but I nodded and left. The snow was deep and hard to get through, but nobody ever tripped over me. The black and gray on my pelt stood out, but the white blended in perfectly.

Snow was coming down again in a darkening sky as my tiny paws took me to the nursery. Lilypaw ran into me as she left.

"Stormkit," she panted. Her golden eyes found my green ones. "Help me carry herbs." She thrust a small pile at me and I picked them up.

Together we carried the herbs over to a shaking Squirrelflight. Her fur was drenched in sweat and her eyes were wide with fear.

Lilypaw and I sat together. Cinderheart was out in the medicine den with Briarlight and Hazeltail organizing herbs. The Clan was smaller and needed less herbs, due to the many deaths from the cold, but had many herbs and open paws.

Squirrelflight shrieked in pain. Her flank rippled. Blood spread across the moss on the floor.

"Lilypaw! Get some more moss to help absorb the blood. I think the cold made her kit early!" Jayfeather commanded.

Hours later we were barely able to see. Snow was coming down even harder and night was falling. Lilypaw and Jayfeather were whispering about how she probably wouldn't make it.

Squirrelflight's body convulsed. She moaned and picked up the stick. As a tiny wet bundle slid onto the moss, it splintered. This happened twice more. Both times they tried licking the kit, but each time they shook their heads and set it aside. Blood was all over the nursery floor.

"What's wrong with the kits?" I asked Lilypaw.

"They're dead," she whispered. "The cold sent her into labor early. We couldn't save them and I don't think we can save her either."

I stood in shock as they picked up the tiny kits. One had a ginger pelt and the other two had tabby.

The whole Clan stood mutely as Lilypaw and Jayfeather set them in the snow outside the nursery. Soon they were covered in a light dusting of white.

Icecloud and Bumblestripe stepped forward. They both helped carry the trembling Squirrelflight to the medicine den. The snow behind them was a rich red.

Bramblestar stood on the ledge above the camp. His eyes glinted in the moonlight. Quietly, he tuned and went back into his den.

During a Clan meeting later that night, it was revealed that Squirrelflight had passed away in the medicine den. They couldn't save her as she had lost too much blood in the early labor. The cold had made her deliver the kits too early for them to have a chance of living. Until the cold stopped, all queens were in danger of killing themselves and their kits in early labor.

Right there, as I remembered the tiny lives that had ended too soon, and the mother that had lost her life to save her kits, I vowed to save the ones in the future somehow.

Yellowfang snarled at me.

"Jayfeather, you idiot, the answer is right in front of you!"

I guess I looked lost and impatient, so she spelled it out for me.

"There are ancient creatures out there. Ice demons. You need a prophecy to stop them."

A shaking tortoiseshell stepped forward.

"The seven spirits of the ancient storm will melt the ice with the light of the sun, but until every life is lost the battle will not be won."

She drew back into the shadows.

"Don't you see?" Yellowfang was screaming at me. "It's a prophecy! One of the cats in your Clan will become leader! They'll lead the battle to kill these demons! You'll know when they're ready! Go! Go!"

I woke up shaking and in total darkness. As usual, snow dusted my pelt. But I had a prophecy. And I had a feeling it would be useful…

So, did you like it? Sorry it's so long. And overly dramatic. But soon I might be accepting OC's for kits! Look for that, okay?

xox, Meadowlace