Thank you so much for the reviews! I really, really appreciate them. They make my day!

Well, here's the first chapter, a day later than I wanted to get it out. Oh well. Hopefully this will give you a better idea for what the story is about and what the title should be! Enjoy :)

Chapter 1

Mountainkit's POV

Eyes finally opened, revealing a brilliant blue. They blinked a few times, trying to focus on something… anything. All that could be seen was a blur of unbearably bright green that was suddenly smothered by light brown.

"Mountainkit! Your eyes are open!"

Mountainkit's eyes struggled to adjust to the previously unknown light. Finally, the brown figure began to take shape. The first thing he noticed was that the cat was not just one color. His short fur was a mosaic of a hundred shades ranging from creamy white to a few wisps of oak brown. When Mountainkit drew back, however, the colors merged to form a layered sandy brown.

"Are you alright, Mountainkit?"

Mountainkit's gaze traveled up to the cat's face and settled on its pale blue eyes. He was surprised at what he saw. Instead of joy at seeing him open his eyes, the cat's blue depths were smothered with grief and ringed with wet. Mountainkit couldn't understand it.

"Your sister's eyes are already open," the cat murmured, gesturing with his head towards a kit at his side.

Mountainkit's gaze traveled down to the tiny gray ball of fur, made smaller by the sand-colored cat. She looked back at him with identical blue eyes, hers sparkling with excitement and darting around occasionally to capture every surrounding.

Mountainkit looked back up at the brown cat. His ears had only opened six sunrises ago, eight days after he was born. He could remember the voice of his mother, soft and sweet, but he had never heard the voice of his father before his eyes had opened. This must be him.

He gave a high-pitched mew and stumbled over to his father's side, nestling into his warm fur.

.

Sanddune's POV

Six Moons Earlier

"How was the Gathering?"

"Ugh, MapleClan's gotten worse. Half of them refuse to even talk to OakClan at all."

"I can guess who was among the other half."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I don't like when you talk to him, Riverbend."

Riverbend glared at her brother, pale blue eyes identical to his flashing with frustration. "I don't know who you're talking about." Her gaze dared him to say more.

"Autumnleaf just wants to stir up trouble and you seem to be his easy target."

"Sanddune!" Riverbend exclaimed, appalled.

Sanddune hated lying to his sister. Autumnleaf was one of the most genuine cats he had ever met. He seemed to be the only MapleClan cat that was against this horrible border battle. However, with the tensions rising to a breaking point, the last thing the two Clans needed was a forbidden love, and Sanddune couldn't help but notice the way she had looked at him at the last Gathering he had been to. Nevertheless, he couldn't find a reply.

Riverbend filled the silence with a growl. "You respect him just as much as I do. Don't you dare lie to my face."

Sanddune let out a heavy sigh, resignation in his pale blue eyes.

Riverbend softened at her brother's look. "Harmless flirtation. That's all it is. I promise."

"Heard that one before," Sanddune muttered.

.

Mountainkit's POV

Moving again?

Mountainkit felt like his entire life was on the move and now, ever since he opened his eyes, his father had forced him to walk a lot of it by himself. His paws felt like they were about to fall off. Luckily the forest floor had dried from that rain.

All Mountainkit could remember from that horrible night was his mother's voice and being lifted gently onto his father's back. The rest was drowned out by pounding water and the feeling of being so cold that he had wanted to die. He couldn't remember if the distant shrieks were from that night as well… or if they were from some terrible dream.

"It's not that far," his father meowed, breaking him from his memories, "Just let me know when you get tired."

Mountainkit nodded, learning to hear faster than he was learning to speak.

Already he looked up so much to his father. He loved his name. Sanddune. It sounded so good to his ears. He also loved his voice, and the way he described everything around them. Sanddune pointed out everything: trees, shrubs, flowers, animals! Mountainkit just wished he could ask him about his mother. Where was she now? Had she abandoned them?

Mountainkit traveled with his sister and father until his paws started to ache and his stomach rumbled. That was another thing he didn't understand. Where was that warm liquid that used to fill his belly?

"Are you hungry?" Sanddune inquired, even more worry than usual in his light blue eyes.

Mountainkit and his sister, Dewkit, nodded eagerly.

"Wait here."

His father left their sides, heading quickly and nervously into the forest with his nostrils flaring. Mountainkit watched Sanddune until he disappeared out of sight before turning back to Dewkit and the thin stream they had been walking along. He padded to its mossy edge and flicked his tongue into the clear water, enjoying the cold of the water sliding down his throat.

As much as he loved and respected his father, he couldn't understand how sad he was all the time. Sanddune could talk as enthusiastically about maple trees and ferns as he wanted, but there was still that look in his eyes… constantly. Grief plagued them like an unrelenting sickness. Mountainkit wondered if it had something to do with his mother or that rainy night.

Just as he was trying to remember her voice again, he felt an impact on his side and he tumbled over, barely keeping from slipping into the stream. He landed on his back and looked up in surprise, instantly finding bright blue eyes looking playfully back at him. "Dewkit!" he squeaked, although it sounded more like "Duked!" since he was still learning to speak.

His sister didn't even try to pronounce his name but instead batted at his muzzle before darting back, daring him to attack. He got to his large brown paws quickly and tackled his sister, easily pinning her to the ground. She was barely half his size.

"Well done, Mountainkit. You'll be a great fighter one day."

Mountainkit looked up at his approaching father, brightening at the praise.

Yet the twinkle in Sanddune's blue eyes disappeared as quickly as it had come and by the time he had dropped the mouse he had caught at the two kits' paws, his eyes were back to their usual dull state.

"I hope you can live without milk. Obviously I don't have any." He didn't even bother to chuckle as emotion overwhelmed him and he had to turn away.

Mountainkit looked at his sister, but she didn't seem to have noticed. Instead, she was circling the mouse, unsure of how to eat it. Mountainkit looked back up at Sanddune and frowned. Just ignore it, he thought and turned his attention to the prey.

.

Sanddune's POV

Five Moons Earlier

Sanddune stood in the shadows of the short cliff that created the walls of OakClan's camp. Moonlight glinted off his pale blue eyes, which were trained on the small cavern in the rock that served as the warriors den. He attempted to keep his light brown fur from standing out in the darkness by shuffling his way backwards into a fern until most of his body was shaded. Then he settled down to wait.

I can't let her do this.

Just as his eyelids began to droop, a cat emerged from the shadows. The moonlight struck her pelt and the gray fur glowed silver. Her light blue eyes darted around nervously, but her watcher was well hidden.

Riverbend.

Sanddune had almost began to think… well… to hope, that she wouldn't emerge that night. He watched as his sister made her way to his left, towards the back of the camp, where the rock had split, creating a narrow passageway that gradually sloped upwards until it emerged into the higher elevated forest.

He gave plenty of distance before following her into the tunnel. Tree roots pierced through the soft rock and created a dark canopy over him. Her fresh scent was easy to follow, but Sanddune hated the horrible feeling rising in his stomach. He knew where she was headed…

The MapleClan border.

Ever since the last Gathering, his sister had been leaving often. Mostly it was during the day, while a lot of the cats were asleep. Occasionally, like today, it was during the night when cats were on patrols or taking a much-needed nap. Sanddune had ignored it at first, convincing himself that it was nothing. He had warned her. She had listened. She couldn't possibly be going against him. But then it had become so frequent that he gave up hoping. And now here he was, emerging from the passageway and turning to the right to follow his sister's scent. His heart dropped. It was headed straight towards the MapleClan border.

Sanddune picked up his pace, weaving between pine trees until he broke into the oak forest. Birches popped up occasionally, their white-barked trunks glowing with the moonlight dripping in between the leaves of the canopy. He slowed when he spotted the first maple tree.

The maple tree wasn't too far away from the border agreed on so many seasons ago. Yet now, this maple tree was where MapleClan wanted the line to be drawn. Let the border battle begin…

Sanddune heard a voice up ahead.

"Autumnleaf!"

The light brown tom picked his way through the undergrowth as silently as he could until he reached a spot where he could see them. He sucked in a breath when he saw them rub noses, their purrs heard from quite a distance away.

The two cats murmured a few things that Sanddune couldn't hear.

"Are you going to the Gathering?" Riverbend finally inquired.

Autumnleaf nodded. "Are you?"

"Yes, I-"

"Good. We'll see each other there." Autumnleaf' moss green eyes were warm.

"No…" Riverbend's gray head angled towards the ground.

"What?"

"Sanddune's going to be there."

Sanddune's brown ears perked when he heard his name and he felt a rush of anger.

Autumnleaf took a step forward. "What do you mean?" he asked, concern in his gaze.

"He knows… He knows I like you. He notices everything. I can't give him any more reason to suspect us."

"Has he confronted you?"

"After the last Gathering he did…"

"But he doesn't know you've been seeing me?"

"No… I mean, he hasn't said anything…"

"Riverbend, we've been doing this way too often..." Autumnleaf turned away. Sanddune could now see his drooped tail, its fur almost the exact same color as his own.

"What do you mean?"

"You said he noticed everything. How could he not have noticed your absence after this many times?" Riverbend was silent and Sanddune couldn't see the emotion in her eyes. Autumnleaf pressed on, "Where was he tonight? Patrol?"

"He was on the border patrol that came back before I left. The next patrol isn't for a while."

"So he was sleeping in the warriors den when you left?"

Riverbend paused. "I… I don't… I don't know," she stammered.

"Do you think he could've followed you?"

Riverbend didn't answer and Sanddune seized his chance. He didn't like confrontation, but as he looked back at the maple tree, he knew that this was bigger than himself. It was a forbidden love at the breaking point of an all-out Clan war. He thought of the consequences: trust lost, tempers flared, cats killed… And with that, he stood up from his crouched position in a fern, similar to the one back in camp.

"Riverbend, could he have followed you?" Autumnleaf repeated, worry written all over his face.

Sanddune answered for her.

"Yes."