Brightwhisker: Here's the prologue :D I've been busy trying to catch all the stupid stinkbugs in my room, which is why it has taken me a while to write this up.

Galacia: *Is busy watching Sailor Moon*

Brightwhisker: - - Some friend.

P.R.O.L.O.U.G.E

Silvery strands of clouds stretched across the moonlight sky. Stars surrounded the moon as it shed its silvery light above the lake. The air was bitterly cold, thanks to the northern winds that swept across the forest. Frost had already touched the leaves of trees, killing just about any plant within its grasp. Shadows danced along the forest floor as creatures searched for places to rest. Their movements were urgent. It was a sign that this leafbare would be worse than any other.

A lone mouse had found a small hole in the earth. His instincts told him to fight for the prime nest. Spots like these were often difficult to find, especially for a smaller creature like him. Yet he held back. Something else was lurking within the hole, waiting to strike. The mouse was about to turn tail and run when a sudden flurry of claws and teeth met his end. It was a killing blow to his neck, and he didn't feel any pain.

The attacker was a powerfully built golden tabby tom. Sharp amber eyes pierced through the silvery darkness as others joined him. A gray tabby she-cat and a black and white tom had also been hunting in the same area. Both had prey in their jaws; a thrush and a shrew. Their catch was small, compared to what they could normally catch. They would have to go out later in the morning if they wanted to feed their Clan.

"When do you think the frost will end?" asked the black and white tom. Despite his young appearance, he made a formidable warrior. The other Clans had been forced to back away from him during confrontations at Gatherings. To his Clanmates he was friendly and boisterous, like any other tom. This was what had made him popular in the Clan.

"It'll end when leafbare ends," replied the gray tabby. She was older than the golden tabby. At one point he had shown affection towards her, but that all went downhill when he told her his secret. That he couldn't be harmed in battle. Their relationship had ended bitterly when the golden tabby fell in love with another. The gray tabby refused to speak with him, even when they were on patrols.

"That's all you could catch?" The sharp mew came from a dark brown tabby who had been guarding the camp. He eyed their measly catch suspiciously.

"Sorry Dustpelt," meowed the golden tabby. "Most of the prey decided to hide in their burrows while we went out on a moonlight hunt."

He hated the idea of hunting at night. Night hunting was a technique used by ShadowClan, and he preferred to keep it that way. It was Bramblestar who had decided to take night hunting as an opportunity to fill the fresh-kill pile. Most of the prey a ThunderClan cat ate though hid during the night. The golden tabby had done everything he could to appease the new ThunderClan leader. It was his only chance of becoming deputy.

"If you ask me we should be patrolling the borders, not hunting prey," muttered the gray tabby.

She shook her pelt and padded towards the fresh-kill pile, dropping the shrew as she did so. The golden tabby followed as his other companion did the same. He was desperate to find out how his mate had done tonight.

The reason he'd been chosen to lead the patrol was because she'd been giving birth. After listening to her piercing cries, the golden tabby had become a nervous wreck. Graystripe, the current deputy, had forced him to leave. The long-haired gray tom had told him that he would only make things worse.

He flicked his tail and trotted towards the nursery. The warm scent of milk reached his nose. It was an unfamiliar scent.

The last time he'd been in the nursery was when he had been a kit. Those memories were nothing but bitter sorrow to him.

"How is she?" he asked as he entered the nursery.

Another, smaller gray tabby was crouched beside a small gray and white she-cat. Her belly had lost half of its weight. At its side, were two tiny bundles of fur. Another unfamiliar feeling of pride swelled within the new father as he joined them.

"She's fine, Lionblaze," the gray tabby replied. "It all went smoothly."

"You can stop worrying about me," the she-cat purred. "It's their names you need to worry about."

She shifted her body a little. Lionblaze studied the two kits carefully. Neither of them looked anything like their mother. One was a dark ginger kit, with a strange mark on her tail. The other was a small gray-brown tabby tom with a white-tipped tail. Both looked more like him than their mother.

"Why don't we name the dark ginger one Copperkit?" he asked. I don't think Firekit is a good choice, he thought guiltily.

Firestar, the former ThunderClan leader, had died two moons ago. The flame-colored leader had been killed by the jaws of a passing fox that had threatened the entire forest. It was only thanks to him that it had disappeared. Most of the Clan had gotten over his death. The death of a leader was a sad one, but life had to move on. Lionblaze still had yet to believe that was true. The memory of Firestar would always live on in ThunderClan, no matter how hard cats tried to push it away.

"Copperkit is a perfect name," the queen murmured. "Why don't we name the tom Mallowkit," she suggested.

"Copperkit and Mallowkit." Lionblaze breathed the words out. It felt as though StarClan themselves were looking down upon the two new kits of ThunderClan.

Suddenly he felt a sharp tug on his tail. Lionblaze whirled around, only to see that the gray tabby was glaring at him.

"I need to speak with you," he growled.

Lionblaze blinked in confusion as he disappeared from the nursery. He glanced over his shoulder. His mate was grooming Copperkit, who had wriggled from her spot. He knew that she would notice his disappearance, but it was only temporary. It must be urgent if the medicine cat had called him like that.

"What is it Jayfeather?" he demanded as he followed his brother.

The gray tabby turned around and faced Lionblaze. His hackles were rising. "There's something unsettling about Copperkit," he meowed. "I couldn't tell at first what it was, but now I think I understand."

"Why are you acting like something is wrong about my kits?" Lionblaze snarled.

He didn't want his kits to suffer what he and his siblings went through. The sacrifices they made. Neither of his kits deserved the same fate as he and Jayfeather, or Dovesong for that matter.

"She is Marked." Jayfeather whispered the word Marked. Lionblaze felt his fur stand on end when Jayfeather stared him in the eyes. "The Marked have come, bringing with them a storm even greater than ours. Four there will be, and a rise of power will come."

Jayfeather's shoulders suddenly sagged. Lionblaze leaned forward, resting his tail tip on them. "If what you say is true, than there are others like Copperkit?" he asked.

"She is not alone," Jayfeather replied. "There are three more like her, and more to come."

After his vision had cleared, Jayfeather calmed down a bit. Lionblaze could sense the unease rolling off of his brother. The Marked had arrived. A storm was coming, far greater than their own. And there was nothing the Three could do to stop it.

Brightwhisker: Finally I got this prologue done! I'd say it's my longest one yet.

Galacia: So? I've written far longer prologues. I think my longest one was two thousand words ;D

Brightwhisker: You never published it, so it doesn't count :P Anyways, please leave a review! Anyone who does will get a Lionblaze plushie!