A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Updated Alliances are at the bottom! Please enjoy the next chapter! SO MUCH will be revealed!
Chapter Eight
Rain poured from swollen black clouds that hung over the RockClan camp. Cactusthorn's green eyes reflected from the she-cat warrior's den. Her fur was ruffled up from the cold weather as she stared into another den with large, sympathetic green eyes. Across the camp, two lonely kits sat with their tails placed gently over their paws. Soon, their father, Gorseclaw, padded up to them. One kit, with fur as white as snow, leaped to her paws with excitement, but soon, she was shooed away with a bristly tail of Gorseclaw. He looked down at his son with pride gleaming in his eyes as the white she-cat padded away with her tail dragging in the mud. Cactusthorn's already spiked-fur bristled on end. She leaped to her paws and thundered across the camp with her tail high. "How dare you disown her! What did she ever do to deserve to be forgotten by all she has left?" Cactusthorn snapped at the large light brown tom.
Gorseclaw's green eyes sparked with anger. "How dare you speak to me like that?" He roared at her.
Cactusthorn began to cower as he loomed over her. "I will decide who I love and who I care about! Not you!" He growled as he raised his paw.
Anger and pure rage surged through her veins, as she gained all the strength and sprang up on her paw. She arched her back and hissed. "I will not be treated like a slave in my own Clan!" She yowled at the top of her lungs.
Gorseclaw's eyes grew wide with shock. She ignored the surprised tom and ran after the small white kit. "Good job, young one," the same voice from before rustled in her ear.
She straighten herself and looked around, but there was no one in sight. She spotted Winterkit hovering in a corner of a crack in a rock. "Come here, Winterkit," she whispered to the small kit.
"I don't want to! I want Robinwing! She always cared about me!" The little kit hissed at Cactusthorn.
Cactusthorns fur quivered as she dared to scoot closer to the angry kit. "You have Sunspirit now. And me, I'll care for you and maybe I'll get the honor to train you some-day," she meowed encouragingly.
The little kits blue eyes sparkled with happiness. "Really?" She purred.
Cactusthorn nodded then wrapped her unusually long tail around the small kit. "Just wait until you're an apprentice," she purred happily.
Cactusthorn looked into the sky to see the stars twinkle back at her. The moon glistened in the sky, which reflected off a small drinking pool in the camp. She bent her head down a lapped at the water. As she lifted her muzzle, a new scent flared in her nostrils. She looked around, but no one seemed to be near her. She shrugged off the scent, and began to make her way to the she-cat warriors den. As she settled down in her nest beside her sister, Splashfur. Sleep greeted her fairly quick.
She snapped her eyes open to see the familiar ground of StarClan, but they had changed drastically. The grass was no longer soft user her paws, it was brown and hard. The leaves decorated the crisp ground and the tree branches were bare. "Where am I?" She whispered into empty air.
"It used to be StarClan," a harsh, she-cat voice answered.
She whipped around to see a she-cat with long fire-like fur. Her amber eyes glittered with worry and defiance as she padded closer to Cactusthorn. "Who are you?" She asked the ginger she-cat.
"I am Flame, the founder of VolcanoClan," she replied with a snort as she settled down and wrapped her tail over her paws.
Cactusthron's fur bristled. "How dare you abandon your friends! Boulder, Mist, and Twig are vanishing!" She growled.
Flame's amber eyes flared with rage. "I did not abandon them! They abandoned me when... Nevermind. The fact is, it is up to you to save the Clans! My blood runs in yours, Cactusthorn," she hissed with a lash of her long tail.
Cactusthorns mouth gaped open. "How? I'm nothing more than an outsider to the Clan!" She responded.
Flame shook her head. "No.. You're father lives on, in RockClan. And your mother is a descendant from VolcanoClan. Her mother's mother was the last litter born into VolcanoClan before..." She trailed off as she closed her eyes.
The she-cat opened them to reveal determination and anger. "You will save the Clans, Cactusthorn! It is your destiny!" She yowled.
"My father lives in RockClan? Who?" She asked.
"A cat that taught with fire in his heart and blood on his claws. A cat who betrayed the one he loved," she responded as she looked away.
"Fireclaw?" Cactusthorn gasped, "who did he betray?"
"Find the one that lurks in the shadows on the border between good and evil, you will find your answer there, Cactusthorn," Flame responded as she flicked her tail.
Cactusthorns vision began to fade. She tried to yowl for the she-cat not to go. If she needed to be taught about she-cat slavery, Flame was the cat that could do it. She jolted awake in her nest with her fur on end. "A great danger lurks beneath your nose," Flame's familiar voice echoed in her ears.
Alliances
RockClan
LEADER: Hollowstar- large, black tom with dark brown stripes and yellow eyes (Briarpaw)
DEPUTY: Fireclaw- dark ginger tom with sharp claws
MEDICINE-CAT: Petalbloom- calico she-cat with emerald-green eyes
WARRIORS: Windwhisper-sand colored tom with blue eyes
Rushfall- dark grey she-cat with green eyes
Eagletalon- dark brown tom with white paws and tail-tip and yellow eyes (Thistlepaw)
Hareleap- light and dark brown she-cat with blue eyes
Sandwhisker- small sand colored tom with green eyes
Gorseclaw- light brown tabby tom with green eyes
Silverdream- silver she-cat with blue eyes (Alderpaw)
Jayflight- grey tom with darker tabby stripes and blue eyes
Blacknight- jet black tabby tom with yellow-green eyes
Rosedance- creamy she-cat with light brown forepaws and tail-tip
Hawkpelt- pretty grey she-cat with light brown tabby markings and black hind legs with light blue eyes tinted with grey
Silverdrop- a silver she cat with black dapples over body and green eyes
Darkwater- dark brown tabby tom with two white forepaws and blue eyes
Splashfur- black she-cat with blue green eyes and a fluffy tail
Cactusthorn- black and ginger patched she-cat with white muzzle and paws and green eyes
APPRENTICES: Briarpaw- large dark brown tabby tom
Alderpaw- pretty dark ginger she-cat with green eyes
Thistlepaw- friendly, light brown tom with green eyes
QUEENS: Sunspirit- golden she-cat with white forepaws and blue eyes (Expecting Blacknight's kits; Mothering Robinwing's and Gorseclaw's kits: Winterkit- pure white she-cat and Nutkit- pale brown tabby tom with green eyes)
ELDERS: Brackenfoot- dark brown tom with white paws and yellow eyes
Sandfur- sandy colored she-cat with green eyes (former medicine-cat)
Lillyfur- is a light grey she-cat with light blue eyes
Pebbletooth- frail, light brown tabby tom with blind, blue eyes
A/N: I need at least 60 reviews before I post the next chapter! So REVIEW! And you guys should definitely try to meet that mark! HINT: the next chapter is very important! Thanks! :)
-Nightspirit