Here's the prologue for you all.
If you're wondering why so many ShadowClan cats died, it will be explained later. But for now, Blackstar died after the Great Battle, and most of those listed were elders, therefore they were more frail and susceptible to death than other cats.
In my opinion these first few chapters could have come out better, but I've poured over them for a month and there's really nothing more I can add or take away.
I have received some complaints about Leafpool being the medicine cat of ThunderClan again. I have no problem with this, as I believe she should be a medicine cat since it's what makes her happy - but I was going by what is canon. It has been stated by one of the Erins that Leafpool returned to her duties after the Great Battle. Since Bramblestar's Storm isn't out yet, there's no way of confirming or denying this - so I'm sticking to Leafpool going back to her job.
Prologue
Wind rustled through the trees, whispering against their leaves. Starlight lit up the forest like the moon, and the stars twinkled above, so close to the world that it seemed you would only need to reach out to feel their frosty light; their brightness rivaled the moon. The grass was long, healthy, and teeming with life; every bush rustled with the might and strength of greenleaf.
A shape flitted beneath the cloudless sky – the lean shape of a feline, their pelt glowing like flame in the moonlight. The tom was crouched, his green eyes focused on a waving patch of tall grass. He leaped, and the grass rustled. He emerged with his kill – a fat mouse, fatter than any mouse he had ever seen.
Another shape melted out of the undergrowth, their pelt speckled with stars. If the tom squinted, he could just barely detect the forest through them. The she-cat's blue-gray pelt glowed silver in the moonlight, and she took a step closer.
"How are you liking it here, Firestar?" she asked.
Firestar set down the mouse to free his mouth. "It's amazing!" he exclaimed. "I never thought the mice would be this fat! And greenleaf, forever? It's spectacular, Bluestar – everything I imagined and more."
Bluestar's blue eyes were warm, and she purred, "I'm glad you like it here."
Firestar blinked at her. "I'm here now, I know – but I can't help but admit that there are other places where I would rather spend my days…" he meowed.
Sympathy flooded Bluestar. He had lost so much and been through so many hardships on his journey, and now he was here. "Sandstorm will join us," Bluestar meowed. "So will Graystripe. Not immediately, but soon…"
Firestar shook his head. "I do not want to think about the deaths of my friends," he admitted. "But I wish they were here. It's been great catching up with Ravenpaw and all the others that have passed, but… I miss them, Bluestar. I miss ThunderClan, and everything it meant to be their leader."
"They are in good paws," Bluestar assured him. "Bramblestar was destined to be leader, and like you he will lead ThunderClan with the highest honor. Firestar, there is no need to worry."
"No need to worry?" Firestar questioned. "Bluestar, you know as well as I do that peace doesn't last long. There will always be some greater danger ahead. What if Bramblestar doesn't have the strength to lead ThunderClan through it? It's been nearly two whole seasons since the Dark Forest attacked, and yet I can't shake the feeling that something is just waiting on the horizon…"
Bluestar padded up to her former apprentice. The smell of his mouse was tantalizing, but she had already eaten. She touched her nose to his. "That is why we are here, Firestar," she told him. "We are here to help and guide the cats below; to give them the strength they need. There may not ever be a threat greater than the Dark Forest, but there will always be a need for us."
Firestar sighed. He bent down and devoured his mouse in a few famished, nervous gulps. Bluestar waited for him to finish his meal. When he was washing the scraps from his muzzle and whiskers, Bluestar laid her tail on his shoulders.
"Come with me," she told him.
"Where are we going?" Firestar asked.
"Yellowfang is looking into the pool," Bluestar explained, "to determine the future of the Clans. Come; we shall look with her." Perhaps this would put his mind at ease.
Firestar nodded and followed Bluestar through the thick forest. On the way, they spotted cats from all the Clans – ones that Firestar knew, like Whitestorm and Lionheart, and ones he didn't – hunting, sharing tongues, and sparring with one another. They passed a huge hunting party led by Oakheart of RiverClan and Tallstar of WindClan, a dozen starlit warriors streaming behind them through the greenleaf-rick forest. Firestar felt the wind stir his pelt, and he longed to let it lift him off his paws and into the fray.
He continued following Bluestar. The trees were beginning to thin out, and soon enough they were in a clearing. A glittering pool lay in the center, as big as five cats lying vertically and horizontally, and it was smooth as ice. A large, smooth stone jutted from the shore and reached out towards the center of the pool. Ferns and bushes lined its shores, creating a lush, lovely environment.
Mist floated up from the pool, starlight trapped within the vapors like flies in a spiderweb. Firestar was mystified.
Yellowfang sat atop the smooth stone, her pelt ragged even here in StarClan. Like Bluestar, if one looked hard enough, they could see she was fading slightly. Her flat face was inches from the pool's surface, and her yellow eyes were burning with concentration.
"Greetings, Yellowfang," Bluestar called. "What do you see?"
Yellowfang looked up. Her face sparkled with starlight and condensation. She twitched her whiskers. "Nothing, now that you've interrupted me," she replied.
Firestar twitched his whiskers, grateful that the old she-cat hadn't lost a speck of her temper.
Yellowfang purred and meowed, "What is it you want?"
"Firestar wishes to look upon ThunderClan," Bluestar meowed.
"Just to ease my own worries," Firestar added.
"Missing the old days, are you?" Yellowfang rasped. She stood up and meowed, "Grab a piece of bracken, then, and throw it into the pool."
Firestar searched the shore and found a frond. He bit it off with his teeth and padded around the pool and up the stone, until he stood beside Yellowfang. He tossed it into the pool.
It landed with a silent splash before sinking. Firestar's eyes followed the dark shape as it sank to the bottom, dissolving into starlight. The pool began to glow, and mist wafted from the waters. The smell of ThunderClan, familiar as his own, touched his nose, and he closed his eyes to drink it in.
When he opened them, he was shocked – the pool displayed ThunderClan's camp! Warmth filled Firestar from his toes to his ears as he watched his Clan go about their lives: Squirrelflight padded out of the nursery, a dappled kit by her side. Bramblestar nuzzled her, his eyes sparkling with pride. Jayfeather squeezed in past them with a bundle of herbs in his mouth – Firestar could hear the mewling of a newborn kit in the nursery. A group of warriors – led by Brackenfur – set out on patrol, while Cloudtail arranged a hunting party of Spiderleg, Foxleap, and Rosepetal. Lilyflight and Seedfur were sleeping off their warrior's vigil. Amberkit, Dewkit, and Snowkit were play-fighting outside the nursery, and Cloudtail stopped to give them a greeting before he set out.
Firestar sighed in happiness. ThunderClan was doing well – better than he imagined. The pool shimmered, and suddenly Firestar was looking at the whole of ThunderClan territory, soaring above the trees as if he were a bird. Even though he couldn't see them, he knew that the borders were well defended, and that no cat dared cross them. Pride surged through Firestar like flame.
The pool shimmered again, and suddenly Firestar was back in the camp. Time had clearly passed – the kit that had been at Squirrelflight's side was now an apprentice, padding alongside her mentor Spiderleg. Beside them was another apprentice, her fur still kit-soft. Berrynose stood beside her, proud and tall – Firestar sensed that he had recently been named the apprentice's mentor. Like before, the entire Clan seemed content.
Firestar blinked, and the pool's image changed. He was now looking down at the hollow that sheltered the Moonpool in its stony grip – the shimmering pool, so like the one Firestar was looking in now, was cool and clear, reflecting the sky perfectly.
And then it changed.
A ripple passed across the Moonpool. Its reflection changed, shifting and warping until it reflected nothing at all. The water was flat and gray-white, smooth as ice and reflective as stone. Firestar's heart began to pound.
Dark smoke billowed out from beneath the surface of the Moonpool, smoke that billowed like a cloud until the entire pool was nothing but darkness.
Firestar blinked, and the pool had transported him back to ThunderClan's camp. Instead of being bright and full of life, the camp was desolate and deserted. Firestar's claws dug into the stone he stood on, his eyes wide as possible. Bodies lay in the center of the camp, and those few ThunderClan cats who remained were bedraggled and weak, thin and spent. Berrynose's apprentice lay before the limp, rumpled figure of her mentor, whose cream fur was stretched thin over bone. Her pelt glowed like a light in the darkness of this future.
Voices whispered in his ears, voices he had never heard before and wished to never hear again: Four will become two; two will become one – the dark fever will claim all those untouched by the stone's light.
A shiver ran down Firestar's spine, so powerful it knocked him backwards with a yowl of horror.
"Firestar!" exclaimed Bluestar.
Firestar opened his eyes to find himself in the lush grass of StarClan. Shivering uncontrollably, he stood up, worried his legs might not hold him.
"I saw the pool go dark," Yellowfang rumbled. Her eyes were narrowed on her flattened face. "What did you see?"
Firestar's eyes were wide. How could he explain it? Yet, somehow, he managed to repeat what he had seen to the she-cats.
Bluestar's fur was bristling in horror. Yellowfang's eyes were wide.
"Is it just ThunderClan?" Bluestar demanded.
Before Firestar could answer, Yellowfang meowed, "I'll gather the others. We'll figure this out, Firestar; and we'll find a way to stop it."
The ragged dark she-cat was gone. Bluestar trembled beside him, her blue-gray fur bristling to its very ends. Firestar stood beside her, shocked and terrified.
What was this dark future for ThunderClan, and what could they possibly do to prevent it?