Chapter One: Haywire Meeting

Emberlight jolted awake. No, that did not just happen, she told herself. I did not just get visited by Brightstar.

Brightstar had been the leader before Beechstar. Emberlight had only been a 'paw when Brightstar lost her last life, but she still remembered the great leader.

Emberlight heaved herself to her paws and headed out into the clearing to get assigned to a patrol.

...

I shouldn't be here right now, she thought grumpily as she trudged through ThunderClan territory within two fox-lengths of the lake. The moon was just above the tree-line, only a claw-scratch. Just like Brightstar said.

She froze when she saw a cat emerge from the trees and head in the direction of WindClan territory. She followed silently. She knew she had to get to the Moonpool, for Brightstar's sake at least.

The cat ahead froze when Emberlight came within a couple fox-lengths of him. He turned around and scanned the shoreline behind him. His eyes landed on Emberlight, her orange patches betraying her position.

He bared his teeth in a snarl. "What are you doing here, ShadowClan cat?"

Emberlight straitened up and replied with a snarl o her own, "I'm within two fox-lengths of the lake. You have no right to challenge me if I'm going to the Moonpool."

The blackish-grey tom stiffened and stared at her like he was trying to read her thoughts. His green eyes seemed to pierce right through Emberlight, and she shuddered unintentionally.

"Come on then," he said after a long pause. "Let's go together,"

Emberlight blinked in astonishment. He was inviting her to go with him to the Moonpool? What happened to 'Get of my territory or I'll make you'? Or 'You have no business there, leave now'? Was this tom absolutely feather-brained?

But Emberlight just nodded, with a slightly defiant and angry expression. She heard the tom fall in beside her, and she ignored it.

"I'm Darkfall, by the way," he said after a long white in silence.

"Emberlight," she snapped back. She didn't want to talk to this fox-hearted ThunderClan cat. He just nodded and asked, "So why are you heading to the Moonpool? Anything… special?"

Emberlight glared at him, trying to show him how much she resented his curiosity, and hissed back, "It's not your business. But nothing is wrong with ShadowClan, in case you thought that,"

He sighed a small sigh, and said, "Well, alright then. Be all snappish and vague. I'm going because I was visited by my mother and she told me to go there tonight. There."

Emberlgiht stopped dead. "You were visited?" she asked in shock. He nodded, and was able to produce a small, knowing smile.

"I take it you were visited too?" he said slyly. Emberlgiht bared her teeth again. "That may be the case," she snapped.

Darkfall looked up at the sky, and said, "We may want to hurry. The moon is getting higher in the sky." Emberlgiht glanced up, and sure enough, the moon was higher above the trees now. Darkfall bounded ahead, and Emberlight raced to catch up.

They reached the Moonpool after a tiring scurry up the rocky hill. As they reached the hollow where the Moonpool lay, Emberlight heard pawsteps at the top of the ridge. She whipped around to see two cats to the top of the hollow, with RiverClan and WindClan scent wafting down to her.

"Well," said one, a light orangish-ginger tom. "I guess we didn't expect you guys to be here."

"Yeah," replied Darkfall. "So did you guys get visited by some relative or ancestor or something?" Emberlight hissed at Darkfall and snapped, "Why are you so open, you fox-faced lizard-brain?"

The two at the top of the ridge exchanged a glance, and the tom replied again "Yes… we were visited." They bounded down into the hollow and joined Emberlight and Darkfall. Emberlight hissed at the light brown tabby she-cat when she lost her footing and collided with Emberlight. The tabby WindClan she-cat shrunk away and scurried over to the yellow-orange tom.

The RiverClan tom broke the silence by saying, "I'm Lightningtail, and my WindClan companion is Morningstripe."

Darkfall dipped his head to them and replied, "I'm Darkfall of ThunderClan, and the snappish ShadowClan cat is Emberlight." That earned him a hiss from the feisty orange-and-grey she-cat.

Lightningtail dipped his head in return, shooting a friendly and mischievous look at Emberlight. She shot her own disgusted and disdainful look back.

After a long pause, Emberlight blurted out, "Shouldn't we just touch our noses to the water and fall asleep already?"

Morningstripe nodded and looked at Lightningtail, as if looking for his acceptance. Ugh, weird, thought Emberlight. Looking for reassurance in a cat from a different Clan.

But they all laid near the water, and one by one touched their noses to the cold liquid. Emberlight was the last to fall asleep.

She felt like she was falling for what seemed like hours, but was really only seconds. She blinked open her eyes to find herself in a star-lit clearing with seven other cats. Four of them had sparkling fur, as if coated in frost. She recognized Brightstar to be one of them.

The other three cats were the ones asleep in the Moonpool's hollow with her.

"Welcome," said Brightstar. Three of the four living cats swiveled their attention to her, although Lightningtail kept his eyes glued on a sleek golden she-cat.

"I know you are probably wondering why we have brought you here. Well, truth be told, others need your help. I cannot tell you much, but I can tell you that you will not be able to see your Clanmates for a long time yet."

Emberlight widened her eyes in fear and confusion. The other three were wearing identical expressions, including Lightningtail, who had managed to peel his eyes away from the golden she-cat.

This time, a small, lithe tom spoke. "I know this is confusing. I am sorry we can't tell you more. But this is all for the best of…. Everyone." There was something ominous about the way that the tom said "everyone".

Then, the golden she-cat stood up. "You are going somewhere far away. But don't worry, you needn't worry about how to get there.

Finally, a pale grey she-cat finished, "Good luck. This next part may be a bit…. Weird." She looked over at Darkfall. "Stay safe, son."

Lightningtail leaped to his feet when they began to fade. "Goldencloud! Don't leave me again!" But they had already gone.

Then, Emberlight shut her eyes, but it was more like something forced her eyes closed. She felt cold all over, and as if her fur had suddenly been stripped away. She felt very uncomfortable, and it felt as if something were suddenly weighing her down. She thrashed in the darkness, but nothing happened.

Then Emberlight felt the coolness of water on her nose, and sighed with relief. She was back at the Moonpool.

Then she snapped open her eyes.

Hey! first Chapter finally here! YAY! I hope you get what happened at the very end, which I assume you should. Anyways, I'm glad you are reading my story! YAY!

Reviews would be much appreciated!

Go on, spectacular BookWormies!

~Creek