PROLOGUE
A gentle breeze ruffled the pine trees that lined the small moonlight meadow. A large striped tomcat sat in front of a small pool, peering down into the water. His pelt seemed to weave among the shadows, camouflaging him even out in the open.
Suddenly, a small heather bush rustled as two cats emerged from it. One of them was a slender golden she-cat with a long, waving tail. The other was an orangey-brown tom. He was smaller than the striped cat, but strength and confidence pulsed through his stride. "Tiger." He greeted the striped tom with a curt nod.
Tiger grunted, looking up from the pool. "Can't you spare a better greeting than that for your brother?" the she-cat meowed with a small roll of her eyes.
"Be quiet, Leopard. We have better things to talk about," Tiger told her. "They're nearly reading for their apprenticeship."
"Already?" the other tom meowed in surprise.
"Haven't you been paying any attention, Lion?" Leopard growled, sitting down beside Tiger. Lion opened his mouth to retort, but then slowly closed it and padded over to the pool.
"Do you think they're ready?" Lion asked.
"We should wait until their apprenticeship, don't you think?" Leopard suggested, licking her paw and swiping it over her ear.
"Indeed. After all, we don't want to push it," Tiger agreed, his deep voice rumbling through the air. Lion nodded to the others, signifying his agreement.
"Alright then. I suppose I should be going, now," Leopard meowed. "Call for me again when they're ready, will you?" Tiger nodded. Leopard rose before bounding into the undergrowth.
"Goodbye until next time, brother," Lion meowed. With that, he followed Leopard into the dark forest, leaving Tiger to sit alone once again. He glanced upward at the night sky dotted with twinkling stars.
"Soon…" he whispered. "Soon."
Notes: Kind of a meh prologue in my opinion. Also kind of short. It does its job, I guess.