Saturday, April 16, 2011

Prologue

Darkness crept along the tree lines, the dark green leaves faintly standing out against their darker surroundings. The night sky shimmered of dark black and lighter blue, with twinkling stars that faintly shone, disapproving of what was to come.

The gorse rattled a little far off, to reveal a tortoiseshell she-cat. Her green eyes reflected the willow trees leaves that faintly brushed her dappled pelt, as she narrowed her eyes. Eyes from the other side of the clearing flicked in her direction, narrowing in anger. 

Suddenly, the tortoiseshell broke into a run, her paws pounding on the floor as if they were made of stone, followed by her warriors. The cats of the other side broke free of the sheltering ferns, ready to meet their opponents. 

Yowls and screeches broke out as the cats leaped at each other with unsheathed claws and baring fangs. Fur tufts and blood fell to the floor as the cats fought hard, a battle to the death. The tortoiseshell sprang through the battle and pined down a dark brown tabby.

"Brownwhisker! Your warriors have hunted on our territory for the last time!" she snarled, baring her fangs to reveal sharp white, thorn-like teeth.

Brownwhisker let out a laugh. "Not after tonight, Larkfeather. After this, your territory will belong to HawkClan," Brownwhisker narrowed his eyes.

A screech flooded into Larkfeather's ear, and she turned to see a black tom with white splashes pinned underneath a silver flecked she-cats weight, as she bit down on his shoulder. Larkfeather looked at Brownwhisker for a heartbeat before running over to help her clanmate. Flinging herself on the she-cat, Larkfeather scratched down her flank, sending her fleeing into the bushes.

"Quick, Patchclaw, run to get Jaystar! We'll need more help to stop HawkClan." she ordered the injured tom. Patchclaw ran through the gorse, and Larkfeather waited till it stopped ruffling to continue.

The ShadeClan cats pricked in fear as they realized that Brownwhisker and his warriors were pushing them further into their territory. A huge black tom with bloody white paws let out a snarl, rolling over a brown tabby tom before bitting down on his flank.

"ShadeClan! Retreat!" a voice sounded at the top of the hallow. Both Larkfeather and the battle-scared dark tom looked to see a silver-and-gray tom standing at the top. "Retreat!" he called again. The ShadeClan cats looked up at him. Retreat? Larkfeather leaped on top to stare at him, followed by the black tom.

"Jaystar! ShadeClan will not loose this battle!" The black tom hissed to his leader.

Jaystar looked at him sternly. "I will not allow more warriors to die. Wolfshadow, I honor you courage, but we must stop until another day." Jaystar meowed, flicking his black tipped-tail for the ShadeClan cats to follow.

Larkfeather looked at Wolfshadow before following Jaystar, followed by the bloody ShadeClan warriors.

"Cowards! Never try to fight a battle you can't win! Losers!" Brownwhisker mocked after them, followed by his warriors laughing at the blood soaked gorse bush where the ShadeClan cats had fled. Wolfshadow looked from his position atop a willow tree branch. Narrowing his eyes before following his clanmates.

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Jaystar sat on the hillside, staring at the night sky. His winter-blue eyes were full of sadness and defeat, never to be healed fully. A black she-cat slipped from the bushes, almost invisible if it weren't for the silver streaks lining her pelt or her amber eyes that shone like the sun.

Jaystar dipped his head as she sat next to him, following his gaze. "How is Patchclaw and Petalsky?" Jaystar asked quickly. Petalsky was his sister, and she not only suffered from a scared flank, but a sliced belly.

His companion looked at him with grief. "Patchclaw will heal but... Petalsky died from her wounds." she meowed quickly, looking back at the stars.

Jaystar looked baffled. "They beat us in our own territory?" he asked. The black cat refused to answer nor meet his gaze, instead she kept watching the stars. "Nightsky... It isn't your fault that Petalsky died, nor that we were beaten. She will be avenged." Jaystar told her, comforting her even though it was his sister.

Nightsky looked back at Jaystar. "I had a message from StarClan. The Shade will end in the jaws of a Killer if the Ferns don't grow." Nightsky meowed, looking curiously at the stars.

"But... that doesn't make any sense!" he meowed.

Nightsky nodded. "But this is what StarClan has chosen to share with me, and I can't argue." she mewed.

"If StarClan has spoken, then this must be true." Jaystar agreed, looking back at the stars.

Authors Note: I know that this is like the prologue for Into the Wild, but it's the best way to introduce the story. Oh, and Moonstar, I made up names for your clan. Comment if you want to tell me more names for the gatherings!


~Fernsplash