Prologue[]
The swift cat darted out of the two-leg nest, her amber gaze clouded with fear. She was holding two, no, three small kits in her jaws. Shadowsight caught a glimpse of them, one pale gray kit, another had cream colored fur, and the smallest, a dark brown kit that looked like his mother. Shadowsight ducked down in the tall graze so the cat could not see him. He watched as the mysterious cat scurried over to the old barn. Once the cat had gotten the kits in the barn, she scrambled to get inside. Her head was just peeking out, and she was staring at the two-leg nest, then she quickly turned around and fed her kits. Shadowsight peered over his shoulder and noticed two figures behind him. Aspenstar! The leader looked at him, her eyes filled with curiousity. "What have you found, Shadowsight?" Her tone made it sound like Shadowsight was guilty of something. "There's a mother and three kits in that barn." He replied, "They aren't going to survive that long if they get trapped in that barn, plus, there's a storm coming, I can smell it." The leader tasted the misty air. "You're right." She murmured. "Thistlewing, you and Bramblesight go fetch the kits. Shadowsight, you can help me convince the mother to either join us or become a Heatherclan prisoner." Shadowsight shot a worried look at Aspenstar. As if she could read his mind, she mewed "Don't worry, Pinefrost will look after her kits, and they will train as Heatherclan apprentices." He nodded, and began to pad over to the barn. Aspenstar followed him, her ginger fur seemed to glow in the moonlight. Shadowsight waited for her to catch up. When she was by his side, she mewed softly in his ear, "Remember, no claws, until she refuses to come with us." "What do I do when she refuses?" The tom asked. "Don't hurt her too much, and don't kill her. Just harm her until she can't escape. When we get back to camp, we'll have Brokenfrost look at her wounds." The black cat stared at her, his fur standing up on end, but he said nothing, and continued to pad over to the barn. He realized that Aspenstar was no longer following him. "Aspenstar, aren't you coming with?" "No," she replied. "I'm here if you need help, in case that kitty-pet puts up a fight." The warrior reached the barn. Shadowsight leapt up onto a window. Thistlewing an Bramblesight were still carefully taking the kits. He could hear the kitty-pet wailing in the corner of the mossy barn. "Please, just don't hurt them!" The kitty-pet cried. Shadowsight couldn't help but feel guilty, with Heatherclan taking this family into a strange place. "What is your name," He asked the cat. "My name's Rowan," She hissed, and unsheathed her claws. She swiped at Shadowsight, her claws striking his muzzle. Blood spurted out, but Shadowsight remained calm and serene. "Rowan, we are taking you and your kits to Heatherclan, where they will train to become warriors when they become six moons. Now, you can either come with me without fighting, and you will look after your kits at our camp, or you can fight, and become a prisoner." He hissed, claws unsheathed. "Do you really expect me to come to your 'Heatherclan' without a fight, when you've taken my kits away?" Rowan snorted, her amber eyes blazing with hatred. She leapt at the warrior, digging her claws into his back. Shadowsight quickly flipped the rogue onto her back and pinned her to the floor of the old barn. Rowan writhed and squirmed back and forth. "Let me go, you mouse-brain!" She screeched. "On one condition, kitty-pet. You come to Heatherclan with me, Aspenstar, Thistlewing, and Bramblesight." He growled. "And if I don't?" She retorted. "Then I will kill you, right here, and you will never see your kits again." Rowan was silent for a moment, then she replied. "Fine, take me with you." She glared at him, a sinister look in her eyes. When the cats arrived at camp, Aspenstar guided Rowan's kits to the nursery. Shadowsight looked at Lakebreeze. "Could you look after these three, it'll only be for a moon or two? Just until your kits come!" Lakebreeze looked down at the three kits, they looked exhausted, and didn't even bother to play with each other. The queen looked at Shadowsight doubtfully, but nodded. Thistlewing gave a sigh of relief. Aspenstar was waiting outside for the three of them. "What did she say?" Bramblesight looked up at her "She agreed." Aspenstar looked up at the sky, "It's going to rain soon. You go get some sleep, I'm proud of all of you." The leader looked at Shadowsight in concern. "What happened to you?" The ginger cat asked. "The kitty-pet just got my muzzle, I'm fine." The warrior replied. "Why don't you have Brokenfrost go look at that, we can't risk losing anymore warriors. I'll deal with Rowan." Shadowsight nodded and turned to the warriors den exhausted. "Shadowsight." a voice whispered. He recognized the voice, but couldn't remember where he had heard it. ". . . Shadowsight." "Who are you? Where are you!" he yowled, his voice trembling. He saw a small light that was glowing on a fern, right by the warriors den. The light became bigger, and bigger, until it was just as tall as Shadowsight. A familiar warm scent flooded him. "Palepaw?" The starry figure nodded. "I've come to warn you, Shadowsight." The warrior leaned towards her. "Dark times are coming for Heatherclan, but one warrior will clear up the chaos, but will suffer greatly." She whispered, but it soon faded, and Shadowsight could barely make out what she was saying. "What do you mean?" The warrior asked. "That, you will figure out by yourself." She whispered, and then faded away.
Chapter 1[]
"Otterkit! Wake up! I wanna explore!" Speckledkit squealed. "Yeah, Otterkit! You've been in there all day!" Dovekit joined in. Lakebreeze purred, "Otterkit, your sisters want to play!" She nudged him until he opened his big green eyes. The brown kit stretched his legs and slowly began to leave the nursery. "Otterkit, stop dawdling! We don't have all day, c'mon." Dovekit hissed. Otterkit curled up on a large rock outside the nursery, and closed his eyes. "You can explore, I'll watch you." He purred. Speckledkit sighed, "I don't think we're going to be able to make him get up, let's explore by ourselfs!" The spotted kit mewed, and then hopped away. Dovekit was about to follow, but stopped. "What if we asked an apprentice to play with us?" Speckledkit thought about it for a moment. "Nah, they'll all be training with their mentors. Let's go see what Mama's doing!" The kits bounded over to Aspenstar. "Where's Rowan?" Dovekit mewed. "Rowan's in the prisoners den." The leader replied with an icy tone. The kits exchanged glances. "Where's that?" Speckledkit squeaked. "Over by the warriors den, have Shadowsight help you, I'm busy, and don't have time for kits!" Aspenstar snapped. "O-okay, thanks Aspenstar!" Dovekit meowed politely, and noticed Fawnpaw looking at Aspenstar. "What's wrong with her?" The apprentice whispered, staring at the ginger cat. Speckledkit shrugged and bounded off to find Rowan.
When the kits approached the warriors den, Shadowsight came bursting out. "What's up, Shadowsight?" Speckledkit mewed, the strong wind blowing her fur. "I need to speak with Aspenstar, or Brokenfrost, have you seen them?" Dovekit winced "We saw Aspenstar, but she was in a really bad mood. Have you seen Rowan?" "Uhhh. . . Go ask Thistlewing, she was the last one guarding her! Thistlewing is the gray cat with dark stripes." "Okay!" Speckledkit squealed.
"Mama must be really special! She has her own guard!" Speckledkit boasted. Otterkit yawned, stretching out his long brown legs. "Wanna play Moss-ball?" He mewed. "I wanna find Mama first though!" Dovekit protested. "We'll find her later, I'm sure we'll see her soon." Otterkit reassured her. The three kits both bounded off to find a patch of moss. "Whoever finds the biggest patch of moss first wins!" Otterkit challenged. "Let's get Lakebreeze to judge who wins!" Dovekit suggested. "Lakebreeze!" Speckledkit shouted. "What is it, Speckledkit?" Lakebreeze asked, heading towards the kits. "We're gonna see who can find the biggest Moss-Ball first, will you help us judge?" Dovekit asked looking up at the she-cat. "Of course, just stay inside camp." She purred. "Go! Find the biggest Moss-Ball!" The kits scrambled off, their small paws flying.
A few minutes later, the first kit returned, Dovekit. "Nice job, Dovekit!" Lakebreeze mewed, wrapping her tail around the kit. Soon after that, Speckledkit came back. "Wow! That's huge, Speckledkit!" Dovekit purred. Then, Otterkit finally came back, with a piece of moss used for bedding, from the elders den. "You cheater!" Speckledkit hissed. "You never said it couldn't be from a den!" Otterkit giggled. Lakebreeze inspected the kits' moss. "It looks like Otterkit has the biggest piece of moss!" She laughed. Otterkit trotted around the three, his head held up high. "Oh come on, mouse-brain, let's just get to playing Moss-Ball." Speckledkit snorted.
Chapter 2[]
After quite a bit of playing Moss-Ball, Otterkit and Speckledkit grew tired, and went back to the nursery. Dovekit went back to searching for her mother, Rowan. She found her mother in a small den near the Warriors den. When she saw the den, Dovekit raced inside, but she was stopped by a large cat. "You!" A voice thundered. "What are you doing talking to the prisoner!" The warrior hissed. "S-she's my mother!" Dovekit mewed, her voice trembling with fear. What did I do? The kit thought. Then she heard another voice, the kit sighed. Who would it be this time? "Kestreleyes! The kit's only trying to visit Rowan, what could she do to hurt us!" It was Pinefrost! The warrior that took her to Heatherclan. Dovekit didn't exactly know how she felt about Pinefrost, was she a friend or a foe? She took her brother and sister away from Rowan, but she brought the four of us to a safe place. . . Atleast I think? Her thoughts were interrupted when the warriors started quarreling again. "That kit is not a Heatherclan kit, and she never will be, same with her family!" Kestreleyes snapped. "Aspenstar is going to let them stay, Heatherclan isn't a cruel clan, we couldn't let them just starve! These kits are too young anyways, they're not even apprentices." Pinefrost retorted. "They're four moons, who knows what evil things they could know from where they lived before!" The long legged warrior growled. "Dovekit, you may speak to Rowan, ignore this stupid furball, she's just angry." Dovekit nodded hesitantly. "Thanks, Pinefrost."
"Mama!" Dovekit squealed. She buried her face in her mother's soft, sweet pelt. "Dove!" Rowan cried. "I'm Dovekit now!" She squeaked. "Otter and Spot got their own names too! Otterkit and Speckledkit!" "That's great!" Her mother purred, nuzzling the small kit's muzzle. "Mama, why won't Kestreleyes let us visit you?" Rowan hesitated for a minute, not sure if she wanted to explain this. "I'm a prisoner, for now." Dovekit stared at her. "But Mama! You never did anything!" The gray and white kit cried. "You'll understand when you're older, now shouldn't you be in the nursery with Otterkit and Speckledkit?" Dovekit's ear drooped. "Yeah . . ." Her mother purred. "Go get some rest, if Lakebreeze tells me that you took a nap, I'll try to visit you all if the warriors let me." Dovekit's eyes brightened. "Okay!" She squealed, racing towards the nursery.
Before the kit could put a paw in the nursery, she heard a loud screech from just outside camp. The screech sounded like a cat was in pain. Dovekit looked around the camp, to see which warriors were gone. Kestreleyes, Shadowsight, Lakebreeze, Brokenfrost, Pinefrost, Thistlewing, Bramblesight, were all around camp, as well as Redpaw and Ravenpatch. That meant that two of the apprentices were missing, and a warrior. Dovekit felt like her heart had skipped a beat. Aspenstar, Splashpaw and Fawnpaw were being attacked!
Chapter 3[]
Fawnpaw and Aspenstar exploded into the clearing, their pelts covered in dark red blood. Splashpaw was no where in sight. Dovekit realized that Otterkit and Speckledkit were by her side. "What's going on?" Dovekit asked, her voice trembling in fear for her friend, Fawnpaw. "I have no clue," Otterkit answered her. Speckledkit turned around to ask Lakebreeze, but the queen's nest was cold. "Lakebreeze. . .?" Dovekit felt like she had been crushed by a rock. Lakebreeze couldn't be dead! She was strong, and young! Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a yowl coming from the clearing. "Invasion!"
Chapter 4[]
Cats whirled about all over Heatherclan camp. A few of them looked small, only apprentices who had just learned to fight. "Get in the nursery!" Dovekit shrieked. Otterkit and Speckledkit didn't argue, and ran as fast as their paws could carry them. Once the two were in the nursery, Dovekit ran to the warriors den. Bramblesight was lying down, a deep gash in her side. Dovekit stood in horror. "I'll go get Brokenfrost!" She sprinted to the medicine cat den, the rocks grazing her soft paws. "What is it, Dovekit?" Brokenfrost growled. "Bramblesight's hurt real bad! She's in the warriors den with a deep gash in her belly!"
The kit and the medicine cat both ran to the warriors den. Brokenfrost was carrying a mouthful of herbs in her small jaws. When they reached Bramblesight, the warrior's breathing was shallow, but she was still alive. The she-cat began to tend to Bramblesight's wounds. "It's deep, and will take time to heal. I don't know if I can save her." "You have to try!" The kit cried, looking up at the medicine cat. "I'll try my best," Dovekit sighed in relief "but I can't make any promises." Dovekit turned around and scrambled back to the nursery, Brokenfrost's words echoing in her mind.
Ravenpatch was guarding the nursery, the kits huddled in the corner of the warm den. "Which clan's attacking?" Otterkit yowled. "Ivyclan!" The warrior hissed. Otterkit turned to his littermates, Dovekit and Speckledkit. "Don't you think it's odd that Ivyclan is attacking? They've always been so peaceful and kind with Heatherclan, and now suddenly they become all hostile?" Speckledkit snorted. "I didn't expect all these cats to be peaceful. Someone's always going to cause trouble, no matter what." Suddenly a Ivyclan warrior leapt onto Ravenpatch, her thick claws unsheathed. Ravenpatch did not attack, he just remained frozen, trembling in fear. "Sister?"
Chapter 5[]
"We're in separate clans now, and I am loyal to Ivyclan." The she-cat hissed, her piercing amber gaze shifted towards the kits. "Nightfall! I don't care which clan you're in now, but you belong with Heatherclan!" Ravenpatch snarled. "Just because my mouse-brained father lived in Heatherclan doesn't mean I'm forced to live on this moor!" She clawed the warrior's dark gray muzzle, blood spurted out of the wound. Nightfall looked behind the warrior, seeing the three kits in the nursery. "Oh, look, some little kits. They would make great Ivyclan warriors. It's such a shame they'll have to live their lives in Heatherclan, as weak little warriors." Otterkit's fur stood up on end, his green eyes blazing. "I might as well just take them to Ivyclan, they're strong, just what we need." Just as the she-cat was about to take the three kits in her jaws, a cat leapt onto her back, and sank its teeth into her flank. Nightfall yowled in pain. "Get out of here." The cat snarled. "Rowan?"
The three kits scurried over to their mother. "What's happening?" Speckledkit squeaked. "Ivyclan's raiding." The kits exchanged glances. "A cat named Nightfall tried to take us! But I scared her away!" Otterkit boasted. "I'm sure you did." Rowan purred. "Shouldn't we be helping Brokenfrost, or be looking for the other cats?" Dovekit interrupted. Ravenpatch was lying on the ground, ominously still. "Ravenpatch!" Speckledkit screeched. Dovekit padded up the the warrior, her heart beating fast. "Ravenpatch?" The old warrior's amber eyes looked at the three kits. "Dark times are coming for Heatherclan, but one warrior will clear up the chaos, but will suffer greatly." He whispered. Then the warrior went limp, and his eyes glazed over. The warrior was dead. There were streaks of blood all over the warrior, most of it was his own. "No!" Speckledkit cried. She pressed her cheek up against his flank. The kit sobbed, burying her face in his fur. "I wanted him to be my mentor." The kit screeched. Rowan nudged Dovekit, "There's nothing else you could do for him, he hunts with Starclan now. We need to keep moving, and make sure that there's no other wounded cats." Dovekit, Speckledkit, and Otterkit followed their mother. Speckledkit dragged her feet when there were no Ivyclan cats, and drooped her head. "Poor Speckledkit." Otterkit mewed in Dovekit's ear. Dovekit only nodded. The four continued to pad through camp, until they heard a shout. "You four! Stop right there!"
Chapter 6[]
Kestreleyes sprinted up to Rowan, her amber gaze staring at her. "What is it?" Rowan asked, tilting her head to the side in curiousity. "What are you doing outside? You're supposed to be in the nursery." She growled, gesturing to the kits. "And you should be in the prisoners den." The warrior growled, looking back at Rowan. "We're trying to help the wounded warriors and Brokenfrost, you can't punish us for that." Rowan mewed calmly, swaying her tail back and forth slighlty. Kestreleyes only glared at the four, and slithered a way, hatred glowing in her eyes.
Rain poured all over camp, the logs sheltering the nursery had collapsed when an Ivyclan warrior had managed to leap on top. Every cat was drenched, and shivering in the cold, it seemed like the Medicine Cat Den was going to explode any minute due to so many warriors that were wounded. Dovekit, Otterkit, and Speckledkit were helping Brokenfrost by collecting cobwebs just outside of camp, with Thistlewing following them closely behind. Otterkit had a large wad of cobwebs hanging from his jaws, carrying Dovekit and Speckledkit's.
All over camp, warriors were either helping Brokenfrost, or discussing the ambush with others. Aspenstar had lost her life, and was still in the medicine cat den. Pinefrost was talking with Shadowsight right by the nursery. Otterkit and Speckledkit were still helping Brokenfrost, so Dovekit began to eavesdrop on the warriors. "How many lives does Aspenstar have left?" Pinefrost asked, her mew sounding nervous. "Only four," Shadowsight sighed. "Mouse-dung! I should have never let her go hunting with only two apprentices! It's all my fault!" Pinefrost cried. "No cat blames you, we all should have done better." The tom reassured her. The cats were silent for a few moments, before Shadowsight changed the subject. "How much longer until Lakebreeze has her kits?" "I'm guessing less than a moon," Pinefrost paused, and then continued in a quieter voice. "I think she needs to stop looking after those three kits, they seem too suspicious, and I don't trust their mother." She hissed. Dovekit staggered backwards, shocked at Pinefrost's words. Just because her mother wasn't a clan cat didn't mean that she couldn't be a true warrior! The kit felt like she had been crushed by a log. Suddenly rage flowed through her, there was nothing wrong with her mother, she just wasn't a clan born cat.