When two Clans are losing prey, six newcomers come in the midst of it, with the fate of the two Clans in their hooves.
For a long time, ValleyClan and WoodClan have lived in peace, only quarreling over such as boundaries and 'stolen prey'. However, prey has been disappearing and cats have been fighting even more. In this chaos, the medicine cats and their leaders discover a prophecy: "At the peak of chaos, six will become one and hope will return." During this, in a different world, the Mane 6 decide to spend the night outdoors. The later awake to find themselves in a new land...
I do not own the Warriors series, nor anything of MLP FiM. They belong to their rightful owners.
*This is a fan-fiction crossover of Warriors and MLP FiM. I have made up the Clans and the cats within them (unless I accidentally use a copyrighted warrior name, I'm sorry) but I do not own My Little Pony or anything related in any way.*
Moonlight shone down on a large clearing, casting its silver light upon it. In the center of the clearing, a large rock seemed to reach many fox-lengths into the sky. It had two ledges, one above the other, as if used to stand on or to reach the top of the rock. A starry, gold-brown she-cat with darker patches stood on the top of the rock, her amber eyes glowing in the silver light. Moments later, a sleek, black she-cat with dark brown eyes entered the clearing. Upon seeing the gold-brown she-cat, she halted a few fox-lengths away from the rock, and just stood there for a moment.
"Greetings, Mapleleaf." mewed the black she-cat. "I didn't expect to see you here." Her voice was calm, even though she knew she was talking to one of her dead ancestors.
The gold-brown she-cat simply nodded and returned her greeting with a large wave of her tail. "I have something to show you, Nightleaf." replied Mapleleaf. She beckoned for Nightleaf to come up, then turned and sat down, looking at the brightly shining stars.
Nightleaf quickly bounded up the large rock and sat down next to Mapleleaf. As she looked up at the stars, six of the stars flashed a blinding light and began to fall down, leaving a smaller line of stars behind them.
At the peak of chaos, six will become one and hope will return...
Just then, the six falling stars and the paths of starry light they left behind them faded. Confused, Nightleaf looked to Mapleleaf as if she'd come up with the answer by looking at the past medicine cat. However, Mapleleaf was starting to fade, and just looked straight at Nightleaf.
"StarClan cannot see nor tell of what comes next." she meowed, her meow echoing as she faded away completely. The entire world around Nightleaf began darkening, and she jolted awake to find herself safe in the medicine cat den.
An invisible moon hung black in the sky, with only a faint outline of silver to show where it was. The cold wind ruffled the leaves of a large willow tree that sat alone on the top of a hill. Six figures sat under the tree, excitedly discussing their plans for the night. They were outlined black, as was everything else in the moonless night.
After some time, a white pony with a purple mane and tail yawned. "Pardon me, dears, but can't we sleep now? You know that I need my beauty sleep." she asked, slightly posing at the last few words. This was Rarity.
"Now?!" gasped a pink pony in surprise. This one was Pinkie Pie. "But we haven't even got to the BEST part yet!!!"
"We have all day tomorrow, Pinkie Pie." replied a purple pony. Now this was Twilight Sparkle. "Besides, Rarity's right. We all need some sleep after the long travel today." Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to protest, but closed it after some time with a look of great disappointment.
"Don't feel bad, Pinkie." added a blue pony with a rainbow mane and tail. This was Rainbow Dash. "Think of it this way; the sooner we sleep, the sooner we wake up, and the more fun we can have."
Pinkie Pie immediately piped up as if nothing happened. "Alright! Last one to fall asleep is a---" Pinkie fell asleep mid-sentence, sleeping cozily.
Upon seeing this, the other five ponies glanced at each other and giggled. After a moment of settling themselves down, they had all closed their eyes as sleep overcame them. The darkness of the night danced around them as they slept peacefully under the great willow tree. The stars in the sky seemed to glow brighter by every moment.
Wait...
The stars really were growing brighter, until anyone who saw them would be nearly blinded by their powerful lights. After some time, the stars, the sky, the hills, everything and everyone, was flashed in a beautiful yet blinding light. Nothing but the light was seen for long moments.
And then the light faded, and the six ponies were gone.
~~~
Twilight awoke to find herself in a small clearing, surrounded by thick thorn bushes, as if placed there to block her from getting out. As she glanced around, she saw a small cat - probably a kitten - staring at her with its mouth open, as if it had never seen a pony before. The cat was black with dark brown eyes, and had the scent of other cats and plants on her.
She walked straight up to the small cat. "Hello, I'm Twilight Spa-" Twilight looked down at her feet, and her eyes widened as she noticed that her hooves were no longer hooves, but paws. Cat paws.
"There's not much time to chat, but you just... you come out of nowhere! And -" the small cat stopped and looked past Twilight. "... There's more... There's six of you..." she gasped, her voice quieted to little more than a whisper.
Twilight turned to see four more cats waking up as well, and quickly realized who each cat resembled. This can't be right... she thought. How could they be cats? But then she stopped, and her eyes widened even more. She could just make out Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.
From where she swung upside down, Pinkie Pie could see all five of her friends... but they were cats, like she was. She could also see a black cat that Twilight had been talking to moments before. Then she looked up to see shining stars and a full moon shining above her head. Hey, she thought, This place is the opposite of Equestria!
After swinging in the tree for some time, she stopped, giggled, and called out, "I'm up here!!!"
Almost immediately Fluttershy looked up. She said something, but it was too quiet for Pinkie to hear from where she was. Fluttershy's fur as a cat was a pale gold tabby, so that she almost looked the color of the inside of a banana.
"Y'all need'a come down from there." Applejack yowled. Applejack's cat fur was a gold tabby that was tinted ginger.
"Look at the moon!" yowled Twilight. "It's full! It's supposed to be a new moon!" Twilight was a blue-gray cat that was very close to being tinted purple.
When the others began looking at the moon, the black cat spoke up. "We don't have time for this!" she yowled, louder than the others had. "My Clan just got back from a Gathering, but the dawn patrols will be going out after too long. If they catch you out alone, you're in worse trouble than you are with me." The black cat hesitated before going on. "My name is Nightleaf. I don't know how you came here, but I think I know why you came here."
Pinkie hopped out of the tree, her pale red-brown fur a streak of color. She happily bounced up to Nightleaf "Hi!" she meowed. "I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"Odd name..." murmured Nightleaf. "Nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie." With that, she swept her tail, beckoning the others to follow her. Nightleaf and Twilight were in the lead talking, while Rarity and Fluttershy stayed in the back. Pinkie Pie was in the middle with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Rarity's fur was white and Rainbow Dash's fur was blue-gray.
After white seemed like years, or maybe just a few minutes, the group reached a barrier of thorn bushes. Nightleaf had turned now and was beginning to speak. "This is WoodClan's Clan camp. Nearly everyone is sleeping, but I'm sure Flamestar is still up, so I'll announce your arrival to him." With that, she flicked her ears and went through the thorn bush barrier. Slowly, the six pony-cats followed, and gasped at the place they found before them.
Fluttershy took in the scene around her. Her and her friends were standing just inside a large clearing, with a barrier of thorn bushes and oak trees. Around the edge of the clearing, hollow oak trees or large bushes seemed to make rooms. Closer to the center of the clearing, a large rock with an overhand stood tall, with a dip in the ground under the overhand.
"Stay here." instructed Nightleaf. Nightleaf then padded up to the dip in the ground, said a few words, and came back with a large golden tabby tom following her. The tom's amber eyes shone bright, and seemed to hold authority in them. "Lionstar, here they are." Nightleaf said.
"And you are?" asked Lionstar.
"Fluttershy..."
"I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"Rarity." Upon saying this, Rarity posed.
"Ah'm Applejack."
"Hello, Lionstar. I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"And I'm Rainbow Dash!"
After each one said their named, Lionstar nodded. "Badgerfang!" he called. A large, muscular, black tom with a white stripe from nose to tail tip padded out from one of the large bushes. Upon coming close, he closely inspected the six newcomers, and nodded slowly. When Lionstar twitched his tail, he, Badgerfang, and Nightleaf padded a few paw steps away and began discussing something.
Fluttershy glanced around nervously. From some of the bushes and hollow tree, cats padded out into the open, curious of what was going on.
Finally, Lionstar turned around. "Would you care to join WoodClan?" he asked. "It would do you well. After all, you don't know these parts as well as we do, and we can answer some of your questions while teaching you to train and hunt." The word 'hunt' echoed in Fluttershy's mind for a moment, but she shook it away. He must be meaning something else.
The six friends glanced at eachother, and then Twilight Sparkle stepped up. "We will accept your offer, Lionstar." she meowed.
"Very well." meowed Lionstar. "Come along." Lionstar leaped onto the top of the rock, and yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"
"Prey...?" Fluttershy gasped. "They catch... p-prey here?!" At home, she had been friends with the wild critters, and was quite fearful for the small critters of this forest. She slowly padded closer towards the rock and sat down between Rainbow Dash and Applejack. As soon as she sat down, a horrible thought crossed her mind; Will I have to hunt prey?!
Lionstar began speaking from the top of the Highrock. "Nightleaf, Badgerfang and I have made a decision to admit these newcomers into our Clan." he meowed. "Their current names are Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash." A few cats meowed approval of them, or murmured opinions, before quieting down again. "We will admit them to our Clan as full warriors, although they will still have mentors." Upon hearing this, a couple of cats momentarily looked confused until others whispered to them, and they were no longer confused.
Lionstar continued to speak. "Fluttershy, please step forward."
Fluttershy stepped forward, but only a mouse-length. "I-I can't..." she meowed.
"What?" asked Lionstar. "Why not?"
"I-I... I can't hunt the critters... I just can't..." she replied. To her surprise, Nightleaf flicked her tail, and Lionstar nodded. Nightleaf then walked right up next to Fluttershy.
"Lionstar," meowed Leafshade. Her meow rang out around the clearing, so that each cat heard her. "If she will not fight, then I'd like to take her on as an apprentice. She can train in that of healing and interpreting signs, if she wishes."
"Oh, yes!" meowed Fluttershy. "I'd much rather do that! I-If that's okay with you."
"Very well, Fluttershy." meowed Lionstar. "From this day forward, until you are a full medicine cat and accepted by StarClan, you will be known as Brightfeather." Nightleaf then came up and touched noses with the newly named Brightfeather. They then sat together at the front of the crowd of cats, just as Pinkie Pie was going up.
"Pinkie Pie, do you wish to be an apprentice warrior?" asked Lionstar. Once Pinkie Pie nodded and began bouncing, he continued. "From this day forth, you will be known as Dawnlight. Your temporary mentor will be Crowtalon." A sleek, black tom with small, brown eyes padded up to the newly named Dawnlight. Just as they were touching noses, Dawnlight accidentally bounced forward and hit both of their noses.
"Yow!" yowled Crowtalon, holding his nose with one of his front paws. "Be more careful, will you?" He glared at Dawnlight, although she seemed to take no notice. He quickly touched noses with her and padded with her to the edge of the crowd. Now Rarity padded forth.
"Rarity," meowed Lionstar. "Do you wish to become an apprentice warrior?" Rarity nodded. "From this day forth, you will be known as Icefur. Your temporary mentor will be Badgerfang." Badgerfang quickly touched noses with Icefur, and padded with her next to Nightleaf and Brightfeather.
Brightfeather was then distracted. She wasn't quite sure from what, but she saw rustling in a nearby thorn bush. She watched it closely, and thought she heard hissing and irritated meowing. However, when she looked back at the meeting, Rainbow Dash was padding back to the crowd with a silver tabby she-cat.
"Brightfeather! Dawnlight! Icefur! Appleheart! Duskshine! Rainpelt!" the Clan yowled. Brightfeather quickly understood who was who. Eventually, the clearing quieted. Cats were doing their own things, and the new warriors were padding up to Brightfeather. But as Dawnlight opened her mouth to speak, a loud yowl rang out, and every cat in the clearing turned to see rows of cats streaming into the clearing.
Rainpelt momentarily stood where she was among the confusion. Cats of different scents and colors ran around her, snarling and yowling. Her friends leaned against each other around her, and she could see that they, too, were confused and fearful.
But Rainpelt wasn't scared. Since when was she scared? She slightly crouched, her fur bristled, and hissed at all the strange cats around her. She then hissed even louder, but stopped halfway through it when she saw one of the cats got a little closer than usual. She gasped inwardly, and glanced around. Every cat around her and her friends was skinny; she then caught a glimpse of the fresh-kill pile. She knew it was these cats' food source, as she had heard some cats mention it before. The pile, however, was small, with only a few mice and squirrels.
Suddenly, she heard panicked yowls as she was knocked onto her back. She yowled in pain and turned her head to come eye to eye with a large, tortoiseshell tom. The tom was mostly black and gray, with ginger patches around his eyes and dark amber eyes. The tom's mouth parted in a yowl to reveal many sharp teeth.
As her instincts overcame her, Rainpelt bunched up her hind legs, claws out, and kicked the tom in his stomach. This kick sent the tom flying a couple tail-lengths away, where he landed with a loud thud. Glancing around, Rainpelt could see not just the scrawny cats around the clearing, and not just her friends in fearful panic, but blood. Small pools and scarlet drops of blood lay scattered among the cats and the clearing. On the ground, on the cats' pelts, their whiskers and their muzzles, everywhere.
A sudden emotion crawled up Rainpelt's spine; fear. She turned and ran, only to fall on her stomach with her face half buried in the ground. She felt strong paws hold her down by her neck, back, and tail. She made an attempt to yowl, only to fill her mouth with dirt and let out a muffled sound.
Is this the end? she thought. As soon as this went through her mind, the weight of the attacker disappeared, which was followed by defeated yowls of pain and anger. She quickly sat up and gasped. Never before had air felt or tasted so sweet and precious. Looking around once more, she saw the attacking cats fleeing the clearing, letting out only half the yowls she heard. She saw the tortoiseshell tom fleeing away from her, followed by a small, gray tabby tom who had a stubby tail. She recognized this as her mentor, Stormheart.
Just as her friends were coming up to her, they all stopped short.
"Oh...my..." whispered Brightfeather. Rainpelt turned as another yowl broke through the silence of the clearing. However, this yowl wasn't of pain or anger.
In the center of the clearing, two small black and white kits lay still. A brown tabby she-cat stood over the kits, letting off a yowl that began to turn into a wailing.
Rainpelt just stood there with her jaw gaping. For a moment, she just stood there, watching in silence as the cats all gathered around the kits and their mother. Then, slowly, she crept forward a few paw steps, and then a few more. Finally, she was close enough to see the kits and she-cat clearly. One of the kits had a long scratch from its nose to its ear, while the other had a longer scratch down its hind leg. But this wasn't all Rainpelt saw. As she looked at the two kits, she could see a very faint rise and falling of their chests.
A mixture of grief and hope shot up her spine as she sat down next to one of the kits and gently nudged it. Over the sound of the tabby she-cat's wailing, the kit let out a faint mew of protest. Rainpelt's eyes widened upon hearing this. She glanced around, but no other cat seemed to notice. Her five friends sat solemnly in the crowd, half watching Rainpelt and the kits.
Rainpelt ran up to Brightfeather. "Flu-" she began, only to stop short. "Brightfeather! I think the kits are still alive!" Brightfeather's eyes widened. Rainpelt quickly ran back to the kits. "See?" Rainpelt stood next to the kit with the head scratch and nudged it. This kit responded in a faint mew as well.
"Oh my goodness!" gasped Brightfeather. "I-I'll go get Nightleaf." Brightfeather quickly padded through the crowd, and came back moments later with Nightleaf. Without a word, Nightleaf inspected each kit very carefully. After a moment, Rainpelt realized that every cat was looking at them. Even the mother of the two kits had stopped wailing and had begun to look hopeful.
Nightleaf whispered something to Brightfeather, who nodded in return. The two then turned to Rainpelt.
"Stay here and watch over the kits," meowed Nightleaf. "And tell their mother, Thornbranch, that they'll live."
Appleheart watched as Nightleaf and Brightfeather left the circle of cats in a hurry. Turning her gaze to the kits' mother, she saw that she was listening to something Rainpelt was saying. As Rainpelt finished with what she was saying, Appleheart saw the tabby she-cat perk up with happiness. The she-cat then said something to Rainpelt, and hurried into the crowd of cats.
As Rainpelt sat down a mouse-length away from the kits, Nightleaf and Brightfeather returned with herbs and cobwebs. Curious as to what they were doing, Appleheart padded up to Rainpelt.
"Hiya there, Rainpelt!" she meowed. Rainpelt only flicked her tail in acknowledgement. "So..." started Appleheart. "What're Nightleaf an' Brightfeather doin' with the kits? Will the kits live?"
"Yes," purred Rainpelt. "The kits will live. They only have a couple scratches. I'm just surprised no one else saw them breathing."
"Maybe they were just to shaken up about that skirmish with the other cats to realize it," meowed Appleheart.
"Maybe..." replied Rainpelt. She trailed off as Nightleaf and Brightfeather padded up to Lionstar, who was standing with the brown tabby she-cat at the edge of the crowd closest to the kits. Appleheart followed a few paw steps behind.
"...Be alright," meowed Nightleaf. "Brightfeather here is a natural medicine cat." Upon hearing this, Brightfeather looked at her paws. "Anyways, it's just a few scratches." continued Nightleaf. "They can return to the nursery in a couple days."
"Good," purred Lionstar. He then padded into the crowd of watching cats. Soon, every cat was heading towards one of the small clearings except for Appleheart and her friends.
As Appleheart watched, she noticed a calico tomcat padding up to them. She recognized this as her mentor, Spottednose.
"Hi!' meowed Spottednose. "Why don't you come to the warrior's den and sleep? Or do you stay awake all the time where you came from?" His bright yellow eyes shone with humor and delight. He then playfully nudged Brightfeather's shoulder with his nose. "And why don't you go to the medicine cat's den?" He sighed. "Medicine cats and their apprentices can't sleep in the warrior's den..."
Brightfeather's cheeks turned slightly pink as her eyes widened, partially in confusion. "O-okay" she mewed. She then turned and ran to the medicine cat's den.
Appleheart turned to her friends and shrugged. "Sure," she meowed to Spottednose. But for a moment, Spottednose didn't reply, and only watched the bush where Brightfeather had gone through. Finally, he nodded and started walking to the warrior's den with Appleheart and the other four following.
Sunlight broke through the trees' branches and danced on the ground as Icefur followed her mentor Badgerfang through the forest. The surprise attack from ValleyClan was a few days ago. Over this time the six friends had discovered the tastiness of fresh-kill and Duskshine had asked Lionstar a question that was thought of by Rainpelt: why did Lionstar allow the six newcomers to the Clan when the fresh-kill pile was so small? Lionstar's answer had been hesitant, and he demanded that only he, the six newcomers, Badgerfang, and Nightleaf knew of his answer; that he believes the six would fulfill the prophecy that Nightleaf had recently encountered.
Badgerfang led Icefur into a small, flat, sandy clearing. "Now then," he meowed, turning to Icefur. "Tell me exactly everything that I have taught you this past moon."
"You really expected me to remember all that?!" gasped Icefur. She didn't think she had memorized any of it.
"Of course I expected you to remember it!" snapped Badgerfang. "Any other cat would have wanted you to! Besides, I didn't teach you much. Training takes time." When Icefur didn't reply, Badgerfang sighed. "I taught you how to hunt, and I taught you some fighting moves," he growled.
"Oh, yes," mewed Icefur, hiding her embarrassment. "I remember now. Here, uh... I'll show you that I know how to hunt." Icefur quickly opened her mouth and tasted the air. She caught a strong scent of mouse nearby, to her right just outside of the clearing. Icefur then crouched, but not so low that her belly rubbed the ground. Her tail curled up to keep it from getting dirty, she slowly crawled towards the mouse. However, after taking a few steps, the mouse saw her and ran. Frustrated, Icefur chased it. She ran over tree roots, pine cones, acorns, and under bushes in her chase. Eventually she stopped for breath. With annoyance and reluctance, she gave up chasing the mouse, and turned around.
She had only gone a few fox-lengths from the sandy clearing.
While Badgerfang scented the air, she slowly padded towards the clearing. Suddenly, she heard a twig crack near her, and stopped. Glancing at Badgerfang, she realized that he seemed to take no notice as he continued to scent the air. Whipping around, Icefur hissed at what she found to be a rabbit, which darted off upon seeing her. Furious and embarrassed, she once again began to chase her newly found prey. This time, she felt as if she could run forever, and the only thing that mattered was that she catch this and prove herself worthy of being a warrior or any Clan cat.
She chased the rabbit over tree roots and bushes until they broke the tree line. Quick as lightning, she heard a yowl as she was knocked over onto her side. Gasping for breath, Icefur looked up into her attacker's eyes, where she found what must have been a prince from Canterlot. There, atop her, stood a sleek, pale gold tom with shining sky blue eyes with a white belly and chest along with a white muzzle. He was gazing at her with surprise, and anger. The tom quickly got off her and let Icefur up.
"Sorry about that," meowed the tom as her nudged her back onto her side of the border.
"Whatever did you do that for?" questioned Icefur, attempting to remove a twig from her tail fur.
"You were on the wrong side of the border," mumbled the tom. He didn't seem very happy with being questioned about something like that. "You'd best get going, or else."
"Hmph," Icefur hissed. "Don't get me dirty next time." With that, she padded away. She knew she shouldn't have crossed the border, but she didn't cross it very much. Within moments Badgerfang ran to her.
"Where were you?!" hissed Badgerfang, glaring at Icefur.
"I," Icefur started. "Was chasing a rabbit, and then I was knocked over by a gold and white tom. He side I was on the wrong side of the border, and he got my tail dirty!" Icefur lifted her tail and pointed to a small patch of knotted fur where the twig had been..
"We'd better get you back to camp, crossing the border like that," growled Badgerfang. He then turned and stalked away. The only thing Icefur thought to do then was to follow him.
As the moon's tip passed the treeline, Duskshine sat sharing a squirrel with Brightfeather near the center of the clearing. Most of the other cats were sleeping, hunting, or doing other things.
"So," meowed Duskshine between a gulp of fresh-kill. "How's being the medicine cat's apprentice going?"
"Oh, it's great!" meowed Brightfeather. "I'm learning about all sorts of herbs and remedies. I don't even know if I can remember them all!"
"That's great!" purred Duskshine. She stopped as Badgerfang padded up to the two. "Hello, Badgerfang." meowed Duskshine.
"Good evening, Duskshine." meowed Badgerfang. "I want you to go on patrol with Appleheart, Dawnlight, Rainpelt and Icefur. There'll be another cat going with you, so don't leave camp until they're with you."
"C-Can I come?" asked Brightfeather nervously.
"No," meowed Badgerfang. "Sorry, but medicine cats and their apprentices don't go on warrior patrols." He then turned and padded away.
"O-Okay..." mewed Brightfeather. She then turned to Duskshine. "Goodbye, Duskshine."
"Bye, Brightfeather," sighed Duskshine, getting up. "Sorry you can't come." Turning around, Duskshine ran to the warrior's den. Poking her head inside, she found that her friends were the only ones sleeping in the den at that time. "Psst! Wake up, you guys!" she whispered.
Dawnlight was sitting up in a heartbeat. "I'm not sleeping, silly!" she giggled. "I'm still awake!" She then jumped up and bounced over to Duskshine.
Appleheart was next to wake up. She sat up and yawned a long, luxurious yawn. "Wad'ya need, sugar cube?"
"Yeah," hissed a pile of blue-gray fur. "What do you need?" Rainpelt lifted her head. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
"Badgerfang sent me to wake you guys up so we can go on the evening patrol," she meowed. "He said to wait for another cat to come with us." With a groan of disliking, Rainpelt got up and joined Duskshine with the others. Icefur then followed behind, having had stopped to thoroughly groom her pelt. All five friends then padded to the camp entrance to wait.
"Who are we waiting for again?" Rainpelt asked after some time. Her tail was twitching with impatience.
"I don't know who," meowed Duskshine. "Badgerfang just told me to get you guys and wait here for someone else for the evening patrol." Just then, a long, silver she-cat with sparkling blue eyes ran up to them. This was Duskshine's mentor, Silvertail.
"So sorry I'm late!" meowed Silvertail. She stopped for a moment to yawn."I had to chase a rogue cat off our territory this morning. They were in the very middle of it, so I had to chase it far. I got tired, so I came back to camp to rest and Badgerfang told me to come on the patrol."
"It's alright," meowed Duskshine. "Now let's go on the patrol." Turning around, Duskshine padded out of the exit with her friends following. Once she was sure everyone had followed her out of the bush tunnel, she picked up pace and raced left through the trees. Cool night air brushed past her face as she ran over tree roots and pebbles.
After what seemed like only a few heartbeats, she slowed down as the acrid stench of the Thunderpath greeted her. Scrunching her nose in disgust, Duskshine padded out into the open and onto the gray stone surface that lay next to the long, black Thunderpath.
"My goodness gracious!" coughed Icefur. "What a horrible scent!"
"It smells like garbage," hissed Rainpelt, bristling her fur.
"Ooo, shiny!" meowed Dawnlight, hopping onto the edge of the Thunderpath. She then walked up to a shiny Twoleg thing near the middle of the Thunderpath.
"Ya'll get back here before a monster comes by," called Appleheart. As soon as this was said, the ground beneath the six cats began rumbling.
"Dawnlight, get over here!" yowled Silvertail over the growing rumbling. A monster then appeared on the horizon, its small eyes glowing in the moonlight. As the monster grew closer to the cats, Dawnlight turned and gasped, the monster not many fox-lengths away from her.
"PINKIE PIE!!!" yowled Duskshine. Making last second calculations, Duskshine leaped onto the Thunderpath, crouching down and pushing Dawnlight out of the way of the monster that now passed over her head.
Yowls, gasps, and cries of terror rang out as the monster rumbled past, over the crouching Duskshine who had pushed Dawnlight out of the way only moments before. Now, as the rumbling stopped, Dawnlight got up and looked at Duskshine.
"Twilight...?" she mewed, hoping she wasn't dead.
"I'm fine," meowed Duskshine as she got up. As Duskshine shook herself, dust and dirt flew everywhere.
"TWILIGHT'S ALIVE! TWILIGHT'S ALIVE!!!" cried Dawnlight as she bounced over to Duskshine and hugged her. "Oh, I had been distracted by the shiny thing and I didn't notice the monster until it was too close and then you-"
"It's alright, Pinkie," meowed Duskshine. "It's alright." The two cats then walked back to the other cats who awaited them on the gray stone that lay next to the Thunderpath they were on.
"Heavens, darling, are you alright?" asked Icefur, walking up to Duskshine and Dawnlight.
"I'm fine, Icefur," meowed Duskshine. "Just a bruise."
"I don't think that's just'a bruise, sugar cube," meowed Applejack, pointed her nose to a tiny, slim river of scarlet blood coming from Duskshine's shoulder.
"It'll be fine," meowed Duskshine, glancing at the shoulder. "I think it's just a scrape."
"It's still something a medicine cat should attend to," meowed Silvertail. "As well as something to stop you from hunting anytime soon."
Duskshine sighed upon hearing this. "Let's just get back to camp," she groaned, leading the way with Silvertail and the others close behind.
~~~
As Dawnlight woke up the next morning, she yawned in the sunhigh light. She had stayed up nearly all night frantically worrying about her friend and questioning Brightfeather if she was alright. Brightfeather had repeatedly said that Duskshine was fine and would return to the warrior's den the next day, but Dawnlight had asked many times, and Brightfeather had eventually raised her voice and asked Dawnlight politely if she could rest and check on Duskshine in the morning.
Now that Dawnlight was awake, she got an idea. We never finished our fun camping trip in Equestria, she thought. So what if we took a walk tonight? To Dawnlight, this sounded like a great idea, kind of like a cat party. Without hesitation, Dawnlight ran out of the warrior's den and bumped into Rainpelt. The two then toppled over in a pile of pale red-brown and blue-gray fur.
"Be more careful, Dawnlight," hissed Rainpelt, getting up. "Why are you in such a big rush anyways?"
"I want you, Duskshine, Appleheart, Icefur, Brightfeather, and I to go out on a walk tonight!" she meowed, also getting up. "Doesn't it sound fun? Like a cat party?!" By now, Dawnlight was bouncing up and down with Rainpelt watching her closely.
"I guess..." meowed Rainpelt. "...Sure, I'll go. Beats staying in camp all the time."
"Great!" meowed Dawnlight. "I'm going to go tell the others now. Bye!" With that, Dawnlight turned and ran off to the medicine cat's den.
Cool, night air tugged at Brightfeather's fur as she followed her friends through the woods to Threepines. This is where they were going to visit for tonight, alone in the forest. She had gone to Threepines a couple times before to gather the last bit of herbs that grew near it.
Pushing her way through the bushes behind her friends, she found herself inside of Threepines. Three, large pine trees stood on opposite ends of the clearing, with a large, smooth stone in the center.
"Oh my goodness!" she gasped, looking around at the moonlit clearing. It was beautiful in the moonlight, tinted silver and glowing.
"Come on up here, guys!" called Dawnlight, already on top of the Great Rock with Rainpelt. Nervously, Brightfeather helped Duskshine up since Duskshine was still recovering from her shoulder injury, and was closely followed by Icefur. The top of the rock was big enough for all of them to sit comfortably on. Sitting down, she relaxed, watching the stars in the sky as her friends talked. In the sky, she saw six oddly colored stars. One was red, one was purple, another was light blue, the fourth one was green, the fifth orange, and the center one was purple-pink. The stars flashed, then began getting bigger and closer.
"Uh, guys..." mewed Brightfeather. The stars got closer.
"Guys..." she mewed again, louder this time. Still, the stars got closer.
"Guysss...." she mewed, once again louder than before.
"Ye, Brightfe-" meowed Duskshine, stopping short upon seeing the stars that were dangerously close and bright.
All of the six friends looked up as the stars glowed brighter and got closer.
"EVERYPONY RUN!" yowled Dawnlight, leaping off the Great Rock. Upon hearing and seeing this, everyone else around Brightfeather ran in different direction off the mighty rock. Brightfeather scrambled off the rock and hid behind one of the three great pine trees and squeezed her eyes shut tight. As a clink sounded, a bright, blinding light flashed, and then vanished.
Peaking around the tree, Brightfeather saw something she never thought she would in this world. She, along with her friends, slowly walked up to the six jeweled artifacts and gasped. These were the Elements of Harmony.
"What are these doing here?" asked Duskshine, obviously nearly speechless. "How did these get here?"
"I don't know," meowed Appleheart. "But maybe we should do some'thin with 'em."
"Hey," meowed Rainpelt.. "I think I got an idea. Remember how the fresh-kill pile was so low?"
"You do know it's still leaf-bare, right?" asked Applejack. "There just hasn't been snow in'a bunch'a moons."
"Nightleaf told me that newleaf should have come by now," mewed Brightfeather.
"That's it!" meowed Duskshine. "In Equestria, spring already came! But here, it can't come!"
"But how in Equestria would that be possible?" asked Icefur.
"I don't know," meowed Duskshine. "But maybe someone put a spell on the forest and valley."
"Or maybe the Clans just haven't wrapped up their winter correctly!" gasped Dawnlight.
"I don't think they do what we do," meowed Brightfeather.
"I'll try to think of spells that might work with the Elements of Harmony to return the prey," meowed Duskshine. "Or... something at least."
"Alright, but where'r we gonna put these here Elements of Harmony for the meantime?" asked Appleheart.
"We can put them in here," meowed Dawnlight, nodding to an abandoned fox den hidden between one of the three pine tree's roots.
"Good idea," meowed Duskshine, nudging the six Elements of Harmony into the back of the abandoned den. "Now, there's a Gathering tomorrow, so let's get back to camp." After everyone nodded their agreement, the six cats trekked back to camp.
As the full moon hung above the treetops, Rainpelt zoomed to the bottom of the Highrock where her friends awaited her.
"... Can at least try the spell, right?" Duskshine was asking.
"Hey guys," meowed Rainpelt as she approached the four other cats. She stopped in her tracks. "Where's Brightfeather? She's coming to the Gathering, isn't she?"
"Of course she's coming, darling," meowed Icefur. "She should be here soon. She may still be sleeping."
"Anyways," meowed Dawnlight. "Duskshine thinks we should try the spell she came up with at the Gathering!" She bounced up and down. "Oh, this'll be so exciting!"
"But we're cats!" meowed Rainpelt. Trying a spell as a cat had to be the most mouse-brained idea she'd ever heard of!
"That's what I said!" added Dawnlight. "I told her 'But we're cats, silly!' and then she asked 'We can at least try the spell, right?' and then you came and the-"
"I think Rainpelt gets it, sugar cube," meowed Appleheart, putting her tail over Dawnlight's mouth.
After a moment of silence and slight giggles, Brightfeather walked up to the group with her head slightly down. Rainpelt squinted at her. Was Brightfeather smiling?
"Hey Brightfeather," meowed Rainpelt. "Where'v you been?"
Brightfeather stopped and turned her head away from her friends. "S-Sleeping..." she mewed. For a moment, Rainpelt thought it sounded like she was lying, but pushed the thought away. Brightfeather would never lie!
"The Gathering is to come soon," yowled Lionstar above the six cats' heads. "Silvertail, Crowtalon, Nightleaf, Stormheart, Spottednose, Badgerfang, Icefur, Appleheart, Duskshine, Rainpelt, Brightfeather, and Dawnlight, you're coming to the Gathering." Within moments, all thirteen cats were lined up and marching out of the clearing.
The trip to the Gathering seemed to take moons, maybe even years. But finally, WoodClan entered the Gathering where ValleyClan already awaited. The WoodClan cats poured into the clearing, which made it seem like one huge Clan. Rainpelt followed her friends to the abandoned fox den, where she slipped on her element of loyalty.
"Ready?" asked Duskshine, her element of magic on her head.
"Ready," replied everyone else, their elements being worn.
Duskshine took a deep breath, and recited, "Clans of two, cats of many, prey of plenty, nearly empty, for survival's needs of many, to prevent starvation upon any, may the sun and the moon gift us all, return the prey, the prey of plenty. Bring the spring, for now or never, or else this is the end of many."
All six of the Elements of Harmony shone brightly in blinding, vibrant, rainbow colors.
Then the unimaginable happened.
Ravens, voles, squirrels, mice, thrushes, sparrows, every type of prey that lived on land flew, hopped, or skittered out of the six elements, plump and fresh, bringing the fresh scent of newleaf.
Though it lasted long moments, it seemed like moons until the lights on the elements dimmed and the last creatures skittered, hopped, or flew away from the clearing to escape the stunned cats. Glancing around, Rainpelt saw that every cat was staring at either the prey, the quickly growing leaves on the trees, or the six cats with their odd garments.
There was a long, spine chilling silence.
A lanky, smoky gray tom with dark amber eyes stepped up to the six cats, and turned to face the crowd of cats. After a moment, he called out, "These six have a purpose for being here and doing what they did. Look around you all! Even StarClan are here!"
As Rainpelt blinked, she gasped, realizing the old tom was right. Many starry cats stood among the crowd with happy, cheery, and even thankful faces. Every cat in the clearing then moved, in shock or in certainty, to let through two starry cats. One was a golden brown she-cat with darker patches and glowing, amber eyes. The other, who matched the she-cat step by step, was a large, muscular, dark gray tom with pale yellow eyes. They walked straight up to the seven cats.
As the lanky old tom left the front, the two StarClan cats looked over the six cats with pride.
"Our children..." sniffed the tom, putting his face in the she-cat's fur. "Our children have stepped into their destinies, their fate."
Many gasps rang out throughout the clearing, and then silence. Rainpelt nor her friends knew what to say or ask.
"I am Mapleshade, an old WoodClan warrior," purred the she-cat. "This is my mate, Ashwhisker. We were once your parents. You were just kits then..." Mapleshade stopped for a moment and closed her eyes. "Then, one day," she went on. "Every cat in WoodClan had a dream. In it, our ancestors told us that we must give you up so you could soon find your fate. We laid you down by the Moonpool, and our ancestors came and took you. Really, they did."
"I remembered and recognized them," meowed Lionstar after a moment of silence.
"We know," meowed Ashwhisker in a stronger yet gentle voice. "And we thank you for giving them the warrior names they would have deserved."
A small, brown tabby tom with bright green eyes walked up to the cats. "I'll take it from here," he meowed, turning to the six stunned cats as Mapleshade and Ashwhisker left the front of the clearing. "You were meant to fulfill the prophecy given to the Clans' medicine cats and their leaders. Six must become one." There was a long, silent pause. "You, from this day forth, will become TwilightClan. Six other cats will join you."
There was a long silence.
This was all going too fast. Rainpelt's head whirled in circles and the ground shifted beneath her. She then felt as if she were floating in the middle of absolutely nothing. Her mind, blank moments before, was bound to explode with emotion, information, and more questions than answers. Only the reassuring murmur of Duskshine helped her to focus again.
By the time her mind restored, the six cats had already walked up. But Rainpelt had heard their names.
Spottednose, the calico tom was first. Thornbranch and her two kits Darkkit and Whitekit were next. The last two cats were littermates; one was a long haired tortoiseshell tom with amber eyes named Redspots, and the other was a black and brown tom with brown eyes named Mouseears.
"Come," meowed the three cats who had revealed Rainpelt and her friends' past as well as destinies, turning and padding away through the woods. As Rainpelt and everyone else reluctantly followed, she heard the other StarClan cats telling the Clans they could go home.
Rainpelt then realized what was going on fully; she was one of the founders of a third Clan.
Standing just outside the warrior's den on the rough gravel, Appleheart watched the sun go down and the moon begin to rise on the opposite end of the sky. The sky all around her were brilliant hues of red, purple, yellow, and blue, like that of a beautiful painting that none other than Icefur would gasp at and faint from it's beauty and magnificence. Glancing around, Appleheart took in the moon washed scene around her. She was sitting in TwilightClan's camp, which was in a large stone crater. All the cats in her newly founded Clan had learned to keep their balance much better than other cats to get along the skinny, rock paths that connected the dens.
At the bottom of the crater sat the cave where the nursery resided, where Thorntalon was currently nursing her kits. Left of that and up a small amount of rocks was the apprentice's den, and left of that on the ground near the nursery was the elder's den. Left of the elder's den and up a rocky path was the warrior's den where Appleheart now sat watching the sky. Left to this was the medicine cat's den, and straight across was the leader's den, the Highledge, and the fresh-kill pile.
Appleheart then reflected on all that had happened since the previous Gathering only a few days ago; Duskshine, being the rightful leader, was given her nine lives and renamed to Duskstar, all three Clans had quickly arranged and agreed on territories, Brightfeather became the medicine cat, the WoodClan cats that had been the six friends' mentors made sure they had memorized their hunting skills, and now, finally, today was the day that TwilightClan made their new deputy. Even StarClan themselves would be there!
"Applehawt!" squealed a happy voice from down below. Looking down, Appleheart saw Darkkit and Whitekit making a dangerous and poor attempt to climb up the rock pathway to her.
"Get back here," hissed Thorntalon, who looked as if she had just woken up from sleeping. "You'll fall off those rocks if you're not careful!"
"But we wan' tell Applehawt the good news," protested Whitekit, the smaller of the two kits. He, unlike Darkkit, had stopped climbing the rock once getting onto one, while Darkkit had climbed nearly halfway up the stone path.
"Darkkit," called Thorntalon, ignoring her other kit without noticing. "Get down from there right now!"
"Never!" squealed Darkkit, and immediately lost his balance with a squeal of panic and horror.
Panic flooded through Appleheart, and her instincts flared. Leaping off the ledge that sat outside the warrior's den, she half-fell, half-slithered down the rocks, leaping over Whitekit's head, colliding with Thorntalon, and falling to the ground with a thud. Another, smaller thud and a thud as loud as Appleheart's thud followed. Pain stung Appleheart's front left leg and back right paw, preventing her from getting up within moments. Eventually, after a few moments, Appleheart managed to push herself up. Pain stung Appleheart even more when she got up, and she barely held back a yowl of pain.
A small, squeak sounded a tail length ahead of Appleheart. This was followed by a small voice asking, "Applehawt, awe they okay?"
"Ugh..." grunted Appleheart, fully heaving herself onto her paws. "Lemme look..." Limping to the small, black and white body that had squeaked, Appleheart sniffed Darkkit and inspected him closely. "Darkkit's alive," she called, relief flooding over her, not realizing the other cats of the Clan had come out. Appleheart then limped over to the large, brown tabby body of Thorntalon and looked her over closely.
Nothing.
She looked her over again even closer, and still, all she found was nothing. Not a beating heart, not a shallow breath, not a twitch. But she did find long, slightly harmful scrapes all along Thorntalon's paws, legs and side.
"No..." whispered Appleheart, immediately blaming her for this innocent queen's death. Glancing around, eyes watering, she looked to Whitekit, who was still on the stone he had climbed up to. Appleheart gulped, realizing that each stone was about one or two mouse lengths from one another. I shouldn't have jumped, thought Appleheart. Or I should have gotten there quicker, or later, or... her mind trailed off and she let out a loud, mournful wail.
After some time, the Clan had gathered around the cats. Appleheart was now leaning on Brightfeather's shoulder, where she mumbled, "It should'a been me..." and fell unconscious, but alive.
Icefur awoke as the light of sunhigh shone into the nursery, and kits were begging her if they could go outside into the camp. After the incident the day before, she had stayed up nearly all night waiting to see if Thorntalon was alive, along with nearly every other cat in the Clan. Eventually, Brightfeather said that she was alive, but had one broken leg, causing her to have to stay in the medicine cat's den longer. This left the kits unsupervised, so Icefur had offered to watch over the kits until they became apprentices in two moons, or until Thornbranch was healed.
"Icefuh!" meowed Darkkit and Whitekit in unison. "We wawnt to go outside!"
"Alright," meowed Icefur, getting up. "But you'll have to stay down here at the bottom of the Clan camp." Icefur stretched luxuriously, shook moss and dirt from her fur, and quickly followed the hyper kits outside. The warm sun shone on her fur as she sat and groomed herself once outside, the kits sitting a couple tail lengths from her.
"I see you're awake," meowed Redspots, quickly hopping down from the warrior's den and plopping down beside Icefur.
"These kits," meowed Icefur between licks. "Are harder to take care of than my own fur!" She eventually began to groom her paw, her tail intertwining with Redspots' tail. After more time of grooming, Icefur finished her grooming and began to watch the kits.
"...I'll be the warrior," Darkkit was mewing. "And you'll be the ValleyClan intwuder!" Darkkit grinned.
"Why am I always the intwuder?!" squealed Whitekit. "You'we strongew than me and it's not faiw! You always win!"
"Why?" asked Darkkit, looking offended. "Because I'm going 'ta grow up and defend my Clan, maybe even lead it!"
"I...I'm gon' grow up, too!" meowed Whitekit, his fur stretching in every direction. "You'we not going to be the only one who'll defend you'we Clan! I'll defend it, too..." Whitekit paused, as if trying to find a thought. "I-I might even be better than you!"
Icefur stared at the kits in distress, ready to leap in and separate the two kits if a fierce battle broke out. But then she calmed down, knowing that they were kits, and the only fierce battle they would have wouldn't include claws. Teeth, maybe, but Icefur would watch the kits close. Icefur watched as Darkkit slowly began to step backwards with a faked face of disbelief and fear. Then, like a flash of lightning, Darkkit's face grew to anger as he hurled himself at Whitekit with claws outstretched.
"No!" gasped Redspots and Icefur in unison, both leaping up and hurrying to the two kits. Darkkit had pinned Whitekit down, his claws sunk into Whitekit's shoulders. Icefur quickly yanked the oversized kit off of the smaller one, startling Darkkit and nearly accidentally hitting him against a nearby stone.
"How dare you hurt your own brother!" spat Icefur, cornering the now fearful kit. "If I hadn't been watching, you could have killed him!" For a moment, it seemed as if Darkkit was proud from hearing that statement, but then returned to his fearful state.
"But he's wea-"
"He is not weak!" interrupted Icefur. "No cat here is weak! Now, get in the nursery and don't leave it until I tell you so!" Anger crossing Darkkit's face, Darkkit stalked into the nursery where he disappeared into the cool darkness. Turning to Redspots, she saw the small Whitekit laying on his back between Redspot's paws, staring at the sky in pure confusion and fear.
"Let's take him to Brightfeather to get his scratches healed," meowed Redspots, gently picking up the kit by its scruff and padding away with Icefur guarding the nursery.
"Oh, StarClan," groaned Duskstar, plopping down on her moss bed in the leader's den. "Thorntalon's injury and Darkkit's... well, attack, and the fact that I am only given until moonhigh tonight to choose a deputy!"
"Should I choose one of my friends?" asked Duskstar, not noticing she had been pacing among her den for what may have been only a few moments but seemed like a few minutes. "But what if the rest of my friends get angry? I don't know if any of the other warriors would make a good deputy; I barely know much about them!" Finally, Duskstar stopped pacing, and fell down to the floor of her den; somehow she had managed to pace onto the ceiling. Groaning with pain and worry, Duskstar slowly heaved herself up off the ground. What am I going to do? she thought, sitting and grooming her dirt streaked fur. She only had six or seven options; really only six, since Icefur would be busy taking care of the kits.
"Um," whispered a voice outside of Duskstar's den, so quiet that Duskstar barely heard it. "I-It's Brightfeather. Do you want to come gather herbs with me before it gets too late for the ceremony?"
"Sure!" exclaimed Duskstar, leaving her den with a relaxed sigh. Now she wouldn't have to think about the deputy position for the moment. "So, Thorntalon's sleeping?"
"Oh, yes," replied Brightfeather, matching Duskstar step for step as they began to walk out of camp. "Spottednose offered to watch her for me. Isn't that just wonderful?" Duskstar nodded in reply, but the way her friend had said what she said made her slightly worried and suspicious.
The pair walked out of the camp and towards the border, where the best herbs grew. When they came to the border, they found a large bush of juniper berries. Duskstar quickly set to work gathering the juniper berries next to Brightfeather, making sure they left a large amount of the berries on the bush.
"Should we head towards the next herb you need?" Duskstar asked over her mouthful of berries. Brightfeather quickly nodded and they turned right, leaving the border but not going back the way they came.
"Now," Brightfeather mewed. "The next herb we need should be right over he-a-wha...?!" A bright, blinding light flashed, causing the two friends to accidentally bite down on the juniper berries, which then caused them to spit the berry remains out.
Blinking her eyes open and ignoring the tang of the juniper berry juice in her mouth, Duskstar glanced at Brightfeather, who showed she was not sure either what just happened. Slowly, Duskstar pushed her way past a thin wall of undergrowth to find three, long legged cats laying in a small clearing. One of the cats was white with light red-brown streaks on her ears and tail, along with light brown eyes. The second cat was black with bright, shiny blue eyes. The third cat was a pale red-brown, lighter than Dawnlight, with pale brown eyes and lighter underfur. Just then, Duskstar realized who these three cats were.
"Princess Celestia?" gaped Duskstar, her voice nearly as soft as Brightfeather's usually was. "Princess Luna? Cadence?!"
"Twilight?" asked cat Celestia, slowly getting up. But upon glancing at her paws, she gaped at her own body, then at the other two princess cats, and then at everyone all at once. "What in Equestria...?" she mumbled, looking far too confused. "Are we...cats..?"
"I can't explain why, but it's not important right now," meowed Duskstar, all her current Clan situations adding to this new, shocking find, causing her to slightly panic. "We need to get you back to the Cl-"
"Cats?!" gasped Cadence, who had now sat up.
"Peculiar indeed," meowed Luna-cat, glancing around. "Do you know what's wrong, big sis?" But Celestia just stood there, jaw gaping, at the sight around her.
"Um..." mumbled Brightfeather, who had so far been silent. "It's getting really dark, so maybe we should head back... i-i-if that's okay with you, that is..."
"Yes," sighed Duskstar, turning to the three cat princesses. "Everyone, come on, we need to head back to camp right now or else..." She trailed off, already nudging the princess cat towards the camp.
Dawnlight could barely manage to sit still in the crowd of cats around her. Every cat in the Clan was sitting beneath the Highledge, waiting for Duskstar to call a Clan meeting. Tonight, Duskstar would announce the deputy; as well as three more Clan cats who, like her and her friends, appeared out of nowhere in Clan territory as cats.
"This is going to be so exciting!" exclaimed Dawnlight to no one in particular.
"Ya'll got that one right," meowed Appleheart, who had been sitting between Dawnlight and Rainpelt. "It could be nearly any one of us."
"L-" yowled Duskstar up above the assembled cats. Her yowl was cut abruptly off when she saw everyone in the Clan was already waiting for the meeting a few fox lengths beneath her. "Looks like you're all already here! So... everyone, it's time to announce the new deputy and the arrival of some newcomers."
"Hallo," whispered a high voice behind Dawnlight. She turned her head to see a small, starry, silver tabby kit sitting behind her. Dawnlight, barely managing not to shout, replied with a happy whisper of greeting.
"First," meowed Duskstar, seeming to arrange her thoughts. "We shall name the new deputy of TwilightClan. It took me a long time to decide who, but I feel like I should have seen it from the beginning. Hard working, responsible, everything a good deputy should be." There was a slight pause, where Dawnlight had to bite her tail to prevent herself from yowling out loud.
"The new deputy will be Appleheart."
"YAY APPLEHEART!!!" yowled Dawnlight, first and loudest to release her approval. Other meows of approval flooded the crowd of Clan cats as Appleheart sat there, clearly nervous and surprised by her being put in such a high rank.
"Thank you, Duskstar," Appleheart managed to blurt after a moment of congratulations.
Duskstar nodded and returned to the meeting. "Now then," she meowed. "Celestia, please step forward." The Celestia-cat slowly, nervously, and proudly walked up to the towering Highledge. "Celestia, do you wish to become a warrior of TwilightClan?"
Celestia-cat nodded.
"I, Duskstar, leader of TwilightClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this newcomer," meowed Duskstar, her voice echoing off the walls of the Clan camp. "She has come to our land, likely by your own command, and wishes to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as an apprentice-warrior in her turn."
"Celestia," meowed Duskstar, looking at Celestia-cat. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do," meowed Celestia-cat in honest reply. Dawnlight held her breath as the rest of this ceremony went on.
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name." spoke Duskstar. "Celestia, from this moment you will be known as Sunheart, and your mentor will be Mouseears.StarClan honors your courage and your loyalty, and we welcome you as an apprentice-warrior of TwilightClan."
"SUNHEART!!!" yowled Dawnlight, louder than the others as Sunheart and Mouseears touched noses. "SUNHEART! SUNHEART! SUNHEART!!!"
As newly named former princess Sunheart proudly trotted back into the crowd with Mouseears, Duskstar was calling Luna-cat up to the front. However, Dawnlight was so excited at this time, she only heard Luna-cat becoming Moonpaw, apprentice of Spottednose. Now, Cadence-cat was going to the front. But once again, Dawnlight was too excited to listen to anything except that Cadence-cat became a queen named Flowerpetal. After all the congratulations passed, the ceremony was closed. Dawnlight turned to speak to the StarClan kit, but it faded along with many other StarClan cats until they were gone.
"This meeting could have been 20% cooler," meowed Rainpelt, coming up behind Dawnlight. Despite her words, Dawnlight could tell Rainpelt was thrilled by what just happened.
Brightfeather sat in front of the rock at Threepines, accompanied by WoodClan's medicine cat Nightleaf. This was going to, oddly enough, be her first trip to the Moonstone. She was both excited and nervous, knowing that she was going to meet with her ancestors once again.
"We're here!" yowled ValleyClan's medicine cat, Ashcloud, the smoky gray tom from the Gathering. He was closely followed by a younger she-cat, who was almost as big as he was despite her age.
The she-cat was a dark grey tabby with deep, dark green eyes and a scar on her chest. The sight of this apprentice made Brightfeather feel slightly frightened.
"Ah," meowed Nightleaf, getting up. "Hello, Ashcloud, Greypaw. Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, since there's no better time," meowed Ashcloud, already heading away from Threepines. Nightleaf followed him willingly, while Greypaw just stared at Brightfeather for a long moment. When Brightfeather made a move to follow the others, Greypaw quickly turned and followed Nightleaf, with Brightfeather behind her.
The trek to the Moonstone was seemingly long, but not unpleasant. As they walked through the forest, crisp yet damp leaves crunched softly underfoot as the night air gently brushed their fur, seeming to urge them on. Brightfeather could hear Ashcloud and Nightleaf exchange comments every now and again, talking about things Brightfeather couldn't hear from her position in the back. Greypaw, on the other hand, barely even made her paw steps audible, falling in place right behind Ashcloud as if she was his shadow.
"We're almost there," Ashcloud meowed during a long pause of silence, scaring Brightfeather. Noticing it was just Ashcloud, she relaxed a bit. She opened her mouth to respond happily, only to be interrupted with an earsplitting BANG coming from a few fox lengths ahead of the group and the sound of some poor creature making one last noise.
"Eep!" mewed Brightfeather, hiding behind Greypaw who glanced at her with- surprisingly- equal fear and shock before looking forward again at Ashcloud and Nightleaf who had arched their backs and stopped, also terrified.
"Twolegs!" hissed Nightleaf, the sound coming out more as a squeak than a hiss as loud, Twoleg paw steps came in their direction.
"We can't go to the Moonstone now!" hissed Greypaw in frustration. Brightfeather was shocked even more so that Greypaw actually said something. "Let's try it at Threepines!" Before Nightleaf or Ashcloud could reply, Greypaw had wheeled around and was bounding to Threepines with Brightfeather trying to catch up, though with a quick hesitation.
I'm working on Chapter 16 right now, though don't be surprised if this story becomes even more rushed (or slow updates, like now). I have a feeling the story-line will be rushed, and the chapters will be very spread apart.
I know where I want the story to go now, though all up until now has basically been improvising while still bound to a very, very basic goal. Honestly, I feel I've failed this story by merely doing that. However, seeing as a decent portion of you really do like this story, I will continue it until I've finished. The updates may be spread out, but I will finish this story. This, I promise.
Another thing, I guess this'll be "delayed" until somewhere near August 14th, though I will still see comments and such, and I will respond to them.
Let me know in the comments what you think: Do you have a prediction as to what a character will do? How do you think this will end? What are your hopes for the rest of this story? Ask me anything, even if it doesn't have anything to do with the story!
Thanks for all the support. I will continue this story until it is finished. ~Truzzle