Chapter Text
It was a dusky night outside. Millions of stars were speckled across the great, dark sky. A small, chilled wind was blowing throughout a big forest that sat beneath the sky. The moon bathed the forest in its light. In the forest, there was a gorge, and down the gorge there was a camp and a little stream that split right through it. It was quiet other than crickets singing their songs. The silence was all of a sudden pierced by a big, lithe, she-cat running through the stream and splashing.
"Redstar!" She called. "Redstar!" She was panting from being out of breath. She had ran a long ways back to camp. Her pale blue eyes were filled to the brim with terror. Her pale, soft, white and gray fur was risen along her spine. Her long tail was bristled and twitching with impatience. "Redstar!" She shouted again. "Reds-" Her speech was cut out by a huge, bulky, long-haired tom cat leaping in front of her. He sat with his red tail curled around him. His white fur was bristled by the shock of the she-cat's voice. "R-Redstar! DewClan is in the territory! Smallstar is looking for you!" Redstar stood up immediately. His green eyes narrow and he growled at this news.
"Thank you, Sweetstep." He meowed before running up a pointed rock that sat in camp. It had a flat top on it. Redstar let out a loud caterwaul. One by one, cat heads peeked out of bushes, tunnels, and a fallen tree. "Cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather around The Greatstone for a Clan meeting!" Redstar called.
Cats rushed out of their dens and gathered below The Greatstone. Sweetstep was among the crowd and was shaking.
"It has come to me," Redstar began, "that DewClan is in our territory and Smallstar is with them. I will take some cats with me to speak with him. These cats will have to be prepared for battle if it has to be that way to rid them from here!"
A massive, bulky, wolf-like tom rose and sat on his haunches and gave out a warrior-cry and then shouted as he slashed his claws through the air. "I am always prepared for a good battle! They will not leave this territory unscathed!" He then howled with laughter and it echoes throughout the ravine.
"If it does come to that, Wolfhowl." Redstar reminded him. "I'm not saying we're gonna approach aggressively. I know Smallstar, he isn't going to start aggressively either." Wolfhowl settled down, but yet still had a proud smile on his face. "I will be calling cats, but the ones I don't say will stay and guard camp. I don't think DewClan would think of coming down here, especially if we have our Stone Steps." Wolfhowl, along with a small, wide-shouldered, hare-like she cat, and a big, handsome, gold tabby tom snickered. "Okay," Redstar began, "Thunderclaw, Duskstep, Tigerfoot, and Wolfhowl." The cats rose up. Wolfhowl had a big smile on his face. Redstar, along with the called cats stepped up the Stone Steps and went out of camp. They sprinted through the trees and dodged roots and bushes with ease. Redstar's ears perked up when he heard voices. He lead the group to where he heard them. Redstar stopped and saw a small cat with four other cats. They saw him too and they growled and hissed except for the small cat.
"Smallstar!" Redstar and his group padded over, ignoring the hisses and growls, "what are you doing in FireClan territory? You have no right to be here."
The small cat, Smallstar, spoke up "This isn't your territory, Redstar. DewClan will fight for what's ours!"
Redstar was kinda shocked, but he felt like all he was dealing with was a nuisance. "FireClan won't hesitate to fight you!" Redstar told him.
Where the two groups stood were two tall Oak trees and there were two big rocks. FireClan used these for climbing and for a hunting ground. What could DewClan use from this?
"I've got a Clan with many mouths to feed." Smallstar protested. "We could use these hunting grounds. All you have, Redstar, is an endangered wreck with a handful of warriors. Step aside."
Redstar's eyes narrowed and his fur bristled. The FireClan cats leaned back a little, knowing Redstar could be erratic. Redstar flicked his tail, signaling his group to attack. The cats leapt forward and began to attack the DewClan group. It was a storm of hissing and yowls. Claws flashed and blood was being spilt onto the green grass. Wolfhowl was in the zone, and he didn't take much kindly to Smallstar's words. Wolfhowl pinpointed where Smallstar was and he rushed through the battling cats and flung himself onto Smallstar. The small tom wasn't ready and was pinned to the grass and he struggled underneath Wolfhowl's grasp. Smallstar then took his hind legs and raked his claws on Wolfhowl's belly. Wolfhowl growled, resisting the urge to yowl and then he let go of Smallstar. Smallstar darted to Wolfhowl's left side and began to slash at him. Wolfhowl turned and took his big paw down onto Smallstar's head and shoved him into the bloody grass. Smallstar was dazed for a second, but that was enough to let Wolfhowl claw at his sides and then sank his teeth into his leg. Smallstar hissed and struggled. Blood was dripping from his leg. Wolfhowl then sank his claws around Smallstar's neck and then slashed. Smallstar let out a wail and then he fell limp at Wolfhowl's paws. Suddenly he let out a proud laugh. He was blinded by his anger. Cats stopped and looked over at Smallstar's limp body. The DewClan group fled from their battles and rushed over to their leader. Wolfhowl could only grin at their shocked faces. He had won.
"Wolfhowl!" Redstar shouted.
Wolfhowl turned to him. Redstar looked at his wounds and his bloodied paws. The DewClan group turned and hissed at the FireClan group. Smallstar rose up shortly after.
"H-He took one of my lives. My nine lives." Smallstar wheezed. "I've died!"
The DewClan group's furs all bristled as they turned to Wolfhowl, who was still blinded by pride and anger. They hissed and began to slowly creep toward him. Wolfhowl showed no fear as he put himself in a stance and snarled at them. His malice was not yet all spent.
"Don't!" Smallstar commanded.
The DewClan group settled, but they were still furious at this.
"You get to keep this, for now." Smallstar sighed. "I'll bring more warriors. My Clan outnumbers yours. Remember what I've said. This territory will be DewClan's."
"You underestimate us with such a sad group." Wolfhowl told him.
The DewClan group hissed at this comment.
"Clearly I have." Smallstar admitted. "You won't learn from being flawless, Wolfhowl." He then turned to Redstar. "It tells me you still don't know how to control your Clan if one of your own senior warriors is acting out of his place." Redstar narrowed his eyes. Wolfhowl snarled at Smallstar. Smallstar could only chuckle. "He even treats you like some kit. Face it Redstar, if you can even live up to that name, you can't lead your wrecked Clan. It'll end up like GorgeClan, dead and gone." Smallstar told him and had a little smirk on his face.
"You're wrong!" Wolfhowl shouted.
Redstar hissed at him and stepped up. "FireClan will fight you. Even if we go down, we won't go down without honor. You're forgetting the Warrior Code, Smallstar. A warrior doesn't have to kill to win in battle. You don't have to kill us all to win this piece of territory. You're power-hungry. Wake up! You're making unwise decisions and not thinking of consequences. Bad things can come out from both of us. You can call me a joke of a leader, but I'd like to quote you. 'You won't learn from being flawless.' I learn. I think. I am clear. Fine, bring your warriors. Fine, bring any of them, the biggest, the strongest. Fine. Just save it until after the Gathering. You'd want to, too. Trust me." Redstar started to retreat to his group, but then he stopped and he said: "Think about it."
Wolfhowl laughed and cheered. Redstar hissed at him and then signaled the group to leave after the DewClan group retreated and Tigerfoot marked the territory. As they headed back, Redstar padded over to Wolfhowl.
"Stop." He hissed.
Wolfhowl chuckled. "What? Is it because I killed him?" His face turned serious. "Did you not hear what he said about you and your own Clan? He forced my claw."
"You have hardly any self-control. All you wanna do is kill cats. Warriors don't need to—"
"—kill to win a battle." Wolfhowl finished. "I know. I get what you're saying.
"I won't be taking you to Gatherings if you keep this up." Redstar growled.
"Keeping what up? Being a great warrior?" Wolfhowl grinned.
"Get more self-control and stop trying to treat me like a kit." Redstar snarled and then went ahead to talk to a large, tall, tiger-like tom. Wolfhowl bounded towards a huge, sturdy, thick-furred, gray tabby tom and padded with him.
"What'd you think of how I defended our territory, Duskstep?"
"Leave me alone." Duskstep growled.
Wolfhowl went over to a big, handsome, gold tabby."What'd you think of my defending, Thunderclaw?" Wolfhowl asked.
"I'm not all for it." Thunderclaw told him.
Wolfhowl bounded toward the tiger-like tom. "Tigerfoot—"
"No. Not at all." Tigerfoot answered him.
Wolfhowl huffed and then sulked back for the remaining of the retreat. The group stepped down into camp and cats immediately flooded over them with questions.
"What did DewClan want?"
"Was there a battle?"
"Where was this?"
"What did you guys have to say?"
Redstar interrupted them with a yowl. "We need our wounds tended to." He told the crowd. It was true, the group had bloodied pelts with slashes and wounds on their bodies. Sweetstep stepped from the crowd.
"Seedpaw and I could help you."
• • •
Redstar stood on top of the Greatstone and looked up at the stars. He sighed and closed his eyes. Sweetstep leapt onto the Greatstone and looked up as well. Redstar sensed her. "How are the others?"
"They're fine. Their wounds aren't fatal. Wolfhowl was a bit difficult, but it's all good."
Redstar gave a small smile. "You are a gifted Medicine Cat, Sweetstep." The two sat for a bit. "Has StarClan told you anything?" Redstar asked.
"They haven't spoke to me in many moons." Sweetstep told him.
They continued to sit. A chilly breeze came by, whistling and breaking the silence for a second. Suddenly, Sweetstep's fur bristled and she tensed up. Redstar looked over to her. Sweetstep then almost completely dropped, but kept balance. She was light-headed. "It's StarClan." She told Redstar.
"What did they say?"
Sweetstep paused for a moment. "Darkness will rise over the forest by a dark thought. An unusual brave heart will come at the arrival of wind and snow to light up a path and will save the Clans.”
"What?"
"I'm not sure, but this is what StarClan wished to share with me."
"A prophecy?"
"Perhaps."
"I suppose we should ponder for awhile about this prophecy. I, however, will sleep on it." Redstar leapt down and curled up in a missing chunk from the Greatstone.
Sweetstep stayed there as part of the prophecy kept echoing in her head. "An unusual brave heart will come and save the Clans.”