Book 1: Echoing Voices - Warriors

Prologue

Soft paw steps echoed the clearing. The foliage followed the gentle breeze and no sound was made. A she-cat laid peacefully in the middle of a rather large meadow. Her paws were tucked under her chest as she smiled, looking down at the grass, then it was revealed, three small little bundles. They were newborn kits. The new mother purred quietly, hiding in the tall grass of the meadow. As she groomed her kits carefully, she glanced around a few times, as if checking for danger.

The she-cat was laying in a small burrow in the ground she had found, curled protectively around her small kits. She was completed asleep with exhaustion, but the kits weren't. They pawed at her, still, large stomach, mewling loudly. She opened her eyes and let out a long sigh before looking at her kits. The bright moonlight lit up the burrow, making the she-cats tabby fur almost have a glowing affect. She gave all three of her kits each a quick lick on the head before drifting back to sleep again.

Panic surged through her as she ran, faster and faster. An adrenaline pounded in he chest, making her run faster, but it didn't help. The weight of her kits dragged her down and before she knew it, there was no longer any land beneath her paws. She let out a loud yowl, dropping her kits as they all rolled down a slope. The kits squealed in terror and her eyes widened. She raced back over to them after struggling to her paws and desperately tried to scoop their scruffs up with her jaws again. A loud snarl sounded, not too far away and she pinned her ears back, growing more and more frantic. Suddenly, something yanked her away by from all three of her little kits, "Run, kits! Run!" She screeched and she spun around to face her attacker.

She panted as she laid unmoving, her blood pooling around her slowly. She rasped for breath and pinned her ears back before looking up from where she was. She slowly lifted her head from the ground painfully, "K-i-ts?" She barely managed to call out, her voice cracking like a thin sheet of ice. There was no response other than the quiet sound of the wind. She pinned her ears back, fears began to rise in her mind about what could have happened, "Kits?" She called out louder and more desperately.

At last, one of the kits showed themselves. She raced over, ignoring the searing pain shooting through her stomach, and began to attack her with vigorous licks. "Mommy! Mommy!" The kit hissed and quickly pulled away, "Hurry!" And with that, the kit spun around and raced off, away from her. She glanced around before quickly limping after her kit, desperately trying to keep up. Her legs buckled and she dropped to the ground with a painful groan. It might have only been a few moments, but it felt like a whole moon before her kit came back to her, "Mommy! We must hurry! They're hurt!" The kit wailed and started to nudge her, "Mommy!" The kit whimpered. Her heart cracked as she saw her kit's broken and sad face. "I love you...my darling.." She whispered and her whole world collapsed, turning into nothing, but a ringing darkness.