Gingerheart's Destiny

Prolouge

The moon was high in the sky as a pale gray cat walked up the peak of the mountain. Its fur glinted in the moonlight. It stopped and sniffed the air as if it was trying to scent prey, but it continued into a cavern.

The cat took long, silent strides across the bumpy, gravelly ground. The tunnel it was traveling down was winding and seemed to continue on forever. Finally, the cat reached what seemed to be a large, shiny stone. When the moonlight hit the stone, it sparkled like a shooting star.

It walked over to the moonlit stone and squinted its eyes slowly and finally closed them. The cat touched its nose to it and immediately fell into an almost unconscious sleep.

Stars moved in its head in spirals and the cat felt dizzy. Finally, the dizziness faded and was replaced with a rush of adrenaline. The cat felt like it could run across countless meadows and still be full of the feeling.

Finally, the cat felt solid ground beneath its rough pads, worn from the long, hard trek. It gazed upon the sea of trees and bushes, the rivers and grass. It was a beautiful place, and you couldn't deny it.

"A wondrous world, isn't it?" A cat, nearly invisible, stepped out from behind a nearby pine tree and rasped, "Welcome back to StarClan, Dovepaw. What brings you here?"

Dovepaw smiled. "I decided I wanted to speak with you alone. Hello, Hareleap. You look as sharp as ever."

"Why, thank you," the old medicine cat mewed. Then her raspy voice quieted so much that Dovepaw had to lean in to hear. "Did you get the dream about...the golden heart?"

"Of course I did," Dovepaw answered. "Else I would be back at camp. But I don't understand the sign. Does it signify a cat?"

"Of course!" Hareleap rasped in surprise. "Also, that reminds me. I have a message for you." Her eyes suddenly darkened and everything around her seemed to dim. "On the shore of a gold sand beach you will find a heart imprinted in the sand. A cat will find it and be torn by visions of another life. This will mean she is the only hope for MoorClan to survive."

Dovepaw's splendidly blue eyes widened. "How could this be? Has it been born yet? Who-" She suddenly stopped and fell to the grassy earth, and into a deep sleep.

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Dovepaw arrived back at camp and was lectured by Pouncetail upon return.

"You should never leave camp without informing someone!" He scolded. "You shall be the only apprentice to care for the elders for four days! This is your punishment."

Dovepaw padded away angrily. She sat in the apprentices' den and sulked and contemplated her life.

Around dusk, she padded out of the den in an attempt to get a rabbit from the fresh-kill pile. Dovepaw found a small but juicy one on the top of the pile, freshly killed. She sat down next to Silverpaw and Willowpaw, who were made apprentices recently with their brother Cloudpaw.

"Hi, Dovepaw!" Willowpaw said, ever so bouncy. "Nice rabbit!"

"Agreed!" Silverpaw added. "Looks delicious!" She was Willowpaw's more reserved but beautiful sister.

"Thanks!" Dovepaw replied.

Suddenly Willowpaw stiffened. She sniffed the air cautiously. Sighing, she muttered, "There's rain on its way, and lots of it."

"No!" Silverpaw moaned. "It'll ruin the fresh-kill and my pelt!"

"Oh, hush about your pelt."

Stormrunner, Silverpaw's father, padded out of the nursery. "We have a queen beginning to kit."

"Who?" Dovepaw exclaimed.

"Yellowflower. And the bad thing is, Coalfeather is on patrol and won't be coming back for a bit. Pouncetail needs you."

Dovepaw leaped to her feet and ran over to where Pouncetail, the medicine cat, was finding the proper herbs.

"Dovepaw, fetch me a stick," he ordered.

She raced off to a nearby tree and got one off with her teeth. Just then, a rumble in the distance was picked up by Dovepaw.

"The storm's coming!" She yowled as she ran to the nursery where there were moans.

"Thank you, Dovepaw," Pouncetail mewed. "Here comes the first!"

Yellowflower gripped the stick withher teeth, nearly splitting it in half. A small bundle of brown fur rolled onto the moss.

"Dovepaw, start licking the kits when they come," Pouncetail ordered. Looking at Yellowflower, he said, "It's a tom."

"He's so beautiful!" She breathed, then gripped the stick again. Another bundle, gold with brown spots this time, spilled onto the moss next to its brother.

"A she-cat," Pouncetail told Yellowflower.

This time, Yellowflower couldn't answer, as her eyes widened and she started coughing hard. A ginger bundle slipped onto the moss, on top of its siblings, who started mewling in discomfort.

"Your last kit is a she-cat," Pouncetail mewed. "One tom, two she-cats."

Suddenly, Coalfeather sped into camp from the ForestClan border patrol. "How is she?" He demanded of Dovepaw.

"I- She's done kitting. One tom, two she-cats."

He raced to the nursery before he even finished talking, leaving Eclipseleaf and Ratclaw at the entrance.

Dovepaw walked into the nursery, where Coalfeather was licking the kits.

"I think the brown one should be called Mudkit," Coalfeather muttered.

"Yes," Yellowflower agreed.

"What about the gold and brown one?"

"She looks like a leopard that the elders' stories speak of. Let's name her Leopardkit."

"And the ginger one?"

Yellowflower's gaze swept over the ginger kit.

"Gingerkit," she muttered, before falling into a deep sleep, just as the storm awakened.