**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 1- Daughters and Darkness

Prologue

 Cedrspike was, arguably, the slowest warrior in all of ForestClan. Darkcloud was fighting a losing battle in resisting the urge to push him aside and race back to camp. Not in a childish way, but because seriously, how was it physically possible to walk this slow? And even then, why did he insist on leading every single patrol?

 The dark gray tabby dug his teeth into the vole he was carrying as he craned his neck to peer around the senior warrior. Up the hill, he could see the camp entrance patiently waiting for the hunting patrol. He unsheathed his claws and dug his paws into the autumn leaves as they trekked on.

 Cedarspike turned his head around to get a look at the crunching noise, his squirrel dangling limply in his jaws as he hitched his head. Darkcloud retracted his claws and looked down at the ground, slightly embarrased. He may be the deputy, but his Clanmate Cedarspike was many moons older than him. It would be foolish to say anything about his pace.

 Suddenly, the older tom stopped in his tracks. He put his squirrel down in front of his and turned to the patrol. "Did you hear that?" he asked. 

 Behind them, the ever-faithful Cardinalpaw pricked his ears and turned in circles with his head tilted, searching for a noise. Robinpaw glanced over her shoulder, although she could have easily been rolling her eyes. Further back, Sprucefall trotted lightly up the hill to join his brother. 

 "What kind of noise is it? Or is it just your ears ringing again?" he joked lightly.

 Cedarspike shook his head. "It's some kind of howling." he insisted.

Sprucefall tilted his head thoughtfully for a moment, then gave him a reassuring smile. "It must have been the wind." he dismissed. His brother shrugged and leaned down to pick up his prey.

 Darkcloud glanced over at his apprentice, Cardinalpaw. He hitched his head in Cedarspike's direction before sliding past the senior warrior. 

 Cardinalpaw dutifully followed at his heels, grinning widely at his mentor and nearly crushing the finch in his jaws. He gave Darkcloud a playful nudge. "I'll race you back to camp!" he challenged.

 Darkcloud narrowed his eyes at the hollow log a few moose-lengths away. He grunted at the reddish tom before suddenly sprinting away, making it to the entrance in a matter of heartbeats. He circled around to wait for the patrol, but nearly collided with Cardinalpaw. 

 "Aw, you beat me!" the young cat complained. Darkcloud rolled his eyes. "Have you ever won a race in your life? Against someone who wasn't one of your imaginary friends?" he criticized, nearly dropping his vole in the process. Cardinalpaw laughed obliviously. "It's all about fun, though. Right? Being a warrior isn't about speed." 

 Suddenly, he straightened up, clenching his finch even tighter between his teeth. "Wait. Does this mean I don't become a warrior?" he worried.

 Darkcloud scoffed at his apprentice. "You literally just passed your assessment. Why would I not make you a warrior over something like a race back to the camp?"

 Cardinalpaw seemed to relax. "Oh. Yeah. That makes a lot more sense." he said, relieved.

 "Out of the way, slowpokes!" Cedarspike called merrily. Darkcloud and his apprentice leaped back to either side of the hollow log to let the patrol pass.

 "Look who's talking," Darkcloud muttered, spawning a snicker from Cardinalpaw.

 On the other side of the hollow log, the camp seemed to be wrapped in a rosy glow filtering through the autumn leaves above. The vines growing along the walls admitted many yellowed leaves, although the pink and orange blossoms still fluttered valiantly in the cool breeze.