Heart Of A Fighter (Book 1): The Story Begins

Prologue: Exile

The moon shone high in the sky, bathing the forest below in its soft, pale glow. The eerie moonlight illuminated the darkened paths, turning the rocky grounds silver.

An owl or two hooted loudly in the distance, and moths fluttered around any light source they could find.

A white and grey tomcat sat on the stone wall that guarded the house outside the forest, waiting for his mate. It was a chilly night, one full of night breeze and the irritating sound of cicadas chirping here and there.

Soon, a pale sandy-coloured molly with faint silver stripes with a lavender- coloured collar around her neck emerged from the Roadwalker den, with two tiny bundles gently clutched between her teeth.

Their kits.

The tom felt pride course through his veins at the sight of his sandy-furred son and his grey and white pelted daughter.

The female DenFolk pet reached her mate, and carefully dropped the kits onto the ground, earning small squeaks of protest from both of them as they hit the cold ground.

"Cedar." The DenFolk pet's voice calling him by his nickname caught his attention and he then gazed up at her. "Yes, my love?"

"Where are we going to go? I don't want our children to be taken away by my HomeWalkers. Could they possibly...live with you in your Clan?"

The silvery tomcat shook his head, sighing. "I'm afraid not, my love, Cougarblaze had me exiled because he was afraid I'd be picked as deputy instead of him."

The DenFolk pet blinked in both shock and disbelief. "Surely Squirrelstar isn't that stupid to believe him?"

"He does, mainly because he twisted the story to make me look guilty. The best we can do now is leave." The DenFolk pet sighed and brushed her nose against his feather-soft fur, allowing the exiled tom's heart to act like spooked sparrows.

"Where can we even go?" She questioned. Her partner sighed. "The only place I can think of going to right now is the valleys over the mountains. If we seek refuge anywhere else in here Cougarblaze will surely seek us out and kill us."

He turned to his mate, half expecting her to decline going to the valleys. He was pleasantly surprised when she smiled wearily and replied, "I'll do anything to keep my precious ones safe."

He smiled warmly at the love of his life before bending down to pick up the sandy pelted tomcat, who let out a squeak when he did so.

His mate picked up their daughter, who made nary a silver of sound as she did, and the duo set off towards the teetering mountains that seemed to puncture the horizon and pierce the sky.