Warriors: Your Legacy

Prologue

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"Darkness!" The golden tabby she cat screamed, gripping the cliff's edge with her claws. Her arms burned with the effort of holding on, but she wouldn't allow herself to fall to the rocky ocean's edge below. She had to hold on, for The Clan of Light. "Please don't do this!"

​"Just give up, Sunlight!" a tom with fur as black as night and eyes as cold as ice stepped towards her. He had pushed her off the cliff just moments before, and was frustrated that his adversary had not died. "DarkClan deserves to exist. LightClan is weak."

​Sunlight gritted her teeth, and tried to climb up onto the rocky outcropping of the mountain. She had been a fool for agreeing to meet Darkness here, and an even bigger fool for hoping that things could go back to the way they used to be.

​"How could you betray me?" Darkness yelled, stepping towards her. "We could have gotten revenge, together! Revenge against those two legs and anyone else who stood in the way of our rule. We still can."

​"The humans mean us no harm," Sunlight pleaded, and tried to slide away from him, but Darkness was too fast. He lunged forward, digging his claws into her arms. "The Tribes mean us no harm," Sunlight cried out in pain, but held fast to the cliff's edge. "Please don't do this, Darkness. You'll regret it."

​Darkness sneered, his eyes flaming. He leaned forward, and looked deeply into her blue eyes. Then, he whispered the infamous words that would rein in her mind for eternity.

"I regret nothing." He pushed her over the edge. Thinking quickly, Sunlight bit into his neck, dragging him with her into the nothingness of the air. Be strong, Clan of Light. Sunlight prayed, and closed her eyes.

Just as Sunlight's eyes closed, Thunderstar's eyes shot open and he gazed around. Did I fall asleep? He asked himself, glancing around. He was outside of camp, but he had forgotten why for a few minutes until he heard a distant sob. Oh, yes..

"Please, Thunderstar," the peach furred she cat pleaded. Thunderstar had just arrived above the prison made for her and he was glowering from above. He was tired of trying to get information from her. But now, he was ready to make a deal. "I have kits. They don't have anyone except for me.."

"They'll have the clan," he replied coldly. He was done with sympathy for queens. No one had sympathy for mine. "Sprucestrike, had agreed to let your past feuds go, Shymask. Under one condition.."

Shymask nodded her head in acknowledgment. She was at the bottom of a cavern, which was covered by a thicket of thorns. Shymask had no hope of escape, for a warrior would check on her continually. At this point, after a moon of not seeing her kits, she would do anything.

"You're going to go find the surviving MountainClan. You will join them and insist you escaped and have nowhere else to go. Then, if you see a cat that resembled Vulturestar, you'll kill him," Thunderstar replied plainly. He didn't show any care or emotion. "After that you may go back to the second province, and do then same. After all this, you will redeem your normal life. No more deals and no more worry.."

"Why them? I don't see how they pose a threat to you," Shymask stated but confused.

"They don't pose a threat," Thunderstar lied through his teeth. "I just don't want any cat resembling that traitor, anywhere in my empire."

"That's ridiculous.."

"Are you going to accept the deal? Or shall Sprucestrike and a patrol take a trip to the second province.."

"Fine! I'll do it," Shymask replied from below. At that, Thunderstar carefully but on a bare part of the thicket and threw it to the side. Then, he beckoned her out. Shymask weakly crawled out, and it took all of her strength.

"Go now. Tell Airflight when the deal is done. Don't take more then three moons.. We don't want one of them to spread their blood in the meantime.." Shymask trotted off at his words, disgusted at the leader. But he wasn't finished. He surged forward and bit her deeply on the leg then spat in her eyes. She screeched at the crunch and the pain before limping away.

"Perhaps that will speed things up..," Thunderstar chuckled and trotted back to camp. It was night, and he told Burrclaw to rest instead of guard Shymask. Little did the elder know, that it was all a charade to get him banished the next day. Useless elders have no place in the first rank...

"How'd it go?" Sprucestrike asked as Thunderstar crossed into the camp.

"She didn't believe me.."

"You didn't tell her about the prophecy, right?"

"Of course not. The only cats that know are Jaybird, you and I. And we are the only cats that shall ever know," Thunderstar whispered with a content grin. Sprucestrike glanced at his paws then back at him.

"Are you sure MountainClan.."

"MountainClan has no successor to Horsetail. Not a real one, that I know of. They shouldn't be a problem.
Tomorrow we are going to inspect the province's new offspring, then drop off Burrclaw," Thunderstar explained.

"Shame. I enjoyed his snarky remarks."

"We have no place for elders. How was your night with Ivysong?"

"She told me she's expecting kits," Speucestrike replied with a smile and Thunderstar smiled in return. He had always hoped Sprucestrike would settle down. His offspring will be be great additions...

"That'll be a good season. Bluewisp is also expecting and I think she'll be our new head queen. Well, I must get to sleep. We've got an empire to rule."

"Wait.. Do your offspring fit the prophecies description?" Sprucestrike asked curiously. He knew for a fact that Thornfrost and his grandson Shadow fit the description. Why chase down the others? Sprucestrike wondered silently.

"Probably not.. I've never met them, but their offspring could fulfill the prophecy, and I can't allow that. Two of them are in CaveClan, so perhaps they can prove themselves... But not the one in MountainClan, he will have to go," Thunderstar replied as he toyed with the sand in his den.

"What about Thornfrost?"

"Thornfrost is on our side. I have her contained and have promised her the inheritance that Vulturestar would've had. She will stay loyal until my death, then, takeover after," Thunderstar explained in a patient tone. All of this made Sprucestrike uneasy. In the old clans, deputy would succeed leader. So what does that mean for my family? "And she will calm the empire significantly. She's less... brash then we are. She won't bring it down to death and that will earn her support. I don't know why you worry, Sprucestrike.."

"What if you have this all wrong? What if it's not one of your children, but Vulturestar's child?"

"Ah. The prophecy said an heir of the storm. You're right.. It could be any of them. Rainpool or Shadow, both? Speaking of which, Vulturestar's followers, have you imprisoned them?"

"Yes. Sleetpool, Fiereclaw, their offspring, Hollowkit, Rainpool and Twistedfoot are all in our custody.."

"Take Rainpool to LakeClan, also. Hopefully, after the surplus of cats and the oncoming leaf-bare, she'll starve. Let the others go to CaveClan. Just because they strayed once, doesn't mean they should pay the ultimate price. I would never let those traitors back in our clan.. but, you can't blame them for being loyal to their leader. Any sight of Vulturestar?"

"None. I'm sorry," Sprucestrike replied. "Do you think he'll ever show up? It's been three moons.."

"Keep searching."