Warriors: Savior of Steel

Chapter 1

Pigeonpaw groaned as dawn light flittered into the den. A new sunrise breached the horizon. Does the day have to come so soon? Go back to sleep sun. The white and gray apprentice thought groggily, wishing the night could have continued.

As a voice with such authority filled her ears, she leaped up from her side, reaching her paws in one swift movement. "All gather around the high rock for a clan meeting!" Shouted Runningstar, a white and tan calco, and the leader of Moorclan.

A clan meeting! My first one ever! Pigeonpaw had completely forgotten her sleepy wares, leaving them behind as her paws bounced quickly to carry her into the clearing.

By now there were many cats also leaving their dens, and most seemed as sleepy as she had been. Pigeonpaw tasted the air, the scent of early morning dew on the long grasses mingling with the scents of the familiar cats all around her. There were no signs of danger.

Curious, she moved to the base of the rock where Runningstar made her announcement. Pigeonpaw overheard murmurs beside her as cats gathered and clumped together. "Today is going to be a hot day, I can already smell it." "I Wonder what Runningstar is going to say. I hope it's nothing bad." "I just hope I'll be allowed to go back to my den." The voices of her clan mates rose all around her, but her own gaze did not falter as they spoke, remaining trained on the high rock.

As silence fell, the white and tan calico she-cat stepped off to the side, allowing room for a cat to come and stand beside her. A dark orange tom with black paws that smoothly transitioned into the rest of his pelt. He approached the head of the rock. He climbed up beside the leader, looking at her briefly and giving a curt nod, then down at the rest of the clan. He was known as Juniperfoot, the clan medicine cat.

"Tell them all what you told me," Runningstar meowed, flicking her tail in annoyance.

Juniperfoot stepped forward and sighed, resting his front paws just on the cusp of the rock, looking down at all the cats below. He examined the crowd with his eyes, flicking quickly between every cat with his deep orange gaze. He seems nervous, Pigeonpaw thought, hoping he would be able to make the announcement.

The tom heaved another heavy sigh and slumped his head for a moment, likely preparing himself to tell the clan whatever news was. Once he raised his head again, he opened his mouth to speak.

"The cats of Starclan have spoken. They have told me something that concerns and confuses me, and I need all cats' help to interpret it. You need not tell me now. Dwell on it, and talk to me when you think you have an idea."

The cat's orange gaze combed over the camp, analyzing each and every cat's face. She met his eyes when looked at her, her tail flicking to and fro, showing her eagerness to hear the message.

"Starclan brought all of the medicine cats together last night in a dream. They said that we would come across a strange creature, half cat and half monster!-" Before he could continue, the crowd of cats around Pigeonpaw erupted in a single congealed protest, though not one meow was clearer than another. Pigeonpaw tried to think about what the medicine cat had said, but she couldn't hear her own thoughts over the noise.

"Quiet!" demanded Runningstar, her tail lashing and her yowl blaring over all of the other cats. "Every cat must listen! If this is what Starclan has told us, then we must all hear it." She meowed, hearing the protests of the crowd quickly dying down. "Juniperfoot, continue." Runningstar prompted, dipping her head to the medicine cat.

Juniperfoot gave a thankful nod to Runningstar before turning back to the cats below. "This strange creature was born and hides in these lands. It is said that one day, he will save... the clan." Concern filled Juniperfoot's voice as the meowed the last two words.