into the wild woods

PROLOGUE

Smooth granite boulders took on a silver hue from the glow of the claw moon. Only the ripple of the swift black river's water and the rustling of the trees in the surrounding forest could be heard.

There was a rustling in the shadows, and from every direction, lithe, dark figures crept silently over the rocks. In the moonlight, unsheathed claws glistened. Then, as if in response to a silent signal, the cats pounced on each other, bringing the rocks to life with wrangling.

A large dark ginger tabby pinned a gray tom to the ground in the middle of the furious fight, then raised his head triumphantly. ''Oakjaw!'' the tabby growled. ''The sun Carin is Thundering Cloud's territory, so how dare you hunt here?''

''After tonight, Tigerfang, this will be just another piece of Whispering River territory,'' the gray tom spat back. A shrill and anxious warning yowl could be heard coming from the shore ''Watch out! More whispering river knights are coming!'' Tigerfang whirled around to see sleek, wet bodies emerging from the water beneath the rocks.

Without even pausing to shake the water from their fur, the soggy whispering river knights scampered silently up the shore and launched themselves into battle. Oakjaw received a glare from the dark ginger tabby.

she drew back her lips and showed her teeth as the cat struggled beneath her, ''You may swim like otters, but you and your knights do not belong in this forest!'' The frantic scream of a thundering clouds molly rose above the fighting.

The brown soldier was flat on her belly, pinned by a wiry, croaking river tom. Still, dripping from his swim across the river, he dove toward her neck. Tigerfang released oakjaw after hearing the cry.

She dislodged the adversary knight from the molly with a strong leap. Before attacking the croaking river tom who had threatened her, she yowled to Mousetail, ''Quick Mousetail, run!''. Wincing from a large gash on her shoulder, Mousetail scurried to her paws before sprinting off.

The whispering river tom cut open Tigerfang's nose as she spat in rage. She briefly experienced blindness from the blood but continued to move forward and sink her teeth into the back leg of her foe.

The whispering river cat yowled and clawed its way free. A soldier with a golden mane yowled to her, ''Tigerfang! There are too many whispering river knights, this is useless.''

''No, Lionheart''. Tigerfang yowled in response, leaping to Lionheart's side. ''Thundering clouds will never be beaten! This is our territory!" she shook her head as blood began to well up around her broad, black muzzle.

''Thundering clouds will honor your bravery, Tigerfang, but more soldiers must not perish. Snowstar would never count on her soldiers to stand up to such overwhelming odds. We'll get another chance to exact revenge for this loss'' Lionheart pleaded. He held Tigerfang's amber eyes steady for a moment before rearing away and leaping onto a boulder at the edge of the trees.

''Retreat, thundering clouds! Retreat!'' He yowled, Immediately, his soldiers writhed and fought to get away from their adversaries. They retreated in the direction of Lionheart, spitting and growling.

The whispering river cats briefly displayed bewilderment, Was this battle so easily won? Then Oakjaw yowled in a jubilant cry, The whispering river knights joined their auxiliary in caterwauling their victory as soon as they heard him, raising their voices.

Lionheart regarded his soldiers from below. With a flick of his tail, he sent the thundering clouds diving down the opposite side of the sun carin and into the trees. The last to follow was Tigerfang. She paused at the edge of the forest before turning to look at the bloody battleground. her eyes were angry slits, and she had a grim expression. Then, leaping into the still forest, she followed her Clowder.

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A gray colorpoint Molly was sitting by herself in a deserted clearing and gazing up at the night sky.

She could hear sleeping cats moving and breathing all around her in the shadows. A small tortoiseshell tom emerged from a shadowy area with silent, brisk paw steps. The white cat gave a friendly head-dip. ''How's Mousetail?'' She meowed.

The tortoiseshell plopped down on the cool grass of night, ''Her wounds are deep, Snowstar. But she is young and healthy; she will recover quickly.'' ''And the others?'' Snowstar asked ''They will all recover as well'' Snowstar nodded. ''We were fortunate not to lose any of our soldiers during this incident. You and Cricketdawn are gifted healers." She cocked her head once more as she observed the stars.

''Tonight's loss has me very upset. Since I became the leader, thundering clouds have not been defeated in its own territory'' she mused. ''For our Clowder, these are challenging times. There are fewer kits because this new leaf season is late. More soldiers are required for Thundering Clouds to survive.''

''The year has only just begun. When Greenleaf arrives, there will be more kits.'' Spottedblossom emphasized calmly The broad shoulders of the white cat twitched. ''Perhaps. It does, however, take time to train our young to be soldiers. Thundering Clouds needs new soldiers as soon as possible to protect its territory.''

Following Snowstar's gaze up at the swath of stars glittering in the night sky, ''Are you asking the spirits for answers?'' Spottedblossom questioned. ''We often need the advice of our ancestors in times like these''

''Have the spirits spoken to you?'' Spottedblossom shook his head ''Not for some moons, Snowstar." A shooting star suddenly flared above the treetops. The fur along Spottedblossom's spine bristled, his eyes turning black. While Spottedblossom continued to look up, Snowstar's ears perked, but she said nothing.

From the corner of spottedblossom's eye, dark shadows started to swirl around him, they began to wrap themselves around him as he choked trying to gasp for air. The shadows let go of spottedblossom as he gasped for air, he muttered 10 words before passing out "The flames of the rusted one will destroy our clowder"