Warriors: The Lost Prophecy - Book One: Whispers of War

Prologue

The sound of soft paw steps fill the air as cats move through the leaf litter, the crunching of dead leaves loudly indicating that leaf-bare was here. With it came the harsh chill and rumbling bellies of hungry cats, this leaf-bare seeming to be a very difficult one after an already difficult leaf-fall. Prey wasn't running well for any of the clans, and the twolegs that lived on the edge of ThicketClan had come in not long ago with their tree eating monsters, causing a large amount of the prey to flee from all of the noise. The border that ThicketClan had wouldn't last much longer with the Twolegs taking down more of the trees and building more of their nests, and it would mean even less prey for the clans as more kittypets ran away from their twolegs and began hunting what little prey remained around the forest.
The ground was illuminated by the full moon that hung overhead, shadows of cats darting between the trees as each individual clan made their way to the Star Island, where they would gather to speak on the last moon's worth of activities between the four clans. Though there was plenty happening already, Snowmoon had something in particular he needed to bring up to all of the clans. At the last half moon meeting of the medicine cats, he had been sent a vision from StarClan, something that troubled him greatly, and something he wanted all of the leaders to give an input on. Brinestar, the leader of TideClan, had given Snowmoon permission to speak at the next meeting after hearing what he had seen in his vision, sharing a similar concern, though not having any different of an interpretation than Snowmoon already had.
The treeline opened up as they had reached the edge of the lake surrounding the island. The water was running lower than it had on the previous moon, allowing Brinestar to lead his clan along the tree that had fallen seasons ago, instead of needing to swim to the gathering island. Looking across the water, Snowmoon could see that FrostClan was coming from the opposite side of the forest, the much smaller, recently established clan slowly making their way from the colder part of the forest that sat at the farthest point away from the twoleg place. They were a clan made mostly up of loners and rogues, but they still proved themselves willing to work along with the warrior code. The leaders, having seen this to be the case, all agreed that they would allow for the clan to coexist along with them. Being smaller, they didn't seem to need as much land as the other clans, though Snowmoon feared that may not last as the clan grew larger and larger. The medicine cat of FrostClan, Chilltongue, already spoke of queens preparing to have kits.
It didn't take much longer after reaching the Star Island for the leaders to jump up onto the four roots that stuck out from the ground, each letting out a call to bring attention up to them from the chattering clans. Snowmoon sat amongst the other medicine cats, listening as each leader spoke of newly named warriors and apprentices, waiting for his turn to speak with anticipation. His nerves shot through his paws like mice darting beneath the brush, each fidget causing the other medicine cats to look over at him with a mix of confusion and annoyance.
"Would you sit still, Snowmoon?" Chilltongue quietly snapped, the younger, gray-furred tom slapping his tail onto Snowmoon's back in an attempt to get him to stop, "you're making it really difficult to actually focus."
Snowmoon apologized, trying to calm his nerves as parts of the vision ran through his mind again and again. He could still feel his whiskers twitching, though everything finally fell still as Brinestar stepped forward.
"We have a new warrior as well. StarClan welcomes Sandypelt, a full warrior in her turn. May she make her clan proud and defend it to her last breath." He stated, the stony expression remaining on his face, even as he spoke of his own kin's warrior naming. Cats chanted Sandypelt's name as they looked over at the young brown and black she-cat, a pleased look on her face as she accepted the praise. The chanting died down as Brinestar spoke again, looking over towards Snowmoon. "We have other news as well, news much more troubling than even that of the dwindling prey. Our medicine cat, Snowmoon, has had a vision from StarClan. One that could potentially spell the doom of the clans."
Cats began to mutter, worried glances flying all around, though most just fell on Snowmoon, ready for him to speak up. He cleared his throat and sat up much more straight, attempting to project his voice amongst the constant murmuring of the other cats that surrounded him.
"It... may not be that serious, but it did cause me some concern," he said, his voice raspy even despite clearing his throat. His age was starting to catch up with him, it seemed. He began to describe the dream. "In my vision, a terrible blizzard blew through the clans, worse than any has ever seen in the history of the clans. Prey died in the cold, and rotted before any of the clans could get to it. Not even the crows were alive to pick at it. Cats starved, though a number stood above the rest, concealed by the blizzard," he shook his head, trying to clear it enough to get any sort of mental image, though it became no clearer. "Standing against them, though, were three cats. I couldn't make out much about them, but some things did stand out to me. Despite the blizzard, one's fur was even paler, whiter than even the freshest fallen snow. One had darker fur, speckled with spots... they looked like the sky on a full moon. And the last..." he tried to remember, the vision still shaky, even though it had taken place only a few moons ago, "the last appeared like any other cat, though they appeared to have a bright gem in their body. Like those found deep within the Sun Maw." He finished, the murmurs having died out as he spoke, each cat looking between one another as he finished describing the other cats. None stood out amongst the clans as one of these cats. Some came close, but even those cats did not quite match the description or the shape of the cats he thought he had seen.
"Why would something bad happen all of the sudden?" A voice rose from amongst the sea of worried meows. Each cat at the gathering looked over to see the tall, slender form of Barkspots, the gray and brown spotted deputy from ThicketClan. Snowmoon rolled his eyes, he always hated when younger cats were put into some form of power in their clan. They always seemed to have the worst things in mind when it came to protecting their clan. "And it's not as if those three cats live amongst the clans. Perhaps StarClan gave you a false message."
Chilltongue scoffs. "You would not only doubt the word of StarClan, but think that they would give out a fake vision? You really are dumber than a moose." ThicketClan exploded in argument as he spoke ill against their deputy. The gathering was already starting to fall into chaos, which was what Snowmoon was worried about when Brinestar asked him to tell the gathering of his vision. He knew the other clans wouldn't take it well.
"Silence!" Brinestar's voice boomed amongst the gathered cats, stopping their angered mews and bringing the gathering to a sudden quiet. The leaders always looked to Brinestar to bring gatherings to a quiet. Not because they thought him better than themselves, but because they knew his voice would ring out across the gathering more than theirs would. "My medicine cat speaks the will of StarClan, and their words are to be taken seriously! Our warrior ancestors would not lead us astray, even in times where things seem calm," Brinestar spoke with all the confidence of the stars themselves. Though he had only spoken to StarClan twice, Brinestar had more faith in them than most medicine cats Snowmoon had ever known. Snowmoon, on the other hand, knew that StarClan liked to speak in vague messages, which made him more cynical of them than anything. He wished they would just tell the medicine cats what they needed to know. He did his best to interpret their signs, but he grew frustrated by them from time to time.
Talk between cats began again after Brinestar had finished. Another leader stepped forward on his root, the large, muscle bound leader of ThicketClan, Oakstar. He bowed his head to Brinestar before he spoke. "Thank you for bringing this message to us, Snowmoon. StarClan knows that we need all of the aid from them that we can get, especially in times such as these. However, though his tone could do with some work," Oakstar scolded, looking down towards his deputy, who simply looked away a bit indignantly, "Barkspots makes a good point. Even amongst the cats that did not accompany us to this gathering, no cats match the descriptions you gave." Many cats nodded along as Oakstar spoke, and Barkspots looked up with a snide grin on his face. Snowmoon had to agree with him, though it made him feel as if they doubted his vision. He shoved down these feelings and listened to the rest of what Oakstar had to say.
"We should keep this vision in mind going forward, but for now, we should rejoice in the dawn of a new clan, and focus on hunting and ensuring that our clans survive now," Oakstar continued, looking to the other leaders. Though Brinestar hesitated, he nodded along as the rest of the leaders agreed. With that, the gathering drew to a close and the clans began to gather with the rest of their own, leaders ensuring that their clans were ready to go. Snowmoon heaved himself up to leave with Brinestar. Cherryheart, the medicine cat of CometClan, looked at him with a sympathetic look in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Snowmoon. You seemed troubled at our last meeting, and you seem almost equally so at this moment," she said, her voice laced with a sorrow that almost matched Snowmoon's own. It made her a good medicine cat, as it often led to her giving extra care to cats that came into her den, even if they did not need everything that she gave them. Snowmoon simply signed.
"There is not much to be done now. ThicketClan is right, the cats that I saw are not alive, if they ever will be at the same time. This could be a vision that could last seasons beyond us," Snowmoon explained, to his own dismay. If it were cats that would live long after his own passing, then he couldn't mentor them and shape them into the cats they needed to be. He sighed again, looking over to Brinestar. "My clan is ready to leave, I must go. I will see you all again at the next halfmoon meeting." With his goodbyes said, he bounded off to his clan as Brinestar turned and began to lead them back to their camp. As they did so, Brinestar beckoned Snowmoon forward with his tail. Though his bones were aching with as much moving as he had done today, he made his way up to his leader.
"I apologize. Telling the clans of your vision did not go as I had thought it would," Brinestar said, putting Snowmoon's own thoughts out into the open. Snowmoon shook his head.
"I had a feeling it might. They were right to question it, and make other things their priorities. The clans are hungry as they are, and it would be better to focus on the here and now, rather than the future," Snowmoon said, looking up at the moon, "we can only hope that StarClan's message is far, far away from now, and that we can pass this vision from season to season."
The message was far too important. He knew that had to be the case. The clans could be lost forever if it was forgotten.