A Misty Moonhigh

Prologue

The mist shimmered in the moonhigh light, writhing and coiling around the trees. A group of cats silently padded through the dark forest, dipping into and out of the shadows. The cats flooded into the clearing, surrounding the huge stone. A muscular shadow separated itself from the group, springing it's powerful form up onto the rock's surface. Soon he was followed by three others. "Let the gathering begin!" the cat yowled and the clearing grew silent, a hundred eyes on the four cats. "ThunderClan has prospered this leaf-fall and we welcome Meadowcreek and Lightnose to our ranks!" Moonstar meowed, and the clearing echoed with yowls of approval. "We've had no kits so far, but are preparing for leaf-bare." he dipped his head, stepping back and allowing the Riverclan leader to speak. "RiverClan has also prospered this leaf-bare. The river is full of fish and we've welcomed three kits to our clan, Icykit, Silverkit, and Mountainkit." Fleetstar yowled. "Our deputy, Nightwhisper, has retired to the elders den. Our new deputy is Freezingtooth" The clearing once again echoed with approval and yowls of 'Freezingtooth! Freezingtooth!' Fleetstar stepped back to allow Willowstar of ShadowClan to step up. "ShadowClan has been doing well." he meowed, despite the fact that his ribs were showing and his usually sleek pelt was dull and patchy. "We have no kits or new warriors to welcome, but we have two new apprentices, Raggedpaw and Sleetpaw." Willowstar stepped back for the last leader to speak. "WindClan is better than ever! Our warriors are swift and well fed and we are expecting two new litters" Miststar yowled, head held high and short pelt fluffed out. "We recently drove a fox out of the territory, so keep an eye out for him, he puts up a mean fight." The graceful shecat opened her mouth to speak when a large shadow pelted into the clearing, letting out a shriek of, "NO!" The shadow-cat gave a huge leap, landing on the slick rock. "What is the meaning of this?!" Miststar growled, glancing up at the moon. The cat didn't reply, eyes narrowing and claws sliding out of their sheathes. Miststar gasped as wispy cloud covered floated towards the moon and she growled once more, "Stop. Or I will make you stop." The cat just snarled and leapt, pushing Miststar off the edge of the rock, hitting the ground with a thud. The other leaders gasped, staring at the cat with round eyes, and Fleetstar began, "Who are y-" before he was interrupted. "Let that be a warning to the rest of you!" the cat yowled, leaping down next to Miststar's groaning body. The shadow-cat sliced her claws across the leader's chest in an 'x' pattern before sprinting into the misty forest.

    The clearing was awake with murmurs as the clan medicine cats were clamoring around Miststar, inspecting the cuts and looking for broken bones while the remaining leaders muttered to each other. The Clan cats were looking behind them, almost expecting the cat to leap out and murder them. "I bet that she's from BloodClan!" One ShadowClan cat murmured to the RiverClan tom next to her. "Well, I heard that she's a rogue who was driven from WindClan" the tom replied. Finally, Willowstar raised his head to the cloud covered sky and yowled, "Silence!" All of the cats went quiet, anticipating what the leaders were going to announce. "We've decided that from now on, no cat leaves the camp alone. You must have at least one other warrior with you when you leave. The camps will have two guards instead of one!" Moonstar meowed. "The leaders will gather here at every half moon until this rogue has been caught." Fleetstar added. "Gathering, dismissed!" The three unscathed leaders declared.

    "Woah! That was so strange!" Meadowcreek meowed to Lightnose as they left the clearing, padding back through the undergrowth towards the camp. "I know. Trust our first gathering as warriors to be weird." he replied, tripping slightly over a gnarled log. The ginger tabby regained his footing, smiling at Meadowcreek, "Let's hope that doesn't happen to Moonstar!" Meadowcreek smirked at him, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, ok. I can tell that you're one hundred percent sincere....." She meows, slightly sarcastically. He grinned at her, before ducking his head to pad into camp. The Maine Coon shecat sighed, ducking and flicking her gray tail, disappearing into the gorse-tunnel.