MockingJay's Curse

Chapter One

A warm, evening glow spread through the camp as the golden sun went to rest it's head. "Let all cats old enough to run freely from this camp, assemble under DeadStump for a Clan meeting!" The cry rang out, loud and sharp, piercing the silence that held the camp prisoner before. Slowly cats of all ages, pelt colours and sizes, milled out of the lush, leafy structures they called dens, awoken from their evening slumbers.

"What does she want THIS time?!" A fox red tom grunted in annoyance, half to himself. "FoxFang! Respect!" A sharp whisper sounded near FoxFang's right ear, "Fine... Whatever MistyTail." As all cats gathered beneath the withering, old stump, a cat with fur as white as snow, had already placed herself up there. Her voice rang out, strongly and clearly "As the cats who went to the Forgathering know, SoulClan wrongly accused StormClan of stealing their precious prey!"

QuietStar let her words ring clearly, through the now dead silent camp. "StormClan denied this accusation!" Meows of uncertainty, rippled like a wave through the huddle of cats. Even the usually strong and independent deputy, SmokeSong, was uneasy about the battle that was brewing. "Ignoring the uneasiness, QuietStar continued strongly "StormClan has asked for our aid! I dare ask, what does my Clan say?!" Yowls of disapproval and agreement, were thrown at the pure white cat. "Enough!" A new, brittle, voice silenced the cats. "Thank you, SmokeSong, but I can handle this myself" QuietStar hissed to her deputy "No, you are just tearing the Clan apart, we will cast stones! One side for agree, the other, disagree!"

GlisteningMoon sighed sadly "Why can't we all just agree for once...?" "Because if we did, we would all be dead!" A viscous tom named OakFire spat at the innocent she-cat. Instinctively, GlisteningMoon backed away, ears folded and tail between her back paws. "KinkyPetal! BloodOwl! Find enough stones for our warriors, ValleyWhisper and I!" The two cats dipped their heads respectively to the graceful leader, before dashing off, side-by-side, flicking up dry, dusty earth as they did.

"All is dismissed until my faithful warriors, KinkyPetal and BloodOwl, return!" QuietStar leaped, quietly and gracefully, to the ground and padded slowly to the centre of camp to soak up the last dying, rays of warmth.