A New Path

Chapter One (pt. 1)

Dewpaw was grooming herself quite peacefully when a procession of cats marched into the camp: Stumpystar, leader of BreezeClan, Mumblepad, BreezeClan deputy, Sandclaw, medicine cat of BreezeClan, and the HeatherClan patrol that led them into the camp. Snakeshade, Dewpaw's mentor, was part of the patrol. Dewpaw herself couldn't go because she had to clean the elders den (yuck, didn't they know that there was a designated place to make dirt?).

"Why are they here?" Dewpaw called to Flamepaw, a bright ginger tom who was almost ready to become a warrior. Flamepaw was handsome in a rugged way. He had an ear with a noticeable tear in it, and there was a faint scar on his cheek.

"Well," Flamepaw growled, "They claim that we've been stealing their stupid-ass prey!" Dewpaw giggled at the tomcat's remark, and he raised his brow.

"We haven't, though!" Dewpaw retorted, flicking her ears.

Dovepelt was walking by when she pricked her ears.

"Prey-stealing?" she muttered in a blank voice. Dovepelt turned and literally sprinted for Honeystar.

Dewpaw cocked her head. Her sister was never this jumpy before.

"Is everything okay with her?" Flamepaw asked with an amused snort. "She's acting like we suddenly sprouted another set of eyes."

Dewpaw shook her fur. "Dovepelt only acts like this if something really important happened. Maybe she had a prophecy!" she purred hopefully. Flamepaw nodded.

"Maybe we could save the Clan together!" he said, playfully pawing Dewpaw's ears.

"Yeah!" Dewpaw tackled Flamepaw, and the two rolled around.

Well, one of you could save the Clans, plural, alongside a new player in this game. But one of you will surely go down the wrong path beside the evils that haunt the vast territories of the warrior cats, a voice suddenly spoke in Dewpaw's head. She shivered; voices in a cat's head normally meant that they needed more sleep.

"I'm going to go sunbathe," Dewpaw said with a wink at Flamepaw. He smirked. Dewpaw padded over to a sunny corner of the camp. She curled up, falling asleep almost immediately.

"Dovepelt?" a voice asked excitedly. An unfamiliar tuxedo tomcat bounded forward. He had a cute, kittenish look about him, and amber eyes that glimmered and sparkled like golden diamonds.

"Wait, you're not Dovepelt," he said in a disappointed tone. "Who are you?"

Dewpaw sniffed, smelling twoleg on the tom. She wrinkled her nose in response to the odor.

"How do you know my sister?" Dewpaw spat, leaping at the tom.

"You're her sister?" he said, dodging. The kittypet flattened his ears, swiping at Dewpaw. To the apprentice's surprise, his claws hit their mark, sending a spurt of blood out of Dewpaw's cheek.

"I'm sorry!" the tom cried out, sounding sincere. Dewpaw cocked her head.

"Maybe we should meet, you know, not in a dream," she offered, giving a shy smile. The kittypet let out a sigh of relief.

"I never thought you'd ask!" he purred. "I'm so confused with all this StarClan-visions-of-the-future."

Dewpaw's eyes widened.

"Visions of the future?!" But before her exclamation could be resolved, everything went black.