The Sky Thorn

Prologue

A tabby cat ran through a starry forest, her bushy tail floating after her swift paws. Her bright green eyes were focused on something in the distance, just a black speck beneath the trees. She ran like blaze, her fur resembling the dangerous element perfectly. She knew the territory well, jumping over all the roots and missing the early flower's stems.
Soon she neared her destination-a dark black tom, his eyes closed in focus. "Hello, Redstorm. What has brought you here?" he mewed calmly, not opening his eyes.
The ginger cat twitched her tail angrily, snarling in response. "Are you serious, Ravenbeak?! This cannot be going on much longer! SkyClan needs to know the truth. If their destiny is to be lost forever, shouldn't they at least know, to be prepared?"
The black tom only twitched his whiskers in amusement. "The time is not yet to come. It's going to be several more seasons before it comes. And lot more before SkyClan is doomed." His face showed no expression, as if he didn't have emotions to share.
Redstorm hissed at the tom. "But the end will come! And SkyClan will not be prepared! You have to do something!" She clawed at the tom's ear in frustration.
He opened his icy blue eyes, burning with fury, piercing through her own. "If that's your wish, then so be it. From now on, every medicine cat will be haunted by the SkyClan's end. And it will be you, my dear Redstorm, that will haunt each and every one of the SkyClan medicine cats."
Redstorm stayed quiet in horror, her ears twitching. She couldn't move, managed only to let out a silent whimper. "Ravenbeak..."
Too late. A storm, glowing with reddish light, rose in the StarClan grounds and was dangerously nearing the two cats. It almost didn't look real, taking only a few leaves into it's deadly mouth, transparent as if from another world. As it was right next to the two cats, Ravenbeak calm and quiet again, it started to gain more colour. Soon it was a full tornado, the only surreal thing was the reddish glow. At that moment, Redstorm's paws stopped touching the ground, as she was fully swallowed by the deadly storm.
"My dear, foolish Redstorm.." Ravenbeak mewed. "You looked at SkyClan's destiny, but forgot to check yours..."
As he said those words, he stood up and walked away, away from the deadly red storm that consumed his companion.

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A beautiful silver spotted she-cat walked into a tunnel, with a light brown tabby following her quietly. The silver figure moved swiftly forward, not hesitating at all. Her companion, however, wasn't so sure and often asked the leading cat about the direction, unsure of her movements. At last the two shadows walked into a wide cave with a silvery crystal at the edge. Just above it, a hole could be visible. The moon would pass above it soon.
The two cats waited exactly for that moment. Moonlight was slowly starting to peer from the clouds into the cave, causing the crystaly stone to shine with bright beautiful colours.
The light brown tabby cat gasped seeing the beauty of the moment. "Moonfeather.. this is.. it's beautiful!"
The silver cat, Moonfeather, twitched her whiskers, smiling. "Welcome to the Moonstone. Are you ready to receive your nine lives?"
The tabby nodded, to which Moonfeather navigated her to lay down and touch the crystal with her nose. They both then closed their eyes and drifted into sleep...

Moonfeather was first to open her eyes. She found herself in a bright starry clearing that looked similiar to a place in her own territory. Nine starry cats waited for the tabby to wake up. As soon as she opened her eyes and stood up, a huge black tom came forward and mewed warmly, "Welcome, Fawndusk, my dear deputy."
"Hello, Larkstar." the tabby tipped her head in respect of her previous leader.
The black tom touched his nose with Fawndusk's and said, "I give you a life for joy. Don't let your leader responsibilities overwhelm you. Remember to take some time for joy too."
Fawndusk twitched in pain, her legs trembling weakily. Soon she returned to her strong self.
Other cats came to give her all nine lives, lastly a small golden tabby tom. Fawndusk gasped, memories filling her eyes. "Sproutpaw.. my dear brother!" she brushed against him, purring lovingly, tail high.
The young tom purred, then stepped away and mewed, "My dear Fawndusk. I give you a life for love. Love each one of your clanmates as if they were your own kits, because you are their mother now. Welcome, Fawnstar!"
Fawnstar shivered with her last, ninth life and all the nine starry cats shouted. "Fawnstar! Welcome Fawnstar!"
The StarClan began to fade away for Fawnstar, but not for Moonfeather. She turned to Fawnstar and whispered. "StarClan has something to tell me. I don't know what it is, but it's probably important. Wait for me in the Mothermouth." The last words only a faint echo, Fawnstar dissapeared from StarClan.
Moonfeather's paws led her away from the clearing, only StarClan knew where. It seemed as if the starry forest went on and on forever, but after a while, Moonfeather found herself near a small waterfall, where a tabby ginger she-cat waited for her. She looked tired and Moonfeather wondered who she was. She never saw this cat in StarClan before.
The tabby spoke with a voice that didn't sound real, more like an echo. "You're next, Moonfeather." The silver cat did not understand, so she just waited. "You can send this prophecy to Fawnstar, but don't tell her the rest of what I have to show you."
Moonfeather sat down, twitching her ears.
"When murder and plague are witnessed, the end will come."
Moonfeather listened, her eyes wide with horror. But she did not move, for she knew this was just the beggining.
"Now that I've delivered this," the tabby grumbled, obviously annoyed, "let's move onto my duty. So, come closer, Moonfeather." The cat navigated her towards a pool, where the waterfall has led into, and showed her the surface. At first Moonfeather couldn't see anything, just ripples from the water droplets, but soon she started to notice silhouettes. At first only trees, then clouds and... monsters. Many, many twoleg monsters scattered around the forest. Moonfeather watched scared, unable to understand why the cat would show her this. Suddenly she saw cats, skinny with hunger, running away from the forest, from their home. She felt like the forest looked familiar, but she already started to fade. "Wait!" She yelled at the cat. "What does this mean?"
The cat only sat down and twitched her tail. "It means SkyClan is doomed."
Moonfeather suddenly realized. The forest looked familiar, of course, because it was her home.