The Dawn of Night: A New Clan

Prologue

An old grey tom lay sleeping in a vast field bearing little grass. The terrain was gravel-ridden, with few patches of dirt scattered around. The tom slowly lifted his head and took a moment to blink the left over tiredness from his pale eyes. Noticing his surroundings, he stood up, stretched, and rolled his eyes. "I wonder what she could possibly want now," he thought aloud.

Suddenly, a soft voice sounded from behind him, "what I could possibly want now is the safety of my Clan. And I'm afraid you're the only one who can give me that."

The grey tom turned his head to see a familiar glowing outline of a black, white, and silver figure. "Ah, there you are, Sky."

"Call me that again and you're joining me up here," she joked.

The tom sighed. "Fine, fine, the noble Skywish shall only be addressed in her full, glorious name," he shot back jokingly while bowing.

"Just get over here. We have serious business to discuss, and Sparkbreeze doesn't know about it... Yet." Skywish added, in a more hush tone.

Rolling his eyes again, the old cat sat down in front of her as he overdramatically spoke, "Oh no! Not Sparkbreeze, The All Powerful! What's he gonna do, send some evil dead cats down to haunt me?"

Skywish was growing tired of her friend's sarcasm, saying with a smirk, "He's a very persuasive cat, you know. He may just be able to get that done. But we'll find out about that sooner than later, because he's going to know about this meeting soon."

"And why would that be?" the tom asked.

"Because he plays a part just as important as your own in this whole thing." the silver she-cat responded.

"'This whole thing' being what, exactly?"

"A new prophecy that you must help fulfill." Skywish paused for a moment before cautiously continuing, "Cats of night will guide the Clans to light through the foxes reign of darkness."

The old tom froze at the mention of 'night'. As he caught Skywishes gaze, he felt as though he could read her mind through her eyes. They were thinking the same thing. "You think it means her? I... I haven't seen her in years, Skywish. She could be dead, for all I know," he anxiously pointed out.

Skywish sighed, feeling the same anxiety he did. "I know, I know, but I need your help with this. I have a strange feeling that the prophecy is talking about cats beyond the woodpaths like you and her, where only loners, kittypets and WaveClan cats can go without trouble. I'd really like to keep my paws clean when it comes to them, though."

There was a short silence between the two. "Fine," the tom finally answered. "I'll help you, but you and I both know I'm taking a big risk going on another one of your little missions in the state I'm in."

"This isn't just a 'little mission'. It's the safety of my home. You know how prophecies work," Skywish objected, but then warmly continued, "But thank you so much. I'm glad you're still looking out for me and the Clans after all these moons."

The grey tom avoided her eyes, murmuring, "Yeah... Whatever, just tell me what I need to do, and who I need to find."

With a smile, Skywish began, "I'll tell you all I can, but that isn't much. I'm not even supposed to be saying anything to you. I should have given this to a Clan cat first."

"Then why didn't you?" The tom asked. "These old bones are much less qualified to bear a prophecy than a Clan cat."

"I felt you were the best for this job. And you know I never listened to StarClan cats. Even now I can tell for a fact that they know less than the living say they do." Continuing, she added, "But back to the prophecy. Now I don't know what 'cats of night' could mean. Maybe rogues? But I'm sure you know what 'fox' refers too."

"Definitely. And if 'cats of night' ends up meaning what I think it means, I'm dropping out," the tom stated.

Skywish began to protest, but she withdrew. "That's... Understandable. But please try, at least."

Standing up, the tom responded, "I will, I promise. But first, I need to rest up. If I'm leaving my house again, I'll need to prepare."

"Alright, I have some things to attend to as well. I need to relay this to Swansnow... Wolfbrook... And Sparkbreeze if I feel he can handle it," Skywish said, standing up with him. "Again, thank you so much for doing this. I'll never forget it."

"Anything for you," he responded.

"Oh, and remember!" Skywish called out. "Cobwebs stop bleeding!"

Before he was able to respond, the tom blinked and woke up back in his comfortable bed with his owner by his side.