Book 1 - Warriors: The Shadow Outcast

Prologue

Book One: The Shadow Outcast

The first book in 'The Shadow Saga', written by Rose Harley, aka Pinipy.

Based upon the popular  'Warriors' series written by Erin Hunter.

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A soft breeze blew as a beautiful golden she-cat made her way down the wide path. She walked on the grass, choosing not to scrape her almost perfect claws on the hard, rocky Thunderpath that she was following. The sky was a dull blue, notifying the she-cat that leaf-bare was coming closer, and that she would need to leave before the season changed.

Her real home, up in the stars where she ran in the lush green forests, was a long way away. She had left momentarily to come see a Twoleg, one that had struck her interest the first time she had come down to visit her old life. She hated it here, but that was the only way she could see the Twoleg. No matter how many times her instincts or even her StarClan friends said no, she simply had to see this Twoleg.

The first time she had seen the Twoleg was when she was taking a forest walk in her home territory. It hadn't been long since she'd joined StarClan back then, and she had been given permission from the older StarClan residents to return to the forest she'd once lived in so that she could see how it lived on without her. Of course, none of the cats alive down there could see her, as she was merely a ghost, but she didn't care. She wanted to see her family; the forest; her home.

She had seen the Twoleg sitting on a boulder, looking at his large, hind paws. The Twoleg was upset from what she could tell, because as she drew closer, his eyes were cloudy and full of sadness. The Twoleg was young. He was mumbling to himself, and even then, though she couldn't understand his words, he sounded as if he were upset. Curiously, she had watched him until moonhigh, when she was to return to StarClan, however, the Twoleg still hadn't left.

After that day she, Cheetahfur, had visited the Twoleg many more times, after getting permission from the Four Leaders. Though it had been many seasons since, Cheetahfur insisted on visiting him again, though, this time for a reason. After studying the Twoleg, Cheetahfur had noticed that he was always with another Twoleg, one that was younger than himself. She had seen the older Twoleg protect the younger one several times, almost as if he were acting like a shadow. It was strange, and if this Twoleg really was acting the way that she thought, she wanted to know why.

Cheetahfur glided gracefully, her back arched to show off her beautiful black spots. As she came across the Twoleg nest that she'd memorized, she leaped up onto the fence post and into the small closed in area that the Twolegs had reserved for some reason. Cheetahfur then waited for the Twoleg, knowing that he would be out soon with the younger one. The one that he protected...

He came, as Cheetahfur had hoped, though he was tall, now, much taller, in fact, than when she'd first seen him, and his head was covered in short golden fur. He walked out to the closed-in area and watched the younger Twoleg play. He sat on a large boulder as the younger one played with a large brown ball of moss. The Twoleg's eyes were soft, yet his expression seemed blank. Over the seasons, Cheetahfur had learned what the expressions meant, and what body language she needed to look out for. Right now, like always, the Twoleg seemed bored but, in truth, was actually pushing away a certain emotion.

"Why are you so curious about these Twolegs?" meowed a familiar voice from behind her. "They are too different from our ways." Cheetahfur, shaken from her thoughts, turned around to face the tom. The tom who had addressed her was Tigerfang, her best Clan-mate. He was a very tall, white tom with black stripes across his slender body and shimmering green eyes that always flickered with wisdom.