Red Snow

PROLOGUE

    "This is all wrong. None of this was supposed to happen." The soft whisper hung on the breeze as two cats sat around a starry looking pool. Their pelts, translucent and full of stars, reflected the moonlight shining down on them. The cat who had spoken stated down into the pool, her eyes begging for an answer.

     "There's nothing we can do about it." The other cat mewed quietly, his head lowered in defeat.

     The first cat raised her haunches and shot him a daring look. "There must! You and I both know that this is not his destiny! It's that flea-brain that made him believe it was!" She hissed, her back arched in fury.

     "Of course, Featherpool, but is there anything we can do to stop him? No matter how much we wish we could, we cannot make decisions for him. It's his life, he has the choice how to spend it." His eyes, full of wisdom, stared back at Featherpool. They were green orbs, and though he didn't admit it, fear shone in them.

     Featherpool's neck fur still bristled as she stared at the tabby. She broke his gaze and turned her silver head to the pool. "If only I had raised him in WindClan." She whispered.

     The tabby laid his tail on her shoulder affectionately. "You know that StarClan sent the omen to Lilytail to warn her of darkness in his future."

     "I know that now, not back when I was alive. None of us knew what it was. For a moment I even believed he killed the kit." Guilt prickled at her paws for believing her son was a monster. Except he was. However much she wanted to deny it, it was impossible.

     "I know it, you know it, and StarClan knows that evil runs too deeply in his veins. No cat has the power to stop him. He wants to lead the Superior Clan, and he will do whatever it takes to get there." The small tabby meowed softly and lifted his head towards the night sky, where the other members of StarClan were watching over them as they sat by the pool.

     Featherpool's tail flicked back and forth. "So what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and watch our son ruin the Clans? That is something I cannot do. Everything he is doing is against the code."

     "And I suppose we've never broken the code before?" The tabby purred, amusement in his green eyes.

     She snarled, but there was no hostility in her snarl, only love. She twined her tail with his and looked deeply into his eyes. "Oh, Shrewstar. Sometimes I feel Snowshade's betrayal is punishment to us for loving each other."

     Shrewstar sighed, "if it is, then we will just have to get over it. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you." He buried his brown muzzle in her fur and looked up when she stiffened. "What is it?"

     "The Moonpool!" She gasped.

     Shrewstar rushed forward and stood at the edge of the water. "I never-"

A ginger she-cat, ruffled and bewildered, appeared in the Moonpool. Her fur was unkempt, her eyes dull and sad, and as she walked through the forest she looked as if she was about to collapse at every step.

     "This is it! This is the only way to stop him!" Featherpool exclaimed. "We have to find Cherrymoon!"

    The tabby looked back into his mate's eyes. "You could be right. Maybe our son won't end up being the villain. Maybe love will be enough to stop him."