StarClan's Mistake (Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

Night had fallen upon ShadowClan, though not quietly. All around them was filled by the sound of croaking frogs, nocturnal birds making their hoots or tweets, insects their various noises. This did not take sleep away from them; rather, it acted as a lullaby for the marsh-living cats, who slept under the blanket of night songs. Except for Antleg, Airleap, and Gigglejoy, of course; brother, sister, and friend respectively, who all stayed up to perform their vigil in honor of being a warrior in the eyes of StarClan.

StarClan, their eyes being the stars that looked down upon them from the sky. StarClan that gave prophecies. StarClan that gave powers. StarClan that protected the Clans, guided them, and knew all there was to come from and for them.

StarClan that was connected intrinsically to Stitchmaw, the medicine cat who for now slept peacefully along with the majority of his Clanmates. Heronpaw slept near as well, though she was not nearly as trained in the ways of telling StarClan as he. That's why he was the one to receive the vision, and not her.

He awoke in a field of stars, and originally panicked and glancing around, he realized that there was nothing to fear; he merely was in a dream set for him by StarClan. How he knew this was a given dream and not a normal dream was the soft sparkle of stars and glitter on the various wheat and reeds of the vast and open field; how the ground was lit like day, even though the night sky was above; how he felt their very presence in the chilly wind that passed through his messy, striped fur.

"Stitchmaw...? Stitchmaw..." A voice spoke, feminine and soft, with an echo effect. He whirled his head around to try and find the source of the disembodied voice, but its owner remained hidden.

"StarClan, what wisdom do you wish to provide me with tonight?" he asked to the open, crouching down in an attempt to show his submission.

"Stitchmaw..." The voice suddenly stopped its echo, coming clearly from behind him. He got up on his paws and turned around, but he did not find the speaker; rather, he was looking at a couple of his Clanmates, Maroonpool and Spotdot. He knew them. Not too long ago, Spotdot had been discovered to be expecting Maroonpool's kits. They were a fine, lovely couple, if a bit headstrong on the father's part.

In this dream, Spotdot had given birth, to a mere two kittens. She was laying, and they nestled right next to her belly while their father sat above their mother and looked down proudly. They looked nearly identical, their pelts majority white, broken only by black and brown dapples that covered their face, their back, and their tail. The dapples themselves were almost perfectly alike on both kits. Spotdot was cleaning one, Maroonpool another. All in all, it seemed a happy family.

Speaking not to the family but to the disembodied voice, Stitchmaw asked, "What do you wish to show me with this vision, wise cats of StarClan?"

The field suddenly grew to a tint of red, the family's smiles suddenly dropped. The voice spoke, "Two kits, same pelts, opposite souls," and in a flash, Stitchmaw was standing in front of the family again. But it was different. Maroonpool was dead. Spotdot was gone without a trace. Behind them, more cats from ShadowClan that Stitchmaw knew lay dead. Both kits were grown; one covered in blood, glaring at the other, who seemed shocked and horrified.

It was almost too much for Stitchmaw to bear. He closed his eyes briefly to try and calm himself down, and once he got control of his own breathing, he opened his eyes to continue looking at it. But he wasn't looking at it. He was looking at a starry-pawed warrior, a yellow-orange one with deep orange dots all along her body. Her eyes stared intensely into his.

"What do you need me to do?" Stitchmaw asked desperately. "I will do anything. Anything that needs to be done to stop this."

The cat raised up a paw, closing her eyes. "StarClan will handle this for you, ShadowClan. Please tell the parents to expect only one living kit. It is heartbreaking, but necessary."