Clans of the Forest:1: Stone and Silver (COMPLETE)

Prologue

"Whitherfur! It's today!" Sunpelt ran over the star flecked grass.

"What's today?" snapped Whitherfur.

"Oh, cheer up," meowed Sunpelt "Today we're giving Blue-Eye her nine lives!"

  Whitherfur muttered under her breath but didn't protest. She followed Sunpelt over the frosty moor, towards the forest. Sunpelt felt the soft grass beneath him. Despite the joy of living in StarClan, he dearly missed being alive.

  Blue-Eye was Sunpelt's daughter, and the deputy of ForestClan. After Fadeawaystar had died in the drought, Blue-Eye was ready to take her place as leader of ForestClan.

"Wait!" called a voice behind them. Sunpelt turned his head.

"Fadeawaystar!"

He purred and rubbed his head against hers.

"Are you ready? What life are you giving?" he stared at her eagerly.

"You'll have to wait and see." purred Fadeawaystar.

"Honestly, anyone would think you two were mates." grumbled Whitherfur.

"Oh, just stop it." Sunpelt smacked his tail playfully across Whitherfur's nose. She growled but didn't do much more than that. 

  They ran through tall grass, splattering stardust everywhere, until they reached the forest, where the other cats were waiting. Reedpaw, Blue-Eye's sister; Honeygrove, her mate. Stemtail, her mentor; Frogreed, a beloved elder; Foreststar, the clan founder; and Snakescar, the former medicine cat.

"Good evening, everyone." Foreststar's voice boomed after a few moments of silence. He flicked his tail. "Are we ready to go?"

  Sunpelt glanced around. Everyone else was nodding. He joined in. Foreststar nodded slightly then turned tail and ran. Sunpelt dashed up behind Honeygrove, pounding on the ground with his paws. The forest whizzed past. Suddenly he stopped.

  He looked at a patch of bushes nearby. He stared. Were those . . . eyes? Glinting up at him, barely visible, were a pair of two glowing amber splotches. Looking at him. His heart began to pound with fear as a chilling sensation came over him. His breath quickened and he slowly took a step backwards.

"Sunpelt!"

  He screeched with fear and ran, heart pounding, not stopping to look back, nothing like that. Not daring to do anything but run, he jumped over logs, and-

  He felt a hard weight and felt something crash into him. Is it possible to die again?  he thought. Then, what he saw made him sigh with relief. 

"Sunpelt!" It was Honeygrove. "What happened back there? Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine." Sunpelt meowed. "But . . ."

"But what?"

"Nothing."

"Spit it out."

"It's just- before you saved me-I saw this pair of amber eyes in the bushes-staring at me."

Honeygrove widened his eyes. "You don't think it's a sign, do you?"

"Let's just hope that it's not."

They didn't talk as they made their way to the moonstone. Sunpelt slipped into the cavern and inhaled the frosty air. He sat on the cold stone and waited.

After a while, Blue-Eye and Powersnow padded into the cave. Both looked around, awestruck, just as the moonlight shone through the hole in the roof. Sunpelt barely noticed the blinding light and watched as the two she-cats pressed their muzzles to the stone.

The moonstone cavern disappeared and was replaced by a starlit plain. Sunpelt watched as Honeygrove padded up to Blue-Eye. She shrieked with joy and slammed into him. After lots of joyful embracing, Honeygrove backed away and began to speak.

"With this life I give you hope. Use it well to keep the clan alive even at the darkest times." he leaned forward and pressed his nose against hers. Blue-Eye barely flinched, Sunpelt could tell that she had been practicing for this moment.

All of the lives flashed by, until at the end, it was Sunpelt's turn. He took a deep breath and stepped forward. 

"With-"

A sudden force hit him, and he said things he hadn't intended to. 

"The light will shine upon Stone and Silver, and all will be well."