"The Clan Within The Stars, what should I do?" Smolderspirit spoke aloud to the silence of the forest. It was as if everything was sleeping. "I loved him so dearly, and now, I've lost him. Is Willowsong really his destiny?"
The night sky glittered, as if her ancestors themselves were wondering as well. Smolderspirit looked at the water running near. It glowed a beautiful blue, and Smolderspirit wanted nothing more than to touch it, but knew even walking near it, she could fall in. Then, she smelled a warm scent that she knew well. One that she hadn't in a while.
"Wait, Dad?!" Smolderspirit swiftly turned around, and there he stood, Harestrike. His eyes still had the calm grey she loved, and his pelt was glittery, like a pool of stars. He smiled, and mewed, "Hello, Smolderspirit. My strong she. Don't worry, for I have heard you. I have an important message for you." Smolderspirit nodded. "Go on," the young she-cat meowed.
The former lion of LionClan looked into Smolderspirit's eyes, and spoke, "A darkness inside the pride will awaken, and loyalties will shift. A triangle will break, and anger will lift. Beware the sound of the alluring song, for she was a traitor all along."
Smolderspirit looked at her former guardian with shock. "Smolderspirit, lives are on the line. You MUST follow your head, and listen to your heart," Harestrike told the stunned she-cat. Smolderspirit came back to her senses. Harestrike mewed a goodbye, and vanished into the night again. Smolderspirit looked at the water, no longer glowing.
"Wait! Don't leave me! I need you...please..." Smolderspirit cried out into the night. She could hear the lapping of the water. She walked up to the river, and drank. In it, she saw herself, a perfect reflection. Suddenly, it became so clear. This was a part of her destiny. And Willowsong wasn't Owlwhisker's...
To a loner named Sun, life's been hard ever since her mother left her because of a power she didn't understand. On her own for just about three moons, she thinks she's hardened and strong enough to take on any cat who comes at her.
Oh, how was she wrong.
Soon, she runs into the four Clans: CloudClan, HollyClan, BreezeClan, and FlowerClan. She joins CloudClan, determined to start over and make a new life for herself. She doesn't need her mother. She doesn't need anyone but her new family, her Clanmates.
On the night of her official welcoming into the Clan, something changes her mind: a prophecy, from the ancestors of her Clanmates. The prophecy states that the "apple will rise." The daughter of the leader, Applefoot, was never friendly with her. Suddenly, a plot seems to be uncovering itself right in front of Sunpaw's eyes. And with her power, she's the perfect candidate to rise to the top and save everyone.
But something is stopping her. Something is tainting her soul, persuading her to use her powers for evil, and not good. Unless she can break free of what's binding her, she won't be able to use her powers for good. All she'll be able to do is cause pain, more pain, and even more pain.
But it's not so easy, especially when she's got herself tangled in the ropes of the darkness. Suddenly, she realizes that she's no better than Applefoot.
Paired with slowly falling hopelessly in love with a cat who never is clear with her, breaking free of her dark insides is seeming harder and harder.
If she can't do it, then she'll never be able to see the face of good again. She'll be another apprentice gone wrong, and all she'll be remembered for is darkness.
Sunpaw can't let that happen.
But unless she figures out how to cut herself free from the darkness, then it will happen. And there will be nothing she can do it about it.