WARRIORS: Last Clan Part 1: The Darkness Returns
Special Edition
The Last Clan
By Marissa Neal
Original Warriors Series by Erin Hunter
Prologue
A half-moon floated in the night, star filled sky. A cool breeze rippled the surface of a pool below, reflecting the moon’s light and scattering it on the leaves of surroundings trees and ferns. Ancient pawsteps imprinted the ground of a worn out path, following under an old bramble bush. Beyond the trail stood a large tower of gray rocks turned to sparkling silver by the moon. Pebbles fell from the side of the tower, and a pair of eyes glittered in the darkness.
A gray tabby clambered her way down the rocks, sniffing the fresh air that hit her nose from the pool. Her paws slid into those of her past as she headed down the dirt path leading to the pool. More cats came from behind her, another being a gray tabby with jay feather blue eyes. Each cat had a different scent to them: the gray tabby she-cat smelled of reeds and water; the tom scented of trees and squirrel; a mottled gray tom had the fresh scent of the moors and wind; and the last of the arrivers stunk of the foul scent of crow-food and swamp.
The fours cats crawled under the brambles and stopped at the glistening pool’s edge, nodding hello to each other silently. The tabby she-cat recently remembered her last visit here, before a great battle had started. She and the others hadn’t met for a long time, thinking that they had needed to go their separate ways and stop meeting, but it was meant for these cats to meet in peace and talk with their ancestors. The hardships of the past days were over.
The gray tabby she-cat laid herself beside the pool of water filled with starlight. The others followed and slowly lapped at the water before resting their heads down for a peaceful nap. Once the others were sleeping soundly, walking with their ancestors, she too, rested down and dreamt.
The tabby opened her eyes as the scent of her home hit her nose. She lifted her head and let out a long, welcoming purr as the stars around her swirled through her fur. She stood up, her tail flicking happily, watching the stars come together and form shapes; the shapes of her ancestors.
The first to appear into her sight was an unusually spotted she-cat, her fur sparkling with starlight, and her amber eyes reflecting the sky. “Welcome, Willowshine. We are glad you were able to make it tonight,” the spotted cat purred. The spotted she-cat walked up to Willowshine and gave the tabby a lick on the cheek.
“You know I would never miss a chance to speak to Starclan, Leopardstar,” Willowshine answered softly, her light blue eyes blinking innocently. “Is all going well here in Starclan?”
Leopardstar bowed her head. “Starclan has never been better. The prey has returned, and so has the forever greenleaf. There has been no sight of the evil cats we all fought only a couple moons ago and we have been happily at peace.”
Willowshine remembered that the last time she had been here, the branches of the trees were bare of leaves, and the cats of Starclan had grown skinny from the loss of prey. Back before the great battle, she could feel the evil clouding the starlight place, now, it was peaceful and quiet once again.“So has Riverclan,” Willowshine told the leader. “Do you have any signs or news to share with me, Leopardstar?”
The old leader lifted her head and looked into the eyes of the Riverclan healer. “I just wish to make sure my kits are safe.”
The bushes rustled that surrounded the clearing and more cats began to fill in around Willowshine and the Starclan leader. One cat stepped away from the filling circle and flicked his tail. His pelt shimmered blue-gray as he shook his head and weaved around the two she-cats.
“You know, Leopardstar, you should put more trust into your Clan and your healer,” the tom chuckled. “Why don’t you tell Willowshine what’s really on your mind?” The blue-gray cat stopped and stared at his old leader with dark blue eyes, urging her to tell the truth.
“First, I have complete trust in my old Clan and Clanmates, Stonefur,” Leopardstar snorted, turning her head away, “Just as I had complete trust in you and Mistystar during the time of Tigerstar.”
Stonefur shrugged his shoulders. “You do have a point,” he mewed, “but that doesn’t mean you should hide anything from the Clan. Starclan made that mistake before, now haven’t we?”
Willowshine crouched down slightly and moved closer to her former leader. “Will you tell me what he means, Leopardstar?”
The old cat’s head was bowed once more, and a sigh was released from her clenched mouth. “There has been a vision of my kits’ destinies,” she started. As she continued, Leopardstar’s eyes became distant. “Fire and darkness rages through the lake territories and only one cat will take a risk and stop it all from becoming worse. Cats ran into the lake, some drowning, while others never make it away from the flames. Even though the fire has taken over the land, that single cat leaps in and pulls cats into the safety of the water. As the last cat flees, the hero never makes it back out. The flames die out soon after, and there the hero lies in the ashes.”
Willowshine swallowed, and then started breathing quickly. “What… what do you think it means?” she sputtered. “Is there another drought? Does lightning hit a dry patch of grass again? What causes it, Leopardstar? The Clan needs to know.”
“Willowshine, I just don’t know,” Leopardstar snapped suddenly, lashing out a paw and barely missing the tabby’s whiskers. “Starclan doesn’t know everything.” The leader’s lips were drawn back in a snarl and her hackles were rising high with anger.
Willowshine’s eyes grew big and she backed away a couple pawsteps. Normally Starclan cats were gentle and kind, but Leopardstar had seemed ready to attack Willowshine. “I’m sorry for asking for so much. But I want your opinion: what do you think it might mean?”
Leopardstar slid to the ground, and lay there on her stomach, staring out into the trees. “Natural disasters are not what the vision worries me about; it’s the fact that the hero on the ground was one of my daughters. I just can’t stand to see either of them get hurt, Willowshine.” She jumped to her paws and padded close to the healers’ face. “You need to keep them out of trouble, and make sure they don’t do anything that’ll harm them.”
Willowshine looked concerned, but that didn’t matter as much as the danger the Clan could be in. She just shook her head, and mewed, “I can’t just change the path of one’s destiny; only they can change and shape the outcome. What you saw was one of your daughters saving the lives of other cats, and if the Clans are in danger, she might bring them closer.”
“How is sacrifice bringing the Clans closer?” Leopardstar spat.
Willowshine started when a deeper voice entered the conversation. “You don’t see her point do you? But you are one of the younger members here, so I understand.”
Leopardstar’s hackles rose again, and her eyes closed to angered slits. “Are you criticizing me?” she snarled, spinning around, lashing out. She stopped mid-swipe as she almost clobbered a large, silvery-gray tom. She gasped, and, if a cat could, she would’ve turned red. Leopardstar bowed her head down, and breathed, “Riverstar, I’m so sorry.”
Riverstar, the first leader of Riverclan, chuckled, and had Leopardstar rise up. “Don’t be. You’re a mother fretting about the safety of her kits, but when their destinies call them, they will be warriors, not kits.” The first Riverclan leader then turned to the healer. “When the time comes, the one with the shaded heart will burst into flames and rise as one with the Clans. But beware, her destiny will bring great and dangerous power to the lake.”
Willowshine woke from her dream with Starclan. The other healers stirred beside her from around the Moonpool. Darkness crowded her and her fellow healers, the moon falling farther from the sky. Starlight was beginning to fade as the sun rose in the east, turning the sky into a gray dawn.
“Did Starclan share with you, Willowshine?” the gray tabby tom asked, his blind blue eyes looking straight at her. This tom was very special, once full of power to help save the Clans in the worst of all battles: Battle of the Dark Forest. He could walk in any cats’ dreams and could see in them while in reality he could not.
“They did indeed, Jayfeather,” she mewed, blinking kindly at him. She remembered how, when they had been apprentices, when Jayfeather’s stubbornness would make her so unhappy with him. She chuckled at the memories, and turned towards the others. “I need to get back home quickly, and share what Starclan gave me and share that with Mistystar.”
“Mistystar!” Willowshine burst into her leader’s den. “Starclan has given me a new prophecy!”
The Riverclan leader snapped her head up, her blue eyes gazing interestingly at her Clan’s healer. “What was it about? Is there going to be trouble?”
The tabby healer lowered her eyes. “Unfortunately, in time there will be trouble to come.”
“I thought all our troubles would have disappeared after we beat the Dark Forest and the strongest of their cats,” she muttered with a sigh.“Who is it about this time, Willowshine?”
“Leopardstar’s two kits,” she answered happily. “I knew there was something special about them.”
Mistystar nodded her head. “Then let’s hope they fulfill their destinies.”
Willowshine gritted her teeth but nodded in agreement. Mistystar waved her tail for her to leave so that she could get back to resting. The tabby healer backed away, leaving the dark den and into the moonlight. She gazed up at the stars in worry, and pleaded to her ancestors, “Please don’t let their destinies destroy the Clan.”
Shadows prowled between the trees, eyes of green and gold glinting in the darkness. The moonlight from the half-moon didn’t penetrate through the leaves of greenleaf, making the forest pitch dark. Frogs croaked from the edges of the lake beyond the trees, and crickets sang in the distance.
A pair of green eyes lit up from around black fur. The black tom lifted his head and gazed around as he and his comrades stood in a grassy clearing. They had traveled a long way from an old Twolegplace where his father had once reined strongly until his father was killed. Since then, the Clan his father had controlled had broken apart and now he was on his own with what ever cats he could take over.
A big, lion-like golden tom stepped up to the black tom. He shook his bushy neck, and snarled. “Is this the place?” he growled disgustedly.
The black tom flicked his eyes to the golden tom that served as his second in command. “It’s the best place to wait and watch.”
“For what?” a black-and-white tom snapped. “Do you honestly think that some dead cats can tell us how to receive power and respect?”
With teeth bared, the black tom whipped around and slashed out a paw, clawing down the cheek of the black-and-white cat. “The Dark Forest cats are very powerful themselves, and I will do all I can to follow in their pawsteps. My father is there, and he told me exactly what I needed to do.”
The golden tom snorted his tail tip flicking. “And what did daddy tell you?” he snickered, obviously not afraid of getting attacked by his leader. He watched the black-and-white tom wash away the blood welling on his cheek, shaking his head.
The black tom turned angrily to his deputy. “He told me to wait for the time of the shaded flower to come to us and help bring us power into our ranks, and then we can strike and take over the lake territories and never be defeated again!”
A ginger tom with one white paw stepped forward, his blue eyes piercingly icily into his leader’s fur. “And what if this is all a waste of our time?”
The black tom stared out into the trees, closing his eyes so that he disappeared into the darkness. “When the prophecy comes true, then we will hold time in our paws. With me, I don’t waste time, but use every second of it to my advantage.”
Chapter 1
Leader Mistystar-gray she-cat with blue eyes
Apprentice- Florapaw
Deputy Reedwhisker- black tom with gold eyes
Healer Willowshine- gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Apprentice- Spottedpaw
Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)
Duskfur- brown she-cat with green eyes
Minnowtail- dark gray she-cat with green eyes
Pebblefoot- mottled gray tom with gold eyes
Mallownose- light brown tabby tom with gold eyes
Petalfur- gray-and-white she-cat with amber eyes
Mintfur- light gray tabby tom with green eyes
Troutstream- pale gray tabby she-cat with green eyes
Rushtail- light brown tabby tom with green eyes
Apprentice- Cherrypaw
Streammoon- silver she-cat with gold-blue eyes
Weedfrost- brown-and-white she-cat with green eyes
Apprentice- Swiftpaw
Rainclaw- gray tom with white paws and blue eyes
Sheerwind- white tom with ginger patches, gray paws and blue eyes
Gentlebreeze- blue-black she-cat with blue eyes and white tail tip
Soulsong- blue-white she-cat with gray eyes
Breezestorm- dark gray tom with green eyes
Mudreed- brown tabby tom with green eyes
Apprentice- Brownpaw
Icewing- white she-cat with bright blue eyes
Apprentice- Brookpaw
Robinwing- tortishell-and-white tom with amber eyes
Apprentice- Whisperpaw
Mossyfoot- brown-and-white she-cat
Apprentices (kits more than six moons old, training to be warriors)
Florapaw- golden, spotted, she-cat with gold eyes
Spottedpaw- golden, spotted, she-cat with gold eyes
Cherrypaw- gray she-cat with brown tail tip and blue eyes
Brookpaw- light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes
Brownpaw- dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes
Whisperpaw- gray she-cat with white patches and green eyes
Swiftpaw- light brown, spotted, tom with green eyes
Queens (she-cats nursing or expecting kits)
Brightsoul- white she-cat with gray patches and blue eyes; expecting Reedwhisker’s kits
Fernpool- gray-and-white she-cat with green eyes; Nursing Rainclaw’s kits: Stormkit, Rainkit, Sharkkit, and Sweetkit
Elders (retired toms and she-cats)
Grasspelt- light brown tom with gold eyes; old mate of Leopardstar and the father of Florapaw and Spottedpaw