тнe FIVE | Book 1 | A new, unique Warriors fanfic | 1 fan~

[abbie-sama]

[abbie-sama]

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“Four will turn to five…”

Silverdance is a normal she-cat, 23 moons old—a warrior, a daughter, a friend, like any other cat.
------Or at least she was normal. But now she has huge pawprints to fill. And yet she didn’t ask for any of this. She’s not a Silverstar. And she doesn’t exactly want to be.
------Silverdance is Silverdance, and she’s not really feeling like a leader at this time. At all.
------Her Clan, AsteroidClan, has died. No leader, no deputy, no medicine cat… just a slightly dysfunctional group that is trying to establish themselves somehow without even knowing how or why.
------AsteroidClan was a large Clan, the only Clan in their beautiful land. They were a fairly new Clan, spawned from a group of loners somehow, quite like how Silverdance and her six remaining members are now. However, the group immediately swelled because of how they allowed just about anyone to join, not judging at all, and they were known for this. Any cats exiled or kicked out from wherever their home used to be usually ended up finding them and taking refuge. There were barely any twolegs in the very rural area, and because of that their territory became very vast.
------There were fifty members, and life was good, but then tragedy struck. Twolegs moving in, greencough, and fire slowly took away Silverdance’s family, and the seven of them ran. They ran away from everything they knew.
------And if you could imagine it, things are about to get a lot worse before they get better.
------Hopefully, they’ll get better soon.

[abbie-sama]

Silverdance, a young, lithe pale silver-blue tabby she-cat, emerald green eyes


Tundrashard, a muscular, small, scarred white tom, gray and blue tabby patches, golden-yellow eyes


Badgerstripe, a long gray tom, golden-amber eyes

Willowspeckle, a long-furred tortoiseshell-tabby she-cat, golden-amber eyes


Salmonsplash, a lean calico-tabby tom, blue eyes

Lunarpaw, a lithe, long-tailed very pale tortoiseshell she-cat, golden and blue odd eyes


Fernfrost, a gray tabby she-cat, green eyes

Grass-star, a long-legged white and brown tabby tom, graying muzzle, dark green eyes

Sparrowtalon, a muscular dark ginger tabby tom, golden eyes

Gorsewhisper, a slender gray and brown tom, bright brown eyes

Finchstalker, a golden tabby tom, bright green eyes

Fallowleap, a small pale gray, ginger, and white tabby she-cat, amber eyes

Brightflower, a long-furred cream, brown, and ginger she-cat, green-amber eyes

Beejumper, a messy-furred tortoiseshell she-cat with a golden tinge, lively golden eyes

Flickingpaw, a lean bright ginger tabby tom with a constantly flicking stumpy tail, golden eyes

Littlewhisker, a lithe orange-ginger and white she-cat that is hairless and scarred around her hazel eyes

Blazestar, a massive ginger tabby tom, hazel eyes

Dustshadow, a lithe dark gray-brown tom with tangled, messy fur, hazel eyes

Mousesong, a very small beige and cream tabby she-cat, blue-green eyes, mute

Smallflame, a giant golden-ginger tabby tom, dark brown eyes

Echobreeze, a small pale ginger and brown tabby she-cat, pale green eyes


Skystorm, a tall pale gray and white tabby she-cat, light blue eyes

Heatherpaw, a very dark blue tom with strong hind-legs, very dark brown eyes

Cragtail, a crooked-tailed pale brown tabby tom, amber eyes

Beaverstar, a thickset mottled brown tom, honey-brown eyes

Tangledbramble, a messy-furred, scarred dark brown and white tabby she-cat, auburn eyes

Swanfeather, a long-furred white tabby she-cat with thin black stripes, brown eyes

Paleshadow, a tall, long-tailed albino tom

Grizzlyheart, a thick-furred brown and black tabby tom, orange-yellow eyes

Pebble-ears, a small black and gray she-cat, dark blue eyes

Rivereyes, a slender gray tabby she-cat, deep blue eyes

Mistyheart, a long-furred very pale and white tabby she-cat, light blue eyes

Mottledheart, an graying, elderly tortoiseshell she-cat, cloudy brown eyes

Sootstar, a muscular, ticked gray-silver tabby she-cat, vibrant golden eyes, lost left eye

Stormtail, a thickset dark blue tabby tom, white tail-tip, very dark, thick stripes, dark brown eyes

Smokewhisker, a lithe pitch black tom, dark blue eyes

Vixenleaf, a lithe, petite dark ginger and white tabby she-cat, bright green eyes

Hazelpaw, a fit striped and swirled brown and cream tabby she-cat, honey-amber eyes

Shadowdream, a long-furred slender black, gray-silver, and white she-cat, green eyes

Mossclaw, an elderly gray and white tom, green eyes

Shadekit, a gray, black, and white tabby tom, golden eyes

[abbie-sama]

The cat’s heart pounded. He was old, and yet he was aware that something was going on. Around him, the spirits swirled. “Am I losing another life?” His voice whispered.
------The leader of BrackenClan was swept up off his paws, floating and warm. Wind from the spirits’ movement brushed against him. Then silence.
------The spirits were cats, and turned pure white. For a few moments all was still, and then, finally, around him they meshed. As they opened their eyes it looked as if stars were everywhere, bright and glowing golden. StarClan simulated and formed, a cat drifting down to him. Grass-star’s paws softly hit the ground.
------Grass-star took in a breath. The figure formed itself—from a spirit into a cat. Her fur flowed and she became an actual flesh. She was Brackenstar, the tom knew immediately, her black and white fur billowing, her muscles rippling. “This is not a dream, nor are you losing a life,” she mewed. Her voice was deep and gruff.
------His eyes widened. Respectfully, Grass-star dipped his head, closing his eyes. This cat had started his Clan, and the respect he had for Brackenstar was higher than that for most cats. “Brackenstar…” he murmured, opening his eyes. “It is good to see you, my friend.”
------Brackenstar gave a crisp, quick nod. Then her paw lashed out. She pushed up Grass-star’s head by the chin until they were nose to nose, eyes to eyes. “Listen closely, for soon my time will be up.”
------She did not wait for an answer. The spirits shivered and began to twist, and then dance, and Brackenstar’s black and white figure became stringy and flooded with stars. She began to move fluidly like mist billowing through a forest, and resembled the rest of the spirits around her.
------“Four will turn to five.” She took in a breath. “Their home will have crumbled. Hardships to follow. Seven in the five.” She struggled to get in the last words, scarcely audible. “Follow your hea—”
------They crystallized into billions of stars around him.


------“There is nothing more that we can do.” whispered Brackenstar to the other cats in StarClan. “I hope that was enough.”

[abbie-sama]

The morning was frigid and the winds were tossing and turning, blowing against the cave as Silverdance felt herself arousing from a restless, nightmarish sleep. The rain was falling before they went to rest and turned to sleet before her eyes, just as she drifted of, the sleet blurring in her vision.
------Looking at her Clan again, she felt sad that they were all so thin, so sickly… it scared her that she had no idea if they all would survive. Her friend Tundrashard lay at the entrance, guarding the cave faithfully, and she was maybe two foxtail lengths away from him.
------Silverdance was new to being a “leader”, or so to speak—at least for now. Their past leader, Silverdance’s father, died before her eyes.
------Bareleaf had been very hard for her Clan this year. It was cruel like the harshest of foes… snow, and ice… barely any prey… and then the greencough outbreak. Their medicine cat died first, which, if you could imagine, was a horrible omen—then the deputy and her father, Jaguarstar, last. A fire began to rage in the forest, its flames whipping in their faces, and they were all driven out. There had been no leader, but suddenly it seemed that she was managing to take charge.
------Just instinct, I guess, Silverdance thought to herself.
------She shifted on the hard stone floor of the cave; thinking of her father, tears were brought to her eyes, one of them escaping gingerly before she shook her head and tried to sleep again.
------“Silverdance!” Tundrashard’s voice suddenly pierced through the cave, echoing against the silvery stone walls. “Silverdance, a mountain lion!” he hissed sharply, scurrying to the back of the cave to awaken the others.
------Silverdance was startled, frozen with fear. Her fur pricked and she gave a long, hoarse yowl. She was just as weak as the others, but somehow, by the grace of StarClan, she had found some kind of strength deep within her. The sleeping AsteroidClan cats awakened with a start, bright eyes peering out at her—and yet they were so very dull with weakness.
------A tortoiseshell she-cat was the first to jump up. Her eyes were narrowed. “What’s going on?”
------“A predator… everyone leave—we need to get out, now!”
------Silverdance caught a dank scent inside of the cave. Prowling in with dark, malicious intent, fur down from the wetness outside, the mountain lion gave a screechy roar. Its belly was full of recently caught prey, the reason why it had been away all night, and it wasn’t pleased.


------Cries of terror broke out behind Silverdance—then weak battle cries from her warriors. Silverdance broke into a defensive state, ready to fight. She urged her claws to slide out of their sheaths, her ears flattening and her fur pricked up.
------But she knew. She knew that there was absolutely no way that they could defeat this thing. Trying to fight while waiting for an opening to escape will have to be our only hope.
------Tundrashard, Badgerstripe, and Willowspeckle, then a terrified Salmonsplash, assembled beside her. Mountain Lion gave another roar and pressed down into a crouching position. There was quiet, a stillness, then the sound of her voice shredding that quiet away. “Attack!” She cried out. The mountain lion was taken aback, but it gave another roar and ran for Salmonsplash, who dodged frantically.
------Silverdance’s teeth sank down into the mountain lion’s chest, and she felt its tawny fur against her tongue, but the mountain lion gave a snarl, and a few moments later she fell off from a painful nip that dug into her cheek.
------“Everyone together!”
------The last two cats of AsteroidClan joined the battle—Lunarpaw, who would usually jump at this, but was protecting her mother, and Fernfrost, their last living elder who was still rather young. Silverdance felt blood pooling from her wounds as they all ambushed it, jumping on its body and attacking anywhere they could manage. The animal gave a ferocious yowl—but they had bought just enough time.
------“Run! There’s the entrance!”

Grass-star felt uneasy for some reason, lying comfortably in his nest. Right now he would probably be laughing, but he just couldn’t. He was still pondering over that dream of his.
------Outside, the slippery sleet caked against the grass, a frost against it, a mist flowing out of Grass-star’s mouth as he exhaled. Bareleaf was hard—there had been many illnesses and deaths for each Clan—but he just couldn’t shake this gnawing thought in the back of his mind. Something was coming, some change.
------StarClan help me; follow what? Follow my what?
------But his only reply was the sharp winds.
------Heaving himself up, bones popping and limbs stiff, the BrackenClan leader made his way outside. No cat was outside, as if the soothing lullaby of a dark, wet morning coaxed them to stay in—but they weren’t lazy kittypets. They were weak and thin, all of them were, and tired, but there was always more work to be done. Always.
------The smell of death, it flooded through Grass-star’s nostrils, and in the next moment a shriek came from the elder’s den. “Yellowear!” Littlewhisker’s voice yowled, her voice echoing through their territory. Grass-star’s heart stopped, and a shiver went through him. From foxtail lengths away fear shot through him as he realized that he could no longer hear the old cat’s wheezing, the one that refused to admit that she was ill.
------Pumping his stiffened, cold muscles, he padded over hastily, knowing what he would see before he saw it. The kindly dark golden she-cat was no longer breathing, eyes closed, her tail giving a last twitch, and Littlewhisker’s eyes were red with sleepiness and welling tears. The two cats had become best friends, helping Littlewhisker cope with becoming an elder so young, unable to fulfill her warrior duties when she was attacked, and was having problem with her eyesight.
------“No, not Yellowear.” Littlewhisker sobbed, “Why her? Why is StarClan punishing us like this?” She exclaimed, then glared at Grass-star. “You’re our leader, and yet you sit there likt a kit, doing nothing. Hasn’t StarClan said anything to you?”
------Grass-star could not answer. His dream was not yet decoded, and for once he felt small, because it was not right to tell a dream from StarClan before you truly understood it. “Well?” The elder retorted, lip curled. “I thought as such.”
------There was a silence for a few moments, Grass-star searching for words. “I’ll… go get Gorsewhisper.” Dipping his head, he turned, padding away with flattened ears. They had both just lost a dear friend.
------The BrackenClan medicine cat was resting after a long night of being out looking for some herbs desperately in the cold. Grass-star felt wrong waking his son, and yet he gave the young tom a nudge wary nudge. “Wake up, Gorsewhisper,” he mewed, “Yellowear has died.” His voice was solemn.
------The gaunt gray and brown tom pushed himself up shakily, eyes dull. He had seen too many die—over half of the Clan, and even his own apprentice. “Another one?” Gorsewhisper sighed, voice shaky and cracking. A tear suddenly made its way down his cheek and rested on his long whiskers. “Grass-star, I can’t do it. There’s… there’s too many…” he murmured. “Why is StarClan punishing us?”
------Yet again Grass-star could not answer. “I do not know…” he glanced at his paws. “But I had a dream—a prophecy of some sort, maybe.”
------Gorsewhisper’s eyes brightened. “A dream?” He exclaimed loudly. “StarClan has not—”
------“Shush.” Grass-star hissed. Sparrowtalon, Grass-star’s deputy, padded into the den with questioning eyes. “What’s going on?” The ginger tom asked.
------“We’ll talk later—before the gathering.”

------Grass-star was chilled to the bone although he was sitting on a rock, licking his fur the wrong way to warm himself. The Clan had now awakened; Gorsewhisper was padding around weakly, giving everyone a dose of catmint, and a small, pitiful patrol was being formed. Grass-star looked around in a state of disbelief.
------Camp was nearly empty, not filled with 25 cats like it had been before leafbare.
------No cat had expected this.

Pain. It ravaged and quaked through Silverdance. She had never been this weak; none of them had ever been this weak.
------The sky was darkening and the sun was lowering. They all had harsh injuries, but they had escaped, some of them more narrowly than others. The mountain lion had given chase, and they nearly lost Fernfrost because of it. The aging she-cat tripped and the mountain lion attacked her. They ran to get her back. Fernfrost was alive—limping, but alive, but she was one of the weakest of any of them.
------Lunarpaw began to hold back, giving off a cough. She was also badly injured. “We need to rest,” yowled her older brother, Badgerstripe, his voice sharp against the blow of the wind.
------“Not yet—it’s not safe,” murmured Silverdance. She caught a scent nearby that she could not place, and yet something urged her not to turn around.
------“We need to rest now.” Tundrashard snapped.
------Darkness unfurled around her. She realized that it was night, awakening itself and coming to life in this unfamiliar place.
------“Tundrashard,” she hissed, “we need to keep going. There should be some shelter nearby—just keep with me and—”
------Hisses of protest chimed out.
------“We need to rest!” Some would snarl.
------Why were they striking out against her?
------Suddenly, everyone had taken sides. The argument was loud and sharp… “Fine!” Silverdance cried out, green eyes blazing. “Rest. Do what you want!” yowled the silver she-cat. There was a silence, as if AsteroidClan was surprised or maybe even suddenly feeling sorry. “I’m going to hunt.”
------Her claim was, in a way, untrue. Something was pulling her to the thick of the forest, and she just had to find out what. The sky was a light navy color now, and she could see the moon beginning to rise—a full one. That brought back memories. She remembered the first gathering that she had been allowed to attend; at the time she was Silverpaw, and was two weeks over six moons old. She had been delighted.
------But now she felt like her Clan was breaking apart; not coming together.
------Silverdance’s heart pounded as she searched for prey. She had to bring something back, but she did not scent anything around her, just the nothingness smell of leaf-bare that made nearly everything bland and muffled. But then she saw something. Her ears perked. Stifling her movements, she sank down. Where ever she was, somewhere something was moving about, paws crunching against the slushy sleet. Everything was wet. She could not smell anything, but she heard speaking.
------“This will be my first gathering!” The voice was young and eager. “Brother,” she called, “what was your first gathering like?”
------A deeper voice came next: “It was rather boring, if I do say so myself,” murmured the voice. “I was bored the whole time and kept being shushed.”
------Silverdance crept forward, watching as the avid apprentice pranced around excitedly. The young tabby tom had ginger fur, and his paws were dark and sleet from plotting through the snow.
------With a start, she realized that a noise was crunching behind her.
------Silverdance gave a gasp, whipping around, only to see her Clan slowly moving after her. There was no talking, but Silverdance could tell what they were saying in their eyes—they were apologizing.
------Tundrashard’s eyes widened as he caught sight of the other group. “Are you mousebrained? We need to get out of here before those cats see us!” he hissed, voice hushed.
------There were mewls of agreement pressing throughout her cats.
------Ignoring him, Silverdance stalked after the other group; something that she could not explain was telling her to follow these cats. Were they Clan cats, she wondered? The group was small, but it was most likely a gathering group, after all, and after listening to them for a bit longer, it seemed that they did have Clan names.
------The cats began to pad away faster, flowing into a fluid bound in unison toward something that she just could not make out. Abruptly, they were out of sight, and Silverdance took that chance to run after them. “Silverdance!” She barely caught Tundrashard calling to her
------She continued to run. She had to follow these cats.
------Silverdance kept her distance, yet she did not want to lose them. The cats were carefully sniffing near an area. “Where are those fox-hearted stepstones?” The voice came from an irritable-sounding she-cat, and no wonder—she was drenched, showing her scrawny frame. However, after a few moments of movement—no, scraping, a tall white and brown tabby seemed to say something, and went first. He was fit and experienced, and seemed to be older than the rest. He seemed much respected as he led.
------“He must be the leader,” she said to herself, squinting in an attempt to see. She caught the sheen of ice as he scraped off sleet, and after a few moments a bridge of slick gray stepstones appeared.
------“Silverdance!” Tundrashard’s voice was a whisper, and he was winded, padding toward her as he spoke, “What are you doing!”
------She gave no answer. “Where do you think that are going?” She asked absentmindedly, thoughts swirling around in her mind.
------Tundrashard impatiently groaned, shaking his head.
------“I left the Clan with Badgerstripe and Willowspeckle—come on, let’s get ba—”
------“Of course!” She gasped, a realization flashing into her mind. “Their gathering place, it must be somewhere over there!”
------Silverdance watched them leap onto the stepstones. However, as she did, Silverdance noticed more small figures doing the same in the distance. The amount of cats seemed to nearly be the same. Intrigued, she looked behind herself at Tundrashard.
------“Let’s go back,”
------Tundrashard sighed with relief, until he heard her take a breath. She wasn’t done speaking.
------“I want to follow them.”

A full moon shined brightly overhead as Grass-star grated sleet and ice off of another stepstone. “Everyone be careful; I don’t think that the river is frozen.”
------He leapt again to the next stepstone, for he knew exactly where they were. Grass-star had been the leader of BrackenClan since he was rather young; he knew the pond and the stepstones leading to the Island of the Fiverocks, where the four Clans gathered, just like he could distinguish every tree in BrackenClan’s territory.
------The sleet began to lighten up, and at that he silently thanked StarClan. Grass-star crouched and braced himself to jump to the furthest of the stepstones when he lost concentration. A scent tingled into his nostrils as he leapt, and he nearly failed to jump far enough because of it. Slipping, he gave a yowl of surprise before clambering on.
------“Grass-star, are you alright?”
------The mew came from Sparrowtalon, the BrackenClan deputy, who was leading the rest of the Clan and making sure that they got across safely.
------“I’m fine,” he yelled, kicking off some sleet that had recently accumulated. He then leapt to the last of the stones, this one covered partially by the shadow of a tree, and hopped to land.
------The Island of the Fiverocks was in the middle of the vast pond that each of the four Clans, BrackenClan, EagleClan, OtterClan, and ThornClan, shared. It had parts of traits that seemed to be from each Clan’s territory. At the beginning of the island, where the river gurgled and crashed, there was ThornClan’s boggy terrain; surrounding the main meeting place was many trees that BrackenClan was quite used to; inside was a many rocks, which EagleClan, with their gorge, was very accustomed to; OtterClan’s part, of course, was the pond that surrounded them. In the deepest depths of the meeting area, surrounding the Fiverocks, was a place with short, light grass that looked like the moorland near the Spirit-Cave. In the clearing, the colossal connected Fiverocks, where the leaders sat and spoke to the Clans, sat.
------The BrackenClan leader thoughtfully helped some of his Clan across. As Flickingpaw leapt over, the last, there was nothing obscuring his vision, and at that split second Grass-star swore that he caught sight of figures in the distance. Maybe it was ThornClan? But the dark, grim cats were in the distance, their grizzled and battered appearance becoming clearer. He pushed away the thought.
------A rush of scents overcame Grass-star, flowing through him as he took just one step, and then strengthened as he walked forward. With a depressing realization, he scented that there were not many cats, and that their dull smell was rather weakened. Grass-star continued to lead the way into the treeless clearing. On the island, cats were sitting on a few small rocks, trying to get away from the cold, wetness of the ground.
------EagleClan had already arrived, which was not surprising, as they were great leapers, and OtterClan was just settling down. Padding forward, immediately the two young toms looked at him and gave a solemn nod from their spots on the rock. Grass-star realized, as he gave a gentle nod back, that he was held at great esteem by the other leaders, as he was the eldest and most experienced of the leaders. He was a friendly soul, always eager to help even the other of the Clans, and when they were new leaders, themselves, he had gently given them advice when they asked. So there was a relationship between them, no matter how slight. But there was a bleak understanding that, though they were acquaintances, they would do all that they could for the greater good—the ultimate survival of their Clans.
------Behind him, sneaky and quiet, a very small group of cats came up. With a slight start, a shiver that someone was watching him, Grass-star turned his head and nonchalantly looked at him. After all those seasons of seeing the cats, they could still sneak up on him as easily as when he was an apprentice, and saw them for the first time. Their fur was slicked down from the wet, and they were all gaunt and unfriendly—more so than usual. The one-eyed ThornClan leader’s eyes were cold as Grass-star gave her a quick nod and leapt onto the Fiverocks.
------She glowered at him dryly, eyes narrowing, and gave no reply.
------There was barely any chatter between the Clans, not even the elders, which had less partaking in Clan squabbles, and there was tenseness. Something was on all of the cats’ minds, and they exchanged occasional glances before keeping to themselves yet again.
------Grass-star looked up at the moon, something that he did every gathering, and it had a mist over him. That scared him slightly, but he shook his head and took in a deep breath. “Shall we begin?” he mewed to the other leaders.
------They gave brusque mews of reply.


------The OtterClan leader, Beaverstar, straining with all his might to give a long, strong yowl, signaled the beginning of the gathering. The usually healthy tom looked as if just slimmer at first glance, but as the bright-eyed tom shifted his weight Grass-star caught a quick glimpse of his ribs, as well as the thick, prodding bone of his hip.
------He started, “OtterClan is weakened as much as the rest of the Clans from this harsh, early and long leafbare. We are coping, and the water has not yet frozen hard over. As you could imagine, for that we are thankful to StarClan, and pray that leafbare lightens up, for though we are all rivals and in different Clans, we are all cats, and we are all going through very hard times.”
------Mews of agreement rang out from the gathering cats, but the ThornClan cats were as grim-faced as ever.
------“Well said, Beaverstar,” Blazestar meowed. Even this massive ginger tom seemed worn out, eyes misty with the weight of his thoughts. “EagleClan has been weakened, as well, but our Clan is still strong. We are far powerful enough to defend our territory with force, although our size is diminished. We still have many warriors.”
------The ThornClan leader was next. Sootstar’s had her head held high, and, with a determined and confident voice, she mewed: “ThornClan has been doing well for this weather. We left some of our Clan members at the territory today, but we have brought our newest apprentice, Hazelpaw.” Grass-star glanced at the small, kit-like apprentice. She seemed just at the age of six moons, and something told him that Sootstar wasn’t exactly telling everything—that she wasn’t exactly voicing the whole truth of her claims. “We are also strong enough to defend ourselves adequately.” Quiet yowls sounded from the three cats that she had brought with her. “We have a new deputy—Stormtail.” She added.
------The dark blue tom looked up, gave a wary nod, and then looked back down at his paws.
------Grass-star opened his mouth to speak. “BrackenClan has also been weaken--”
------Something made him stop speaking. A noise, yes, a clear noise that echoed through the area curled to his ears. It was a shrill screech, Grass-star immediately pegged, and then quiet.

There was a silence in the gathering area, and Silverdance looked back with a start, processing slowly what had just happened. Lunarpaw had fallen and hit one of her wounds as she made her way to land. Silverdance’s ears flattened.
------Someone must have heard them.
------A hush came upon the gathering band of cats beyond the leafless trees. “Quiet,” Tundrashard advised. His voice was a nearly inaudible whisper.
------“What is going on?” Silverdance heard the cats yowl questioningly. Chatter, frantic chatter, rose among the other cats. “Is it a fox, or a bear?”
------A kind of conversation must have been going on after that, but a hushed one, because as Silverdance crouched down into the smallest size that she could manage she heard only voices and noises that she could not make out. Then she heard the rustling of bushes. She closed her eyes, the anticipation making her feel nauseated.
------Then, she somehow knew, or maybe sensed, that they had found them.
------Her instinct was confirmed as voices rang and billowed through the area. She made one out, a questioning and strong voice. “Who are these cats?” She caught a sharp pang of hostility in the end of the cat’s voice, and at that Silverdance felt true fear, the fur on her spine rising. She opened her eyes and was taken aback to see that there were more cats than she had first thought, and that those cats didn’t seem remotely as friendly as the ones she had watched.
------Her Clan would stand no chance against them.
------There was a gray one with one vibrant, scrutinizing golden eye that burned into Silverdance’s flank; there was a large blazing ginger tabby with narrowed eyes and claws peaking from his sheaths; there was a sleek brown tom with an unusual look on his face, one of slight confusion. The last one that muscled in was the white and brown tom. Silverdance instantly recognized him as a cat she had observed on the stepstones.
------The only sound was pure silence for quite a few moments, as if everyone was waiting for an answer to the cat’s question. But no answer came.
------After that time passed, the one-eyed gray she-cat spoke, her lip slightly curled. “Why are you here? Who are you?” Her claws were outstretched, and the rest of the cats, as if feeding off of her dark-toned words, began to look nearly as menacing as she. She waited for an answer, then, with a contemptuous snort, continued. “Are you loners, rogues? Are you here to attack us?” She spat, droplets of the saliva landing on Silverdance’s nose.
------The silver-blue she-cat opened her mouth to speak, and yet, in spite of herself, nothing came out. “Are there more of you? I only see six,” The eldest of the leading cats, the one that she was observing, asked thoughtfully.
------“Why would you ask that? Are you looking to add them to your Clan? Don’t think of it; if anything, they would go to ThornClan.” growled the one-eyed she-cat.
------“That is not my motive—”
------Yowls of anger struck out between the cats as they argued amongst themselves.
------“Silence, you mousebrained fools!” The one baffled brown tom yowled snappishly. “At least let them answer your questions!”
------“…Well said, yet again, Beaverstar,” added the quiet flaming tom, now frowning.
------Silverdance searched her mind for the questions that they had asked, waiting to answer their many, many questions, meshed in her thoughts. She struggled to pull even one out. Taking a deep breath, she stood up. Their eyes burned into her, and nervous murmurs leapt through the crowd. The silver tabby suddenly felt very self-conscious at how thin she was.
------“Everyone, c-come out,” Silverdance forced out, her teeth chattering as her thin frame felt the blow of leafbare wind.
------It took a few moments before AsteroidClan reluctantly assembled aside her, Badgerstripe assisting his sister as she exhaustedly limped along.
------Silverdance made herself continue. “We are AsteroidClan, or… more so what is left of it.” Courteously, she bowed her head. “I am Silverdance, and these are my Clanmates: Tundrashard… Willowspeckle… Badgerstripe… Salmonsplash… Lunarpaw… Fernfrost.” She flicked her tail towards each of them in turn and closed her eyes. “We come in pe—”
------“A Clan?” The one-eye spat once more. “I’ve never heard of you before—and what kind of a name is AsteroidClan,” she hissed scornfully.
------“Sootstar, let her speak!” snapped the flaming ginger tomcat.
------“We used to live nowhere near your territory, but we’ve stumbled upon this place.” She dipped her head lower. “We are the only ones left of our Clan.”
------There was silence.
------Tundrashard took a step forward. “Truly, we come in peace. We mean no harm,” he mewed.
------The same ginger tom looked her over with narrowed eyes. Silverdance’s fur prickled straight up as she met his sharp eyes momentarily. “Are you this… AsteroidClan’s leader?”
------“I…”
------“Yes, are you?” A mew from behind the leading cats interrupted her. “You’re addressing your “Clan” as such.”
------Silverdance looked at Tundrashard, who simply shrugged, and then at the rest of her cats. At their gleaming eyes, at how they looked at her and waited for guidance. How they, at this moment, counted on her. “I don’t know… I don’t have nine lives or anything, but I guess… you could call me a leader for now, until we establish ourselves…”
------“You smell like rogues,” Sootstar snarled.
------The cat that she had observed, the white and brown one, mewed, “Who was your leader?”
------Silverdance shook away the feeling scratching feeling that filled her eyes as she reminisced. She could still picture her father struggling for air on that flat moss nest which smelled of nothing but the cold, acrid tang of death. “Our past leader was my father—Jaguarstar. He died from greencough. So did the rest of our Clan…”
------Murmurs and gasps flooded through the group of thin cats in front of her. Horrified glances came from the elders and the leaders stiffened. Some of them even took steps back.
------“They’re ill filth!” spat a cat, eyes glinting. Its head was suddenly lost beneath a sea of commotion. “They’ll give us all greencough!”
------Beside Silverdance, Tundrashard snarled. She felt the brush of his fur as it stood rigidly on end.
------“Drive them out!” Some cats cried. Gradually, as they began to repeat the words, more and more cats joined the raucous. A chant began; a sharp yowl came and echoed through the vast place. Horrified, Silverdance slowly and barely connected what was going on. Thin warriors caterwauled, leapt forwards—claws unsheathing—and curled their lip. The one-eye Sootstar landed, muscles bunching, in front of the attackers.
------“Attack them!”
------Silverdance stood frozen, her mind going blank. What was happening? How had this turned so terribly, dreadfully wrong?
------A young golden tabby leaped into the air, starting the squabble. More cats followed him, sending a spray of colors through the dark sky. Suddenly, golden flashed in her face, and pain shot through her shoulders. The heavy body pinned her down, her arm caught uncomfortably beneath her. She saw Salmonsplash shriek in terror, shrinking down in fear. Her cats didn’t want to fight. But what choice do we have? Die?
------As if contemplating their reaction for a few long moments, more cats leaped into the mound. They ambushed her warriors spitefully. She heard Badgerstripe yowl fiercely as he was driven away from his sister. Out of the corner of her eye, Silverdance could see the barely conscious Lunarpaw lying on the grass alone. But Tundrashard’s high pitched screech caught her attention.
------She tore herself away from the tom, a chunk of her own fur flying, and sprinted to him. He was covered in cats, and around him blood pooled. Silverdance’s heart jolted and her insides quivered like an earthquake. “Tundrashard!” She cried out. Unable to pinpoint whose blood it was, its strong tang overpowering, she screamed. Immediately, she felt fear and horror; was the blood his?
------No. The small but strong tom erupted through the mass and leapt onto a cat’s back, biting into its scruff. She felt relieved, but there was no time to dwell on the emotion. She bounded towards him, her claws outstretched, ready to assist.
------A zing of pain shot through her like the longest of fangs piercing her back. As they curled into her, she remembered the feeling. It was claws. And by the revolting scent, Silverdance knew who it was immediately.
------It was the one-eye.
------They grappled in a mass, dealing blows with their sharp claws. It was a power struggle. The two of them thrashed and stiffened, trying to keep one another from getting the upper hand.
------And then there was a scream. The horrifying, nightmarish noise sent quiet through the whole island.
------Atop the icy sleet, the two cats unlocked slightly to wrench their heads to look around. Cats glared at the sky. They were eyes filled with dismay, and they were wide like an owl’s.
------The moon was no longer seen. Blackish, billowing clouds let out thunder, and lightning escaped from them a frightening instant later. Yowls of terror struck out. Bright light exploded in Silverdance’s face, a sharp and shaking bolt thrown from the sky and whipping down before the cats. Silverdance’s ears flattened as angry thunder roared in her ears, louder than a passing monster. Flames rasped up against the ground. Cats that were not still locked in battle began to back away in fear.
------It was as if they had forgotten about the gathering when they began to fight. Now, they were regretting it. Cautiously, the cats jumped away from the nearest cat and stood still.
------As if in answer, rain, turning to cold snow before them, pressed away the kindled flame until it was nothing but a dark, charred spot on the ground. Eventually that spot was curled away by the white of snow. The groups stared up at the moon, and when it peaked out just slightly they beckoned those of their Clan and assembled into a leaving party. Without anything being said, without any speaking, the gathering was apparently over.
------The island began to empty in eerie silence. Silverdance staggered, pain shaking through her back. She turned to look at her Clan, guilt washing over her. Then she saw Badgerstripe looming over his sister, whispering comforting words in her ear as he licked her soothingly alongside his mother. Tenseness flowed through the air, and Tundrashard stiffened, looking not at her but beyond. Silverdance whipped around.
------A dark figure shrouded in patches of shade from the twisting branches of trees above him was what Tundrashard was glaring at. Eerie golden eyes glistened beneath the moonlight. A tom slid from the cover of trees and neared them, signaling Tundrashard to hiss. Silverdance took a step back.
------“We’re leaving,” she mewed, ears flat against her head like wet fur. “Just let us get Lunarpaw and we’ll never come back—”
------It was one of the cats that she had observed. This one was ginger, but he was bigger than the one going to its first gathering, and its fur was much darker. The tom shook his head. “That’s not it.” He stopped walking, his sweeping, long-furred tail lashing from side to side. “Grass-star wants you. Come,” and with that he padded away.
------Silverdance stood rigid. She was simply baffled. She wanted to take AsteroidClan and escape as quickly as he could… But the tom’s eyes gleamed again as, mid-stride, he turned to look at her.


------She reached the area where the small group of cats sat. And then she stopped. Silverdance’s fur pricked as she caught sight of the tom that had attacked her, his golden fur distinct and pasted in her mind. She couldn’t help but stunt in movement, lip twitching as she urged herself not to break out into a snarl.
------The tom did not meet her gaze, looking away with distaste.
------“Hello,” Grass-star welcomed, dipping his head slightly in greeting. “I’m sorry about your ordeal—” he gave a stern glare at the golden tom. “It should not have happened.” Sighing, he mewed, “Were there any bad injuries?”
------Silverdance felt uneasy. “No, no… nothing worse than we already had,” she lied.
------“Good,” Grass-star mewed. He looked at her curiously, his ear flicking. “I wanted to ask you if you would like to go with us to BrackenClan. We could give you some prey, and our medicine cat could heal your injuries.”
------“Thank you for the offer, but…” Silverdance mewled very quickly, and then added more calmly, “AsteroidClan will have to decline. Frankly, I don’t think that we are welcome here.”
------Grass-star gave a curt nod, eyes glazing over with thoughts. “I understand, Silverdance. May StarClan light your path.”
------“The same to you,”
------She tried not to seem hasty as she padded away.

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Fans

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Critiques/reviews

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*wip*

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News

• This is my first fanfic! I hope you like it. <3
  The pictures are not exactly done yet, so some parts may be white or blank, but I will try to fix that later!
  Enjoy! I have many other chapters that I will type up later.
  Feel free to post!~ And remember, critiques are encouraged.
• (12/17/12) I added a new picture, Shadekit's, and am working on adding a new chapter. :3
  UPDATE: I just added the new chapter. As a treat, I might also add 4.

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Credits and Copyrights

• Warriors is (c) Erin Hunter. This is a fanfic, and will not be published, therefore I am not copying her work.
• The Five (and anything affiliated with it, e.g. characters and text) are owned by me and me only. If you are seen using this, you will get one warning before being reported.
• The line arts with the name "Rusori" on them are copyrighted by Rusori. I have specific permission to use and color that wonderful lineart. Lineart
• The linearts for characters, besides the ones with Rusori on them, were made by Tesseri-Shira. They were cut out to be used where I needed them here. Lineart Lineart
• The introduction's lineart was also made by the wonderful Tesseri-Shira. It was perfect for my plot, no? Anyway, I colored them, but the lines are hers. Lineart

*kinda wip I guess?*

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I've finished. I hope you guys enjoy it... :3