Red Dawn

DawnClan
Leader: Redstar- dark ginger tabby tom with bright yellow eyes

Apprentice, Jaypaw

Deputy: Iceclaw- white tom with golden splotches

Medicine Cat: Cinderstorm- dark gray tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

Apprentice, Ashpaw

Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)

Clovernose- pale gray, almost white she-cat with hazel eyes

Apprentice, Lightningpaw

Gorsefeather- black and white tom with blue eyes

Apprentice, Shadowpaw

Brightwhisker- white tom with white whiskers

Swiftwind- light brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice, Fallowpaw

Lionpelt- golden brown tom with light green eyes

Tigerfang- light gray tabby tom with black stripes

Darkmoon- wiry black she-cat

Apprentice, Sedgepaw

Sageleaf- tortoiseshell she-cat

Mousefang- light brown tom with amber eyes

Hazelflower- long-furred gray-brown she-cat with hazel eyes and long legs

Apprentices (kits older than six moons, in training to become warriors)

Jaypaw- gray and white she-cat

Ashpaw- dark gray tom with blue eyes

Lightningpaw- ginger tom

Shadowpaw- black tom with amber eyes

Fallowpaw- black and white she-cat with bright blue eyes

Sedgepaw- brown tom with short legs

Queens (she-cats nursing or expecting kits)

Spottedpool- thin, brown and white she-cat with dark green eyes (mother to Redstar's kits: Leopardkit, Meadowkit, and Sparrowkit)

Ravenwing- pure black she-cat (mother of Tigerfang's kits: Blossomkit, Petalkit, and Flowerkit)

Morningsong- pale ginger she-cat with amber eyes (expecting Lionpelt's kits)

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

Thornstep- dark brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Goldentail- golden tabby tom with dark blue eyes

Minnowstream- gray and white she-cat

EveningClan
Leader: Nightstar- long furred black tom with a white chest

Deputy: Brindlescar- mottled gray tom

Apprentice, Crowpaw

Medicine Cat: Thundercall- large, dark brown tom with dark blue eyes and long whiskers

Apprentice, Frogpaw

Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)

Tanglefur- matted gray tom

Apprentice, Stormpaw

Heatherdawn- pinkish-gray she-cat with light green eyes and small paws

Apprentice, Whitepaw

Tawnystorm- tawny colored tom

Lightfang- white tom

Apprentice, Nettlepaw

Queens (she-cats nursing or expecting kits)

Littlestep- white she-cat with a pink nose (mother to Brindlescar's kits: Streamkit and Mosskit)

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

Meadownight- long furred, pale brown she-cat

Prologue
''"Redstar is dead!" the DawnClan deputy yowled to the crowd of cats behind him. His white and golden pelt was lined with scars, and his light blue eyes were unreadable as he turned to face his Clanmates. ''

"How is this so, Iceclaw?" a pale gray she-cat challenged from the throng of cats, leaping up onto the rocks to get a better view of Redstar's unmoving form.

Her hazel eyes narrowed with suspicion as she caught sight of the fur tucked between Redstar's claws, and noticed that the white and gold fur was like Iceclaw's. However, she did not wish to reveal anything as she turned to meet the other's questioning gaze. Everything about him was a challenge, fromt he stiff way he suddenly moved to the glint in his light colored eyes. Yet, Clovernose remained unfazed. She had faced cats worse than this, but Iceclaw struck her as one of the worst that there was.

"I found him dead by the Morning pool," he replied, careful to put emotion into his oily, smooth voice.

A shiver ran down Clovernose's body as she kept on staring into the deputy's eyes, and then turned towards Cinderstorm, the DawnClan Medicine Cat. However, the dark gray tabby was either ignoring her gaze or had not noticed the queen's unspoken plea. Iceclaw had somehow had a hand in Redstar's death, and she would find out what that involvement was exactly. At the moment though, the clan was shocked by the leader's sudden death. He had not even been that old, and the Gathering was tonight.

"Iceclaw...who will speak for DawnClan now?" Clovernose forced herself to ask, and an ambitious gleam lit Iceclaw's eyes.

"I will," he meowed, his voice steady, and the she-cat thought she caught an underlying tone of excitement in the white and golden deputy's voice.

Letting out a sigh, Clovernose turned to go back into the dispersing group of cats when Iceclaw barred her way. His pelt was blinding in the golden sunlight, and he was a good deal bigger than the queen. Her eyes traced his features, and landed onto his eyes before she let out a resigned sigh. He leaned forward, his breath brushing the fur on her ears as he spoke.

"Do not say anything if you value the lives of your kits," he murmured, and Clovernose stiffened.

Abruptly, she turned and raced away from Iceclaw and back into the nursery where her two kits- Shadowkit and Fallowkit, lied. The two were curled up into a ball of fur, one black,a nd the other black and white, looking somewhat like the other. Her gaze became filled with an aching tenderness and pain that sent a shock through her heart. Clovernose had taken the two in after the clan had found the two out in a snowstorm five moons earlier. They had grown quickly in the time since then, though the palge gray she-cat felt an instinctive protectiveness cover her.

"Clovernose..." one of the kits meowed, stirring from her nap.

Leaning closer, she noticed that it was Fallowkit, the only black and white kit of the pair. Her whiskers were twitching as she scented her mother, pressing against the senior warrior for warmth. Softening, Clovernose was persauded to drop into the nest, curling around the two lives that were the most precious to her. The other queens were out in the Clan, one of them Redstar's former mate, Spottedpool, who was expecting his kits. Now, those of Spottedpool's brood would never know their father except when the cats of the Clan spoke about him, though Clovernose did not know how often that that would happen.

"What is it, little one?" she murmured as Fallowkit pressed closer to her.

"What is all the noise outside?" Fallowkit mewed innocently, her voice coming out as more of a squeak.

"Redstar is dead," Clovernose got out after many moments of prolonged silence. Her heart crumbled at the thought of what Fallowkit and Shadowkit would act like. After all, it had been the dark ginger tabby that had discovered the two of them shivering in the leaf-bare snow, bodies wrapped around the other. Clovernose had just lost her only kit then, and Redstar had tasked her with the care of the two kits, effectively keeping her in the nursery for the last five moons.

Fallowkit let out a wail of grief, which woke up her brother, Shadowkit. The tom looked thoroughly annoyed by his sister's powerful voice, and Clovernose shook her head.

These two would never know what Iceclaw had said to her, not if she could help it. They must both be kept safe. Heart pounding with this conviction, Clovernose brought the two even closer to her body than before subconsciously.

Chapter One
Three moons later..

''The warm air of green-leaf wrapped around the Apprentices' den as dawn chased away the indigo blue of the night sky. Most of the six apprentices were still sleeping, their bodies gently rising and falling with each breath they took. However, one was already awake, but still in her nest of moss and bracken. Her black and white pelt seemed to reflect the shadows that dappled the den, while her dark blue eyes promised dark nights filled with mystery. ''

Slowly, Fallowpaw rose to her feet, and padded shakily out of the den, dark blue eyes flickering around the secluded camp. Her gaze rested on Icestar, who was alone in the clearing, and then on the moving shadows that were starting to emerge from the Warriors' Den- her mentor, Swiftwind, and her mother, Clovernose. The two she-cats were conversing intently, gazes flickering towards Icestar and then back to each other again and again. Confused, Fallowpaw observed the two with great interest, ears pricked, body at attention.