Feathersoul's Story: Book 1- The Prophecy

Prologue
A figure of a cat slunk out from the shadows, a muscular tom trailing behind her. A tortoiseshell sat on the ground, staring at the scene before her.

"Gorsefur," the tom meowed softly. Gorsefur turned around. "Ah, yes. Greetings, Emberflame. Hello, Silversong." Silversong dipped her head."Why did you call us here, Gorsefur? Another prophecy? My, the last one about me was mayhem. Then-then you... you killed me. I can't forgive you for that."

She spat out the last word. A shadow crossed Gorsefur's face. "We shall not bring that up again," she hissed. "That is not what I wanted to discuss. But yes, another prophecy. The cat in the prophecy will not fail like you again."

Silversong growled quietly. "Go on, then."

Gorsefur's mouth curved into a slight smile to one side. Then she muttered, "The feather shall ride the breeze toward the darkening storm. But the lightning's fire will protect protect the feather, and when the storm dies the flames will fall."

The three remained silent for a while and stared at the sky. Dark storm clouds covered the sunset pink sky, turning the once-colorful sky with swirls of orange pink and purple to a dark shade of grey. Emberflame glanced at the others and mumbled, "Well, let's hope the feather scares this storm away."

Silversong and Gorsefur nodded in agreement. A lightning bolt struck the ground, and a cat with a scar across his face appeared. He smirked at the three. "Missed me, Silversong?" he sneered, unsheathing his claws. Silversong gasped. "Bristlestar? You...I..." Her voice trailed off. Bristlestar cackled loudly. "Yes, yes, I know. You killed me. Have you forgotten about the Dark Forest?"

Emberflame leaped at Bristlestar, but the former leader dodged nimbly to one side. He swiped at Emberflame, and he yowled in pain. He managed to jump onto his back and score his claws down Bristlestar's spine. Lightning hit a tree beside them, and a she-cat leaped down from the mighty oak. "Dawnsky," Emberflame hissed. Dawnsky laughed to herself. "Hello, Emberpaw. Wasn't I a wonderful mentor to you? I taught some excellent fighting moves... Let's see if your training paid off!"

Dawnsky lunged at Emberflame, but he stepped to the left. Unfortunately, he was ambushed by Bristlestar, who clawed his face and pinned him down. Emberflame scratched his leg, and Dawnsky stopped him from doing any more damage by sinking her claws into Emberflame's belly.

Blood blurred Emberflame's vision, but he did nothing. Silversong yelped and jumped onto Dawnsky's back, clawing rapidly at her head. Gorsefur butted head-first into Bristlestar, who was striking at Emberflame's leg. They fought as Emberflame lay helplessly on the ground, his blood turning the grass around him red.

Silverosng was the first to notice what was happening, and quickly ran over to him. Two hot tears rolled down her cheek. "Emberflame! Emberflame, no! Please don't leave me!"

Emberflame blinked blood out of his eyes. "Silversong... Gorsefur..."

Gorsefur sprinted to his side. "I'll get some cobweb," she meowed, turning around. Emberflame flipped onto his side. "No...it's too late..."

Dawnsky and Bristlestar exchanged satisfied glances. Gorsefur pressed her nose into Emberflame's pelt. "Goodbye," she murmured. "We'll never forget you."

Emberflame nodded, and he lied very still.

Chapter One
Featherkit yawned and blinked. She took in a deep breath savoring the warm, milky scent that surrounded her. A silver-and-white she-kit lay down beside her, batting at a cat's belly an suckling it. She smelled weirdly familiar. The milky scent seemed to be coming from the larger cat. Featherkit squirmed toward the delicious smell and began copying the she-kit.

The bigger cat leaned down toward Featherkit. The tiny kit shuddered at first, but then recognized the smell of her lovely mother. "Mom?" she squeaked, touching her nose to her mother's cheek. Her mom smiled and purred. "Featherkit, you've opened your eyes. Runningstar would be proud." Featherkit beamed at the thought of someone being proud of her. But who was Runningstar? Who was the kit beside her? Her mind was whirling with a million questions, but she peeped out only the first question: "What's your name?"

Her mother purred with amusement. "Now that is a unique question. My name is Amberlily. And, if you're wondering, that kit is your sister, Swiftkit. You two always played together when you were a few days old. You must recognize her scent."