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Blurb[]
When Wolf destroys the Moontree, cats are worried. The magic has started fading from everyone. Except for Dawn. When she figures out that she got all the magic transferred to her, she had to learn how to use it. But she has to do it fast, as Wolf has captured her brother, Dusk. Will she be able to rescue him and defeat Wolf, or will things take a turn for the worst?
Allegiances[]
It can be found here.
Prologue - Ginger[]
A dark figure slinked through the shadows of the trees, trying to stay hidden in the night. Behind the figure, a small group of cats followed it, moving not as gracefully.
”Ugh, where the heck is this supposed ‘Moontree’?” One of them grumbled after stumbling on a tree branch that was jutting out. “Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?”
The figure stopped and looked at him. She then raked her unsheathed claws across his muzzle. The tom flinched, drawing his paw up to where blood was flowing from the scratch.
”You are to follow my orders without question,” she hissed menacingly, jerking her muzzle towards him. “Not whine like a newborn kit who got a thorn stuck in their paw!” She drew back, and continuing walking, said, “And, also, does that answer your question?”
They stopped as the cat swept her tail out in front of her, presenting a beautiful sight. In the middle of a large clearing stood a towering oak tree, who’s unnaturally silver leaves glinted in the light of the stars. The moon was not present that night.
”Okay, now that you’ve seen it, get to work.” The she-cat ordered the cats, who were staring in awe at the sight. They immediately snapped out of their wonder and raced to the tree, claws unsheathed. They all started clawing at it furiously, except for the tabby tom who had gotten scratched.
“Seriously, why do we have to do this?” he demanded. “I mean, it’s just a dumb tree. Aren’t there any other that you could cut down? And others that are preferably easy to cut down also?“
Then, out from the shadows, the she-cat leaped at him. She was a silver color, just like the tree leaves, with fiery orange eyes. The tom tried to get away, but it was no use. He squirmed helplessly under the massive cat as she slid out her needle-sharp claws.
”You know, I’ve gotten tired of your remarks,” The cat said, flashing her teeth. She slashed his ear, blood dripping out of it. “Complaint after complaint. You never shut up. Well, now you finally can.” She raised her paw, and the tom squirmed more than ever, fearing what was about to happen. The she-cat smirked. “Say hello to Fox for me, Birch.” And with that, she slammed her paw down on his throat. He stopped wiggling; for a moment, he kept twitching, then stopped. Dead.
The cat looked up to see her followers had been watching what had just happened. “Keep going!” She barked, and at once they hurried back, not wanting what had just happened to Birch happen to them too. The cat came over to join them, her claws making her more efficient than them.
[~]
It was almost dawn when the silver cat shouted, “Stop!” They had tunneled to the center of the tree. She smirked. Her plan was finally in motion. Her eyes slowly morphed to a deep red, and she raised her paw again. This time, her claws had been covered in a black shadowy substance.
She plunger her claw into the center of the tree, and quickly, shadows started to overtake the tree. She looked back from the outside. The shadows weren’t showing, Good. She watched with excitement as a silvery-white cloud floated out of the tree. Then, it shot away.
She stared in confusion. The magic was supposed to be transferred to her! Well, then what happened? She thought with rage. She lashed her tail in, looking to where the object had gone. The Tribe of Shadowed Night, She gazed at the cats. It must’ve been transferred to one of them! Not a moment too soon, she had formulated a plan.
”Come on cats,” she told the others. “We need to pay the tribe’s newborn kits a visit.”
Chapter 1 - Snowy[]
The sun rose as Dawn, the newest kit in the Clan, finally opened her eyes. It was not a welcoming time, because her littermate, Dusk, was prodding her side the whole time. "Can you stop that?" She hissed to her brother. Even though she was a newborn kit, she was still fierce.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant mass flew at her, crushing her. "You're supposed to catch it, silly." Dusk teased, dragging the moss-ball off her. Dawn was infuriated. But, she let herself calm down.
"Again! Again!" She squealed, bouncing around, careful not to let the moss-ball squash her again.
Finally, she was tired, and decided to explore. "There's a big hole in the nursery!" She yowled to her mother, Spark.
Spark immediately whipped around, but then relaxed. "That's the entrance, dear." She meowed, gently grooming Dawn's fur.
"Let's go!" She squealed to her littermate, charging out of the nursery. She caught Spark rolling her eyes, but she ignored it.
She looked behind to see if Dusk was following, but he was far behind. Dusk was far behind, so backed slowly, until a shadow swallowed her and she bumped into another cat.
"What are you doing here, Wolf?" The leader of the guards, Night asked, narrowing his eyes.
"To welcome the new kits to the Clan, of course," Wolf smirked, sliding out her claws. Dawn froze in shock, but fortunately was dragged to the nursery by Spark.
"How do you know?" Night barked. "I know your tricks, Wolf. I know you very well." After said, Night launched himself onto Wolf. Wolf easily dodged, causing Night to face-plant on the ground.
Wolf pounced on Night, and after a few moments Night was pinned, struggling under Wolf’s claws. “Stop it!” Fateteller yowled, unsheathing her claws. The cats around gasped.
Dawn tilted her head to one side. “Why are they so shocked?” She asked, shivering.
Spark wrapped her tail tighter around Dawn and Dusk. “Fateteller never unsheathes her claws, only at terrible moments.”
Dawn understood now. “So this is a terrible moment.” She squeaked.
“Yes, my dear.” Spark licked the top of Dawn’s head. “Now go to sleep. I don’t want you to witness such darkness.”
After a few moments, she could hear the snoring of her littermate. She pretended to fall asleep, and peeked out with one eye.
But, Spark got up, and guarded the entrance to the nursery, with the other queens. Great, now I can’t see what’s happening. She grumbled quietly to herself, careful not to let anyone hear.
She quietly padded to a small crack in the wall of the nursery. Suddenly, Wolf turned and scratched Fateteller’s nose. She winced. She couldn’t bear to see this fight.
Dawn scrambled back to her denmates and wrapped her tail around her nose. The horrible thought of Fateteller being killed by Wolf came into her mind, and she brushed that thought away.
Suddenly, she heard a big sound, like an earthquake. She peeked through the hole. Everycat was flung back, including Wolf, who was flung off Fateteller. After a moment, Fateteller stood up shakily, glaring at Wolf.
“LEAVE!” She snarled.
“Yeah of course I’m leaving. This place is trash,” Wolf spat at Fateteller. She turned around and walked to the entrance. Suddenly, she turned around. “I just want you to know, though, I destroyed the Moontree, so now all your powers will fade away…”
Fateteller stared at Wolf with awe and shock, and Dawn could see Wolf padding into the sunset…
Chapter 2 - Ginger[]
~~ Six moons later ~~
"Dawn and Dusk, you are now six moons old, and it is time for you to become to-bes. Dawn, you are kind, and a ginger-pelt, so you will train to become an explorer. Your mentor will be Acorn. We welcome Dawn as a to-be of The Tribe of Shadowed Night!"
Dusk squirmed with excitement as he sat on the grass. We're finally becoming To-bes! Wow! He glanced over and saw his sister excited as well, though she was doing a better job of hiding it. Dusk looked back and saw Fateteller gazing down at him.
"Dusk, you are strong, and a black-pelt, so you will train to become an guard. Your mentor will be Blizzard. We welcome Dusk as a to-be of The Tribe of Shadowed Night!" She said, her voice as loud as thunder.
Dusk grinned as his tribemates' cheers rang from around him. After the cheers died down, he immediately leapt up and raced to Spark, Dawn trailing behind him. Spark was sitting calmly in front of the Nursery, smiling delightedly at them.
"We're finally To-bes, mom!" They exclaimed as they hopped up and down in front of her. Spark gazed warmly at them, then said, "Calm down, you two. You don't want your mentors to think you're too wild, now do you?"
Dawn and Dusk immediately stopped, quickly glancing around to see if anyone had seen them. Thankfully, no one was watching. Dusk spotted Blizzard walking over, accompanied by Acorn. Hey, my mentor! He turned back to Spark. "I need to go meet up with my mentor. Bye!" Dusk dashed away.
"Hello, Dusk. Are you ready to begin training?" Dusk looked and saw Blizzard staring at him with a calm expression. "Yes!" He squeaked in reply. Blizzard twitched his whiskers in amusement, the turned around, leading Dusk out of the camp.
[~]
Dusk stared around at the with a confused expression. B-But he was just here! Blizzard had led Dusk to a small ring of trees, and when he wasn't looking, had promptly disappeared. "Hey, Blizzard?" He called out fearfully. "Is this part of the lesson?"
"No, this just a demonstration."
Dusk whipped around and leapt back, letting out a small yelp. His fright quickly turned into relief as he saw his mentor's aqua eyes blink at him. Dusk sat down as Blizzard walked over, but there was one thing bothering him.
"Wait, did you just turn into shadows?" Dusk asked. Blizzard gazed at him with a surprised look, then answered, "Yes, actually. It's a technique called Shadow-stepping, a way to turn into shadows. And no," He said when he saw Dusk's hopeful gaze. "It is not a basic move. It's very advanced, and we'll probably go over it in another moon. Today we'll learn a basic defensive move; creating energy shields, or force fields." He crouched down. "When I leap, protect yourself by having a force field cover you."
"Wait!" Dusk cried as he saw Blizzard about to jump. "....How do I do that again?"
Blizzard let out a small sigh, as if he was disappointed his newly made to-be couldn't control his magic, then explained ,"Imagine your magic.... like an orb. In your body. And when you need to use your magic, you take some magic form there and transfer to to where you need it to go. Like if you want to make a force field, you make it cover your body."
Dusk nodded. I understand now! "Okay, I'm ready."
Blizzard crouched down, and sprung. Dusk closed his eyes and imagined a yellow orb in his mind, and pulled some magic from it, making it conceal himself. When he opened his eyes he saw Blizzard sprawled on the ground, struggling to get up. Dusk's eyes widened and he raced over worriedly. "Are you okay? I'm sorry!" He exclaimed.
Blizzard stood up. "No, I'm completely fine, just sore." Blizzard told him, looking at with amazement. "But wow! I've never seen any cat learn so fast! Look at yourself!"
Dusk complied, and raised his paw, looking at it. It was cover in a silvery substance, and it seemed to be moving. This is what a force field looks like? I wasn't expecting this at all! He thought as it started fading away. Dusk looked back up at his mentor, and suddenly felt his shake. "Wow, I'm exhausted," He breathed.
"You should be. You haven't had time to build up your strength," Blizzard replied. "So we should probably get back to camp. We don't want you collapsing in exhaustion." Blizzard turned around and started padding away.
Just before he got out of the tree ring, though, he Shadow-stepped again, probably to show off...
...But he never came back.
Dusk sat there for a few moments, waiting to see Blizzard's blue eyes again. But once the shock registered when he had been alone for a few moments, Dusk started to panic. "Blizzard?" He cried, racing to the spot where the black tom had once been. "Blizzard!"
But there was no reply. Dusk felt a tear start to run down his cheek. No, I can't cry now! I need to find a way to bring him back!
Suddenly, as if on instinct, he knew what to do. Ignoring is tiredness, Dusk repeated the steps Blizzard taught him to tap into his magic, and wrapped it around an invisible shape. He mentally pulled this, and immediately felt a cold, shivering body land against him.
"Blizzard! You're alright!" Dusk exclaimed in relief. But Blizzard ignored him.
"I couldn't get back. I was swallowed by darkness." Blizzard muttered, half to himself. His eyes were widened fearfully and he was shivering like crazy. "Then it started getting cold. So, so cold."
"Don't worry, I'll get you to Fateteller," Dusk said, frantically trying to find a way to actually do that. "She'll know what to do-"
Blizzard looked at him. "Remember when that rogue Wolf came to our camp?"
"Yes..." Dusk replied, not seeing where this was going.
"Well, she'd said that she had destroyed the Moontree. We all figured she was bluffing, but.." Blizzard shook his head, then continued. "Dusk, I couldn't get back. It was like I didn't have enough magic in me. That means..."
Dusk inhaled sharply. This is bad! "We were wrong."
His mentor nodded. "We need to tell Fateteller that our magic is fading."
Chapter 3 - Snowy[]
Dawn looked at her mentor, Acorn, as Dusk and Blizzard padded out of camp. "What are we doing today?!" She meowed excitedly around her mentor.
Acorn laughed. "Well since you're a ginger-furred, let's have a race around the territory!"
She didn't know how she felt - excited or shocked. "Cool!" She meowed. "Let's go!"
Acorn and Dawn both padded to the entrance of the camp. "On the count of three, go!" Acorn mewed to Dawn.
Dawn nodded. "3, 2, 1, GO!" Acorn meowed.
Dawn took off, relishing the cool wind ruffling her fur. This is awesome! She thought as she turned the corner, leaping over a jagged rock with ease.
She knew that Acorn was way ahead of her, but she didn't mind. Dawn looked around the forest as she ran, seeing all the tall trees and birds chirping.
After it felt like hours, she finally caught up to Acorn, where she was sitting on a rock. "Good job, Dawn!" Acorn cheered. "Do you feel tired?"
Dawn was too focused on her surroundings that she didn't even feel tired. She shook her head.
"Great!" Acorn meowed. "Your magic is working. Let's go back to camp now,"
Dawn noticed that Acorn was panting, but then thought, If Acorn said that my magic is working because I'm not tired, but why is she tired?!
"Um Acorn?" Dawn asked.
"What, Dawn?" Acorn meowed as she looked towards her.
"Uhhh....If you said my magic is working, then why are you panting?" She asked.
Acorn's gaze suddenly hardened. "You see, when Wolf came into the camp and she said she destroyed the Moontree; Sadly I think that's true,"
Dawn shuffled her paws. "What does she look like?" She asked. She thought she remembered a cat named 'Wolf', but she wasn't sure.
"Large silver gray she-cat with fiery orange eyes," Acorn replied. "Come on, it's getting late,"
"Wait Acorn, so if someone destroys the Moontree, our powers fade?"
Acorn stopped. She stood still for a second, then turning around to face Dawn, "Let's go back to camp! We need to tell Fateteller!"
She took off, leaving Dawn there. "Hey, wait for me!" She yowled, running towards camp.
Once they arrived, she screeched, "Fateteller! Our magic is fading!"
Dawn saw Dusk and Blizzard there as well. "Wolf.....Magic......Fading......."
Chapter 4 - Ginger[]
"Wait, what?" Fateteller said, confused. Dusk looked at her. "The magic... It's fading.." He wheezed. I'm so tired! He looked over to see Dawn and her mentor shout the same things as well.
Then he blacked out.
[~]
Spark rushed to Fateteller's den, where Dusk and Blizzard had just been taken. She wasn't supposed to do this, but she needed to see her son. Please, let my son be okay!
She burst in to see Fateteller sitting in her nest, with Dusk and Blizzard lying in separate nests in front of her. Spark let out a small gasp.
"Are they okay?" She said frantically. Fateteller replied calmly, "Yes, they will be okay. But I need some time to myself to concentrate, if you don't mind leaving."
Spark nodded slowly. Usually Fateteller could heal with her herbs, but in some cases, like when the injuries were caused partially by magic, they needed to be countered by magic. "You'll let me know when I can see him, right?".
Fateteller nodded. Spark slowly walked out of the den to check on Dawn, with a bright green light flashing in the corner of her eye.
[~]
Dusk slowly opened his eyes, wincing as he stared at the bright light streaming into the den.
"Ah, so you're awake." Dusk whipped around, and it felt like something sharp jabbed the inside of his head.
"Oww." He moaned, sinking down into the moss he was lying in. "My head hurts."
"Well, I guess I could give you some Dandelion leaves to make the pain more bearable." Dusk slowly turned his head towards the voice. There was a tortishell she-cat standing in the corner, looking through little nooks filled with herbs. Fateteller!
Fateteller walked over, carrying some dandelion leaves in her mouth. "Chew these." She ordered.
Dusk did as she said, and soon the pain a faded to a dull throbbing, barely noticeable. "Thank you." He said, relieved.
A smile seemed to form on Fateteller's face, but it only lasted for a fraction of a second. Then she returned to her usual stony-faced gaze. "Now that you're feeling a bit better," she started saying. "I would appreciate it if you could explain to me what happened at your training session. Dawn has already told me her story, and I wish to know more about what caused you to pass out."
I almost forgot about that! "Wait, is Blizzard okay?" Dusk asked her, frightened.
"Yes. He is actually next to you, if you would look."
Dusk turned his head slowly to the side, having learned his lesson. His black-furred mentor was sleeping soundly in a separate nest."
He turned back to Fateteller.
"What about D-"
"She's fine."
"And my mo-"
"Fine as well."
"Anyone else?"
"No."
Dusk took a deep breath. Thank goodness no one's harmed!
Seeing as no one was hurt, he began to tell his story.
[~]
Spark watched as Fateteller stepped onto the Great Ledge, calling the tribe together. She curled her tail around Dawn, who tried to bat it away. Is she calling a meeting about what Dawn, Dusk and their mentors said? Please let Dusk be okay! "I've called a meeting today," Fateteller started. "because there have been rumors that our magic has been fading for some time now, without us even noticing. Sadly, they are true." Gasps of shock arose from the crowd. Cats started whispering, and one even called out, "How do you know?"
Fateteller narrowed her eyes in the direction of the voice. "Because Blizzard, one of our Tribe-mates, has experienced it himself. When he is strong enough, he may be willing to tell you what happened.
"I have decided to lead a small patrol to the Moontree to see if we can find what caused our magic to start fading. The cats who will be coming with me are Night, Dawn, and Acorn. We will leave at sun-high."
Fateteller leapt from the ledge, stalking over to some gray-furred cats. Spark gazed down at her daughter, who was staring into the trees.
The tribe is going to go through some tough times. But I promise I will protect you and Dusk no matter what.
Chapter 5 - Snowy[]
Dawn yawned, brushing her way through the to-be den and into the camp. She scanned the clearing, seeing that Acorn and Fateteller were already in the clearing, murmuring cautiously and padding around constantly.
Dawn didn't find Dusk though. She called to them, "Where's Night?" Night emerged from a den, stretching. Great. She grumbled. What a timing.
They slipped pass Lark That Roosts In Oak, who was on guard duty. Fateteller bounded through the trees, Acorn and Dawn at her heels. But then she heard a twig crack. Dawn turned around, and saw a scarred rogue curse, "Mouse-dung. If only that twig wasn't there, I would've caught that robin,"
Fateteller crouched behind a bush, so that rogue couldn't see her. After a few really anxious moments, the rogue finally gave up from this area and went to hunt somewhere else. Acorn heaved a sigh. "What are we going to do know?"
Fateteller meowed sternly. "No. We keep going. We'll deal with that filthy rogue later,"
-
Finally she reached the edge of the Tribe's territory, and there lay a tall tree. The tree was supposed to be shining with silver leaves, but that wasn't what Dawn saw. The leaves and trunk were black and dead, and so were the area around it.
Dawn shivered, wondering if this was Wolf's work. She touched her nose to the Moontree, expecting to be with her ancestors, but instead everything was black and cold, no one to greet her.
She woke up, startled. Dawn was in the same place as she thought she was, but it was a different feeling when she first came here. Cold, cruel, sad feelings. She couldn't believe her emotions could change so fast - from positive emotions to sad ones.
Dawn shook her head, determined to know why. Wolf said she destroyed the Moontree, so it's probably why it's so dark. But the real question is, how do you fix it?
She looked at her tribemates. "Any luck?" She mewed hopefully.
They both shook their heads, face weary. Dawn decided to try one last time, or else they would go back. This time, it worked.
A gray-and-white cat padded forward, smiling. "Who- who are you?" Dawn asked.
She purred. "I am your mother's mother, Dawn," Then her face hardened. "Beware for when the sun sets and the hunter rises-"
But then a yowl woke her up. A sound echoed in her head. Come back soon, for I shall tell you more.
"Let's go home," Acorn suggested. Fateteller nodded, so they took off.
Chapter 6 - Ginger[]
Dusk woke up in cold sweat. He had dreamed of hunting mice in the forest, when a ginger she-cat appeared. Her mouth didn't seem to be moving, bt there was a faint voice saying, "Beware for when the hunter rises and the seer falls."
Dusk looked around, as if to see if the cat was still here. Thankfully, there seemed to be no signs of ginger-furred she-cats. Only Blizzard sleeping peacefully in a nest a couple mouse-tails away. Relieved that there was no sign of anything unusual, Dusk settled back down in his nest. Maybe it was just some random dream, He assured himself. I bet it doesn't mean anything.
As he closed his eyes, he heard a rustling sound, then pawsteps. Dusk pricked his ears. Wha-?
[~]
Dusk squinted at the area surrounding him. There where tall, gray Twoleg fences enclosing a small area, solid enough that he couldn't see outside of them. He was lying on a dirty moss nest, which seemed to have been ripped to shreds multiple times, then squished back together.
Where am I? He thought fearfully, then added, At least my headache's gone.
As if on cue, a dark gray, almost black, tom stalked in, carrying a scrawny mouse. He dropped it in front of Dusk. "Eat it." He ordered, glaring at him with his yellow eyes.
Not wanting to be attacked by the ferocious tom, Dusk quickly devoured it.
The tom smiled smugly, apparently pleased. "Good." He said. "Wolf wants to talk to you, by the way. I'll go get her." Then he swiftly padded away.
Dusk's eyes widened. Wolf? The same she-cat who entered our camp and drained our magic? He felt the fur rise along his back, then flattened it. This can't be good.
[~]
"What's your name, kit?" The silver she-cat demanded, sitting down. Scars crisscrossed her flank and sides, and her orange-amber eyes were the most intimidating thing Dusk had ever seen. Wolf.
Dusk gulped. "D-Dusk," He stuttered, frightened.
Wolf smirked. "I'm guessing you know who I am, right?" When Dusk didn't answer, she glared at him swiped at his nose. He yelped and nodded.
"Good. That makes thing a lot easier. But it does beg the question; do you even know my side of the story? Why I actually would drain your magic?" Dusk pondered this. Why would she do this? She seemed like just one of those villains in the stories Spark had told them. The kinds that only lived to be evil and cause chaos. Like that one cat. Sun, was it? Or maybe Sol? Dusk thought. But maybe there is a reason.
"Why did you do this?" Dusk whispered finally. Wolf narrowed her eyes for a heartbeat, then smirked and started to speak.
"When I was a kit, I grew up in the Tribe. My name was Wolf That Hunts Under Moon. I was so eager to learn magic with my sister, Fox That Prowls Through Forest. I trained so hard, determined to beat the other To-Bes.
"Then the battle came. There had been few rogues stealing our prey, and the Fateteller at the time decided to put a stop to it. So we fought. The rogues sttod n chance against us; we had magic on our side! But as we were breaking away, the enemy defeated, I saw it.
"A tom was fighting Fox. She seemed to be faring well. But then another tom leaped onto her back. She couldn't fend off both at once, and she fell.
"I charged over to help her, but it was too late. She was dead. And the worst part was, no other Tribe cat tried to help. They left us to fend for ourselves.
"I was filled with rage and hurt. The Tribe cats don't care about anyone else, they just use us for their own personal gain. I left that day, vowing to destroy them forever."
Wolf leaned forward. "And you're gonna help me."
Dusk's eyes widened. "No!" He exclaimed. "They're my friends! I can't hurt them!"
"Yes you can." Wolf growled threateningly. "Because if you don't, I'll kill your sister."