Hello, all of you wonderful readers out there! My name is Elsi. Welcome to ELEMENTAL BOOK ONE: VAST LANDS. As you probably read in the description, this is an AU that has the Clans taking another great journey and all of that.

This is actually a re-done prologue, as I am slowly but surely going through Books 1 and 2 and updating them with correct information (and better writing and a more suspenseful story). I do hope you keep reading though, as I'm pretty proud of this series, actually.

For context, the chronologic beginning of this series takes place after Fading Echoes and gets AU from there - this particular story starts about...twelve moons after that or so? The two apprentices in the prologue are Ivypool's kits, so you can do the math there. Also, while this isn't heavily focused on canon characters, they are very important to the story. You should know that my pairings are Lionblaze/Icecloud, Ivypool/Bumblestripe, and Jayfeather/Cinderheart. Also you should know that I wrote this before Sign of the Moon, so I call Dovewing DOVEHEART. Complain all you want, that's just the way it is. :P

Enjoy! And, as always, I don't own Warriors.

PROLOGUE

On one of those nights where the clouds cover the stars and only the dim moonlight fighting its way through the hazy covering provides any sort of light, two species came together in a life-ending clash. The foxes to the east had come down from their hillside home, eager to stake a claim on what they deemed holy ground – the same territory where the four Clans of cats had thrived for moons. It is there, stretched out upon that taught strip of moorland where WindClan called home, that the battle raged.

A battle to end all battles, it was a dark twisting mass of bodies – some fought and some died, but all went to meet their adverse foe thinking that this skirmish was the final encounter with their opponents they would ever have.

In the bushes was concealed a careful arrangement of fallen Clan-mates, before which crouched a series of frantic cats – half of whom had the power of medicine and half of whom were close to their last breaths. One such medicine cat, whose tabby stripes were barely visible in what little light they had, was gazing sightlessly through the bushes, everything about him stiff and prepared to move.

Three cats hobbled up the hill. When they reached the blind medicine cat, everything snapped into place. The one in the middle collapsed with a moan.

"Stay," ordered the medicine cat to the two cats on the outside, a pair of small grey cats that were obviously littermates. "You have acted bravely."

"Can you save her?" asked the she-cat out of the two young littermates. The blind medicine cat did not answer, instead calling for the brown tabby she-cat who arrived with a pile of herbs in her jaws.

"Go sit with Whitewing and tell me if anything changes," said the blind medicine cat. Once the two were out of sight, he flicked his ears at the older she-cat who hovered beside him. "I don't know what to do. Everything is happening so fast, and I cannot continue to let my Clan-mates die." It was a confession of fear that he had never let slip before, if evidenced only by the surprise on the she-cat's face.

"You're doing all you can, Jayfeather," she meowed. "You have saved so many cats that other medicine cats could not save. Do not lose hope."

"Lose hope?" Jayfeather chuckled darkly. "Leafpool, do not tell me that you thought there was any hope to begin with."

"Never say that!" At Leafpool's harsh words, Jayfeather laughed once more, all the while never looking up from his work.

"I'm sure the cats who lost their lives today would believe you."

"Jayfeather."

"I am working. If you have nothing productive to say, you can rescue another ThunderClan cat from the battlefield."

Jayfeather.

That voice made him sit up so abruptly that the herbs fell to the ground. His head swiveled around as he searched for the too-familiar voice.

A soft pelt pressed into his side, and the scent of stars and dirt and death-berries washed over him – the scent of one cat and one cat alone.

This is it, Jayfeather. You know it as well as I do.

"I know only that my Clan-mates need my help." His words were whispered and afraid, almost as if he could not voice them.

You can feel it, too, can't you? The end of an era. They can all feel it. It's why this battle scares them so. They know that if they lose, it will be the end of this land.

"Then what am I to do to help them?"

Trust in me, Jayfeather. I have been working to send you the hope you lost. You've seen it, too. Four cats on five starlit paths. Five stars in the sky, burning ever bright. The stars on fire, the earth an icy wasteland. You've read the signs. You know who you must protect.

"That cannot help me now! I can do nothing now."

Then perhaps this era is ending. Maybe it is best if you allow a new story to begin. Let the shadows infest this land and take refuge in another.

"You mean we leave."

I cannot give you all the answers. Just trust in me. Place your faith in me. Let me be your hope.

For a split second, Jayfeather looked up and could see her as if he was dreaming, or she was not lost. Black fur against a palate of black and grey. Green eyes that dared him to do more than he was ever capable of doing.

"I missed you, Hollyleaf," he said. He thought he saw her smile, and then he was staring at his normal world of grey again. With a sigh, Jayfeather turned to his work, trying to ignore the lingering scent of death-berries on the wind as his last hope floated away to another era.

The drumming of the battle faded away as nausea swept over him. He knew what this all meant, and why Hollyleaf had come to him. She was telling him their fate.

They would lose this war. And when they did, all that they had built up as real would change. Their time was ending. And the time of the Five would begin.

It occurred to me as I was writing this that Hollyleaf is literally not in my series, so that's one of the things I'm going to be addressing in the re-writes. Next is the first chapter, which picks up with Lionblaze, and we'll go from there. If you are reading this for the first time, tell me what you think of the prologue! If you are re-reading this, tell me if you think the prologue is better than the old one! Thanks, everyone!

~Elsi