Shiningheart of ThunderClan doesn't own Warriors.
Chaos scrambled to his paws with a squeak and instinctively back away from the strangers. His hind paws slipped off the rocks and Chaos yelped as he half fell into the icy pond, clutching the stone in front of him desperately. If he was bigger it wouldn't have been a problem, but he was only six moons old and was the smallest of his litter. If he fell, he'd probably drown.
One of the starry cats stepped forward, and Chaos flinched and closed his eyes. Maybe he was expecting to be pushed under, or at least have his paws pried off his anchor. Instead, teeth closed around his scruff and pulled him out. He didn't relax even when he was dropped onto the ground, and crouched close to the ground defensively.
He gulped loudly and slowly peeled open his eyes, gazing around warily at all the different cats. Tabbies and tortoiseshells, gingers and browns, blacks and whites… He'd never seen so many various pelt at the same time! He took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and looked up at the cat that pulled him out of the water.
It was a handsome ginger tom. His green eyes were watching Chaos in a mixture of worry and amusement. Chaos stared back at him, the tingling of familiarity so strong he had to resist the urge to scratch at his pelt. The cat's name suddenly clicked, and Chaos breathed it out in awed realization. "Firestar…"
Firestar nodded, eyes turned warm and welcoming now that he saw Chaos was okay. "Yes, young one. My name is Firestar. These," he gestured to the cats surrounding them with his tail, "are the cats of StarClan. At least, those of us who remain. Can you see anyone else that you recognize?"
The gentle prompting made Chaos take a closer look at his audience. It took a bit, but he finally spotted a silver tabby she-cat at the very front of the crowd. She had dark blue eyes that met Chaos's gaze fearlessly, and it was more that than her physical appearance that jogged his memory. "I know you. I don't know your name, but you were killed by that tabby." He looked around again and found the black-pelted she-cat with green eyes. "You were too!"
Both she-cats nodded, and it was the black one who padded forward. "We were indeed. I was once a warrior of ThunderClan, as was everyone you witnessed killed in your dreams." She walked up to Chaos, who flinched away, but all she did was rest her muzzle on his head between his ears. "My name is Hollyleaf, and I'm sorry if we scared you or caused you distress."
His ears flattened away from her breath, but he wouldn't let himself move otherwise. "I was scared, but only because I didn't understand. Once I did, I wasn't as afraid anymore."
Hollyleaf backed away and, to Chaos's amazement, dipped her head in respect. "Spoken like a warrior. I look forward to seeing how you grow." She turned and went to sit by Firestar. Chaos followed her progress, confused by what she meant, but was distracted by a new arrival.
It was the silver cat, and just like Hollyleaf, she touched his head. "I'm Ivypool!" She backed away much quicker than Hollyleaf and actually sat. "I wasn't given a special destiny by StarClan, but I think I still did pretty well for myself! I mean, aside from the whole 'dying and failing the Clans' thing." She made such a comical face that Chaos really had no choice but to giggle. Ivypool's face relaxed into a gentle smile. "There you go. A face as young as yours should always have a smile on it." She softly touched her nose to his and meowed, "Remember, Chaos, there is always a reason to smile."
Like Hollyleaf, Ivypool went to go sit with Firestar, but sat on his other side. Chaos started to see a pattern, and turned to watch the next cat. It was a golden tabby, and he wasn't alone. On his left padded a gray tabby tom and on his right padded a pale gray she-cat. The golden tabby went to speak, but the gray one interrupted him. "I'm Jayfeather, he's Lionblaze, she's Dovewing. We're the Three who were meant to save the Clans, but we failed, and now we need you to revive the them."
At the same time Chaos's jaw drop, it seemed like every cat in the hollow yelled out, "JAYFEATHER!" Even the two by the tabby's side were glaring at him. Jayfeather shrugged rather carelessly at the attention, and the golden tabby, Lionblaze, heaved a massive sigh and nodded at Chaos. "My brother may not be the most… sensitive of cats, but all the same he's right." He gestured over at Firestar. "Firestar will explain more."
Chaos looked over at Firestar to see him looking both annoyed and resigned. "You're not allowed to hang out with Yellowfang anymore." He told Jayfeather before looking at Chaos apologetically. "I would have rather eased you into it, but I guess that's not an option anymore. Yes, Chaos, the cats of StarClan have chosen you to rebuild the Clans. I'll start from the beginning though."
A sarcastic voice in Chaos's head muttered, 'Yeah, the beginning is usually the best place to start.' It sounded suspiciously like Bane, which made it easy to ignore it and politely meow, "If you wouldn't mind?"
Firestar nodded and cleared his throat importantly. "Long ago, at the very beginning of time, a prophecy was made. 'There will be three, kin of the one with fire in his pelt, with the power of the stars in their paws. They must find the fourth, and the battle between light and dark will be won.' Obviously it didn't come true, or else your life would be much different. Or not different at all. We can't really say."
The ginger tom shrugged, and Chaos felt himself burn with questions. But he waited for Firestar to continue, and continue he did. "Ages passed until the prophecy was forgotten by all except the most ancient of beings, a badger named Midnight and a tom named Rock. As you may or may not have guessed, I was the fire, as well as the fourth. You already know who the Three are." He looked at Jayfeather pointedly, and the younger tom snorted but said nothing.
Firestar stared a bit longer before returning to his story. "StarClan is where good cats go when they die, or at least cats that aren't evil. As for the others, they went to a place called the Dark Forest."
A flash of his latest nightmare appeared in Chaos's mind, and he thoughtlessly quoted, "'They prosper in the sunlight with prey while we, the strong, have been left in the festering woods.'" He spotted the shock in Firestar's expression and winced upon realizing he'd interrupted unintentionally. "S-sorry! Continue, please."
The other tom gave a slight shake of his head, as if pulling himself back to the present. "No need to apologize. I just didn't expect you to remember that part. Anyway, onward! The cats of the Dark Forest started training without StarClan's knowledge, and even recruited living cats inside of their dreams to fight alongside them. The battle was long and heartbreaking, and in the end we weren't strong enough. After my death, the Clans surrendered and were forced to scatter. Anyone caught still acting like a Clan cat was killed, and so the ancient traditions were soon forgotten in all but stories told to kits.
"Those stories were enough to let StarClan survive, but not how we once were. We have become shadows, mere darkness against darkness. Your elders, I believe, refer to us as Shades. An apt name, I think. We watch the lake, interfering whenever possible, but had lost all hope of returning. So imagine our surprise when Ferncloud comes running, telling us of a kit who had a special connection."
Chaos's eyes stretched wider than ever, and his voice was pitched so high when he spoke he had to clear his throat and repeat himself to be understood. "Me?! No, no no no no no. There must be some mistake. Yes I've been dreaming of all of you, there's no point in denying that. But the stories Mama used to tell us were full of brave noble cats who could run so fast, leap so far, and swim so strongly it was like they themselves were the forces of nature! Do I look like a force of nature to you?"
Jayfeather was the one to answer, just as blunt as he'd been before. "No. Quite frankly, you seem just as terrified as when you were telling your siblings about the dreams." He spotted the blink of surprise Chaos gave. "Yeah, that was me. Your brother gets respect points for telling me off, by the way. You get... half a point for trying, I guess."
There was an opportunity in there, one that Chaos jumped on. "Yes, Bane! He would be much more suited to be chosen than me. He's brave and strong and noble, everything I'm not. So why am I here and he isn't?" He could see some cats exchange glances, hesitant on what to tell him, so he switched his attention to Jayfeather. So far the gray tabby had been the only one to be frank and upfront with him.
Which is why it surprised him when, instead of answering, Jayfeather merely turned away from him and twitched his tail. "Come on. I need to show you something. Maybe you'll understand then." Chaos looked at the other StarClan cats only to see them with confused looks as well. "Well, hurry up!"
The annoyed snap from the older tom made Chaos squeak and hurry to follow after him. They went up and out, the stares of the others making his fur itch again. When they exited through the pushes, Chaos couldn't help the relieved sigh he gave. He saw Jayfeather's ear twitch at the sound, but thankfully he didn't turn.
They walked in silence back down the path the Shades had led him up. That thought made Chaos glance warily at Jayfeather, wondering if he should ask. It wasn't really important, but he really wanted to know. He gulped and asked, "Erm... I know this probably doesn't mean much right now, but who were the Shades that were walking with me and my littermates? You already said you were one of them..."
He trailed off, afraid he was annoying his guide with his curiosity. Jayfeather surprised him once again by answering without a fuss. "The one you first started following by the lake was actually another medicine cat. My mentor, a cat named Leafpool. She was also my mother, but that's a history lesson for another time. She was the only one who had the patience to stand there day after day and try to get your attention.
"After you convinced your siblings to follow us, she let a warrior named Cinderheart lead you. Cinderheart has a unique history, one I don't feel like getting into right now. She'd probably be the best to ask anyway. Then it was me, and Firestar met us at the bottom of the hollow. We worked together to get you up to the top safely. He was the one who made the others stop staring, so thank him for that when you see him again."
Chaos nodded, already figuring out for himself that he probably wouldn't be going back to be see the rest of StarClan again. "And what were the Clans REALLY like? I mean, we have stories, yeah, but stories always over exaggerate. Like, Firestar didn't really have a pelt made of fire and leave smoking paw prints."
Jayfeather stopped and stared at Chaos with wide eyes. At first, he wasn't sure if it was in shock or disbelief. The older tom started to visibly quiver, and Chaos took a worried step forward. The older tom put a paw to his muzzle to keep the sounds in. It took a moment for Chaos to identify those sounds as snickers, and his face deadpanned just as Jayfeather burst out laughing.
It took a good couple of minutes for Jayfeather to calm down, by which time Chaos was sitting as patiently as he could. The older tom snickered and coughed to clear his throat, looking a mite bit sheepish at his companion. "Sorry, you just caught me off guard with that."
Chaos stared blankly at him before rolling his eyes in a very Bane-like fashion. "No you're not, you liar." he said bluntly. It almost sent Jayfeather into another fit of laughter, but he caught the unimpressed look from the kit and managed to restrain himself before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now where are we going?"
Was he being rude? Yes. Would Fern box him over the ears when he told her about this? Yes. Did he care? Not really, no. At least Jayfeather seemed to remember himself. He cleared his throat again before padding along, Chaos following once more. They walked in silence now, the older tom still leading the way. They wandered for a while until Chaos noticed the lands around them changing.
The trees were changing from oaks and maples to willows. Familiar willows. As in, the willows he and his littermates had lived under with their mother! Just as he realized that, a much missed voice called out, "Chaos, Bane, Fern! Time for dinner!"
A slender shape was standing in the shade of their home, gray tabby pelt groomed to perfection and green eyes gentle and loving. Chaos's heart stuttered in his chest, and without thinking he cried, "Mama!", and ran to her. He ignored it when Jayfeather called after him and lunged for his mother, only to pass right through. His nose smarted upon colliding with the tree trunk, and he rubbed it with a whine before looking back.
The she-cat who gave birth to him didn't even look at him, instead smiling down at the three tiny kittens approaching her. They were only two moons old, and looked exactly like her, minute their kit-blue eyes. With a jolt, Chaos realized that was him. That was them. "This… this is a memory?" he asked Jayfeather, gaze locked on his family.
The older tabby grunted irritably. "Yes, and I would have told you that had you not decided to make nice with the tree." He was so distraught that he didn't even apologize for running off on him. When Jayfeather spoke again, his tone was gentler. "I know this is hard to understand, but this is necessary to get StarClan's point across. Watch and listen."
Chaos took a deep breath and nodded, finally listening to what the memory was saying. The three kits were gobbling up a freshly caught mouse while their mother looked on. After they finished, two-moon old Fern yawned, and the three of them curled up together for their nap. Soon enough, all three were snoozing lightly while the older she-cat watched on.
The younger audience frowned in confusion. Why did Jayfeather want him to see this? He turned to the former medicine cat for answers, but he merely flicked his ears in silent order to pay attention. Chaos pouted but did so and received quite a shock when his mother stood and walked away from her sleeping children. "Mama? Where are you going?" he asked, forgetting she couldn't hear him.
He stood and followed her, hearing Jayfeather get up and walk with him. They walked for a few minutes when a black and white shape exploded out of the nearby shrubbery, colliding with his mother. Chaos cried in shock while the two wrestled on the ground and padded around them in a circle, wishing more than anything he could help. His thoughts stuttered to a halt when the attacker was pinned and he cried, "Alright alright, I give! Jeeze Athena, I seriously thought I could beat you this time!"
Athena? Was that his mother's name? It must have been, for she purred and nudged the tom playfully with her muzzle before letting him up. "You should know better, Jack! I'm the awesomest fighter around the lake!" Chaos had never heard his speak like that, and his jaw dropped as the two exchanged witty banter only to dissolve into laughter. This tom… who was he?
As if he'd heard his question, the tom- Jack, his mother had called him- sobered and asked, "How are my kits? Can I meet them yet?" Chaos jerked back like he'd been slapped. Jack was his father. Today was just full of surprises, wasn't it?
Athena sobered just as quickly and seemed almost… nervous. "I… I don't know yet, Jack. Fern gets so nervous around new cats, and Bane is so hostile to change and Chaos…" And what? And Chaos what?
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