This universe has quite a few details to it, but for now, I think this is all you need to know:

1) This is Warriors; it's just tweaked a bit.

2) Most of the cats in this story are just cats. A few of them have wings. And a fewer have magic.

3) There are a bunch of groups of cats, and they roughly call themselves Clans. The Clan that this story focuses on is called The Land of the Towering Trees. In this particular Clan there are four 'cities' I call Hollows. The one where this chapter takes place is called Oaken Forge. All of these Hollows belong to the same Clan (Land of the Towering Trees), but each Hollow has a different function that benefits the Clan as a whole. Oaken Forge is the forge and the armory. But each Hollow (with the exception of the Training Hollow) has a nursery, medicine cat, group of warriors, and elders.

4) There is one leader over the Clan, one deputy, a council that lives in the Main Hollow. And each side Hollow is directed by a lord.

I think that's all that is really pressing at the moment. I will explain more later as the story progresses. If anything is confusing, please let me know and I explain it to you and make a note of it here.

Enjoy!

Ravenkit waited restlessly for Bluefang to come back from hunting, but he tried not to show it. His mother, Silverstep, had given Ravenkit and his brother, Cloudkit, a thorough wash the night before, anxiously waiting for Bluefang to come visit them, but he never came. Well, Silverfang said that he did, but Ravenkit and Cloudkit had fallen asleep before their father returned. And now, this morning they had received another whole wash and were waiting outside the nursery.

"Here he comes," mewed Silverstep.

"I don't see him!" meowed Cloudkit, standing up on his hind legs and flapping his cat wings once to get a better view.

"Use your nose, darling," replied Silverstep. Cloudkit sat back down and gave a huge sniff.

"I only smell Ravenkit!" Cloudkit complained.

"Shhh! Don't complain. Don't you want to show your father how nice you are?" said Silverstep, not taking her eyes off the camp entrance. Cloudkit murmured something incoherent. Ravenkit tried doing a little sniff. He thought he smelled something different in the air, but he couldn't be sure.

Just then, a large gray tom padded into camp through the tunnel, carrying several plump mice. He was closely followed by an older brown tom and a young gray she-cat, each carrying prey. Silverstep let out a small sigh.

"Is that him?" Cloudkit hissed loudly.

"Shhh! Don't speak unless you're spoken to!"

The large gray tom was indeed their father, Bluefang. I don't look anything like him; what if he doesn't like me? thought Ravenkit anxiously. He gave his black pelted chest a few licks. Bluefang padded towards the kits and Silverstep; he dropped one of the mice he caught at Silverstep's feet. Ravenkit's first thought was that he did not look like a very nice father.

"Silverstep," he said hoarsely. He touched noses with her, and held the moment there for a few precious seconds. "How are my kits? I can finally see that their eyes are open." he asked her.

"Of course our eyes are open! Where have you been? They've been open for like for-ever!" said Cloudkit cheekily and bluntly.

"Of course. And what do you want to be when you become a warrior, Cloudkit?" their father asked stoically.

"I want to be on border patrol, just like you!" and Cloudkit flapped his wings in excitement, momentarily lifting himself off the ground.

"Cloudkit! Stay on the ground!" Silverstep scolded.

"No-no! It's good that he's flying!" Bluefang contradicted. "You should be encouraging of it, Silverstep." He turned back to Cloudkit. "I am sure you will do very well on the border patrol, especially with those wings of yours."

Cloudkit beamed and spread out his silvery wings. Ravenkit looked at the ground and tried not to shuffle, but he felt very hot all of a sudden. He so dearly wished that he too had wings like his brother.

"And what about you, Ravenkit? What do you want to be when you become a warrior?" Ravenkit looked up at his father. Every kit's answer should be border patrol, because that was the best job. Ravenkit was just a kit, but even he knew that. Border patrol warriors were the best fighters, were the strongest, and were the stealthiest. Still half lost in his own thoughts, he just blurted out:

"I want to be the best warrior there ever was!"

His father blinked in surprise. Mouse-brain! Ravenkit thought.

"Well, that's a fine ambition. You'll have to work hard in order to achieve that." Ravenkit just nodded, his legs feeling all wobbly.

"F-father?" Cloudkit started. "Did- did you, erm, bring your armor with you?" Cloudkit blurted out the last phrase quickly.

Bluefang looked at Cloudkit and asked, "Yes, I did. Why?"

"Can I, I mean, we, Ravenkit and I, look at it?" asked Cloudkit.

Bluefang purred, "I think that would be alright." Bluefang flicked his tail and padded over to a small den. "C'mon!" Cloudkit gave Ravenkit a shove before jumping into the air, and unsteadily flying after Bluefang, a couple of feet in the air. Ravenkit looked up at Silverstep, who for some reason looked cross. He gave a small sigh and trotted after his father.

He followed his brother and father into the Warrior's Den, where he saw just the two of them. The other warriors must be hunting or something. Bluefang was pulling a shiny set of armor from a corner. Cloudkit was gawking at it, no doubt wanting a set of his own.

"Can you put it on?" begged Cloudkit.

"Ah… I'm not supposed to place on armor unless I am on duty…"

"Please?"

"No, I'm sorry, Cloudkit. I can't. I can get in real trouble if I do."

"But, why? I thought you didn't let anyone boss you around?"

"I don't! It's just … a Clan has rules, and in order for a Clan to function, every member needs to abide by those rules. You'll understand when you're older," brushed off Bluefang. And just like that, he was drawn into himself and his face looked like it had been frozen in time. "You'd better get back to your mother," he murmured.

"But—"

"Now!" he growled softly.

"C'mon, Cloudkit," Ravenkit called from the entrance. Cloudkit looked up at his brother and padded over, his tail dragging in the dirt, not bothering to fly. The two of them went over to the nursery and found their mother inside. Once he saw her, Ravenkit felt much better, as if their father had never even come back. Silverstep was talking quietly with the other two queens: Willowpelt and Speckledwing. Silverstep said that Willowpelt was due in about a moon, but Ravenkit thought she already looked huge, and wasn't quite sure how she could get any bigger. Speckledwing, true to her name, had wings like Cloudkit. She had two kits of her own: Gingerkit and Hazelkit, who had cat wings like her mother. Ravenkit liked Hazelkit a whole lot; she was lots of fun and said funny things.

"Silverstep," Cloudkit called out.

Their mother turned around, and with a "shh," she pointed her tail at Speckledwing, where Gingerkit and Hazelkit were asleep. Cloudkit rolled his eyes.

"You're back already?" Silverstep whispered.

"Yup," Cloudkit said bluntly.

"Oh," Silverstep mewed. Cloudkit didn't meet her gaze, choosing to instead look at the floor. She knows something's up… Ravenkit realized, problem is, I don't even know what's going on.

"Well, then. How about you go ask the Elder's for a story?" suggested Silverstep. Cloudkit rubbed his paw over the dirt floor but Ravenkit's eyes brightened. How he loved stories!

"Mmmm…" meowed Cloudkit, unenthusiastically.

"I'd like to hear a story," mewed Ravenkit. "Maybe Gingerkit and Hazelkit can join us when they wake up?"

"I can join you now, Ravenkit," said Hazelkit from her mother's lap, clearly not asleep.

"Oh my! When did you wake up?" asked Speckledwing.

"Just now!" and Hazelkit flapped her wings, rising from her nest.

"Sh! Don't wake Gingerkit!" scolded Speckledwing, but a small moan came from the ginger scrap next to her.

"Too late!" yowled Hazelkit. Ravenkit tried to suppress a mrrrrow of laughter. Hazelkit could be such a handful. "Let's go!" And she flew out of the nursery, almost banging her head on the wooden frame. Cloudkit took to the air and followed her out. Ravenkit followed them more slowly and was surprised to see the two of them huddled on the ground, heads close.

"What are you-?" began Ravenkit.

"Sh! C'mere!" mewed Hazelkit, frantically waving her tail at him. He ran a few tail lengths over to them. They were tucked under some ferns where no one had their den.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to say, that I just didn't wake up!"

"So?" Cloudkit said, slightly irritated.

"I mean, I was awake – only pretending to be asleep."

"Okay, and so?" repeated Cloudkit.

"So! I heard Silverstep talking with Speckledwing when they thought I wasn't listening!"

"Oho!" said Cloudkit while Ravenkit nodded.

"Were they talking about anything in particular?"

"You bet! They were talking about Bluefang!"

"What did they say?" blurted Cloudkit.

"Um, well. I didn't understand a lot of it."

"Great," said Cloudkit sarcastically.

"But they said something about how he was gone extra-long? And they sounded kind of angry about it. I dunno."

"Gone … like on duty? Border patrol?" asked Ravenkit.

"I 'spose," guessed Hazelkit with a little flutter of her wings.

"Or do you think he was missing or something?" guessed Cloudkit.

"Well, they found him, then," Hazelkit said.

"No, I don't think so…" trailed off Ravenkit, thinking.

"No, they didn't find him, Ravenkit? Mouse-brain! Open your eyes!" teased Cloudkit.

"I'm serious! Listen: if he was missing, don't you think we would have noticed if Silverstep was sad? And if he was missing, why wasn't she more excited to see him earlier?" explained Ravenkit.

"Eh…"

"I think it makes sense," said a voice from behind them. The three of them spun around, fur fluffed up; but it was only Gingerkit.

"Don't sneak up on us like that!" exclaimed Cloudkit.

"Well, don't go running off without me next time!" she frowned at him.

"How long were you standing there?" asked Hazelkit.

"Long enough," replied Gingerkit simply. Hazelkit let out a "humph", but didn't say anything.

"So you think I'm right?" asked Ravenkit softly.

"Well, it's the only thing you three have said that makes any sense," said Gingerkit matter-a-factually. "Now, I don't think any of us will really be able to guess, so why don't we just go to the Elders before someone else eavesdrops on you?" They all murmured an agreement and scampered off to the Elder's Den.

The Oaken Forge only had three elders and Ravenkit felt warmly about all of them. Buzzardjaw was the youngest elder, if you could call elders young. The oldest was Thistleleg, who was almost blind. In between the two toms was a she-cat called Jaybreeze.

"I smell kits!" announced Thistleleg, raising his head from his nest.

"I know that there are kits! I can see them!" snapped Buzzardjaw.

"I wasn't asking you if you could see them, you pile of—"

"That's enough," settled Jaybreeze, and the two toms ceased their bicker. "What can we do for Oaken Forge's youngest warriors?"

"We're not warriors yet, Jaybreeze!" pointed out Hazelkit.

"I must be going blind like Thistleleg, then! I could have sworn I saw warriors before me!"

"We're just kits!" said Cloudkit.

"Aww, hardly!"

Cloudkit frowned, unsure of how to deter the Elder of what he thought was confusion.

"We would like to hear a story, please, Jaybreeze," announced Ravenkit quietly.

"A story! Well, that settles it. You're definitely kits!"

"That's what I just said!" said Cloudkit impatiently.

"Well, what story would you like to hear?"

"I want to hear the one about how the first cat flyer came down from StarClan on wings!" blurted Hazelkit.

"No! I want to hear the one about the Cats of Old!" contradicted Cloudkit.

"Cat flyer!"

"Cats of Old!"

"Youngsters! How about I tell you a story that your mother's wouldn't want me telling you?" suggested Jaybreeze. Cloudkit and Hazelkit quieted down immediately.

"What do you mean, wouldn't want you telling us?" asked Hazelkit. Ravenkit narrowed his eyes at Jaybreeze. Is she pulling our legs again?

"I mean, your mothers have asked me not to tell you about a certain cat that lived long long ago because they think it might frighten you," explained Jaybreeze.

"I'm not scared of anything!" said Cloudkit boldly.

"Which story is this?" asked Buzzardjaw.

"The tale of the Lord of Crows," answered Jaybreeze.

"Ah, I see."

"Is it scary, Buzzardjaw?" asked Gingerkit.

"Mmm… eh, I bet it was mighty scary when it happened. Wouldn't have wanted to live through that, nope," answered Buzzardjaw.

"What's so scary about it?" asked Ravenkit.

"There's a twist at the end."

"That's not true!" interrupted Thistleleg. "The curse doesn't exist!"

"Of course it exists!" said Jaybreeze.

"A curse?" said Hazelkit softly.

"Don't believe in the curse, kits. It's not true," said Thistleleg.

"It is too!" dithered Jaybreeze. With a "hmphf," Thistleleg turned his back at her and situated himself differently. "Anyways, do you want me to tell you the story of the Lord of Crows?"

"Yes!" all four kits answered.

"Okay, well, this all happened many, many years ago, right in this very valley. Right in this very Clan, in fact; yet, all the Clans know of the Lord of Crows. He was born into the Land of the Towering Trees as a normal cat. His fur was as shiny and soft as any cats', his eyes were of blue, and he spoke with a normal voice.

"But one day, in the middle of his apprenticeship, he discovered that he had magic! And oh – what magic it was! He put the spell-casters to shame with the things he could do. Quite expectedly, all the cats grew afraid of him. He went from being a mere apprentice to the strongest and most powerful cat in the whole land. Friends he once had no longer wanted to be in his presence; his family disowned him; and eventually, his clan kicked him out.

"Feeling that he was dealt with unfairly, almost cruelly, the Lord of Crows vowed to get his revenge on his clan. He walked in the presence of darkness, through marshes and bogs, and where only the crow flies. Over time, he began to change. His pelt grew wet and sticky, as if he could never shake the bog water from his fur; his eyes grew dark, and his voice became more like a croak than a purr. Any cat he met on his journey he lashed out in a rage, and he killed them."

"No!" gasped Hazelkit.

"Shhh!" said Cloudkit, Ravenkit, and Gingerkit.

"And um, where was I?"

"He would get into rages and …." Cloudkit made a strange noise in his throat.

"Oh, right. It is said that he traveled over the mountains, beyond our valley. It is also said that a group of crows followed him, through day and night. And you know that a group of crows is called a murder, right? Some think that the crows were waiting for him to drop dead, so they could peck the flesh off of his bones. Others think that they sort of became his servants in whatever he tried to accomplish. But that is how he got his name. Whenever he would travel through a hollow, he would depart with all the cats dead and a pile of crow feathers surrounding the camp. It is for this reason why crows are unlucky today; they always precede death and ill-baring. We Clan cats never give our kits the name of Crow, nor do we ever hunt crows, even if we are starving.

"After some time there were many rumors about the Lord of Crows. Cats had already given him his title. Another rumor, which I believe to be true, was that he lived up on a cliff, somewhere past the Land of the Flowing Water. They have some rocks on the edge of their Clan, apparently."

"Why do you think it is true?" whispered Cloudkit, eyes wide.

"Well, there are other stories that there once was another Clan, Land of the Upright Rocks, which used to lie beyond Land of the Flowing Water. Beyond the Land of the Flowing Water is where the Lord of Crows used to live, but there's nothing there now. The stories say that the cats of that Clan grew sick of the Lord of Crows casting a evil shadow down on their territory, so they tried to chase him out of their territory, but he murdered them all instead."

"He killed a whole Clan?" Gingerkit asked, her whole body pressed to the ground in fear.

"How did he do it?" asked Hazelkit. "There's no way…"

"Magic; he had a different kind of magic, or stronger, than most cats do."

"How did he die?" asked Ravenkit. "If he could defeat all those cats, who could kill him?"

"That's an excellent question, Ravenkit, but I don't know how he died; I don't think anyone knows."

"He's not still alive is he?" Ravenkit asked, his voice cracking.

"No, he's not alive, silly!"

"How do you know?" whimpered Gingerkit.

"Because! There are lots of different tales about the Lord of Crows, and all of them agree on two things, that when he was alive, the land was different. It was darker, eviler. Disease came easier, winters were longer, and there were more foxes and badgers in the land."

"How horrible," murmured Gingerkit.

"And life isn't as bad as it used to be, so his time has passed."

"What's the second thing?"

"The second thing, well, that's the curse part of it."

"What-what is it?" asked Cloudkit, looking sick.

"I don't think I want to know…" said Ravenkit.

"The Lord of Crows had always made it clear that he was going to get revenge on the Land of the Towering Trees … but he never did. His presence made life worse for all of the cats in general, but he never sought out his home Clan in particular. So on the last day of a very long winter all those years ago, one of our patrols ran into the Lord of Crows. He said only one sentence: 'Until there is one brave enough to face me, my revenge stands incomplete, and I shall never be truly dead.' And the cats on the patrol blinked just once, and he was gone, never to be seen again. And after that, spring had come, and the lands returned to normal."

By the end of the story, all four kits were pressed as far as they could go to the earth, all of them cuddled together, and all completely terrified. Thistleleg looked over his hunched shoulder and muttered, "Told ya the curse would scare 'em."

"Oh, kits, I'm sorry!" meowed Jaybreeze, not sounding very sorry at all. "It was just a story!"

"But, you believe he's real, right?" whimpered Hazelkit.

"Yup, but just remember he's been gone for a very long time, and no one is ever half-dead, so—"

"Who's half-dead?" said Silverstep, who had apparently come to collect her kits.

"Silverstep!" yowled Cloudkit. He and Ravenkit flung themselves at their mother, clinging to her in fright and crying out in fear. "It's not true, is it? He's not really half-dead, is he?"

"Who?"

"The Lord of Crows!"

"The – The Lord of Crows? Of course not! Those are just nursery tales meant to get little kits to behave by scaring them!"

"Re-really?" stuttered Ravenkit.

"Yes, I promise. The Lord of Crows doesn't exist. Use that head of yours, Ravenkit. You are always so logical. How can a cat come back from the dead?"

"Wait – you know the curse too?"

"Yes, because some old elder told it to me when I was a kit, just to scare me. I promise you; it's not real. It's just a scary story."

"Oh …" the kits were beginning to calm down, and when none of them were looking, Silverstep shot Jaybreeze a nasty look. Speckledwing padded over to see what all the yowling was about, and she too was bombarded by her kits, who felt much better breathing in their mother's warm scent.

"It's been quite a day. How about we have an early turn in for the night?" suggested Silverstep, and remarkable, her two kits agreed without complaint.

Sometime during the night, Ravenkit had a horrible nightmare. In it the Lord of Crows was chasing him all around camp, yowling "face me, face me!" and for what seemed the longest time, Ravenkit wouldn't look at him. Eventually the Lord of Crows tackled Ravenkit to the ground. He couldn't shake the Lord of Crows; his wet, slimy fur had a numbing affect. And just when Ravenkit was about to look into the Lord's face, he woke up.

"Snap out of it, fur ball, or you'll wake Silverstep," hissed Cloudkit. Ravenkit blinked, and saw his brother was pinning him down.

"Okay, geoff!" whispered Ravenkit. Cloudkit stepped off of his brother and laid down next to him.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah."

"About the Lord of Crows?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

"What happened in your dream?"

"Oh, I just flew away," answered Cloudkit.

"Lucky…" murmured Ravenkit.

They laid in silence for a moment before Cloudkit asked: "Ravenkit, do you ever wish you were born with wings instead of me?"

"What?" exclaimed Ravenkit softly, horrified that his brother would ever suggest that. "No! Of course not!"

"You don't want wings?"

"Well … I do, I guess. But I would never wish that I got them instead of you. Never."

"Okay, I just wondered. Because then we could both fly away from the Lord of Crows."

"Nah, you'll just have to carry me."

"Okay, deal."

And the two brothers finally drifted off to sleep in peace.