Chapter Two

~Two moons later~

Eaglepaw, Falconpaw, and Owlpaw sat staring at their mentors as they were told the news. “Warriors? Today?” Falconpaw was the first to break the silence. Her eyes were wide with shock and surprise as she looked around, as if she wanted to see if it was a dream or not. Eaglepaw was equally shocked. “But… we’ve only been training for five moons! It usually takes apprentices seven moons to become a warrior! We… we’re not ready!”
Stonepelt purred down at his apprentice. “Well Eaglepaw, Jadewing, Ivoryfern and I think that you three have trained well and have shown great promise. Besides, Fangstar has wanted the training to go faster and have warriors sooner. It’ll be great for all of us!” The gray tom’s light-hearted tone did not reach his eyes – the senior warrior’s wise yellow eyes were clouded with doubt in his leader. Oh, how Eaglepaw wished he could tell his mentor the truth about AspenClan’s treacherous leader! But he knew he had to keep it a secret- for now. Even Owlpaw’s eyes, usually dark and angry, had brightened. “We’re going to be made warriors!” He meowed, delighted.
Falconpaw shook her head at her brother. “Just because we’re going to be made warriors doesn’t mean we’re ready. There’s no point in having a half-trained warrior helplessly trying to defend his or her clan.”
“We’re definitely ready. We always were,” Owlpaw countered, shrugging like he didn’t care.
“Don’t be so confident in yourself, Owl-droppings,” Falconpaw rolled her eyes, saying her brother’s unwanted nickname.
Eaglepaw was saved from trying to pry the battling and arguing pair apart when Fangstar yowled from the Aspenledge. “Will all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Aspenledge for a clan meeting!”
Eaglepaw’s joyous mood froze over as he heard that low, husky voice. He forced himself not to glare at his leader as he headed to the bottom with his siblings and their mentors. “Today we have three apprentices becoming warriors. Though it is considered early in their training to be made warriors, they have showed promise and are going to be warriors. Eaglepaw narrowed his eyes. Fangstar didn’t care about their progress, only that they were going to be warriors. “Owlpaw, Eaglepaw, and Falconpaw – please come up here.”
The three brothers and sisters leapt onto the Aspenledge with ease, landing as gracefully as a bird.
“The three of you, please step forward.” Fangstar waited for them to pad to his side before fixing the apprentices with his cold, green gaze. “Do you promise to uphold and defend the warrior code, even with your life?”
“I do,” they intoned simultaneously.
“Then under the sight of StarClan, I name you Owlheart, Eagletalon, and Falconfeather. AspenClan honors your intelligence and determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of AspenClan.” Fangstar let his shoulder be licked by the three newly made warriors, and then rested his muzzle on their heads. Eagletalon tried not to flinch as Fangstar’s muzzle touched his forehead. The three cats gazed proudly down at their clan as the cats cheered.
“Owlheart! Eagletalon! Falconfeather! Owlheart! Eagletalon! Falconfeather!”
Fangstar didn’t smile at them, or show any sign of appreciation. “You will hold silent vigil tonight.” Eagletalon and his littermates dipped their heads and leaped off the Aspenledge to stand beside their former mentors. Fangstar wasn’t finished. “I want extra patrols to mark more territory on the edge of DeathClan and LeafClan territory. We need enough territory to hunt on, and we’re strong enough to defend ourselves against any attacks.”
Not if two clans attack us at once! How do you know they won’t unite against us? Eagletalon wanted to yowl at his leader, but he held his tongue.
Fangstar swept a cold green gaze around his clan. “Meeting dismissed!” He meowed curtly, and leaped off the Aspenledge into his own den. Eagletalon watched the clan disperse into their own activities chatting animatedly, and he saw Falconfeather and Owlheart exchanging excited glances, their quarrel forgotten. >My loved ones are all so happy… is it right for me to tell them the horrible truth and take them away from where they had always been?< Eagletalon thought, torn. No. They need to know. Now that they were warriors, he could tell them the truth and then they would escape from this horrible, corrupt place, maybe with others, like Cedarpaw and Dawnpaw. Maybe even Stonepelt and his children, Thornshadow, Larkfrost, and Robinfeather. His mate, too, Duskflower, and their kits Ashkit and Meadowkit. Yes, they would make it out of here. They would be free. >Tomorrow,< Eagletalon promised himself. >Tomorrow I’ll tell them, and we’ll make a plan to escape from here.<

Prologue

The moon glowed, radiating a luminous, beautiful light. The shadow of a cat lay, alone, on a hilltop, breathing steadily, flanks rising, falling, rising, falling. The cat watched the moon, seemingly drawn into it, like a bee to a crimson flower. Her belly was swollen with kits, and the cat curled protectively around it. Her green eyes, reflecting the light of the moon, were peaceful, calm, like all was at piece. But it wasn't. Of course it wasn't.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That night, she dreamed of a cat with stars in his fur. "Father!" She exclaimed upon seeing him, the black tom with one white paw, who looked exactly like her.
"My daughter," the cat purred, love and friendliness in his eyes. But it vanished almost as quickly as he appeared, and all that was left in them was wisdom and impending doom. "My daughter, you are having kits."
The she-cat looked surprised, and momentarily hurt. "Do you... not want me to? I know you never liked Rowanthorn..." she trailed off, her green eyes sad as she thought of her mate, currently asleep in the den, curled up in that warm nest that they used to share before she became pregnant.
The black tom ignored her. "They will be the destruction of the aspen. And yet, they will be the saviors, the ones who bring truth. Heed my words, daughter, for they are your future." He stared straight into his daughter's eyes, and though there were no stars or moon that night, she could see stars, little dots of light in those emerald green eyes so like hers.
She stared, mesmerized, anticipating his next words, though she knew she wouldn't remember them when she woke.
"Blood of my blood, the kin of my kin,
The eagle hero, falcon's death, and the lone owl.
They will triumph over the ones that sin,
It is the birds, they say, that will finally win."
>It is a prophecy,< the she-cat thought in the back of her mind, still mesmerized by that green gaze. She couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't breathe...
"Goodbye, my daughter. We will meet again," the tom released her gaze, and the love returned to his face.
She could speak again.
She wanted to call out, stop him from leaving, ask him what it all meant. But before she could say her father's name, he had begun fading. Fading until it was just a translucent shape of a cat, the green eyes shining, still ablaze with light. The she-cat's voice was just a whisper, no matter how she tried to yowl. "Come back, father! Father..." she saw his eyes fade, finally, after his body disappeared. "I don't know what it means..."
Her body began to be heavy, and her eyes closed of their own accord. The world became the color of obsidian, pure black, and silence seemed to resemble the wave of sleep that washed over the black she-cat.