Warriors: The Endless Night: Dark Thoughts

## Prologue

The grey cat was trapped inside a cave. There were cats around him, but there were no stars in their pelts. “W-what are you doing?” He quivered. The cats said nothing. They moved closer. One cat stepped out from the darkness.  His claws flashed in the moonlight. “D-darktail?” The grey cat asked. “Yes,” He responded with a dark grin. “And now, Stonefur, you shall watch your clanmates die the death you once did.” Darktail walked forward. A hole opened up and Darktail dragged Stonefur into it. They fell down the hole into a seemingly endless fall. When they finally hit the ground, Darktail had died.  Stonefur bowed his head politely towards Darktail. Then he looked through the mist and tried to find Starclan’s territory. He couldn’t see much through the mist, but he could make out a star that was showing him the way to his territory. He was relieved that he could go back to his territory, but he thought about what Darktail said.

“Your Clanmates will die the same death you once did.”

## Chapter 1

It was a gathering night. Riverclan was organizing their patrol, when Harestar burst into their camp. “He was panting and out of breath. “We have to meet... by the horseplace...bridge to island...swept away.”

Is the storm really that bad? Reedstar thought. “Warriors! Forward we march!” Reedstar shouted. Pinepaw rolled her eyes. “Does he really have to do that every single time?” “I know,” Beetlepaw complained. “It’s so annoying. He could just say something like, “Let’s go now, Warriors!” “Or at least, “To the gathering!” She monologued about how weird it was to say that, when Sunfleck strode up to them and said in his deep voice, “You whisper very loud.” Pinepaw stuck out her tongue and walked away.

They arrived at the horseplace, and they were the last ones there. The cats settled down and Reedstar leapt onto the branch directly below Bramblestar. He stepped forward to speak, and opened his mouth, but Willowshine interrupted from below. “Bramblestar? May I speak? She asked.” Bramblestar nodded politely to the medicine cat.  “Last night, I had a d-“ Her voice faltered. “A dream that Stonefur was in a dark cave.” Her voice got stronger. “ He was with Darktail. Darktail’s cats cornered him, and Darktail said, “ Your Clanmates will die the same death you once did.” Then he and Stonefur fell down a hole and Darktail died, but Stonefur was on his way to his territory again.” The Thunderclan and Riverclan cats turned to each other. A Riverclan cat hissed, “You have no right to be worrying about this!” Lightstar shouted back. “Stonefur was half-clan! Starclan forbid, his mother used to be the leader of Thunderclan!” That silenced all the cats, except Reedstar. He lashed His tail and growled.

“The meeting is over!” he jumped off the ledge with a hard glare at Lightstar, and his cats stalked off.

## Chapter 2

Clan cats were staring at each other in shock, after how worked up Reedstar had been. The clouds covered the Moon.  Everyone was chilled. A cat stepped out from the trees. “I am Mars!” He shouted, giving the leaders a look of disappointment. “The one you call Lightstar is correct! Stonefur was Half-Clan, but his Clanmates were Riverclan! The prophecy only refers to Riverclan!” “But Riverclan lived in Thunderclan, once, while Stonefur was still alive!” Cats started running in circles, and some were panicking.  “Quiet!” Bramblestar commanded. “Let us hear what this Mars cat has to say.” He addressed Mars. “Please step into the light, and finish what you were saying.”

Mars did exactly what Bramblestar said. But he just stood there, waiting for something to happen. And then it did happen. “Redmoon?!” Some cat screamed. Everyone turned to Harestar.  Harestar turned to Birdbeak. “I needed to get help!” She defended. “Because he was, “attacked by a badger.” She added sarcastically.

Everyone turned now to Thymebunch. “He’s the cat with the all-seeing eyes! The cat from the prophecy!“. “Redmoon, why is your fur white now?”A Windclan cat asked. He responded, “ I have a disease rare for cats, called Vitiligo.” He paused. “Vitiligo makes your fur turn white with age.” “Now,” He went on. “Before Crowfeather decides to kill me, I want you to know that I am the cat that—“ his speech was cut off by all the chuckles and “Mrrrow”s of amusement at the Crowfeather joke.

“ I am the cat that prophesied, yes, but I am not the cat who decided this would happen. I am the one who warned you, so you didn’t have to suffer greatly.”

## Chapter 3

Reedstar grumbled about how Lightstar was the leader of the clans all the way to his camp. He couldn’t sleep, so he asked Willowshine for some poppyseeds. She gave him three, and he was dead asleep in no time.

In the morning, Reedstar woke up to the sound of blood being shed. He leapt out of his den. The cats turned to him. “Oh, little Reedstar is awake.” Pinepaw sneered. Reedstar ignored it. “What is the meaning of this?” He demanded. “ Softpaw, Stonepaw, and I think that Mars should be here, and Pinepaw doesn’t. We were just defending ourselves.”  “Pinepaw!” Her mother scolded. “ I trusted you to mature faster than this. Your father and I have different opinions about the code, and about cats in ours and other’s camps, but we still live in harmony.”
Willowshine stepped out of her den. “What’s all this ruckus?” She asked with a yawn. Her eyes flew open. “I smell blood. Who’s bleeding?” The apprentices raised their tails. “What happened here? Reedstar?”  “ Beetlepaw , Stonepaw and Softpaw think Mars shouldn’t and Pinepaw thinks he should. “Who is Mars?” Willowshine asked, with a tilt of her fluffy head. “ I don’t know. Do any of the warriors know?” Reedstar was answered with the shaking of heads. “Mars is a cat who—“ Pinepaw was silenced with a glare from Sunfleck. “We don’t want a biased cat to tell us.” He asserted. “Reedstar?” He addressed. “We shall see if the other clans know anything about this Mars cat.”

“But first,  I would like to speak to Pinepaw and her mentor in my den, please.” Pinepaw strutted into the den, while Sunfleck followed behind and exaggerated her movements for Reedstar’s amusement. He chuckled.

“Sunfleck,” He started. “I congratulate you once again for being a strong, good deputy. As for you, Pinepaw, you are in a pawful of trouble.”

## Chapter 4

Alderheart jumped up when he heard that word. He shook awake Jayfeather and Sootpaw, his apprentice. Jayfeather and Sootpaw found the right herbs, while Alderheart peeked out to see what was going on. All that he saw was Warrior tails. He squeezed through them to see the enemies. All that he saw, though, was Reedstar.
“Lightstar, I’m sure that Reedstar just has a question, after all, he still doesn’t know about Mars.” He suggested. “Reedstar, is that why you’re here?” He addressed Reedstar now. “Yes, and thank you Alderheart.”

Lightstar apologized to Reedstar for thinking he was an another clan. He leapt onto the onto the Rockpile and called LightClan and RiverClan to a meeting. About twelve RiverClan Warriors emerged from the shrubs that lined the outside of the camp. Alderheart noticed that Pinepaw was missing. “Lightstar? May I take Reedstar into your den and talk to him?”

“Of course, Alderheart.” He took Reedstar aside and asked about Pinepaw. All that Reedstar told him was that Pinepaw had an incident. Alderheart took that wrongly, so he asked, alarmed, if Pinepaw was okay. Reedstar told him that it wasn’t that kind of incident, and that he wanted to get on to the gathering. Lightstar told all about Mars, so RiverClan would know, and suddenly, fighting broke out between Darkpelt of LightClan and Rushwater of RiverClan.

“Stop!” Lightstar and Reedstar shouted in unison. “You’re acting like apprentices!” Lightstar continued.  “Mars is my leader now, I do whatever he says!” Darkpelt hissed. “How many of you are with this idiot cat?” Lightstar was getting agitated. Almost half of LightClan and RiverClan raised their tails. “Good. Now, I remind you that your leader’s word is the law.” About three more cats raised their tails.

“Now we outnumber you.”  Darkpelt continued. “Who thinks it’s a good time to attack?” All his cats nodded.