BOOK 1: TENSIONS RISING

¬ BOOK 1

It's been ten years since the Battle of the Dark Forest almost destroyed the lake territories, causing the deaths of many cats as well as one of the greatest leaders the clans had ever known. For three of those years, the clans steadily pushed forward to forget about the losses they'd suffered that night, to pick up the pieces of their shattered society and to move on with their lives.

And yet, after five years the lake seemed to shine with not only a familiar light, but a new light as well. The clans were at peace once more, and though no cat would ever forget that tragic night, they were a booming society once again. The clans became more appreciative of each other and fighting between them had dropped to an all-time low; skirmishes over land still occurred, most notably over the clearing, however deaths were a rarity.

Every gathering occurred as planned, in peace and friendship.

Nearly nine years after that horrific fight to save their lives, however, on an otherwise glorious greenleaf morning, the world bared its ugly fangs yet again. Two kits, a black tom-kit called Nightkit, and a beautiful dilute calico she-kit called Kestrelkit, were found washed up on RiverClan's embankment of the lake. They were half-eaten and battered, but the mixture of mud and freshwater from the lake had washed away nearly all discernible scent they might have carried.

At the following gathering things did not go as planned, as it might have done in recent years. Magpiestar accused Bramblestar of murdering the kits and allowing the vultures to have their way with them, as the path of the lake's current that day had been evident that they had washed over from ThunderClan territory. ThunderClan was appalled to hear such accusations, especially since they had all been living peacefully for the past one hundred and eight moons. "What reason would we have to kill two innocent kits?" Bramblestar had asked.

To this, Magpiestar did not have an answer. Moments past in awkward silence, before a WindClan cat spoke up from below. "Maybe their mother wasn't watching them closely enough? Kits can't swim as well as we can!" It only took but a heartbeat for Magpiestar to deny that his queens were so irresponsible.

And so, the gathering broke up in tension. A moon later, Bramblestar found that his deputy, Rowanfur's previous apprentice Lilyfur had been killed and left to rot at the lake's edge. Also with a few chunks missing from her pelt, as if a scavenger had had their way with her after she'd died, and so wet that any scent on her could never be presented as viable evidence of anything.

They came to the only rational conclusion they could, however: RiverClan was responsible. It only made sense after the accusations they thrust upon them at the previous gathering. Following that day, at the next gathering, Bramblestar presented his theories to the other clans. That RiverClan had killed Lilyfur in an immature act of revenge over the loss of their kits, even though ThunderClan had had nothing to do with it.

"Preposterous!" Magpiestar yowled.

After all this time, it was WindClan who spoke up once more. "That seems far more likely than ThunderClan needlessly killing kits! Isn't ShadowClan the one known to do that? They've done it in the past and they are right next to you." To this, ShadowClan became outraged. Allies had begun to form at this point against one another. It became ThunderClan and WindClan's words against RiverClan and ShadowClan, but without any proof to back them up the gathering split up in awkward silence yet again.

Over the course of the next year, cats from all four clans had been reported as dead and washed up at the lake's edge. The clans began to believe that maybe the lake wasn't a safe home anymore. Some cats suggested that the clans leave in search of a new home - after all, they had done it before, why couldn't they do it again? Rowanfur, now Rowanstar, refused. "This is our home, and we will not be chased out of our own home," he protested.

Tensions were high among them now. Even though no cat really thought any of the clans had killed any cats anymore, they were still confused, and that confusion quickly turned into further aggression towards one another.

Now, gatherings are held with a bit of spite to them, and it doesn't take much to spark an argument or even a fight. Although it has been more than eight moons since the last body was found, border skirmishes have become common, and camp raids to find those responsible are becoming more so. Fights between ShadowClan and ThunderClan over ownership of the clearing have also become more prevalent than they used to be.

And with no sign or prophecy yet from StarClan, how long will it be, I wonder, before war is declared and countless cats are wounded, tortured or yes, even killed?