Warriors An Awaiting Dawn: The First Trial

Prologue

  Night lay upon the snowy forest. There was a claw-moon. As well as stars. Above, almost high beyond the indigo dark sky, sat a cat. Moving her gray head, she looked around. Starry cats were all chatting in hushed anxious voices. The first cat, a magnificent gray tom stood in the center of the circle. "The wolves grow stronger each passing day." He meowed. A mottled black and white tom lifted his head. "They must act now! Before it is too late Stone Storm!" He declared. The gray she-cat looked to the tom. "They are not ready yet Weasel Spot." She told him. Stone Storm looked to his companion. "My sister is right Weasel Spot, they are young."
"Young they may be, but they have courage to match any fighter. Both of them." The tom pointed out. A brown she-cat raised her tail. "Courage isn't enough. They've faced rogues, fire, now wolves and the cold." She told him.
"Branch Flower is right." Mewed a mackerel tabby tom. Stone Storm dipped his head. "Fish Scar, I thank you for everything you have done for what was my group." He meowed respectfully. A speckled brown she-cat lashed her tail. "Now all we need for Little Ear to not reach his end." She commented almost bitterly. A tabby tail touched her shoulder. "Every creature does Bright Wind." He mewed. Weasel Spot stood tall. "If they faced these things, then this must be a sign."
"They only got out by the skin of their fangs. It wasn't just your kits. It was all of them." Fish Scar pointed out.
"Tension is stirring. I feel it.." Misty Tail murmured.
Stone Storm rested his tail on his littermate's shoulder. "Your kits, my kin, will be strong in this winter."
"What about the wolves?" She asked her brother.
"Those beasts... killing and shedding blood." Weasel Spot snarled in rage, almost remembering his death by not only his age, but by the massive creatures.
The starry cats all stared at one another. Fish Scar took a step forward. "We told him it was time. And it is." He meowed.
"Very well." Stone Storm mewed. The cats all looked to one another, whispering in low hushed voices.
"Though our cats in the living world can never be sure of their future, we can guide them like a mother guides her kits my friends! That is all we can do!" The gray tom yowled, lifting his chin high.
"Our kits will be glorious. I know it." Weasel Spot mewed quietly to Misty Tail, his muscles rippling and his eyes shining with determination. His mate stared on at something only she could see. Her starry eyes seemed to gleam even brighter.
"We point the way, but they must walk on their own paws. Must fight their own fights." Fish Scar meowed.
"The time has come. The time is now." Weasel Spot put in.
"Do you argue?" Fish Scar looked to Stone Storm.
"My sister's kits decide. They make the way." The gray tom answered finally, with a strange glitter in his eyes.
"Every cat decides. What of us?" Bright Wind yowled. "What of what we say?"
"They know what we say speaks power!" Stone Storm growled.
"Some do." Growled the brown tabby, his old age having faded away.
"Tiger's Roar is right." Brach Flower pointed out, standing to his side.
"They believe in us! We make their way of light! Not darkness!" Fish Scar snarled leaping to his paws now.
"Enough!" Stone Storm yowled loudly and the arguing ceased. "Days will be trying, but it is they who survive." He meowed, eyeing each cat in the circle around them. Weasel Spot nodded his head. "It is what we have been waiting for." He mewed softly.