Broken Reflection

Prologue

At first there was nothing. An orange tabby tom stared into the darkness, eyes narrowed. Silence rang in his ears.

He blinked and suddenly he was in a thin forest. It was dark; the bare branches of the trees above him reached out like threatening claws. The tom felt fear building inside him like a storm, and he looked back down cautiously.

In front of him lay a puddle. He walked closer, curiosity pulling him further. He carefully peered into the small pool of water and found that, even though no ripples raced along its surface, his reflection was uneven. He couldn't even make out that it was himself. He lowered his muzzle toward it, and, as he got closer, it became even more blurry.

Then he heard a voice around him, low and distant. "The days to come will be like your broken reflection." 

The orange tom jerked his head around in confusion. But no one was there. 

"Everything you see isn't always what it seems. You must learn trust anew, and learn to not be blinded by tradition. Ties will be cut, loyalty will be divided, and hatred will rise," the voice continued, and the orange tabby tom shivered. "The storm will break free of the rain and find its new dawn. A ray of light will see through the storm and find truth, and you must do the same. If not, the rain will destroy you."

Rain? Destroy us? But... The tom narrowed his eyes and looked around him, confusion and fear churning in his stomach.

Suddenly the orange tabby was swallowed by a cold blackness, and he found himself in a dark pine forest. Crimson blood splattered the undergrowth as an eerie wailing and screeching filled the air.

A cat flashed across his vision, hissing something that sounded like a warning. "Help! Help us!" the cat yelped in terror.

Something was wrong.

"GOLDHEART!"

Suddenly Goldheart's eyes flew open, straining against the bright light of the moon reflecting off of the Moonfall. His thoughts immediately flashed back to the dream. I need to get home! Something bad is happening!  

He rushed over to his Clanmates and shook them awake. Raypaw blinked open his orange eyes and opened his mouth in question, but Goldheart slapped his tail over the young tom's mouth. He gave him a stern look; they were not allowed to talk until they were outside of the cave.

Then Goldheart dashed across the cave to wake Bronzepelt, who had the same confused look in his yellow eyes as Raypaw had. Goldheart turned to leave, sprinting away from the dim light of the Moonfall and hearing his Clanmates' pawsteps echoing behind him. Dread crept through his body. What was happening back at camp?

Once out of the Moonfall tunnel, Bronzepelt blurted out in worry, "What's going on, Goldheart? It's still dark!"

"Something's wrong! I had a dream. We need to get back to camp now."

That was all it took. Soon the three of them were sprinting down Star Mountain, racing restlessly through the dark night to get home.

Goldheart narrowed his eyes in determination. 

DawnClan needs me.