The Clans Begin

[Otter]

Disclaimer: everything in Italics is an excerpt taken from "Warriors: Secrets of the Clans" written by Erin Hunter. We do NOT claim this as our own. We are simply quoting.

This is how the formation of the Clans will come about. Willow and Otter decided not to have one big thread, as that gets confusing, but instead post here what happened and start the plot from the very beginnings of the Clans.

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Many generations passed since the first cats made the forest their homes. They formed small groups or lived alone, some reclusive, others friendly, but never united.

One season, strange signs and dreams began to come to the forest-dwelling cats. They were confusing and vague at first, but grew clearer and clearer as time passed. Finally the cats were all told the same thing: meet at Fourtrees on the night of the full moon.

When they all were gathered in the great clearing, beneath the pale light of the moon, a group of cats appeared. They had stars in their eyes, and any cat could see they were not quite alive. Uncertain and afraid, the forest cats prepared to attack, but as they unsheathed their claws, terrible visions appeared before them. The forest was drenched in blood, the carcasses of cats strewn across the land.

"Unite or die," one of the starry cats warned.

From among the living cats, a black female was the first to speak. She rose from the ground on stiff, battle-wearied legs. "My name is Shadow," she mewed. "How should we unite, unless we have a leader? I can hunt in the depths of the darkest night. Let Shadow rule the forest!"

"And you would lead us into darkness too!" meowed a silvery gray tom with green eyes. "I am River! I move through the forest along secret paths and hidden places. It is River, not Shadow, who should unite the forest!"

"The forest is more than River and Shadow," growled a wiry brown female. "Wind alone reaches its distant corner. I am as fast as the wind that blows from the high moors. I should be the ruler."

The largest surviving cat was called Thunder. He was a fiery orange tom with amber eyes and large white paws. "What good is any of that compared to my strength and skill at hunting? If any cat was born to rule, it is I."

A furious yowling broke out under the four great oaks, watched in silence by the spirit-cats. Dark clouds suddenly blew across the moon, and the living cats trembled in fear. On the top of a high rock, they saw a tabby cat, one of the fallen, her fur shining though there was no light in the sky. Her eyes flashed angrily at the cats on the ground.

"You are all as foolish as ducks!" she meowed. "Can't you think beyond yourselves for one moment? Think of your kits!"

The four cats--Shadow, River, Wind, and Thunder--looked up at the tabby, but none of them spoke.

"The forest is big enough to feed all your families and many more," she meowed. "You must find other cats like you, choose a home in the forest, and set down borders."

At that moment, the moon broke free of the clouds, revealing a circle of starlit spirit-cats around the edge of the clearing. A white tom stepped forward. "If you do this," he meowed, "we will reward you with eight more lives, so that you may lead your Clans for many moons to come."

Next to speak was a slender tortoiseshell. She stepped forward and stood beside the white tom. "We will watch over you from Silverpelt," she promised, and lifted her eyes to the crowded path of starts that swept across the night sky. "We will visit you in your dreams and guide you on your journeys."

"Once a month," meowed the white tom, "at the full moon, you will gather together here, between the four great oak trees, for a night of truce. You will see us above you in Silverpelt and know we are watching. And if blood is spilled on those nights, you will know we are angry."

"You will be warriors!" yowled the tabby from the high rock.

Thunder, River, Wind, and Shadow bowed their heads.

"From now on, you will live by the warrior code. Your hearts will be filled with courage and nobility, and if you must fight, it will be not for greed, but for honor and justice."

There was a long silence. Finally Thunder nodded his broad orange head. "This is wise advice. I believe we can choose our territories and lay down borders fairly, in peace."

One by one, the other cats murmured their agreement. Then they returned to their homes and sought out cats like themselves, with similar strengths and abilities. River found cats willing to fish for their prey. Shadow gathered nighttime hunters with clever minds and sharp claws. Thunder found hunters who could track prey through the thickest undergrowth. To Wind came the fastest runners and cats who loved the open moors. Then they divided the forest so each Clan had enough prey to survive, and all the cats could live in safety. And when the leaders returned to the four great oaks for the first night of the full-moon truce, their starry ancestors gave them eight more lives, as they had promised.