Disclaimer: Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter. Only the plotline and characters were made by me.

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"When the Bright begins to dim, the Red Bird will become the Last Star."


Young Robin, a loner who lives just beyond the borders of BrightClan's territory, has strange dreams which seem to guide his paws towards the hostile group of cats inhabiting the forest. He can't shake the feeling that his destiny holds a greater purpose than lounging loftily on boulders in the sunshine. Little does he know that soon he will be launched into the world of a medicine cat, and never again will he know the comforts of a solitary life out in the fields.

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*+* Chapters *+*
Allegiances
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two

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Thank you for reading my Warriors fanfiction! Please do not post on this Thread. Save comments, questions, or concerns for PM only-- I'll happily respond! Please enjoy!

*This fanfiction is a work in progress*

Distant Dreams
Allegiances
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Character count: 115


BrightClan
Leader: Tawnystar - Small pale calico she-cat with round greenish-yellow eyes.
Deputy: Crownight - Blue-eyed black tom with long legs and a bushy tail.
Medicine cat: Daysight - Pale brown tabby she-cat that has brilliant yellow eyes.
Warriors:
Blizzardwind - Fluffy white tom with yellow eyes.
Cloudthistle - Small snowy she-cat with green eyes.
Finchflight - Golden-eyed cream she-cat with one black paw.
Ferretfang - Dark cream tom with black paws and a dash of white on his chest.
Marigoldshine - Gorgeous golden she-cat with paler undersides and green eyes.
Leafspot - Black-and-white tom with leafy-green eyes.
Graydapple - Thin dark gray she-cat with a long pelt and friendly amber eyes.
Stonestrike - Long-legged gray tom with blue eyes and a dark stripe running down his back.
Grasswhistle - Mottled brown she-cat that has a fern-green gaze.
Kestreltuft - Lanky brown tabby tom with distinct white splashes on his face.
Reedclaw - Dark brown mottled tom with impressively long claws and yellow eyes.
Sprucepelt - Handsome green-eyed brown tabby tom.
Honeydapple - Small golden tabby she-cat with wide green eyes.
Sparrowfrost - Skinny, long-legged black tom with intelligent yellow eyes.
Apprentices:
Seedpaw - Energetic light brown she-cat with yellow eyes (Mentor: Blizzardwind).
Snappaw - Mottled dark brown tom with round green eyes (Mentor: Stonestrike).
Mossypaw - Long-furred gray she-cat with pretty blue eyes (Mentor: Crownight)
Queens:
Dapplespark - Beautiful tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with golden eyes (Mother to Mothkit, a tortoiseshell she-kit; Sorrelkit, a calico she-kit; and Moonkit, a black-and-white she-kit).
Elders:
Yellowtooth - Pale yellow she-cat with greenish-yellow eyes and a broken fang.
Darkwater - Mottled dark brown she-cat with gray flecks and amber eyes.


CreekClan
Leader: Mintstar - Sleek gray tabby she-cat with mint-green eyes.
Deputy: Juniperface - Cream she-cat with green eyes and a white underbelly.
Medicine cat: Pebblestep - Pale gray, darker-flecked she-cat with blue eyes and white paws.
Warriors:
Marshtail - Pale she-cat with blue eyes and a dark brown tail.
Featherfleck - Mottled silver she-cat with a bushy tail and green eyes.
Jumpfish - Sleek silver she-cat with two white paws and blue eyes.
Ashwing - Fluffy dark gray tom with round yellow eyes.
Shadowdawn - Dark gray, darker-striped she-cat with paler undersides and golden eyes.
Flamebright - Handsome ginger tabby with brilliant yellow eyes.
Fallenflight - Tall green-eyed white tom with orange blotches.
Otterleap - Gorgeous brown she-cat with a white underbelly.
Webwhisker - Skinny black tom with long whiskers and blue eyes.
Volefur - Amber-eyed black tom with long legs and a bright pink nose.
Slatefall - Long-legged gray she-cat with blue eyes and a dark stripe down her back.
Apprentices:
Frogpaw - Burly gray tom with darker paws (Mentor: Ashwing).
Pouncepaw - Small gray she-cat with a white chest and underbelly (Mentor: Shadowdawn).
Daisypaw - Green-eyed pale yellow she-cat with white paws (Mentor: Volefur).
Morningpaw - Yellow she-cat with green eyes and white splotches (Mentor: Webwhisker).
Dewpaw - Pale yellow tom with green eyes, a bushy tail, and a white paw (Mentor: Marshtail).
Queens:
Lakeshine - Tiny silver she-cat with a pale underbelly and blue eyes (Mother to Pigeonkit, a gray she-kit; and Jaykit, a gray tabby tom-kit).
Hollylight - Dark gray she-cat with round green eyes (Mother to Stormkit, a dark gray tom-kit; Splashkit, a silvery she-kit; Sunkit, a pale orange tabby tom-kit; and Newtkit, a dark ginger tabby tom-kit).
Elders:
Thrushtail - Light brown tabby tom with a grizzled muzzle and yellow eyes.
Eagleclaw - Yellowish tom with long jagged claws and green eyes.
Heatherheart - Blue-eyed creamy-brown she-cat with gray speckles.
Icefoot - Black tom with icy-blue eyes and snowy-white paws.


FieldClan
Leader: Cricketstar - Broad-shouldered tortoiseshell tom with leafy-green eyes.
Deputy: Briarshade - Creamy-brown she-cat with a darker brown underbelly and green eyes.
Medicine cat: Blackjay - Tall dark tom with thick, glossy fur and piercing yellow eyes.
Warriors:
Brackenfoot - Light brown tabby tom with amber eyes and a bushy tail.
Windywhisker - Pale brown tabby tom with broad shoulders and amber eyes.
Fernfurl - Brown tabby she-cat with white undersides and green eyes.
Antnose - Dark brown tom with black splotches, a dark red nose, and green eyes.
Starlingfeather - Beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes.
Gorsemask - Thin mottled brown tabby tom with piercing yellow eyes.
Springfoot - Small mottled brown tabby she-cat with kind green eyes.
Moonbreeze - Very light gray she-cat with green eyes and a bushy tail.
Frostflower - White she-cat that has wide blue eyes and a long, fluffy pelt.
Larchfall - Dark brown tom with white-speckled legs and blue eyes.
Thornlight - Feisty light brown tabby she-cat with beautiful yellow eyes.
Bramblethorn - Massive green-eyed dark brown tabby tom with a thick pelt.
Blackpelt - Wiry long-furred black tom with green eyes.
Apprentices:
Echopaw - Small light gray she-cat with a brown nose and green eyes (Mentor: Gorsemask)
Toadpaw - Dark brown tom with white speckles on his legs (Mentor: Springfoot)
Queens:
Raggedfang - Amber-eyed dark brown she-cat with a white underbelly and a broken fang (Mother to Spottedkit, a mottled brown tabby she-kit; and Willowkit, a light brown she-kit).
Elders:
Coalcloud - Pure black tom with green eyes and graying undersides.
Sootsmoke - Skinny black tom with one white ear and blue eyes.


NightClan
Leader: Majorstar - Massive thick-furred gray tom with kind yellow eyes.
Deputy: Swallowfrost - Amber-eyed dark gray tom with white paws and underbelly.
Medicine cat: Vinewish - Beautiful long-furred gray she-cat with white paws and green eyes.
Warriors:
Ivyash - Pretty silver-gray she-cat with bright green eyes.
Dawnstripe - Gray she-cat with white undersides, blue eyes, and a dark stripe down her back.
Twistmist - Gorgeous tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with pale green eyes.
Hollowbranch - Solid brown tom with pale green eyes.
Smoketrail - Pale gray tom with jet-black paws and round yellow eyes.
Cloverpath - Green-eyed, thick-furred gray tabby she-cat.
Stonefoot - Blue-eyed white tom with gray paws and tail.
Lilypetal - Tortoiseshell she-cat with white petal-shaped spots.
Cliffstone - Fluffy gray tom with amber eyes and a darker stripe down his back.
Caveheart - Massive gray tom with broad shoulders and amber eyes.
Galefur - Spiky-furred gray tabby she-cat with green eyes.
Nightberry - Pretty black she-cat with a white chest and paws.
Archdrift - Thick-furred silver tom with fierce green eyes.
Ripplepool - Small black-and-white tom with round blue eyes.
Littlefang - Short black-and-white tom with green eyes.
Apprentices:
Dovepaw - Fluffy light gray she-cat with green eyes (Mentor: Vinewish).
Wishpaw - Short silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes (Mentor: Ivyash).
Twitchpaw - Fluffy green-eyed dark gray tabby tom with a bushy tail (Mentor: Dawnstripe)
Fidgetpaw - Long-furred pale gray tom with a dark stripe down his back (Mentor: Twistmist)
Queens:
Cedarblossom - Green-eyed dark gray she-cat with distinct tabby markings (Mother to Snailkit, a tiny gray tom-kit; Thistlekit, a dark brown she-kit; and Buzzardkit, a white tom-kit)
Elders:
Birchstem - Old white she-cat with a gray muzzle and amber eyes.


Cats Outside the Clans
Robin - Short, young russet tom with round green eyes and a bushy tail.
Scarlet - Pretty red she-cat with a thick, soft pelt, green eyes, and a long, bushy tail.
Tinypool - Long-furred light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes and a white underbelly.
Fox - Broad-shouldered russet tom with green eyes.
Lark - Pale brown tabby she-cat with black stripes and fierce yellow eyes.
Lauren - Pretty white kittypet she-cat with long, feathery whiskers.
Cindy - Mottled dark gray kittypet she-kit with blue eyes.
Jasper - Skittish silver kittypet tom with handsome golden eyes.



^ Robin ^


^ Scarlet ^


^ Fox ^

Distant Dreams
Prologue
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Word count: 1633


Thick, lazy drops of rain spattered the mud-caked clearing. Irritated grumbles sounded from the elders' den, and one grizzled muzzle poked out from the densely-woven brambles. Just as suddenly as Yellowtooth's snout appeared, she sank back into the shadows of the den. Her complaints drifted over to the nursery.
The clearing was deserted. No cat wanted to brave the cold, wet weather beyond their dens. The border patrols had come in shivering and bedraggled, fur slick and soaked thoroughly with rainwater. The hunting patrols had been no better, legs muddy and heads ducked to protect their precious catches.
Tinypool had watched the patrols through miserable blue eyes, from where she sat restlessly at the entrance of the nursery. She longed to escape the shielding bramble walls and meet Fox by the border, when she would run off with him into the night and happily raise her kits with him by her side.
She was reminded all too freshly by the slight squirming sensation in her bulging stomach that she was in no state to travel far distances... even the border was pushing her capability. She was due to bear her young quite soon, and it certainly wouldn't be wise to trek across the open outskirts of Clan territory.
Tinypool first felt soft fur brush against her, then came the gentle voice speaking soothingly into her ear. "Tinypool, dear, won't you come inside? You'll freeze to death sitting here. You wouldn't want StarClan taking your little ones, would you?"
"Of course not, Marigoldshine," Tinypool replied half-heartedly, staring bleakly out at the rain-soaked clearing.
"Then why don't you come lie down?" the beautiful golden she-cat suggested lightly, giving Tinypool's ears a brisk lick.
The calming pitter-patter of the falling waterdrops obscured Tinypool's worrisome thoughts about her mate. She was getting anxious to see him, and needed to see how he was faring after the quarter-moon it had been since she had last visited him. But she knew she could never be caught sneaking off to meet with Fox, and that was the only thing keeping her from marching out of the camp at that very moment.
"Come on, Tinypool. Get some rest," Marigoldshine coaxed her gently once more, giving her a light nudge towards the back of the nursery.
Reluctantly, Tinypool got to her paws and let the older queen guide her to her nest. She curled down into the soft moss and bracken, and as she closed her eyes, she heard Marigoldshine speaking soothingly to her two kits, Sparrowkit and Honeykit, who were loudly complaining about not being allowed to go play outside.
Tinypool didn't feel tired, but as she lay quietly on her comfortable bedding, she gradually felt the peaceful abyss of sleep arrive. Her body relaxed as she fell into an undisturbed slumber.

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Darkness had claimed the land when Tinypool blinked open her eyes once more. Her fangs were revealed as she yawned widely and stretched her forepaws out in front of her.
The brown tabby took a swift glance over at Marigolshine's nest. The golden queen was curled around her two large kits, eyelids dropped over her leafy-green eyes. Honeykit was snoring, and Sparrowkit's small black paws were twitching as though he were chasing a mouse in his dream.
Tinypool's eyes gleamed with satisfaction as she rose to her paws. She padded quietly towards the entrance of the nursery, but halted mid-stride and paused, looking guiltily back at the sleeping form of Marigoldshine.
Thank you for taking care of me, Marigoldshine, she thought as she flattened her ears against heart-wretched sadness. But I have to be with Fox... for the good of my kits.
And with that, before her loyalty to her Clan could change her mind, she turned and padded silently out the nursery exit. Her round belly swayed gently as she made her way stealthily to the dirt-place tunnel, from where she kept her ears pricked for sounds of movement. Her scent glands told her that Cloudthistle was sitting guard at the camp entrance, and that recently Reedpaw had come to make dirt. But there was no sign that any other cat had stirred from their nest.
Tinypool slipped into the dirt-place tunnel, wrinkling her nose against the stench. She made as wide of a berth around the unpleasant smell as possible, before she pulled herself through a thick clump of bracken and trudged off towards the FieldClan border.
Rain pattered slowly down onto her ears, sometimes blinding her momentarily until she blinked the water away. Her pelt was soon thoroughly soaked. With the slight nip of leaf-bare still tainting the air, as well as her wet fur, she was chilled to the bone.
But even so, she pushed on. Her long drenched fur pulled her down, and her stomach felt heavy with the weight of her unborn babies, but she ignored the problems and veered off towards the land that lay beyond Clan territory; the land that no warrior had the need to explore.
The trees began to thin the closer Tinypool got to the edge of BrightClan's boundaries. The ground grew wetter and the sticky mud sucked at Tinypool's belly. She was exhausted, what with her bulging underbelly and the dense undergrowth. She was almost out of energy and her enthusiasm had began to run short. If Fox wasn't there-- which he wasn't likely to be in this StarClan-forbidden weather-- then Tinypool would have to make up a very good excuse for her mud-slathered feet. And, frankly, she wasn't a good liar.
Worry about that when we get there, Tinypool told herself sternly, refocusing on the task at hand. She pulled one paw after the other out of the squelching mud, making her way slowly but surely through the darkness towards the border.
It felt like an eternity before her pads met the hard, slippery rock of the overhang. She heaved herself up the boulders, forcing her muscles to carry her onward. Her claws curled out to grip the stone. As an encouragement, she told herself mentally, Almost there... almost there. Just a little further until you'll see Fox, Tinypool.
Her forepaw suddenly slid sideways and she let out a surprised yowl. Her body followed, bringing her close to the edge of the overhang. She scrabbled for a foothold, but the stone was too slick with the torrential downpour to gain a proper purchase.
"Oh, StarClan!" Tinypool wailed, her heart thumping with terror. Her forepaws were barely a mouse-tail's length from going over the edge. Her claws scored the rock, but she couldn't even hear the scrape over the beat of the rain against the boulders.
A heartbeat before Tinypool could be sent crashing down to the bottom of the overhang, strong jaws grasped her scruff from behind and hauled her away from the drop-off. She flailed her paws and let out a gasp of relief, immediately sinking to her haunches once she was a safe distance from the edge of the boulders. She let herself catch her breath as her savior moved quickly to set themselves as a barrier between her and the edge.
A few moments later, when her breaths were even and her heart had stopped pounding, Tinypool pushed herself to her feet and faced the cat who saved her. "Thank you," she meowed over the rain, squinting in the darkness of the night to see who it was. Her nose twitched as she tried to draw their scent, but all she could smell was rainwater.
"What are you doing out here in this weather, Tinypool?" came the deep, rough voice of her mate. "What about our kits? What if I wasn't here and you went over the edge? You could have died, Tinypool!"
Tinypool flattened her ears, shivering with both the cold and at the tone Fox was using. "I'm sorry, Fox. But do you think I would have made this journey if it wasn't important? You know our kits mean everything to me."
Fox's green eyes gleamed in the darkness, and his voice grew softer. "Forgive me, my love. I was frightened. What is it?"
Tinypool took a deep breath, then blurted out rapidly, "I'm coming with you this time! I want to be with you when I have the kits." She searched his eyes for hints of anger or regret, but she could only detect joy.
"Really, Tinypool? But you love your Clan, and you'd be safer there," he argued doubtfully, even though he looked ready to burst with happiness.
"Yes, I do love BrightClan, but I love you more," she said simply, as she brought her dripping tail close to her forepaws. "Chasing you out of our territory was the best decision my patrol could have made, you know... I want to stay with you, Fox."
Fox stretched his neck and touched his nose to Tinypool's. His comforting scent filled her nostrils. "I love you, Tinypool," he muttered, just barely loud enough for her to hear with the thrum of raindrops falling throughout the forest. "You won't regret this decision, I promise. You'll be happy with me in the fields."
"I know." Tinypool gazed fondly at Fox as he got to his paws and stepped closer to her, beginning to nudge her farther away from the drop-off.
"Come on. It won't help any cat standing around here in the rain. I know somewhere we can shelter tonight, and in the morning we can take it slowly and find a place to raise our kits when they're born."
And with that, the forbidden lovers travelled side-by-side into the night, just as Tinypool had been dreaming since she had made the decision to leave with Fox. The rain obscured any sign that they'd ever been there, and at long last they would never have to worry about being discovered by Tinypool's Clanmates.

Distant Dreams
Chapter One
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Word count: 1837


A crisp leaf-fall breeze brought along a frosty chill and the pleasant scent of fallen leaves. The crunch of stiff field grass under-paw brought Robin to his senses. He flashed open his eyes and peered around, his fur standing on end.
"Robin, come join us!" called a cheerful singsong voice from ahead, concealed within the long golden stalks of the field. A red face poked out from the grass, mischievous green eyes alight with happiness. It was Scarlet.
Pushing his paws under himself, Robin stood up and yawned. Flexing his claws joyfully and giving each leg a satisfying stretch, he trotted over to Scarlet and touched noses with her. "Hi, Scarlet. What are you doing here? I thought you went to the woods."
She swished her bushy tail and flashed around in the blink of an eye. She darted off, calling cheerily over her shoulder, "Come on, Robin! We've been trying to find you."
Robin flicked an ear at her statement and galloped after her. "Who?" he asked, curiosity and confusion equally enveloping his question.
"Why, Robin, don't be daft! Mother and Father, of course!" Scarlet answered quickly as she took a sharp turn around an oncoming sunning stone. "I left them by the pond. Hurry up, won't you, brother?"
Robin moved his paws quicker as to catch up with his sister's hard-to-match energy. He ran just behind her for a little while, until his legs started to ache. But at long last, he could scent the sweet aroma of the pond's fresh, clean water.
"Mother!" Scarlet called as she pushed her way through the now somewhat-greenish grass, Robin at her heels. "Father! Are you here?"
"Scarlet? Oh, you found him!" replied the voice of Tinypool, Robin's mother. Her kind tabby face appeared as Robin followed Scarlet to a small clearing next to the pond, where the grass was lively and considerably shorter.
"Where's Fox?" Robin asked quietly as he settled down near Tinypool. He was staring at her with a confusion-masked expression. It was unlike her and Fox to sit back and not take the opportunity to stretch their legs. That wasn't the only thing off about Tinypool either---she had a strange misty look in her blue eyes that Robin didn't like.
"He's just hunting, Robin. Don't look so worried," Tinypool answered with a dull, lifeless tone that was extremely monotone. When she looked at him, she had a faraway gleam in her eyes and seemed to almost stare straight through him.
"Oh... okay." Robin blinked and turned his gaze away, focusing instead on the wispy reeds bouncing in the breeze on the banks of the pond. It's not Fox I'm worried about, Mother. It's you, he shared privately with himself, but didn't have the courage to voice it.
"He should be back momentarily." Tinypool yawned and began to wash her forepaw, looking equally relaxed as she did somewhat trance-like.
Scarlet settled down beside her and bent her neck, rasping her tongue over the soft ears of their mother. "He should hurry up," she said impatiently between licks. Her tail-tip flicked restlessly, but she went on to wash Tinypool's neck-fur. "We haven't got the whole journey of the sun. It's almost sunset."
Robin flattened his ears irritably and asked sharply, "What don't we have the journey of the sun to do, Scarlet? You haven't explained a word to me."
Tinypool narrowed her eyes, a look of annoyance altering her usually-friendly face. "It's just that we want to show you something, son. No need to be snappy." Indignantly she lifted her other forepaw and gave it several quick licks.
Robin let out an uncharacteristic huff of disapproval and turned away. He was quite unpleased with being kept at secret, though if his family refused to tell him what exactly the plan was, he'd just play the lack-of-interest card.
Conveniently, just at that moment, as the tension between Robin and Tinypool was starting to get rather discomforting, a flicker of deep russet fur moved across the pond and a broad-shouldered tom slipped out of the long, luscious green fronds. He skirted the pool of water, padding along the bank, heading towards Robin, Scarlet, and Tinypool. A huge hare almost the size of himself was clamped firmly in his jaws; it looked almost difficult to walk.
Robin twitched an ear at Fox as he got closer, still irritable. The young tom looked quite alike his father, as did Scarlet, though Robin had lighter fur than Fox, and Scarlet even brighter than Robin. They both had Fox's eyes, but Scarlet had Tinypool's thick fur.
"Robin," Fox purred around his load, dragging it until he could situate it between his son and Tinypool. He bent his neck to touch noses with his mate, then stepped around the hare and ran his jaw along Robin's forehead in a fond greeting.
Robin brushed past Fox, rubbing his flank along his father's as he moved towards Fox's catch. "This is magnificent, Father. Thank you," he mewed gratefully as he, Tinypool, Scarlet and Fox himself circled around the hare and began feasting.
"So, Robin, we thought we would take you and Scarlet to the place where your mother was born..." Fox swallowed back a mouthful and bent his head for another bite.
"Well, close to it," Tinypool correctly gently, seeming suddenly to be in a better mood now that Fox had returned. "Of course, we can't just stroll straight into Clan territory, Fox. You should know that better than any cat."
Robin's eyes went wide with surprise as his tongue flicked out and over his jaws. "You never talk about your birthplace, Mother," he said quietly, half-curious and half-suspicious. "You've always said the, um, 'Clans' are dangerous. Why would you bring Scarlet and I there?"
"Don't ask questions," Tinypool replied rather unkindly. She was acting very oddly. "We just think you ought to take a look."
Robin bit back a bitter retort. He'd always been curious of the cats living in the forest beyond the field, but Fox and Tinypool had always told him and Scarlet to stay far away. Why suddenly could they feel the need to take them straight to the place they were forbidden to go? Robin could make no sense of how unnaturally his family was behaving.
The four cats continued eating in silence, and once the hare was reduced to bones and unwanted chunks of bright pink meat, Fox took the lead as the family headed off in the direction of the forest that Tinypool's so-called 'Clan' inhabited.
The nearer they got, the more uneasy Robin felt. The sky was beginning to darken and the leaf-fall wind was becoming uncomfortably cold. Robin shivered, glancing wearily up at the thick black clouds that were hiding the rich blueness of the former sky.
"Keep up, Robin!" Fox called over his shoulder, for Robin was indeed lagging behind as his pawsteps got less and less certain.
An excuse formed on his tongue. "It... looks like it's going to rain. Why don't we go back...?" He swallowed nervously, his words drying up, as Tinypool shot an irritated look at him.
"So what if it rains? It's just water. And the sky looks fine to me."
Robin's eyes travelled back upwards at this. It certainly was not fine! The clouds were as black as night and what little sky could be seen was dark gray. The chilly wind was picking up, swirling and blowing rapidly. There was going to be some bad weather.
But Robin didn't like to argue and followed reluctantly. The forest was just coming into view now, a large splotch against the growing darkness of the area. Everything was growing hazy now, and Robin yelped in alarm when he blinked and suddenly his family was several fox-lengths ahead of him.
"Come on, Robin! Aren't you excited?" asked Scarlet, but her voice echoed and seemed like it was a whole pond's length away.
Robin picked up his pace, trying to get closer to his family, but with every blink they seemed to shoot forwards several tail-lengths. "W-wait up!" he stammered, confused. He was beginning to shake slightly, both from nerves and the cold.
His family seemed to become shadows as they reached the edge of the forest, where a large overhang was placed high above their heads. It would be a difficult climb to get to the top, but as Robin got closer he spotted a stairway of high boulders tumbling off the side. It looked like storms might have broken off bits of the rock. There were several long lengths between certain boulders and in bad weather it would likely be dangerous to attempt the jumps, but otherwise it looked possible to get to the top of the overhang.
Scarlet, Tinypool and Fox were now climbing up said stones, gracefully leaping from boulder to boulder as if they did it each day. They were nearly to the top by the time Robin unsteadily heaved himself onto the lowest stone and carefully made his way up the slightly crisscrossed, uncertain trail. He nearly slipped once, but neither his sister nor parents seemed to notice at all.
Finally, panting slightly, Robin made it to the top. A stretch of rock covered the ground until, a short ways away, trees began to thinly take hold of the environment and eventually they were so dense that all Robin could see was dark shadows.
He turned to look at his family, feeling his fur beginning to prickle uneasily. He was surprised to see that their fur had turned black and somewhat ghostly, and he yelped when he realized they were transparent. They all turned to look at him, and impossibly their eyes were gleaming yellow. They no longer had pupils.
"W-what's going on?" Robin stuttered.
In unity, they all began to walk towards him. He backed away, afraid.
"When the Bright begins to dim, the Red Bird will become the Last Star."
Robin felt one hind paw slip off the edge of the overhang. He was about to tumble back down the boulder pathway. He was shaking from head to tail, his ears flat against his skull. "What does that mean?" he whimpered softly.
"When the Bright begins to dim, the Red Bird will become the Last Star." The three of them began to repeat it over and over in their echoing voices as they drew closer and closer.
Robin felt his other hind paw go over, and he was left scrabbling at the stone as the three shadowy cats who were supposed to be his mother, father, and sister continued chanting the verse. He wasn't close enough to the highest boulder step to land on it if he fell.
"T-tell me what that means!" he begged quietly as he tried to pull himself up. But the shadow-cats were standing above him now, their frightening eyes getting closer as they leaned in and said in one final whisper, "The Red Bird..."
And then Robin felt his paws slipping and he yowled, plummeting down, down, down into darkness...

*This chapter is a work in progress*
Distant Dreams
Chapter Two


The night was peaceful. Wind whistled gently in the distant treetops, and stars twinkled beautifully above the form of the sleeping cat.
But then Robin leaped to his paws, panting heavily, his eyes flashing open in an instant. The effects of sleep were gone immediately.
Not again! What does that mean? The Red Bird, the Last Star? The Bright? Frustrated, shivering with the fright of his dream, Robin tore at the soft ground with his claws. It was far from the first time he had had this dream. It seemed reoccurring, presenting itself to him several times a quarter-moon.
He hadn't been able to escape the dream since he was five moons old. Nearly two moons now he'd dreamt only of the shadowy, yellow-eyed cats that formed out of his family. Those dreams he used to have as a kit of hunting tiny voles in a sun-bathed forest clearing seemed luxurious now.
Sighing, Robin slowly got back onto his belly, placing his chin on his forepaws as he lay. If something, somewhere out there can help me understand... please, help me understand...! he thought agitatedly.