PROLOGUE 

"The dawn will perish in ice, and be reborn in darkness."

The wind howled out a wordless cry above and below her, tearing through her fur like savage claws. The she-cat hissed sharply, digging her own claws deeper into the loose soil that was already crumbling beneath her paws. One wrong move would send her crashing down into the frothing water of the raging, storm-swollen river; the hairs lining her spine, though slicked back with rain, fought to rise as she thought of the fall, the impact of hitting the water, drowning.

Pain throbbed through her paws; her claws ached; her muscles burned with excess use. Furiously she scrabbled with her hind paws at the cliff face, trying to find a paw-hold stable enough to bear her weight. Each time she pushed against a jutting rock, it fell away, scraping uselessly over her paw pads and sending electric shivers up her leg. She couldn't last much longer like this; she would tire soon, she would slip, this would all end...

Stupid! she chided herself, swishing her tail in her ire, the movement frantic in nature but sluggish all the same. Someone will come... you won't... die like this... 

All she wanted to be was a warrior fit to serve her clan. A worthy she-cat revered by apprentices, acknowledged by her den-mates. It wasn't glory she sought, not really; it was something more tangible. A place to call her own, an irreplaceable position in her clan. She wished to be a cat that would be missed should something tragic ever befall her. 

Yet here she was, dangling by the tips of her claws, her light threatening to be snuffed out long before her name was more than passing gossip on the tongues of warriors and queens.

Beyond the wind she heard nothing from the forest, all the prey driven into hiding from the recent onset of storms. The sharp scent of water clogged her senses, coating the roof of her mouth so profusely she could make out nothing beneath it but her own wet fur. All of the life and vigor of newleaf had vanished in such a short time... it made her question why she'd gone out hunting at all. She should have known nothing with any sense would abandon their dens in this weather. 

Stupid, stupid Dawnpaw.

Her breathing was quickly turning ragging, rattling her chest with every exhale. Dawnpaw struggled to pull herself up onto solid ground, ignoring the intense protests that emanated from each and every one of her long limbs. She stretched as far as her body would allow, scraping forward with her bloodied claws; showers of thick, damp earth rained down on her, stinging her eyes and trickling into her open mouth. She clamped her jaw shut to avoid choking on any clods of dirt, but the taste of worm on her tongue almost made her gag.

"Dawnpaw!"

Dawnpaw pricked her ears, angling them to catch the faint echo of a shout above the wind. It came again, then again, the same voice every time, and her heart raced, not with fear but with a terrible, eager hope.

Moonpaw.

A fierce desire swelled in Dawnpaw's chest, and she was yowling even before she'd realized she'd opened her mouth. She was screaming, she didn't know what, but it was loud, primal, a desperation she didn't think she possessed. This wasn't how it was going to end for her; it couldn't be, she wouldn't allow that. She'd only just gotten accepted into this clan, and she'd yet to make her mark. She wanted to stay, to fight for her chance at the life her father would whisper stories about in the dead of night, when he thought she was fast asleep. She wanted this, to be a warrior. And she couldn't very well do that if she joined StarClan this early.

"Dawnpaw!"

Another spray of sodden earth and jagged bits of rock sailed over the edge of the cliff. Dawnpaw blinked the debris from her eyes, shaking her head slightly, before glancing up into the pale-eyed gaze of Moonpaw, the only other apprentice in SilverClan. She saw her own reflection in his blue eyes - a terrified she-cat, shivering and small, no better than the rogue she'd been a moon ago. 

"Dawnpaw, thank StarClan, I thought..." 

"Moonpaw... help...!"

"Right! Right, I'm sorry, I..." 

Moonpaw shook his head, whiskers twitching as though he hated to leave the thought unsaid. He edged forward, careful not to dislodge any more loose earth, paws flat against the ground and claws hooked down into the dirt for stability. He dipped his head and she winced as his teeth clamped around the scruff of her neck. She dug her claws in, trying to provide as much help as she could; Moonpaw was more wiry than he was strong, and her weight could pull the both of them into the river far below if her slipped. He grunted with the effort but didn't hiss a word of complaint, and Dawnpaw was suddenly so very grateful that Moonpaw had taken her in as he would any other member of SilverClan even when the senior warriors shunned her.

But just as quickly as the revelation came to her it disappeared in a flash of agony as Moonpaw's teeth were ripped from her skin, leaving jagged tears behind. Suddenly free again, Dawnpaw fought to regain her perch on the cliff, but she was slipping, sliding.

Another face appeared above her, but now the rain was lashing her eyes and she couldn't make out the cat's features. Only the sight of their claws burrowing themselves into her forelegs.

She howled, enraged and frightened, but it did her little good. The claws retracted and the head swung lower, butting into her chest; she lost her footing, her claws scraped over the earth but couldn't catch onto anything. 

Her jaws parted in a soundless wail, her voice swallowed by the wind, and she fell - down into the depths of the ice-flecked river.

"And that darkness will reveal all."

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Okay, so I've kinda always wanted to write a Warriors fanfic ever since I realize fanfiction existed. I've just never had an idea. I still don't, honestly; I just wrote this off-the-cuff, and I liked how it was going. 

Anyway, the basic premise, I guess, would be a set of clans completely separate from canon clans. I understand what I'm proposing isn't that probably, but I figured you could have a group of cats that diverged from the original group that formed the clans, the ones that came from the tribe in the mountains. And they end up with similar beliefs, because culture works that way sometimes. 

Oh! This is a story I'd really love to co-write with something. Partially because I need help with ideas, partially because coming up with that many cats would make my head hurt, and partially because I think it'd be really fun. I love writing stories with Unchained, so I already know what an awesome experience it could be!

If anyone's interested, let me know~