A/N: This is an idea that I've had for years. I've always been fond of Warriors as it was the first thing that I truly fell in love with, but never truly tried to write a full on story for. That changed about three weeks ago when I came across the series again and got hit hard with nostalgia.

Prologue

The tiny ginger kit didn't know where he was. He had just fallen asleep next to his kin, and awoken here. Tree's rose around him, confusing and wonderful scents assaulted his nose. His wide eyes took in the sights, his small paw leading him down a trail through the trees.

There was a break in the trees and he came to a pond where four cats were lounging around. They were speaking together urgently, and their voices reverberated through the air like the wind through trees. Their pelts seem to fade in and out of existence while stars dancing across their fur. It took the kit a moment to notice that their was a fifth cat. So faint that it was only when the ghostly cat moved that he could see their outline.

It made the small kit pause. He should be scared, he should be calling out for his mother, but he wasn't. Curiosity drove him on and he entered the clearing. One of the cats, a lithe brown tabby she-cat turned as he approached, her yellow eyes glowed with warmth. "Hello young one. We've been waiting for you."

"Waiting," A tom spoke up, the single word laced with sarcasm. His voice was thunderous and made the kit freeze, but his amber eyes held a sense of security. One of his white paws came up to scratch his ginger pelt idly.

"Hush, you'll scare him," The other tom spoke up. This tom had long sleek, gray fur that seemed to ripple like water on a river.

The fourth, a she-cat whose pelt was jet black, smiled kindly at him. Her brilliant green eyes flashing with shadowy knowing. "Hello Rusty."

"H-How do you know my name?" The tiny kit squealed. Again, he knew that he should be scared, but all he felt was amazement. There was something about these cats presence that was awe-inspiring. "Who are you?"

"We are cats that have been here, since the beginning, and will be here until we fade from time and memory. We know a lot about you Rusty," The black she-cat responded. She softly beckoned for him to come closer with her tail and he did so.

He felt the eyes of the cats inspecting him. Scanning him from nose to tail-tip. Wanting to impress, he puffed up his tiny chest and stood up straight.

The orange tom suddenly laughed, a hearty and deep sound that made Rusty want to gravitate towards him. "Oh, I think we all know what Clan he's joining."

"Yes… He seems to have your sense of gallant personality about him," The gray tom said with a roll of his eyes, a smile playing at his whiskers.

"And he holds a comparable look," The black she-cat chuckled.

Rusty watched with wide eyes, soaking in everything. He… He was like this cat? His mother had always said he would grow up to be a strong tom, but he didn't think that he could become as great as this tom seemed! With strong shoulders, sharp claws, and head held high. He wanted to be like him though.

"Similarities aside," The brown she-cat said. "I feel that we've all reached an agreement? He's the one?"

"His half-brother… has potential… but lacks… a certain aspect that we need…" A voice spoke. Rusty head swiveled, trying to find the source, before it settled on the shimmering outline of a cat that sat a little ways away.

"Rusty."

Rusty turned to look back at the other four cats that stood before him. They all looked down at him kindly.

"We know that you are young, but we have a gift we would like to impart with you. This gift will be heavy on your shoulders. It will cause fights, and bring you more pain than you can possible imagine. But in the end, we believe that it will aid you with completing your destiny."

The words rang in Rusty's ears. He felt afraid, exhilarated, happy, and upset. This was too much for a kit this young to comprehend and the four cats knew that.

They each gently bent down and touched noses with the trembling kit. Each time his breath caught as an unknown energy seemed to burn through him.

"With these words, we give you our gift. Use it wisely, and may it bring you prosperity."

He gazed into each of their eyes, yellow, amber, green. Each held unfathomable wisdom that made Rusty's mind spin. Darkness swam up to meet him as he heard a breathy whisper.

"You will burn like fire."

"Wait!... I would… like to impart a special gift…"

"Are you sure Clear Sky? You will fade away completely."

"And what will I… be able to… do in this form?... My time has come… I would like to be useful before… I fade… With these words… I give you… MY gift… May it give you… strength when all else fails…"

Barkface faced the silverpelt as the wind blew softly blew through the camp. Sleep was not coming to him, and in the distance a storm was brewing. Arcs of lightning briefly illuminating the dark clouds.

Kneading his paws into the ground he glanced towards the nursery. With two new kits and a apprentice soon to become a warrior, things were looking well for his clan. They had even caught eight rabbits that day, eight! He had not seen that many since he was a kit.

So what was this feeling of dread?

"Barkface," Tallstar said stepping out of his den.

The medicine cat dipped his head in greeting before returning his attention to the night sky. The leader of WindClan joined him as they gazed above. About them the camp was quiet, everyone sleeping as they should.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Tallstar finally stated after a pregnant pause.

"It's more than that," Barkface sighed. "I have a feeling something's going to happen."

Tallstar let out a humorous purr. "You believe that whenever anything is going right, something will go wrong."

"Of course I do!" He hissed. Claws digging into the ground. "StarClan hasn't spoken to me in over a moon."

"I would advise you to remember who you're speaking to," Tallstar said, his tone turning harsh.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Barkface blanched. Just because they had an abundance of food, didn't mean that Tallstar wouldn't make him go hungry for a day to remind him of his place.

They sat for a moment and a flash of lightning came shooting forward from the storm striking surprisingly close to the camp. The resounding thunder caused Tallstar to jump and he could hear the kits suddenly squeal from the nursery.

Turning to Barkface, he felt his long tail twitch. Barkface stood there, rigid. The fur along his spine raised and eyes cloudy. Tallstar growled, of course Barkface had to be right. They couldn't have one moon of peace. He waited impatiently for the Barkface's vision to end, wanting his questions answered. The smell of rain came with the next gust of wind.

At long last Barkface returned, his eyes becoming clear as he let out a small sigh.

"Well?" Tallstar growled.

"I-I don't know." Barkface finally stated, taking a shuddering breath. He turned towards Tallstar. "They said… A great shadow is about to cover the Clans… WindClan is about to face hard times… but."

"But what?" Tallstar prodded.

"A fire will burn it down. Fire will save."

"Bah... fire only burns, scares away prey, and causes death, how will fire save us?" Tallstar spat.

"You're sure of this Yellowfang?"

"StarClan has never been known to lie."

"They have also not been known to give simple answers either."

"I do not know how or why StarClan works the way they do Brokenstar."

"Hmmm… be as it may, this is especially cryptic. Blackfoot! I want you to increase the border patrols, and… if you see anything interesting, I expect a full report on it. Understood?"

"Yes Brokenstar."

"Good."

Try as he might Runningpaw hadn't meant to overhear the conversation that took place between his mentor and Brokenstar, but now that he had, questions were swirling around in his head.

He quietly padded back into the medicine cat den, curling up and hoping that Yellowfang would notice that he was awake.

Mistyfoot padded quietly out of the camp. The moonlight illuminated small patches of ground between the thin leaves. She tiredly yawned, why did they make their dirtplace so far away from camp?

It was then that she heard voices ahead. Realizing that it was her clan leader and medicine cat she paused. Uneasy, she glanced behind her towards where the RiverClan camp entrance sat. Maybe she should head back.

"You think I know what it means?" She heard Crookedstar spat. She really shouldn't be listening in on this, but she couldn't move.

"O-Of course not. I did not mean to suggest that you had to solve it, I was merely asking what you thought of it. How can it help us? Besides crippling the other clans?"

Mistyfoot stood there listening.

"Fire… StarClan what have they planned for us now? Fire will help?"

Hearing the quiet pads of what she assumed was Mudfur, she bolted straight for the camp. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop. Her mind briefly dwelled on what they were talking about, before she entered the camp. The reason she had left the camp forgotten, she quickly ducked into the warrior den and curled up in her nest next to her brother.

"Fire?"

Bluestar watched Spottedleaf's tail twitch and the fur along her spine bristle. The gray she-cat felt her ears prick, but she remained quiet, allowing whatever StarClan was telling Spottedleaf to end before she started questioning her.

A little while later the tortoiseshell cat lowered her head.

Bluestar felt her tail twitch impatiently, but she controlled herself. It would do no good to get upset over something this small… yet.

"It was a message from S-"

"Yes, yes, obviously it was from StarClan. What did they say?" Bluestar interrupted.

Spottedleaf coolly waited for Bluestar to quiet down before continuing. "Fire alone can save our Clan."

"Fire?" Bluestar questioned. "Fire that burns, fire that is feared by all the Clans?! How can that save us?"

"Spottedleaf ducked her head. "I have yet to be able to interpret this sign. But this is the message they have chosen to share with me."

Bluestar fixed her gaze firmly on Spottedleaf. "Well, let us hope that you are able to clarify this… omen. Our skirmishes with RiverClan are becoming more and more fierce. Maybe fire is supposed to help us against them?"

A/N: Ya, so there's my cheesy intro! If you haven't realized yet, this is going to be a smidgen more gritty than the book. All the cats are going to be more harsh to each other, just because of how hard life is. They have to in order to survive. This story will loosely follow the general plot though, with me making... liberal changes as I see fit. You guys shouldn't mind too much though. After all I'm having Ravenpaw stay.

Also, I realize that the first five cats are very vague, but if you do know who they are then kudos to you.