A/N- Here it is! The sequel to The Hollow Night! Now you get to follow Stormpaw's kits as they follow their destiny, guided by the prophecy from Starclan! Wow! So, you'd better read on, then review with what you think!

Disclaimer- I don't own warriors, ok? If i did i wouldn't have to put this.

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The Children of the Storm

'The children of the storm, though they should never be, are Skyclan's only hope'.

Prologue

These kits should never have been. Their father was a rogue, who had saved their mother's life when she had strayed onto a Thunderpath. She was far too young, barely 13 moons old when they were born, but they were strong and healthy nonetheless, and they had each grown into fine young apprentices, though there were no other cats to mentor them.

Stormpaw, or Stormcloud as she was now called, had given birth to two kits, brother and sister, who had been named Thunderkit and Cloudkit, and who were now Thunderpaw and Cloudpaw.

Thunderpaw was a golden tom, like his father, Lightning, and had a white belly with white paws. He had good leadership qualities and was the more dominant of the two kits. He had his mother's amber eyes and was strong in battle, using the strength he had inherited from his father.

Cloudpaw was a dark grey she-cat with white tabby stripes, identical to her mother in every way, except for her eyes. Cloudpaw's eyes were that of her father's, ice-blue and deeply penetrating. She possessed her mother's fierce intellect, and contained within that were all the same gifts and talents Starclan had imbued Stormcloud with.

The two children of Stormcloud and Lightning were both six moons old when destiny set them on their path, the path that would lead them home to Skyclan and enable them to stop the cruel and bloodthirsty tyranny of their mother's sister, the heartless Dawnstar.

Back in Skyclan itself, things were not going well. Dawnstar spent her entire time surrounded by her gang of rogues, who protected her and dished out the vicious punishments to the rest of the clan that kept them in fear of their leader, and in a state which did not enable them to make any resistance.

Within Skyclan, there was a hierarchy not dissimilar to that of Scourge and Bloodclan, and it may well be that that was where Tigerstar got his inspiration from, for Tigerstar was indeed now inside the body of Hawkkit, now Hawkpaw, and was being mentored by Dawnstar herself.

Hawkpaw was far more cunning than any other apprentice of his age, his skill towering over that of his sisters', Newpaw and Hopepaw, and the other apprentices, Emberpaw and Snowpaw. As for those who had been apprentices when Dawnstar had been training, they were now warriors- Yewfur and Oakclaw- and even they were no match for Hawkpaw's intellect and deviousness.

It is true to say that Skyclan had suffered greatly through Dawnstar's bloody leadership, guided as it was by Tigerstar, teaching her through the body of Hawkpaw, but it is also true to say that Dawnstar was not bloodthirsty by nature, and that it was her own desperate desire to save her family that had led to this scenario, even though it was she who had given the order for the black rats to kill her mother, Orangestar.

So now Skyclan had been left with a problem. The cats needed to end Dawnstar's rule, but they had not the will nor the strength to do so, half-starved as they were, whilst their leader and her guard were kept well fed and full, ready to instantly subdue the first signs of any rebellion. And far, far away, the two cats who were destined to save their clan hadn't even thought about life there, or what hardship and struggle they may be about to face.

In fact, at that moment in time, they didn't even know Skyclan existed at all.

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Chapter 1

"Get away! That's my mouse!"

"Push off, Cloudpaw! It's mine. I licked it first!"

The golden tom bent down and licked the dead mouse.

"Ew! That's gross! Thunderpaw, you are so disgusting!"

Cloudpaw turned and dashed over to where her mother and father were lying, not far off, sharing tongues.

"Mother! Father! Thunderpaw stole my mouse! And now he's licked it!"

Stormcloud sighed and rolled her eyes at her mate. Lightning laughed gently back at her, his voice a deep, suave sound as he meowed,

"Go on. You'd better go and sort those two out!"

Stormcloud rose to her paws and padded over to where Cloudpaw had returned to her brother, and was now attempting to kick him away from her fresh-kill.

Stormcloud darted in and swiped the mouse from Thunderpaw's jaws as he tried to flee from his mother.

"There. Now, Thunderpaw, which side did you lick?"

Thunderpaw stared at the mouse longingly and replied,

"The left."

Thunderpaw's voice was just as low and smooth as his father's, while Cloudpaw's was identical almost to her mother's, but slightly higher and lighter, her mood not changed by the terrible things that Stormcloud had seen in her time.

"Okay then. I'll split this down the middle. Thunderpaw, you get the left side, as you licked it. Cloudpaw, you get the right."

Cloudpaw nodded and giggled as her mother unsheathed her claws and sliced the mouse down the middle.

Both apprentices darted in quickly and seized their halves of the fresh-kill, knowing that the other would quickly take their food if they got the opportunity to. Normally, Stormcloud would have disapproved of this sort of behaviour, but in the harsh world in which they now had to live, and how they would have to fight for not just food, but their lives, when they were to reclaim Skyclan, she supposed it was an important skill for them to have.

Stormcloud was just about to return to her mate, and leave her kits to eat in peace, when Cloudpaw asked her mother,

"Mother, I was wondering. You changed our names to –paw when we reached six moons old, and you said something about being apprentices, but father doesn't have a name like that, and I can tell you never used to live in the wild like this; you lived out here, but in a safer place, with your family. Where was that? And why can't we go there?"

Stormcloud scanned her daughter with her eyes, two identically fierce intellects measuring each other, then she sighed and said,

"Bring your fresh-kill and come sit here. I have a story to tell you, one that I knew you would have to one day hear."

Intrigued, Cloudpaw picked up her half-mouse and came to sit infront of her mother, Thunderpaw doing the same, positioning himself on Cloudpaw's left.

When her children were ready, Stormcloud began.

"Our tale begins before I was born, on the night of a fearsome storm. My mother was the leader of a group of cats known as Skyclan, who lived together for protection and safety, each cat doing their bit to ensure that the clan as a whole was alright."

Cloudpaw's eyes opened wide and she muttered,

"So that's where you lived!"

Stormcloud nodded and continued,

"On the night of the storm, our medicine cat, Blackleaf, received a prophecy from Starclan. I have told you who Starclan are, haven't I?"

Thunderpaw and Cloudpaw nodded and their mother carried on.

"The prophecy was this: 'The children of the storm, though they should never be, are Skyclan's only hope'."

Cloudpaw looked awestruck, but her brother was busy thinking.

Stormcloud ignored them and meowed,

"That night, under the storm, my brother, sister and I were born. My brother was Riverpaw, a bluish grey tom, and my sister was Dawnpaw, who is now Dawnstar, leader of Skyclan."

Cloudpaw's eyes opened even wider, but she asked,

"Leader? They why aren't we living there?"

"Patience, dear one, and listen to the story."

Cloudpaw nodded and stared at her mother.

"Now, there was also another prophecy, that a moon after we became apprentices, disaster would strike our clan. Dawnpaw thought that by learning from a wicked and vicious cat called Tigerstar, she could get true power and avert the disaster. However, she was then banished for her actions, and on the day that the disaster was set to strike, she returned to seize control of Skyclan, using an army of rats and rogue cats. She killed our mother, Orangestar, and set the spirit of Tigerstar, who had died many seasons before, and had been teaching her in dreams, she set his spirit inside one of Shiningheart's kits, Hawkkit."

Cloudpaw and Thunderpaw both gasped.

"So that's why we can't go back? Because Dawnstar was the disaster and she's evil!"

Thunderpaw had put the first piece in place, but with her smarter mind, Cloudpaw had spotted the problem.

"But, the prophecy! It said that you three would stop the disaster, not that your sister would be part of it! What went wrong?"

Stormcloud sighed and said,

"But, Cloudpaw, you are smart. Surely you can figure this out? The prophecy does not talk about me, it talks about the children of the storm."

Thunderpaw frowned.

"But you were born during a storm? Isn't that why they said that? Surely it must be you?"

"No, brother. I understand now," Cloudpaw interrupted, "Our mother's name is Stormcloud. We are her children. We are the children of the storm."

Thunderpaw gasped as realisation hit him, and Cloudpaw finished.

"And that means that we have to be the ones to save Skyclan."