Broken Tides

Prolouge
'We have to find her!' A golden she-cat was arguing with a creamy brown tom in a large stone hollow, on a cave-bearing ledge on top of a huge pile of fallen stones.

'We can't, Goldenhare. Even ForestClan's finest trackers lost her scent at the Thunderpath. You know as well as I do that the Twoleg stench covers all scents,' the brown tom replied, sadness clear in his gaze.

'She was my apprentice, Molestar!' Goldenhare's eyes were locked furiously on Molestar's.

'And she was my kin,' he replied calmly. 'But instead of arguing over her, we should mourn our loss. Daystream will be remembered as a fine warrior.'

'Why do you say she 'was' your kin? She is still alive, I know she is!' Goldenhare slumped to the ground, defeated. Molestar was right. It was pointless to argue over a lost cat. 'It's all my fault... if I hadn't been such as stern and ignorant mentor...' She trailed off and gazed into the distance sorrowfully.

'No. The fault was mine,' Molestar corrected her.

'She would have stayed had I told her I was her father.'

Chapter 1Edit
Sunlight filtered in through the walls of the Twoleg nest. Birds twittered outside, but Day lay limply in her hard Twoleg bed, trapped in a small room by the barking dog outside. The fur on her neck bristled and fear prickled through her pelt as the door to her room opened. ''Did the dog manage to open the door? ''She couldn't bear the thought of that lumbering beast. A Twoleg stumbled into the room, packet of bland 'cat' food in hand, kicking the dog out of the way. It filIed up one of the two bowls next to her nest with food, grabbed the other to get her water and lumbered out of the room, slamming the door shut with one paw. had been six moons since she had left ForestClan, six moons since every cat she loved had died. Not that she had had many cats to love. There had only been her mother, Whisperbreeze, and her mentor, Mattedfur. Mattedfur and Whisperbreeze had both died at the paws of BrambleClan cats. After three moons as a rogue near the various Thunderpaths, hunting in various Twoleg gardens, she had been caught by three Twolegs. They had thrown her in a shiny metal cage and taken her to a room so white that her eyes had burned. Cold Twoleg paws and straight, shiny, pointy Twoleg claws sharper than those of a lion had poked and prodded her until her body throbbed and ached all over and she yowled in pain. She was then taken to another room, a light grey room this time, and thrown behind wretched shiny bars again. Two days later the cruel Twolegs and Twoleg kits who owned her now had taken her out of the cage. She was then taken inside a real monster. As they had sped through the countryside and back towards the forest, for a minute she had thought they were going to release her. But then the monster veered off onto another Thunderpath to their huge, vulgar nest. She had been there ever since with that wretched, dumb dog and the ignorant Twolegs. A rapping at the window in the room snapped her back into the present. A young, fire-coloured tom was sitting on the windowsill. She hissed and spat at him and curled back up in the cold nest she was sitting in.

She was awoken by the sound of something metal rattling. She tried to keep her eyes shut but curiousity somehow managed to force them open. The tom was back at the window, but this time he was undoing the catch! He pushed the window open and she padded forward to it. She scrunched her haunches up, ready to leap. Suddenly the Twoleg burst into the room with the bowl filled with water. It yowled angrily and started towards her. Fear rushing through her like fire, Day leapt onto the window and pulled her self up. The tom beckoned to her with his tail and the two cats jumped out of the window. They raced across the garden and into the surrounding pine forest just as the Twoleg flung open the front door.

"Thanks," Day mewed breathlessly.

"It's my pleasure," the tom replied casually. Wasn't he even ruffled by the experience? "I'm Tiger."

"Daystr-Day. Just Day."

The tom dipped his head respectfully. "Nice to meet you, Day. I can smell ForestClan scent on you. I met one of their warriors when I was a kit."

"Who?" she asked.

"Can't recall his name," Tiger replied. "He said that he had made a terrible mistake and was leaving the Clans. He had chosen the wrong cats to affiliate with, apparently. He mentioned a Clan- BrambleClan. And his kits- Daykit and Cloudkit, I believe."

''Daykit? Daykit!'' Day realised that the warrior Tiger had met long ago was her father.

They padded along the MoonClan border at dusk, the sun beginning to splashing the sky with the colours of fire. Pushing through a thicket just out of Clan territory, they came to an old fox den beneath two boulders that seemed to have crashed into each other, stopping each other from falling. There was a third boulder that sat in front of them, making the perfect place for climbing. The MoonClan stream ran nearby, but of course, it wasn't MoonClan's yet. They caught prey and ate by the stream, staring into ForestClan territory as they chewed silently. For the first time, Day felt a little homesick as she realised how close she was to her Clan, her denmates, her nest. But she couldn't go back. There was no one there for her. She felt a pang of sadness as she and Tiger gathered moss for her nest. Tiger showed her his secret medicine supply. There were poppy seeds, cobwebs, yarrow and tansy, as well as many strange plants with pungent scents she didn't recognise. Tiger showed her what each one of them was for. Suprisingly, there was no catmint. Silverpelt was shining above when Tiger told her it was time that he went back to his barn behind the MoonClan moor. "I will be back at sunhigh," he promised her. "I will bring my friend Dotty to meet you." Day wondered who this Dotty was. They mewed their goodbyes. As Day watched the flame-coloured tom disappear into the hills, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 2
Tiger let out a mrrow of laughter as Day splashed him. The two were drinking from the MoonClan stream, but Tiger had made things a bit more fun. Dotty was sick, so Tiger alone had come, leaving Dotty in the hands of the Twolegs that owned the barn. Tiger called them Nofurs; Day had heard that Twolegs had other names when she was learning the dangers of them as a kit. Her mother had told her that no matter what the other cats called them, they meant danger and when she heard they were in the area she would have to run. Day knew that some Twolegs were nice, and the ones that owned Tiger and Dotty's barn sounded decent.They hunted together and shared some prey back at the boulders. "I have to go," mewed Tiger reluctantly. "But I will be back tonight. The old cats around here have been saying that something special will happen." Day mewed goodbye again and Tiger left with a swish of his tail.

Later that night, Day felt a paw prod her awake. "Day, look! It's starting!" Day opened her eyes to see Tiger bending over her. The moonlight dulled his fire-coloured fur, spreading silver shine over his pelt. The sky was brighter than usual. "This is what the old cats were talking about!" Day looked up to Silverpelt, but her vision was fuzzy. As her vision cleared as she gradually woke up, she realised that the warriors of StarClan were falling! She opened her mouth in amazement. "But- how can dead cats come alive?!!"

Tiger twitched his whiskers in amusement. "Dead cats? Up there?" Day glared at him. "Oh, right. You're a Clan cat. You believe in ScarClam or whatever it is." Day felt like clawing the ignorant tom's fur out. How could he blatantly insult StarClan?

"It's StarClan," she mewed through gritted teeth.

She expected Tiger to act amused, but his eyes when soft with apology. "I'm sorry, Day. I didn't mean to upset you." He looked up at the sky and then back to her again.

"This is a rare sight. You may not see it again in your lifetime. Let's stop insulting each other and watch."

A cold wind began to blow and Day moved in closer to Tiger's warm, long-furred coat. She wished for a moment that she had long fur like that. But then again, prey would hear a long-furred cat's belly fur brushing the ground as they stalked it. Long fur would ruin all hunting. Day and Tiger watched the falling warriors for what seemed like moons. Tiger eventually curled into a ball and went to sleep, but Day just gazed transfixed and amazed and the flashes of light painting the raven black night sky. Gradually, she began to feel sleepy and could no longer keep her eyes open. She settled down close to Tiger and let sleep consume her.

Chapter 3
"Tiger! Wake up, mouse-brain!"

Tiger growled and lashed out at the paw that had rolled him over and out of sleep. He opened his eyes to see Dotty standing over him. The black and white she-cat looked cross.

"Come on! I promised Sandy I'd be there to see her kits at sunhigh!"

Tiger heaved himself to his paws and followed Dotty outside. The night was not quite over- the top of the moor was bordered with pink light. The sun had not risen yet.

"Dotty! Why did you wake me up now?" he asked sleepily.

"Because if you want to eat before we go, you had to." Dotty was heading up the moor.

"Come on, Tiger. You know just how far we have to go up into the hills to get food. As far as Lifestream. That's ages away. To hunt on Clan territory could mean death for us. You know how tough those wild cats are."

Tiger sighed and nodded, before following his friend up the slope. Dotty mentioning wild cats made him think of Day. It had been a moon since they had last spoken to each other, that night where they watched the falling stars. He had been too busy helping Dotty recover from her greencough. With leaf-bare fast approachinng, he didn't want her catching it again. It was lucky he had asked Day which herb could cure Dotty's greencough. She had described catmint and Tiger had instantly recognised the mouthwatering herb.

Tiger and Dotty trekked on through the moor. Finally the ground dipped in front of them and gave way to a large hollow that was lit by the rising sun. Inside was a grove of trees surrounding a pool that joined a stream that flowed down the hills to their left. Moss grew at the foot of the trees and an enormous oak tree spread its branches over the edges of the bowl. It was beautiful. The was a slope full of lush grass leading down, but otherwise the bowl was stone. The grass beyond the bowl was dotted with wildflowers and stretched beyond the new horizon they faced. Prey scuttled and scrambled everywhere. The bowl and its surrounds were green and the water from the stream was sweet no matter what the season. This was what the two cats liked to call Lifestream. They skidded down the slope and drank from the sweet, fresh waters of the stream. The stream's water tasted like the night stars, pure and beautiful. They caught a fat rabbit each and ate silently.

When they reached the lake territories the sun was well risen. It would be sunhigh soon. As they passed Day's hideout on their way to the Horseplace, Tiger eagerly peeked into the den to see if she was there. But there was no sign of the ginger she-cat. They padded on along the ForestClan border. Tiger gazed up at the moor, and caught a glimpse of a ginger pelt. He stopped and stared harder, just as Day came darting down the hill. She stopped several fox lengths away where the sun hit her ginger coat, turning it to flame. She bounded away towards her hideout, completely overlooking the astonished Tiger and Dotty.

"Who's that?" asked Dotty. "I've never seen her before."

"That's Day, the she-cat I told you about."

"She's a rouge... I thought she was with ForestClan?"

"Wait... she was never a rouge..."

"She is now. I can smell BoneClan on her."

Tiger felt sad and disappointed. So this is where the ginger she-cat had been heading off to.

"She's a rouge, then, but the most beautiful rouge I've ever met."

It was at that moment that Tiger knew he had fallen in love with Day.

Chapter 4
"Greetings, Bone." Day dipped her head to the cream-coloured tom. She was in a large cave in the rocky peaks behind the hills of MoonClan. Thick forest surrounded her, and in front of her lay a huge tower of stone. And on top of it lay the tom.

"Ah, Day. I see you have returned from your den. You are ready to be a loyal member of BoneClan, yes?"

Day nodded her head reluctantly.

"Good. Because if you didn't, well..." The tom unsheathed a claw and picked up one of the many pieces of prey lying around his Highrock. He ripped his claw through it, slicing it in two. "We don't want to talk about that, do we, Day?"

Day shuddered and shook her head. This was a cat who was prepared to kill cats mercilessly if they got in his way.

"There are no loners around here. Do you know why, Day?"

Day had a feeling that this was a question she wasn't supposed to answer.

"Because BoneClan rules outside the Clan territories. And soon, we will rule within them."

"But I know two-" She wished she hadn't said that.

"What was that? You know two loners?" Bone's amber eyes gleamed with malice. "Tell me, what are their names?"

I can't tell him about Dotty and Tiger! But then again, she couldn't risk her own life for someone she hardly knew. What are you saying?! A voice inside her yowled. Tiger is the best friend you've ever had! Day agreed with the voice inside her for once. She knew what to do. Bone couldn't read minds. But he sure was arrogant.

"They didn't tell me their names. I bet they were too scared of a handsome, powerful tom like you," she mewed confidently. She would just have to flatter Bone to beat him. "But we'll make them pay, right?"

Bone's ears pricked with curiousity. He beckoned to a brown tabby tom and a black she-cat.

"I like this one. Talon, Ember, find her the most comfortable moss for a nest you can find."

The two cats nodded and left, scrambling down the fallen boulders leading up to the cave on the rock face.