Prologue

The sound of rushing water filled her ears as she desperately fought the current to reach land. Her lungs ached for air, but all she would get was  water.  The cause from the bridge away from the Twoleg place had exhausted her greatly. Just as she was about to give up, her paws met solid rock. Pushing herself one more time, she summoned the last of her strength and heaved herself out of the angry river. Giving her grey pelt a quick shake to get rid of some of the water clinging onto her fur, she collapsed onto her side. Her light blue eyes gazed blankly as two sleek figures ran up to her. Darkness suddenly made its way to her..~

Groaning, the pretty grey she-cat stretched out her sore legs. Underneath her was rather very comfortable. Curling back up, it all seemed like a casual day before the memory of nearly drowning came to mind. Heart rate quickening, she leaped to her paws and looked around. She was in a well made den; perking her ears, she was able to hear the calm meowing of cats talking and happy squeals of playing kits. Calming herself down, she made her way out of the den and glanced around. The area was full of cheerful life; the camp had such an uplifting feeling that any cat would think that life was so peacefully perfect. 

"You're awake! I knew you would be fun after a nice good nap!" The cheerful meow came from a handsome silver tabby tom, who padded up to the she-cat. "You must be hungry after sleeping for two days! Join me, we can share a piece of prey together. You can pick what you would like to eat." 

A purr lightly rumbled her throat as she followed him to the prey pile. Picking out a fat, juicy looking rabbit, she once again followed the silver tabby tom to a quiet spot where they both settled down to share the rabbit. They both silently ate before he broke the silence. 

"So," he started between chews, "where are you from? How did you end up here?"

Shifting her weight onto her left side, she ate one more mouthful of the rabbit before answering: "I come from the Twoleg village across the bridge. I was born there among a 'tribe' of non kittypets. I got chased out by some of them. My last option was to jump down to the river despite the fact that I could have lost my life." She shivered at the memory. "I am grateful for you guys taking me in." 

The silver tabby's eyes lit up as he gave her a friendly tap on the shoulder with his tail-tip. "It was the least we could do. Use moor cats follow the rule of not letting any cat die if we can save them - enemy or not." He examined the she-cat for a moment. "You know the way of a wild cat, huh?"

"Yes. I grew up learning to fight and hunt if I wished to survive and be seen as one of them. I just never thought they would actually get rid of me." She shook her head sadly, and gazed up at the perfect blue sky. "My name is RainShadow, by the way." 

Fixing a steady gaze on RainShadow, he waited until she made eye contact with him. Giving a friendly sway of his tail, he meowed his response: "My name is BlazeFur." 

"And I'm WindStar, leader of WindClan." A tortoiseshell she-cat said as she approached them. Sitting with her chin held up high, she gave RainShadow a stern look. "Now that you have recovered, it is time you choose: Stay with us and be a member of our clan or leave and be seen as an enemy." 

Sitting up and meeting WindStar's gaze with determination, RainShadow answered without any hesitation. "Please, allow me to be part of your clan." Finally, she will be able to prove that she is worth having.