The Icegaze Chronicles ~ A Wintery Beginning

"A Clan's pride comes not from the size of the territory, the 'purity' of the cats' blood, and not even from the strength of the warriors themselves. A Clan's pride comes from within, a determination to stand up to any challenge, no matter what the risk. To be the first to attack and the last to retreat. That's what living in a Clan is all about." ~ Wyvernstar, Leader of Frostclan


Prologue~
It was a freezing winter, colder than anycat remembered, on the day that Icekit was born. He was the only one that survived the cold weeks to come, and was the largest of the litter, with short white fur and icy blue eyes.

It became apparent as he grew that he wouldn't be a kit to sit still or do what he was told. No, he was everywhere, and just couldn't wait until he became an apprentice. Despite multiple occasions of his apprenticeship being postponed, he finally began training under none other than the great Wyvernstar himself.

Seasons turned, and Icepaw was about halfway done with his training when the forest caught fire. The cats were forced to evacuate on short notice and scattered.

While the clan regrouped to rebuild the camp, many of them were lost in the woods, unable to find their way back. Among these was Icepaw.


Chapter One~
Icepaw's feet ached from the walking and running he had been doing for the past few days. Searching for a new home, or even his old one, was really wearing him out, but he stayed confident.

Maybe he could live as a loner or a rogue, hunt his own food and fight for his own territory! Wyvernstar had taught him enough, but it still didn't seem right.

So, he kept going. Snow, rain, scorching sun. He just kept moving, never stopped. His fur became dirty and matted, his paws caked with dirt from the endless travel. At night he would flop down on the ground, not having any more energy to continue, but on the morrow he would begin again, his endless path.

One day, as he walked alongside a river, he found that it ended abruptly at a cliff face. It seemed that the flow of water had just stopped at the sheer wall of rock. His curiosity piqued by the fact that it would stop like that without overflowing, he took a tentative step into the water.

He was immediately pulled under and began to panic as he was swept away in the invisible current. He was aware of passing a stone wall above him and a second later, his head breached the surface of the water in a insanely massive, dark cave and- MY GOD ARE THOSE ROCKS GLOWING?

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found that it wasn't very dark at all. Massive clusters of huge boulders let off a bright green glow. The place was so huge that he couldn't see the end of it, or the ceiling. He pulled himself out of the water onto the surprisingly warm stone floor of the cavern. He realized that the water was also glowing faintly, a gently trickling stream running from where he had just come out to Starclan knows where.

He heard and smelled the scampering of small creatures, probably lizards and rats, evidence that it was possible to live down here.

Icepaw suddenly noticed the dark forms in the corner of his eye... A large, burly cat knocked him onto his back and held its claws to his throat.

"What are you doing here?" Growled the cat in a strange, gruff voice, but Icepaw was too busy staring at him to notice.

The cat was completely hairless, with smooth, pale skin and large, wide, strangely colored eyes. It had a calico pattern, though it was very faint, as if the skin was fur.

"I said, what are you doing here!? And where did you come from? I've never seen you in the caves before." Repeated the tom.

"I-I don't know. I just got swept under the river and next thing I know, I'm here." Icepaw replied, struggling to wiggle out from under the cat.

"... River? Under... what?" The cat shook his head and grabbed Icepaw by the scruff of his neck, roughly dragging him along as he walked through the dim caverns.

The place was surprisingly warm and calm, the faint trickling of water and the patter of small cave creatures blending together in harmony. As I said before, the cave was massive, stretching as far as you can see in all directions, much like a clan's territory in the forest.

The clusters of glowing rocks were everywhere, shedding light on the strange new land. As the tom dragged Icepaw along, he could hear a faint thundering noise that grew loud and louder as they continued.

The glowing stream flowed faster as they went downhill, and eventually a large bit of ground cut out underneath it, causing the river to form into a subterranean waterfall. There were two strips of solid land on either side of the waterfall and the pool underneath it, and Icepaw was dragged along the right hand one, and it began sloping downwards.

After traveling for a bit longer, they were nearly level with the pool of water formed by the waterfall. Here's what surprised Icepaw.

They had reached the end of the cavern, and caves carved into the walls were large enough to hold a great number of cats, and some of them did. Toms and she-cats stood outside the caves, talking with each other, some slept inside.

Mewling kittens scampered around inside one of the slightly smaller caves, their mothers watching them closely. One thing was the same about each of them- they all had no fur, and they all had strangely large eyes. Their bare skin was patterned like any normal cat's, if fainter, but their appearance still took Icepaw off guard, even after seeing the tom from before.

The tom continued to drag him up a ramp in the center of the dens, with the apprentice and warrior dens on the right, and the nursery and elder's den on the right. They continued up the ramp until the 'camp' was out of sight, just leaving the path behind them and the path ahead of them.

At the end of the rather wide passage, there was a single, very large den. Four cats stood around the largest cluster of glowing rock that Icepaw had seen yet, which was flat on the top, like a table. It was wider than any he had seen but short enough that a cat could look over it with ease.

The tom spoke through the fur of Icepaw's scruff. "Terrastar?" He spoke, and one of the cats looked up. It was definitely a she-cat, and was by far the prettiest he had seen down here so far. She, too, had large eyes and no fur, but her body was lean and her face endearing and friendly.

A look of puzzlement came across her face when she saw Icepaw. "What a strange cat..." She padded over and peered at him. "Such small eyes..."

"I make up for the small size of my eyes in other areas." Icepaw spoke slyly and in a calm tone, a wink punctuating his words.


Chapter Two~
"Soilslicer?" The she-cat known as Terrastar spoke softly as she regarded the large male holding Icepaw. The male nodded, standing up straighter, his teeth still embedded in the apprentice's scruff. "I believe the boy can stand on his own feet?"

The male's eyes widened and he immediately released Icepaw, who crashed to the ground and rose to his feet.

Terrastar chuckled slightly. "You have done will to bring the child to me. That is all." She nodded at Soilslicer, who turned and left as she spoke these words. "Now, you. You're a strange little cat, aren't you?"

She turned towards Icepaw. "Who are you, where are you from? You don't seem familiar. What is this soft fluff on your skin?" She prodded his fur, a curious expression on her face.

"Oh, I'm Icepaw." The white apprentice stood up tall, ignoring the bruise that the tom had probably left on the back of his neck. "Icepaw, apprentice of Frostclan."

Terrastar shook her head. "Frostclan? I've never heard of such a place." There was another emotion behind her voice this time, as if she knew something he didn't.

"Yeah, from up there." Icepaw gestured to the cavern's ceiling. "In the forest, with the birds and rabbits and things."

Terrastar shook her head in confusion. "I think you must be crazy. There is only the Mineralclan Canopy." The leader gestured towards the air around her. "There has never been anything else."

Icepaw shook his head. "No, no. I know y'all may not know this, but there's a whole world out there, filled with sunshine and moonlight and cats and dogs and twolegs, more than you could ever imagine."

These words were foreign to the subterranean leader, and she once again shook her head, but this time with a strange expression on her face. "I am sorry, I still do not understand." She sighed. "But enough about your... 'past.' You may stay here as an apprentice of Mineralclan for as long as you please." She turned around, back to the flat, glowing table. The three other cats had already dispersed and she beckoned a darker skinned, long-whiskered tom over from where he stood, studying something. "Now," She spoke, directing this at Icepaw. "Leave me in peace. I have certain matters to discuss with Mosstongue."

Icepaw obeyed without hesitation, perhaps out of habit from listening to Wyvernstar back at home.

Obviously, he had to get out. He couldn't live down here forever, it was just to cramped for his carefree style, but he couldn't worry about that now. It looked like Terrastar wasn't quite done with him yet, so he might as well enjoy himself while he had the chance.

He trotted down towards the apprentices' den and poked his head in. Cats of various coloring and sizes sat chatting with each other, but the noise stopped as he padded in. None of the apprentices had seen a cat like him before, with small eyes and fur. He tweaked a whisker. "Oh, don't worry." He said, to break the ice. "She-cats are always staring at me." He winked, and a few of the cats giggled, and the tension practically vanished.

Chatter began once more and Icepaw began to study the cats around him. He was observing a small group of she-cats when a cat bounded up to him.

"Hey!" Said a light-hearted, female voice. "I'm Crystalpaw." Her large eyes were bright green and sparkling, like... crystals. Her skin was a pale, creamish color, with slightly darker cream splotches. She was significantly shorter than Icepaw, but had an intelligent, sly gleam in her eyes, almost as devious as his own.

"I'm I-" The apprentice was cut off by the she-cat shushing him.

"Icepaw. We know." Laughed Crystalpaw. "Soilslicer came by and spread the news beforehand so we wouldn't outright attack you or something." A confused look passed over her face. "Though, what does ice mean?"

Icepaw shook his head. "No time to explain. It's a long story, and no cat seems to believe it." He stopped and smiled. "But, I still haven't gotten a chance to look around yet. Mind showing me?"

Crystalpaw dipped her head, the grin on her face matching his. "Why not? C'mon, we can stop by Heartrend's place and then..." She glanced around. "We can head to the Hill."

Icepaw didn't even stop to ask what the Hill was. By the tone of her voice, it sounded dangerous... and fun. The two ran around the camp, peeking into each den as Crystalpaw spouted facts on each one.

The two finally finished and asked Crystalpaw's mentor, Drillgaze, if they could go out hunting. He casually agreed, stating that he would take them himself but he was too busy with 'things.'

They walked out of camp, and as soon as they were out of sight, Crystalpaw broke into a run, Icepaw close behind.

Crystalpaw led him up the incline leading to the waterfall, and then turned abruptly to the left, hopping glowing stones and the such as they approached the east wall of the cavern. "Here..." She stated. "Is the hill."

Icepaw gasped, taking a step back. It was as tall as a really, really large hill back at home, and was composed of huge boulders and rocks, probably from avalanches.

Crystalpaw shushed him, glancing around. "We're not supposed to be here. Snakes and... other stuff live in between the boulders and stuff. It's not good." She whispered. "I wanted to show you because it's a really cool place to find adventure, if you stay away from the claws and fangs."

The Frostclan apprentice held his breath. They stood there for a while, just looking at the huge pile of boulders. "C'mon, and we should catch a lizard or two on the way back, or Drillgaze'll get suspicious." They headed back towards the camp, snagged a few pieces of prey on the way, and were met by...

"Terrastar!" Crystalpaw's wide eys went... wider... as she saw the leader. "Why are you down at camp?" She asked. "Shouldn't you b-"

"In the leader's den." Terrastar completed the sentence calmly and quietly. "I know. But I needed to speak with Icepaw." Crystalpaw shot a glance towards the Frostclan apprentice, who shrugged, just as confused as she was. "Crystalpaw, go take that prey to the fresh-kill pile and... I don't know, rest in the apprentices' den."

The apprentice did so and Terrastar gestured for Icepaw to follow. They padded up the ramp towards the leader's den and entered, but didn't stop there. They continued into the room, and Icepaw noticed another, smaller, and thinner ramp within the leaders den that was set at a steep incline. Terrastar entered and vanished into the darkness.

Icepaw followed after a moment of hesitation. They walked for a few moments, the tunnel always at a steep rise. Eventually, it began to gradually level out, until it had leveled entirely and suddenly, a cavern opened before them. It was a circular cavern with a low ceiling, and right in the center of said ceiling was a hole.

A bit of moonlight filtered in through this hole, and sitting in it, eyes closed, was the brown tom cat that Terrastar had called over just before dismissing Icepaw earlier.

After a few moments of not acknowledging their presence, the tom opened his eyes without moving another muscle. "Greetings, Icepaw." He said, in a deep, friendly, but somewhat suspicious voice. "I am Mosstongue, Medicine Cat of Mineralclan, and this place..." He gestured to the room. "Is the Moonbreach."


Chapter Three~
Icepaw fell silent as he gazed around the room. There were no glowing rocks, the only source of light was the hole in the ceiling. He almost didn't notice the Medicine Cat speak again.

"I am still wary of your arrival, stranger." Mosstongue spoke in a quiet voice, as if he was trying not to disturb the peace of the situation. "But Terrastar has told me that she is quiet positive that you are the one."

"The one what?" Icepaw asked, snapping out of the trance he had been put in by the calm surroundings. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. I mean-"

"Quiet, young one. You will know soon enough, but not by our tongues." Terrastar spoke now, stepping forward. "This is where we speak with Starclan, as you call them, Mosstongue tells me." She dipped her head. "And you will be speaking with them on this day."

Icepaw shook his head. "Me? Why?" He rubbed his ear with his paw to emphasize his confusion. "I'm just an ap-"

"No, I don't believe you are. You see, a pro-" Terrastar's words were cut off by a sharp glare from the Medicine Cat. The clan leader promptly closed her mouth and shook her head. "I cannot speak of it directly now. If you are truly chosen, you will be speaking to those that chose you shortly."

Icepaw was almost more confused than he was earlier, but he did a good job at hiding it, and simply nodded.

"You will be sleeping here, I'm sure you're very tired after an adventure like today." Mosstongue spoke next. "Yes, I do believe that you are from the surface world... perhaps this is where the Moonbreach leads to." The tom shook his head. "I shall contemplate that with Fernpaw later."

He and Terrastar glanced at each other. "Now," the she-cat spoke. "It is time for us to leave you in peace. May Starclan light your path." She padded silently out of the room down the ramp, followed by Mosstongue, leaving Icepaw alone.

The apprentice curled up in the moonlight filtering through the hole in the ceiling and closed his eyes.

He may have been lying there for hours, or maybe just minutes before he was aware of a chilling sensation soaking into his fur. An eye snapped open. Same old cave, except the light filtering through was nearly nonexistent and rain was seeping through the hole in the ceiling.

Now, Icepaw didn't know what he had expected. Maybe some big quest from Starclan to find his way home and save the world of something, but he definitely wasn't expecting nothing.

He stood and shook his head. Maybe he was dreaming now? He waited for a few minutes. Nope, not dreaming.

Soon, the initial puzzlement grew to anger. "Hmph! Starclan pulls me down here for no good reason, and then decides to choose someone else willy-nilly, huh? Well, I'll show them!" He stomped his foot on the ground.

There was obviously something going down, if Terrastar was going to pick a cat chosen by Starclan to do something. The clan was in danger, that much was for sure. He just needed to find out what was happening and then stop it. No biggy. He knew exactly what he was going to tell Terrastar and Mosstongue, too.

He marched right down the ramp at a pace nearing a dash and stopped in the leader's den, where Terrastar immediately confronted him. "What happened?" She asked, voice calm as usual.

"I had a dream..." Icepaw began. "And Starclan said that there's something going wrong, but I have to find it for myself and, with the help of Crystalpaw, stop it."

Terrastar blinked, and shook her head in confusion. "So, they didn't tell you what was going wrong, or how to stop it?"

"No, Starclan never works that way." Icepaw and Mosstongue both spoke at the same time, then shared glances.

"Well, looks like I was wrong about you, surface-dweller. Hm. I believe that nickname will stick." Mosstongue muttered, looking back at Terrastar as he spoke.

"I beli-" Terrastar's sentence was ended when a loud rumble shook the entirety of the cavern. A few small rocks fell loose of the ceiling of Mineralclan's territory, and the Hill shifted ominously, just waiting for an avalanche.

"What in the name of Starclan was that?" Icepaw shouted, gripping the ground with his claws to avoid falling over. It lasted for about a minute, and then faded away.

"Well, there's your first hint!" Crystalpaw's voice rang out as she bounded into the leader's den. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I wanted to make sure Icepaw was okay." She dipped her head to Terrastar. "And I... sort of heard everything." She gulped, afraid that Terrastar would be angry.

The leader only glanced nervously between the cats in a response to the rumbling. "It was of no trouble. You are to work with Icepaw anyway." She nodded. "Now, I will be leaving for a short time. I will see you again soon." She trotted away abruptly.

Mosstongue returned to his duties training Fernpaw, his apprentice, and Icepaw and Crystalpaw padded down the ramp back towards the camp.

"What do you think that was?" Asked Crystalpaw in a hushed voice, looking over her shoulder as if the cause of the rumbling could be stalking them.

"I'm not sure." Replied Icepaw. "But whatever it was, it wasn't good." He glanced around to make sure no cat was following them. "And I have something to tell you."

Crystalpaw's eyes met his, waiting for him to speak.

"I never really had a dream from Starclan." He whispered. "I made it up."

The other apprentice blinked, shaking her head. "So, you weren't chosen by Starclan?" She asked, eyes narrowing. "How is that- why are you-?"

"Because, I'm going to show them that my destiny is in my OWN paws." He growled back. "I'm tired of following Starclan's rules like a blind sheep, waiting around for their instructions, their prophecies, and you should be, too. I'm going to save this clan if it's the last thing I do, and no one can stop me. Not even Starclan." Seeing that the defiant grin on Crystalpaw's face matched his own, he stood up a little taller. "Now," He began. "Let's go see what caused that rumbling."


Chapter Four~
The two apprentices dashed off in a hurry, dodging through camp to get out without any cat noticing that they were gone. They were nearly at the edge of the area and ready to explore when they were stopped by a questioning pip.

"H-hey, where are you two going?" Asked a small apprentice, a bit younger than Icepaw. Like the other sub-terranean mole cats, his eyes were unusually large and he was furless, but something was different about him.

He seemed... vulnerable. Like he shouldn't become a warrior ever, like he should have been a kit all of his life. He was obviously nervous, seemingly wanting to disappear and go curl up in his nice, warm nest back in the dens. "I-I'm Silverpaw." He muttered, almost inaudibly.

Icepaw blinked, almost immediately not wanting to take this kit with him. "We were just going out hunting." Was his automatic reply as he turned to leave, gesturing for Crystalpaw to follow him into the caverns, but Silverpaw stepped in his way.

"N-no, you're not."

Icepaw and Crystalpaw exchanged glances, then settled their gaze back on the other apprentice. "Why do you say that?" Icepaw questioned.

"Because I-I've b-been following you." At this statement, Icepaw and Crystalpaw started to laugh.

"That's good, kid. I thought you had some sort a' mystical power or something. Well, we've got to go do stuff now, see you later." Icepaw spoke quickly, changing the subject in a way that was about as smooth as sandpaper.

(Chapter Four to be continued...)

Chapter Two added.

Ohh, MOLECATS.

Very interesting so far, looking forward too more.

You have your more.

Chapter Three added.

Oh, have you figured out who the main character is? Because he's someone y'all know.

ICESTAR IS A BAMF.

Very nice.

Thanks. :3 You'll have more later on, probably next weekend. I'm done for the night and I'm not gonna be on this week. Sorry guys. Try not to get to far without me.

I'll work on the story during the week though, in my free time. Bai!

Of course you ended chapter 1 in pervy joke. Why did I not see this?

DERP

and QUIET! I'm not supposed to be online right now! SHUSH!

How am I being loud by typing.
Lawl.
Lawl.
I am dying over trying to get PF's Unova Legends.

Lol!!