(To all you artists, if you ever want to send me art about the story, I'll add it as the picture for a chapter and mention your name. :3 I saw some others doing this, and it looks kind of fun!)

Flamefoot opened his mouth to ask more, but the cat was gone. Frantically, he looked around, but all he could see was the forest. Where did she go? He thought, his mind whirling with all do the questions he had. What did he have to do with anything, not to mention his past? Why was there even a prophecy? What was going to happen?

Suddenly, a cold, powerful wind blew through the trees, and he braced himself against the ground.

The wind grew stronger and stronger, tugging at him with a ferocious force. His claws began to slip, chunks of the grass he was clinging to being pulled up with him, and Flamefoot went flying through the air, being tossed against the violently shaking trees like a leaf.

He closed his eyes, pain stabbing at him from all over. The pain grew, until he could clearly feel a sharp poking sensation in his side.

Flamefoot frowned, and his world went black.
-----------------

"Wake up! Wake up, you're thrashing about like a mad rabbit!"

A voice snarled in his ear. Flamefoot blinked open his eyes to see two amber eyes glaring at him.

"Alright, alright, I'm up," he mewed crossly.

Spottedstorm snorted. "It took you long enough. How is a cat supposed to get any sleep around here with you flailing like that? I was just in the middle of a great dream about a vole."

"Lucky you," Flamefoot muttered, "I got a dream about a prophecy and wind that tears cats apart." He stiffened. The dream! He has to go tell Sootstar and Darkwind about his dream! That must have been why they were acting so strange before - they had seen the same thing! "I have to go," Flamefoot mewed hastily.

"Hang on a moment, what's this about a prophec-" Spottedstorm protested, but he was already up and out of the den.

As Flamefoot walked briskly to the Sootstar's den, thought after thought flitted through his head like a flock of birds. There was so much he wanted to know. How much did Sootstar and Darkwind know? What would they do about it? Could they do anything about it?

His train of thoughts was cut short as he saw Sootstar next to Robinflight. They were murmuring quietly to each other, and Robinflight abruptly stopped as she saw Flamefoot.

"Flamefoot, do you need something?" She said calmly.

"Yes, actually," he replied, "I wanted to speak to Sootstar."

At this, Robinflight narrowed her eyes at him, clearly knowing what he was going to ask about. Before she could say anything, he pressed on.

"Just now I had a dream. Instead of a regular kind, I saw cats that had stars all around them, and one of them spoke to me. I assumed she was a StarClan cat, and she spoke a what can only be a prophecy."

Sootstar blinked, only slightly surprised. "I figured they would have sent you a message at some point. You see, when Darkwind went to the Moonpool, he had a vision much like yours. Let me guess, the StarClan cat said this: 'Four will become one, and nothing will be as it was. But till the fate-bound are sealed, peace will not come. The only way is through the new era, and the new era begins with Dusk.'"

Flamefoot was slightly taken aback, but he nodded. "Sootstar... You know why I had this dream too, then? Because of my old name?"

Sootstar nodded gravely. "Yes, that seems to be the only logical reason. The one thing I worry about is the fact that there even was an omen... Never has there been one that didn't have some sort of hardship for the Clans. What will this new prophecy cause?"

"We can't figure out now, so the most we can do is keep looking for clues." Robinflight stated. "Sootstar, I'll go organize the cats for tonight's gathering. I'm guessing you'll want to think about this for some time." She continued, and with a flick of her tail she was gone.

Sootstar seemed to be deep in his thoughts already, so Flamefoot decided to go get some fresh-kill to take his mind off of things. One prophecy was enough to make him tired, and all he wanted to do was get something to eat and head straight back to his nest.

As he rounded the warriors den, Flamefoot was confronted by Spottedstorm.

"Alright, what's this about a prophecy?"
She inquired.

Flamefoot huffed and tried to push past her, annoyed that she would get in the way of his food.

She just stepped in front of him again and stared at his face, a steady look in her eyes. It was obvious she was going to make him tell her about everything.

Just at that moment, Rocktail came over. "Flamefoot, wanna come share this rabbit with me?" He called. Flamefoot sighed inwardly with relief. She couldn't do anything about it now without causing a scene. He weaved around Spottedstorm and padded over to Rocktail, who was waiting beside a fresh young rabbit.

The two cats dug in, and Rocktail looked at Flamefoot with his ever present mischievous glint. "I saved your pelt back there, didn't I?"

Flamefoot groaned. "You have no idea."

Rocktail grinned. "So, that means you owe me. And in return for me so graciously saving you from the grey cloud of destruction.... I want you to clean my nest for a quarter moon!"

Flamefoot snorted in response and kept eating. "Yeah right. Wish all you want, Rocktail, I won't clean up after you where ever you go."

Changing the subject, Rocktail started to wiggle happily, seeming to forget he was a warrior and not a kit. "Robinflight told me before I came over that we're both going to the gathering. I haven't gone to one in four moons! It's about time, if you ask me."

Flamefoot purred, happy for his friend as well as himself. The Gatherings were always interesting, with new faces, stories, and skills to share. He couldn't wait to go.

***

Sootstar paused before leaping onto the trunk that led across the lake to the island. Robinflight followed, and then Darkwind, Gorseberry, Spottedstorm, Alderbranch, and Rocktail. Soon Flamefoot was at the base of the tree, and he swiftly jumped onto it, keeping his legs splayed slightly to maintain balance.

He weaved among the jutting branches and hopped off of the dead tree to feel cool sand beneath his feet. Rocktail had waited for him, and they approached the rest of the cats from other clans.

"It looks like we're the last to arrive," Rocktail hissed under his breath.

Flamefoot nodded, and he kept a wary gaze on the other cats. You never know who might be hostile.

Movement caught his attention, and he saw a powerfully built golden-brown tabby padding over to them. Flamefoot dipped his head in greeting, and Rocktail quickly followed suit.

The newcomer dipped his head as well, and spoke with a friendly tone. "Hello there! I saw you two at the edge of the crowd and I figured I come over. My name is Leaftail, by the way."

Rocktail looked at him with guarded curiosity as he picked up the cat's scent. "Greetings, Leaftail. I see you're from RiverClan. I'm Rocktail, and this is Flamefoot."

Leaftail turned to both of them as he seemed to memorize their names. "Rocktail. Flamefoot. Got it. So, anything new in ShadowClan?"

Flamefoot immedietly tensed inside. Was this cat probing for secrets? He then realized what he had just though and shook his head. Mouse-brain! Leaftail was obviously just trying to make small talk. Sootstar's tale of doom-foretelling prophecies was getting to him.

"We recently has an encounter with a fox, but I'm sure Sootstar will talk about that more."

Just then, a yowl rang out, and four cats could be seen standing on the giant oak. Flamefoot went a little closer to the huge tree and sat down with Rocktail. Leaftail settled down next to him, and Flamefoot had a brief flash of inquisition before the gathering began.

Willowstar, leader of ThunderClan, spoke first. "ThunderClan has had plentiful prey this greenleaf, as well as two new apprentices, Reedpaw and Quailpaw."

The cats below dutifully called out the new apprentices' names, "Reedpaw! Quailpaw! Reedpaw! Quailpaw!"

Willowstar stepped back, signaling she was finished, and Whitestar, leader of RiverClan, cleared his throat. "RiverClan has three new kits this season, with the mother being Appleleg."

A brief murmur of congratulations went through the clans.
New kits were always welcome news.

"We have had some trouble with twolegs by the halfbridge, but we always do around this time. Our borders are still as strong as ever." He concluded, with a subtle glance at Poppystar, the WindClan leader.

Flamefoot heard a WindClan cat mutter to the cat sitting next to her, "As if we would attack RiverClan! If anything, we should be protecting our borders against them!"

Poppystar watched Whitestar with narrowed eyes, and flicked her tail at Sootstar, indicating WindClan had nothing important to announce.

Flamefoot felt a knot of tension build inside of him. What would Sootstar say about the prophecy?

"ShadowClan recently encountered a fox on our territory, but we drove it off without a problem. It was last seen going towards Horseplace. In more pressing news, our medicine cat, Darkwind, has something he'd like to say."

Darkwind stood from his position among the other medicine cats and cleared his throat, unaccustomed to speaking to crowds.

"B-before, when I visited the Moonpool at the half moon, I had a strange dream. Recently, I went back to seek more information, and I was told a prophecy.

"'Four will become one, and nothing will be as it was. But till the fate-bound are sealed, peace will not come. The only way is through the new era, and the new era begins with Dusk.'"

That's when the trees behind Darkwind crashed on top of him.

{Author's Note- heheh, gotta love cliffhangers. This is probably the longest chapter I've ever written. (1758 words!) I'm not sure I can do another like this. XD the next chapter will be a little bit shorter. Don't forget to comment, as it helps me focus on writing and updating! Seriously, this book could depend on you guys!}