She shuffled farther into the den and sat down. Her pale brown fur was just visible against the leaves, and her eyes gleamed when she turned her head toward him.
“I’ve had a dream,” she began. Her voice was higher-pitched than usual, and Cloudstar recognized another scent beneath the herb-dust clinging to her pelt: fear.
“I’m sure StarClan was showing me the future. Not far off—Birdflight was there with your kits, and they were still very small.”
“But strong?” Cloudstar interrupted. “There’s nothing wrong with them, is there?”
Fawnstep shook her head. “No, your kits looked… healthy.”
Cloudstar didn’t like the way she had paused, but he let her go on.
The medicine cat took a deep breath. “SkyClan was leaving the forest. I…I think we were at a
Gathering. The other Clans were there. They were watching us go.”
“What? That’s absurd!” Cloudstar lashed his tail. “This is our territory!”
Fawnstep gazed at him, and Cloudstar winced at the sorrow in her eyes. “You don’t understand,” she meowed gently. “There was no territory left. Not for us. The Twolegs had taken it all, and we had nowhere else to go.”
A crack opened in Cloudstar’s heart, and for a moment he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t feel surprise, just sadness, and shame that he couldn’t have saved his Clan. Was this how his leadership would end? With SkyClan destroyed, hounded out of the forest like a mangy fox?
Fawnstep rested her tail on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Cloudstar. You should not have lost that battle. It is a defeat that we cannot survive.”
Conclusion:
Onestar’s Farewell
Hello, kittypets? Ah, there you are. I wondered where you’d gone. Did you get lost in these bushes?
The island’s bigger than it looks from the shore, isn’t it? Follow me back to the clearing. We’re leaving now. We’ll take you as far as our border; then you must go home. You can find your way on your own, can’t you? Good.
Did you learn everything you wanted to know about battles? I’ve heard some stories tonight that were new to me, I must say. What was Cedarheart talking about? There are rumors that he knows more about the history of the Clans than any other cat, but he’s never shared anything with me.
Battle is not always the answer, but it is part of our heritage, the legacy passed to us by our warrior ancestors, as well as the path to our future. Some questions can only lead to conflict; all challenges deserve a brave, carefully planned response. As long as we fight with honor, courage, and respect for our enemies, the legacy of battle deserves to survive. We will continue to pass on our skills to the new apprentices, then watch as they train the next generation. Heroes will be celebrated, the losing side condemned to dust in our memories. This is what it means to be a warrior: to be proud of our legacy, of the battles that we have fought and that our ancestors fought on our behalf.
For as long as the fire burns in our blood, warrior Clans will fight.
Turn the page to play…
Visit www.warriorcats.com to download game rules, character sheets, a practice mission, and more!
Written by Stan! • Art by James L. Barry
THE DELUGE
Whatever the previous adventure you played, consider that three moons have passed since then.
Determine what age that makes all of the cat characters (including one belonging to the person who will take the first turn as Narrator) and use the information found in the “Improving Your Cat” section of Chapter Four in the game rules to make the necessary improvements.
Unless you are the first person who will act as Narrator in this adventure, you should stop reading here. The information beginning in the next paragraph is for the Narrator only.
The Adventure Begins
Hello, Narrator! It’s time to begin playing “The Deluge.” Make sure all the players have their character sheets, the correct number of chips, a piece of paper, and a pencil. Remember that the point of the game is to have fun, so don’t be afraid to go slow, keep the players involved, and refer to the rules if you aren’t sure exactly what should happen next.
When you’re ready, begin with 1 below.
1. Gray Skies, Wet Fur
Special Note: Some of the action in “The Deluge” depends on what Clans the players’ cats belong to.
The text below assumes they are from different Clans and that they need a special reason to be hunting together. If, however, they are all from the same Clan, some of the details in this scene will be unnecessary. Improvise where needed to make the description suit the situation.
Read Aloud: “Rain. In times of drought it seemed like there could be no such thing as too much rain.
But it’s been nearly a moon since any cat has seen more than a fleeting glimpse of the sky or the stars, and it’s been raining practically nonstop for days.”
Narrator Tips: This adventure takes place some time either before or after the drought the Clans experience in Omen of the Stars #1: The Fourth Apprentice. It doesn’t affect the story either way, but you may want to decide when exactly these events occur, just so your players have a better idea how they fit in with the main Warriors storyline.
Explain to the players that the rain has made things uncomfortable for all the Clans. It’s forced prey to stay in their dens, nests, and burrows as much as possible, which in turn is making it difficult for the Clans to find sufficient fresh-kill. Things are so bad, in fact, that StarClan has sent dreams to several cats telling them that it is important to send some warriors deeper into the forest to hunt. (If any of the players’ cats have the Interpret Dreams Knack, they may be among those to whom StarClan has spoken.) The players’ cats are those who have been selected for this assignment. If the players’ cats are from different Clans, you can tell them that StarClan has talked about the need for all four Clans to work together in order to make it through this deluge.
Allow the players’ cats to ask questions about and prepare themselves for the trip. There really aren’t any particular details that you need to give them (though you can improvise any that you like).
The whole goal is for them to spend a day or two hunting farther up on the hill in the deep woods and to bring the fresh-kill back for all the Clans to share. The cats may want to take some traveling herbs before they go, and as long as it seems reasonable, let them.
Nothing of significance happens during the first day’s travel up the hill, but you can improvise
some details if you like. Be sure to emphasize the rain, which varies in intensity from drizzle to downpour but never stops completely. Also note that the cats do not see or scent any prey along their journey.
The next day, the rain is as light as it’s been in a long time—a fine mist even lighter than a sprinkle—but it’s still there. There are also two sets of fresh tracks in the mud, each moving in a different direction.
To find out more, the cats can attempt See Checks, but not Smell Checks (the rain still makes it too difficult to get details that way), to get more information about the tracks. Knacks like Animal Lore and Track can be used to augment these Checks.
Any cat whose Check totals 5 or higher recognizes one of the sets of tracks as definitely having been made by a rabbit and thinks the other is probably a rabbit, too, only bigger. With a total of 8 or higher, the cat recognizes the second set is not made by a rabbit but still isn’t certain what animal made it. With a total of 10 or higher, the cat knows that the second set of tracks was made by a fox.