The sky had stuttered into darkness. The twinkling stars that danced at midnight had grown silent. Nothing stirred, as nothing dared. In the center of a beautiful meadow, next to a trickling silver stream, a golden cat stood hovering over a gap in space time. He peered intently through the rip in the ground. Below, the tom spotted three young cats tied together to a tree, paws restricted by tight vines. They were unconscious for now. He shook his broad head and groomed the stars in his pelt. On his back, a pair of glittering wings shone as his crest.
"Dear Naiyapaw," he meowed softly, exhaling clouds of stardust. "You must be brave. The talon has discovered your power, and he will not stop until he rules all."
The mighty feline paused, feeling an inkling of dread rise in his stomach.
"But your true enemy is the evil in your prophecy. He will overthrow the talon and wreak havoc on the land. Naiyapaw, it is your destiny to make use of the stone and stop this true evil from taking over your tribe, and many others after it."
"Phoenixstar?" a voice echoed from somewhere nearby.
A rustling of leaves caught the tom's attention. He glanced over his shoulder and watched as a beautiful silver-grey she-cat prowled out of the bracken, her long tail waving in dismay. The crest on her chest resembled trickling water. It was glowing with fear, casting the meadow beneath a blanket of blue. Her eyes were emerald spheres of worry.
"Stormstar, greetings," Phoenixstar said, dipping his head with respect.
Stormstar trotted up next to the golden tom and sat down, wrapping her starry tail around her paws.
"Naiyapaw and her friends have been taken," she observed, glancing through the rip in the ground at the three cats bound to a tree, knocked out.
"Yes," Phoenixstar meowed. "It is only a matter of time before Ratstar and his accomplices begin experimenting with the stone. I fear Naiyapaw may not wake before then."
"The evil and the talon are working with the thorn. Although, the evil is what I fear."
"Yes, as do I."
"What will happen? Is there anything we can do to aid the apprentice?"
There was a long silence between the two. They said nothing for what seemed like moons.
"I regret to inform you that there is nothing we can do to prevent what lies ahead," he stated quietly, furrowing his brow. The crest on his back went dim, no longer shimmering silver wings of hope.
Stormstar hissed to herself. "All we may do is watch."
"And keep our hearts open. Perhaps not all is bleak," Phoenixstar countered. "After all, there is still the stone."
"And there is Naiyapaw to wield its power."