Tornado lifted her head and opened her mouth in a wide yawn. Looking around, she saw dark trees.

"Wait...where am I?" She said to herself. Standing up groggily, she looked all around. The only thing she saw was trees! "Hello?" She called. "Maxwell?"

Suddenly, a cat stepped out of the shadows. The cat was a very dark tabby, and looked just like the forest cat called 'Bramblestar'.

"Hello, young cat." He growled. He sounded nothing like Bramblestar, and Tornado cringed when he spoke.

"W-what to you want with me?" Tornado's voice quivered. Is he going to eat me? She wondered.

"Calm down, Tornado." The strange cat got closer and smelled of trees and dirt. "I am going to help you take over the Clans."

Tornado stood up, suddenly curious. "You are going to help me? But...you look and smell just like one of those evil clan cats!" She narrowed her eyes at the big tom.

He laughed. "No, no. I am not one of them. I was, at one time, yes. But now, I realize they are all worthless and pathetic. None of them hunger for power like you do, Tornado." He paced in a circle around her, watching her with amber eyes.

"I don't 'hunger for power'. I hunger for revenge. What those cats are doing isn't fair. Why is it that they get the entire forest and us house cats only get our housefolk's yard?" Tornado lashed her tail. "It's just not fair!"

The tom paused for a moment. "Well, whatever the reason, you still want to conquer the clans. And I will help you." He sat down and curled his tail over his feet.

"How will you help me? Will you join Stormclan?" Tornado asked, suddenly brightening up. "We can change your name and then you can help us fight the-"

The tom cut her off. "No. I have no intentions of joining your clan. I only wish to mentor you so that you can become the most powerful cat in the forest."

"Me?" Tornado couldn't even imagine that she could possibly be the most powerful cat in the forest. She had seen for herself how powerful the Clan cats were. But we will be stronger, she thought.

"Yes." The tabby tom flicked his tail. "I will train you myself. I used to be the most powerful cat in the forest, but my life was ended cruelly, just as I was rising to full power."

Tornado's eyes grew wide. "Your life ended? What does that mean? Are you a...ghost?" She stepped back, tail between her legs.

The cat laughed. "I guess you could say that. You are dreaming, Tornado. You came to me, I did not come to you." He licked a paw and drew it over his ear.

Tornado relaxed. "But...I don't even know your name. How can I trust you?"

"My name is Tigerstar. And trust me, Tornado, if you are trained by me, the clans will fear you. You will be so powerful, that they will bow down in your glory! You can live out what I never got to!" Tigerstar paced around her again, lashing his tail. "Oh, I can't wait to see the look on my son's face when he realizes I have trained you and your clan to be more powerful than he ever thought you could be!"

"Who is your son?" Tornado asked, curious. "And why do you keep saying 'clans'? Is there more than one forest clan? Or do you just mean Stormclan is the other clan?" She tilted her head, eager for more information.

"My son is Bramblestar, leader of Thunderclan. I am proud of him for becoming leader, but he never rose to his true potential. He is a traitor to me." Tigerstar paused for a moment, staring at the forest floor. "And yes. There are four clans in the forest. Thunderclan, Riverclan, Shadowclan, and Windclan. You will have to build a clan strong enough to defeat all of them."

Tornado couldn't believe it. More clans? How will Stormclan ever be powerful enough to beat all of them? "Are they all as fierce as Thunderclan?"

Tigerstar chuckled. "Yes. Some are fiercer. But they are held back by something you are not. The Warrior Code."

Tornado walked closer, ears pricked. "And what exactly is this 'Warrior Code'?"

"The Warrior Code is the code of all the clans that keeps the balance of peace and hatred steady. It limits cats so they cannot rise to their full potential. Basically, the clan cats cannot fight dirty, but Stormclan can." Tigerstar flexed his claws. "I can only imagine watching those traitors bleed to death on the forest floor."

"Wait! I don't want to kill any cat! I only want to teach them a lesson!" Tornado's ears flattened in horror.

Tigerstar rolled his eyes. "Don't get your tail in a twist...there will be others willing to kill. Meanwhile, I suppose I'll just teach you basic battle moves to get you started." He stood in front of her, paws planted firmly on the ground. "Attack me."

"What? Now? But I don't know anything!" Tornado widened her eyes in surprise.

"Just do it! Pretend I'm a Thunderclan warrior trying to attack your clan!" Tigerstar snarled.

Tornado gulped and spread her paws apart, trying to copy Tigerstar's pose. Then, she pounced, aiming for Tigerstar's back. But, before she could land on him, he rolled out of the way, quickly snatching her legs out from underneath her. As she fell on the ground, he placed one big paw on her shoulder, holding her down. Then he reached down and pretended to bite her neck.

"That could've been a kill bite, cat." He stepped away. "You've got a lot of work to do if you want a chance at beating the clans." Tigerstar flicked his tail. "Let's start again."

******************

Tornado woke with a start in her fluffy nest. She licked her shoulder, which was still bleeding from training with Tigerstar. His scratches hurt, but with every scratch, she was learning. She stood up, feeling stiff.

Maxwell lifted his head from his best next to her. "Good morning, Tornado." He meowed groggily. "You were thrashing around in your sleep last night. Did you have a nightmare?" He asked, sounding concerned.

Tornado saw the worry in Maxwell's green eyes. "Yes. But I don't remember it; I'm fine." She passed away to the cat flap and walked outside into the bright summer sunlight.

"Hey! There you are, Tornado!" Avalanche called from his yard. He hopped over the fence and padded over to Tornado. "We've found more cats for the clan."

Tornado instantly brightened up. "Really? I want to meet them!" She followed Avalanche back over the fence, but instead of going into Avalanche's yard, they went into the forest. "Where are we going?" She asked, looking up ahead.

"We made a temporary camp on the edge of the forest, where the clan cats don't go." Avalanche followed the fence line until they reached a little clearing. "It's not much, but it should do for now. They were building dens for us when I left, so they should be coming along."

Tornado glanced over at him. "Dens? Why would we need those?"

"To sleep in, of course." Avalanche watched Tornado as she stopped in her tracks. "You do know that we will be sleeping here, right? We are a clan now, we can't let our housefolk drag us down."

"But...my life is with my housefolk! What will I do without them?" Tornado wailed. She crouched down and tried to stop her thoughts from spinning so wildly.

"Tornado..." Avalanche began, "Its best this way. If we are going to be a real clan, and be taken seriously by the others, we need to live here, just like they do." He licked her ear. "Don't worry; once we learn how to hunt better we will be fine here! Hurricane says fresh-kill tastes better than the little pellets our housefolk give us!"

Tornado lifted her head, nodding. "You're right. We have to live here. And we need to learn to hunt better; I've never caught anything in my life!"

Both cats laughed as Typhoon and two strange cats padded up to them.

"Good morning, Tornado!" Typhoon meowed. "These are the new cats that Avalanche told you about." He gestured with his tail to the big orange tabby tom. "This is Derecho," and then he gestured to the black she-cat standing next to him. "And this is Cyclone."

"Nice to meet you, Tornado. I heard that you were the one to bring this clan together!" Cyclone meowed, her yellow eyes shining.

Tornado nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! And I'm so glad we finally got more cats! It seems like forever since we've found some!" She gave an excited little bounce.

Avalanche turned to Tornado. "Well, since you're the one making the decisions, what do we do now? Like...what would make us an official clan?"

"I think...the other clans have an official leader." Tornado paused for a moment, thinking. "And...they have these meetings-gatherings I think is what they're called-where all the clans gather together on the night of the full moon truce, to share news." Tornado was proud of herself for remembering what Tigerstar had told her.

Cyclone flicked her tail. "A leader, huh? Well, how do we choose one?" She glanced at all the cats gathered around.

Avalanche looked at Tornado. "I know you would want to be the leader, but I think you're too young." He touched his tail to her shoulder sympathetically.

Typhoon shuffled his way to the front of the small crowd. "Shouldn't it be the strongest cat?" A few cats murmured agreement, but Tsunami cut them off.

"I think it should be the smartest cat; the one that would make the best decisions for us." Tsunami gazed around at the cats as they began to nod in agreement.

Derecho raised his head. "I think Tornado should choose the leader." He meowed. "Since she is the one who started it all."

Avalanche nodded. "You do you choose, Tornado?"

She scanned the clearing and all the cats with eyes fixed on her. She knew all of them wanted to be leader, but she also knew not all of them would make good ones. "I choose..." All the cats were hanging on to her every word. "Cyclone!"

Cyclone's eyes widened in surprise. "Me? But you barely even know me!"

Tornado giggled. "I barely know any of these cats! But I do know that you are the right leader!"

Cyclone's gaze traveled around to each of the cat's faces, and then she nodded. "Very well; I will be Stormclan's leader."