Thunder Rising/Prologue

Chapter Summary
 Thunder's PoV 
 * All is dark over the moor, and Thunder closes his eyes to slits while looking up at the moon. He feels another sensation ruffling his fur besides the wind and turns his head. It is his mother, Storm, who pauses in her licking and meets Thunder's gaze. She draws him closer with her paw and Thunder is met with both the strangeness of the meeting and how familiar it is to him. He cannot remember Storm in the waking world, yet here he recognizes her instantly, right down to the scent of her breath.


 * Seeing Storm reminds Thunder of Hawk Swoop, the she-cat who took care of him when Gray Wing brought him out to the moor. He asks Storm to tell him the story again, even though he is unsure what story he means or why he is asking. After a small hesitation she begins to speak, telling Thunder that she first met his father, Clear Sky, in the forest. She tells him that when their eyes met she could sense the love in him, compelling Thunder to ask why things had changed; why he had been cast out by Clear Sky. Storm shifts, then tells him that the love was still there, but Clear Sky was unsure what to do with it. Licking his side she tells Thunder he would help Clear Sky figure out what to do with it.


 * Thunder almost closes his eyes, but spots a movement in the distance and the shape of a cat. He recognizes it as Clear Sky, and feels Storm's heartbeat quicken at the sight of him, causing Thunder to realize his mother still loves his father. Thunder tries to rise and go to him, but Storm pulls him down, telling him the time was not yet right; he would know when it was. Storm says Thunder has much of his father in him, and Thunder reacts by demanding why Clear Sky would not acknowledge him, wailing that everything feels wrong. As the breeze from the night grows Thunder can no longer see her, only hearing her, as she tells him that he will make things right when the time comes.