✦ THE FIRST BLOOD Long before the clans had borders, leaders, or even names for the territories they would one day claim, there lived a family unlike any other. They were not kings or warriors, nor did they rule over the cats around them. Instead, they were known as the Bloodbound—a lineage said to have been touched by the stars themselves. The Bloodbound were believed to possess an unusual connection to StarClan. Their dreams were clearer, their omens stronger, and their instincts seemed to reach beyond what any ordinary cat could understand. Some could supposedly sense when a cat's path was about to change. Others claimed to have seen events before they happened. Whether these abilities were truly supernatural or simply the result of generations of stories is impossible to know. What is known is that the Bloodbound became deeply respected. And eventually, feared. ✦ THE DIVISION The ancient group once lived as one. Every cat had a place, and the Bloodbound were woven into the lives of all of them. But as their influence grew, disagreements began to spread. Some cats believed the Bloodbound should use their connection to the stars to guide everyone. Others believed no family should possess such influence over the future. There were even those who claimed the Bloodbound had begun interfering with destinies that were never theirs to change. Then came the event that shattered everything. No living cat knows precisely what happened. The ancient group divided almost overnight. Families turned against one another, alliances were broken, and cats fled in different directions. Eventually, these scattered groups became the ancestors of the clans. Each clan remembered the division differently. One claimed the Bloodbound betrayed them. Another believed they sacrificed themselves to save the others. A third insisted the entire story was fabricated by cats who wanted an excuse to separate. Over time, every version became accepted as truth somewhere. But none of them possess the entire story. ✦ THE VANISHING After the clans separated, the Bloodbound lineage began to disappear. Cats bearing the blood were scattered among different families, their names changed and their ancestry forgotten. Some Bloodbound deliberately concealed who they were. Others may never have known at all. Eventually, the lineage seemed to vanish completely. StarClan offered no explanation. And that silence became part of the legend. For generations, elders whispered that the final Bloodbound had died long ago. The family became nothing more than an ancient story—a forgotten warning from an age when the clans were still young. But blood does not simply disappear. It can hide. It can be diluted. It can pass through generations without anyone realizing what they carry. And somewhere within the clans, the Bloodbound lineage may still exist. ✦ THE SILENCE OF STARCLAN Then StarClan began to change. Medicine cats noticed it first. Dreams that once arrived clearly became disjointed. Familiar ancestors appeared only for moments before disappearing. Prophecies seemed to contradict one another. Some visions showed events that had already happened, while others seemed to depict possibilities rather than certainties. Eventually, some medicine cats stopped receiving anything at all. The clans began to argue over what it meant. Perhaps StarClan had abandoned them. Perhaps the dead were angry. Perhaps something had happened beyond the stars that even the living could not comprehend. But there were others who believed the opposite. They believed StarClan was still there. They believed the ancestors were trying to speak. And they believed something was preventing them from being heard. ✦ THE OMEN Then, after countless moons of silence, a single cat receives a vision. It begins with stars. Then blood. Then a place that no living cat recognizes. And finally, a voice belonging to an ancestor who should have been long forgotten. The message is only a few words, but they are enough to shake the clans to their foundations. Because the omen does not warn of an approaching enemy. It does not predict a coming war. Instead, it reveals something far more disturbing: The Bloodbound were never gone. And whatever tore the ancient group apart all those generations ago may be beginning again.
