Warriors: A Vision of Shadows #1: The Apprentice's Quest - Preview and Speculation

As some of you may know, the new Warriors arc A Vision of Shadows will kickoff with the release of The Apprentice's Quest. A Vision of Shadows is going to be the sixth Warriors arc and is going to take place 18 months after the events of the Warriors super edition Bramblestar's Storm. Cherith Baldry, one of the authors of Warriors who writes under the pen name Erin Hunter, will be writing The Apprentice's Quest. This new book will be made available on March 15, 2016. Here is the cover image:

It's a gorgeous cover designed by the new Warriors cover artist, Owen Richardson. The Apprentices's Quest will be 336 pages long and will feature Bramblestar's and Squirrelflight's son, Alderpaw. Let's take a peek at the blurb:

"Embrace what you find in the shadows, for only they can clear the sky.

For many moons, the warrior cats have lived in peace in their territories around the lake. But a dark shadow looms on the horizon, and the time has come for one young cat to shape his destiny—and the fate of all the warrior Clans.

Alderpaw, the son of the ThunderClan leader, Bramblestar, is eager to find his place in Clan life. When he begins having strange dreams—visions that can only have been sent by the warrior ancestors in StarClan—Bramblestar names him apprentice to the Clan’s medicine cat. But the omens in Alderpaw’s dreams will soon send him away from everything he has ever known on a quest to ensure the Clans’ survival.

The warrior cat Clans have enjoyed many moons of peace and prosperity—but a dark season approaches, and those days will soon be over. Guided by a mysterious vision, the young apprentice Alderpaw of ThunderClan must go on a dangerous journey . . . a journey that may be the Clans’ only hope."

Now it's time for... speculation!

First of all, the opening sentence is obviously a prophecy from Starclan that will be given to Alderpaw: "Embrace what you find in the shadows, for only they can clear the sky". The key words here are "shadows" and "sky", which refer to Shadowclan and Skyclan, respectively. So here's how I think the plot is going to go:

• Alderpaw will receive visions from Starclan (which is already confirmed in the blurb) and will be given the prophecy.
• The prophecy requires Alderpaw to team up with another apprentice in Shadowclan ("Embrace what you find in the shadows"). The cover depicts two cats as well, the one in front being Alderpaw, and the one behind him being the Shadowclan apprentice. In addition, the second book in the arc is titled Thunder and Shadow.

• Possible Shadowclan apprentices that will unite with Alderpaw include Needlepaw, Yarrowpaw, Beepaw, Sleekpaw, Juniperpaw, and Strikepaw. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's going to be Needlepaw, mainly due to the fact that this apprentice has the most detailed description.

• Alderpaw and the Shadowclan apprentice will go a journey to bring the Skyclan cats to the lake ("for only they can clear the sky"). Also, the name of the second book in the arc originally was The Lost Clan, but was later changed to Thunder and Shadow.

I'm only throwing some ideas around, but in less than a month we will know for sure how the story is going to go! Warriors is so amazing, and the A Vision of Shadows arc is going to be a great addition to the series we all know and love. I can't wait for the new Warriors storyline to start off with The Apprentice's Quest in March.

If you are interested, click here for a link to the allegiance list for The Apprentice's Quest on Kate Cary's blog.

Also, click here to see The Apprentice's Quest for sale on the Harper Collins website.