One night, the night of the half-moon, StarClan spoke. One night, at the moon pool the prophecy was revealed. One night, to all the medicine cats, the answer was clear. The next morning, they told their leaders, and an action plan was sprung. Everyone was told. Only four rose to the rescue. These cats were the chosen ones.
4 paths of paws lead to the sun,
The source of life and bringer of good.
From each line of warriors,
1 will step forwards to take the challenge.
Each strong and brave,
Successful and clever,
The key to peace and warmth.
A warrior's dreams to be crushed and demolished,
A kit to be lost to an endless grimace.
For the price of life,
An endless amount,
So the clans may live forever.
Happy.
Without doubt.
The prophecy was most peculiar, and not at all like the others StarClan had sent, but the message was still clear. The four cats who spoke up, one from each clan, were the ones who would save the clans, bringing their individual clans life for all the moons should come. If all went well, no matter how many cats died, there would always be four clans.
I am one of those cats. My name is Frostwing of RiverClan, and I am one of the four cats who wanted to do something about the prophecy, even before I was told the exact words. Our medicine cat, Sundapple, had just stood on top of the willow stump and announced, "There is a prophecy! What do you guys think?" And unlike everyone else, instead of letting out meows of shock and confusion, I said, "Well, what are we going to do about? I vote for action!" After that, I was suddenly prophesized and I don't regret anything.
Except for the fact that I have been forced to live on the island with the other three cats. Smokebreeze of ShadowClan; Poppystorm of ThunderClan; and Skyflight of WindClan. Every single one of my camp mates are strange and weird. It feels like I'm the only sane one here. Yesterday, we had a discussion about hunting. It started when I brought back a baby trout.
"We shouldn't kill innocent babies!" Skyflight had yowled. "Put that thing back in the lake, Frostwing!"
"It's dead now," I pointed out. "Besides, it's just a fish."
Then Smokebreeze padded over to Skyflight. "No, it's not! It's a living animal just like us! We shouldn't kill prey!"
"We'd starve!" I'd responded, rolling my blue eyes. "What's the big deal?"
Poppystorm's eyes widened, and she cried, "Don't you get it? They don't deserve to die! If a monster kills them, then it's fine, but we should all pick on someone our own size."
"So I should kill a badger." I retorted. "Then would you be happy?"
Smokebreeze sniffed. "Ew. That would taste horrible. You're welcome to eat one yourself, but please don't bring it to camp."
"Why am I stuck with you guys?" I shrieked. "All you do is act like the wierdos you are!"
When the gathering came, I got in big trouble for yelling at them. I still don't see why I got punished! I was only speaking the truth! But it seems like I don't matter these days. Only them. At this point, I had tried avoiding them at all costs. I only got in more trouble. "You have to work with them to save us!" Nightstar of ShadowClan had mewed hysterically. Then my leader, Silverstar, added, "You must eat and catch only frogs for a moon!"
You probably wonder why I even did this in the first place. It seems like I was some stupid maniac who decided to be a prophesized cat even though I'm not.
That struck a little close to home. Let's forgot about being part of prophecies. Let's focus on what happened next. What happened next? There's a big fox attack, and this kit from my clan named Petalkit kills a fox and saves us all. Um, excuse me? She's just a kit! But now everyone is saying that she should take my place. I you were in my position, you would be furious, snapping at anyone who got too close. I was the one who spoke up, not Petalkit! She wasn't even born. She can't be it. Yet she's weird like the others, and you can only wonder...
The evening, that very same day, I quit. I surrendered my position to Petalkit, and the little kit took it gladly. She's welcome to the island of weird cats from other clans who you don't know. She's welcome to suffer how I did. But I am not the prophesized cat who I thought I was. If it were me, I would be weird, too.
...
Poppystorm. Poppystorm. Poppystorm. The cat who is in a prophecy. The cat who wants to be best friends with a cat who says she's crazy. Why did I ever fall for Frostwing? What made me like her as a friend? The way she scorns me... Says I'm stupid... I shouldn't like her. But I do. I've always been caught on the alone side of every argument in ThunderClan. As the cat who doesn't like killing innocent creatures, but does it still so her clan can eat before going off to find myself some herbs to chew. I've even discovered these cool ones, which I gave some top-of-my-mind names: Broccoli, and peas. Plus cauliflower. Cauliflower is good.
4 paths of paws lead to the sun,
The source of life and bringer of good.
From each line of warriors,
1 will step forwards to take the challenge.
Each strong and brave,
Successful and clever,
The key to peace and warmth.
A warrior's dreams to be crushed and demolished,
A kit to be lost to an endless grimace.
For the price of life,
An endless amount,
So the clans may live forever.
Happy.
Without doubt.
My one question is the prophecy. Where do I fit in? What will I do? All it talks about it the cats in it and the reward. Nothing about the problem that I'll have to solve. There's one cat in the clan who's vaguely like me; My sister, Misttail. She eats prey, but she isn't a big fan of killing it. She loves her clan, but doesn't see all the bloodshed necessary. We have a lot both in common and not in common. I think she might be the cat in the prophecy. Not me.
But there's no point. I'm the one who spoke up. I'm the one who's stuck in all this mess. I don't really like Petalkit or the others- they come from the other clans, so duh- but we're all so much alike. I can't help but enjoy spending time with them. Even broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. We all like them. I'm even working on making a garden of them on the island right now. But I don't feel like I'm succeeding.
In fact, I bet you my life that I'm failing. Failing me, failing everyone. It's like falling into a pit. You can't see the bottom. It's covered in darkness, a place where the sun does not reach. But you cannot see the top, see the trees. I'm hopelessly stuck, waiting for something to catch me. Every day I wake up, fearing I have missed the chance for me to save everyone. Fearing I will hit the bottom of this pit and die, just how Frostwing was forced out of the Four. Petalkit is... Interesting. But she isn't in a pit like me; I can tell. Neither are the others. Oh, why can't my problems just be solved already?
I'm smart to figure out the part of the prophecy about the warrior and the kit. Frostwing was the warrior who lost the prophecy, and Petalkit was the kit dragged into all this hard responsibility. But I still don't see the part about the sun. I bet everyone has already figured it out, and just not bothered to tell me. Because I'm boring, a big drag, and totally not worthy of the honor of my life. Where did everything go wrong?
My garden is finished. The four of us are waiting for enough to grow before we harvest any, though, so we're still scavenging to find our plants. Petalkit even discovered a new one! She's named it brussels sprouts. They aren't as tasty as broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower, but they're very popular and will grow in almost any terrain, as we've discovered. And Petalkit isn't even Petalkit anymore- now it's Petalpaw. A, um, interesting name for an interesting cat, I must say.
My life is hard. Sometimes I want to just curl up and die. Everything is strain, everything is stress. Why can't anything be simple, especially when it comes to me? I'm a mouse-brain, aren't I? Just like Frostwing I'm falling. Just like Frostwing I'm failing. At most, all I can do is make poems of how everything is going wrong. Each night I sing one quietly to myself, thinking of just how true they are.
"Missing,
Lost in my life,
Where nothing is ever simple,
Full of conflict and strife.
Missing,
Waiting to be found.
To be brought back to my home,
All safe and sound.
Plenty of cats could be me,
But none of them would fail so.
I always lack the courage,
To do what I should do.
I wish to be forgotten.
Stripped of all those tales.
Of how I failed everyone,
When I was needed most.
Missing."
That was the first I sang. I like how it highlight how lost I feel here, without a purpose. It also shows my weaknesses, and I like that. You might have guessed, but I've grown quite fond of all my poems. Each one helps keep me sane, and I enjoy thinking and singing them.
"Tales of the cat
Who failed everyone.
Buzz around the clans
Like bees.
Never had purpose
Something I'd like to do.
At first I thought it might work out
But better I know now.
Stories are like the wind
Whispering lives
That no one would remember.
Without
Stories.
Tales of the cat
Who should have done something.
Before everything was lost.
Like life.
Never thought I was capable
Never believed in me.
I should have tried at least
Before I killed everyone.
Stories like my life
Should always be scorned.
No one should appreciate me
Or the deeds I've done.
I killed
Life."
I like that one too. But one poem gets me every time, and I wish I was brave enough to yowl it to the stars and show everyone how useless I am so that they can find a replacement for me, someone who could actually save us from who knows what.
"Trapped by my life.
Knowing I'm not worthy.
Of the honor placed upon me.
Knowing.
I shouldn't be here.
Where everyone looks up to me.
Someone should replace me.
I have no courage.
Every moment of my life.
Is spent in fear.
Of how I've failed everyone.
Why don't they see it.
Why can't someone become me.
Why can't I become someone.
Before I kill us all.
I know I'll kill us all.
It speaks of courage.
Of skill and determination.
But not once did it mention.
Going through all this frustration.
The one time I felt safe.
Was in the nursery.
But never can I put paw in their again.
I should be a warrior.
I should be a star.
Yet I've failed them.
Yet I've failed them.
StarClan choose another.
Send another omen.
Please don't leave me here.
Where I'm surrounded by danger.
Every bird I see takes flight.
Every mouse I see don't die.
Ooooh, why can't I be replaced.
Ooooh, why can't I change.
No one's going to live with me.
In charge of saving them.
I bring shame to my clan.
I'm positive.
If no one wants to be me.
Why can't I be like them.
They say I have too many questions.
They probably hate me.
At least I know some other cats.
Who like vegetables, like me.
Every is a routine.
Always dragging down me.
If only a cat could see.
Someone else would replace me."
That's right. I'm a failure. I'm worse then Frostwing and Petalkit. I'm worse then ShadowClan. Oh, why did I speak up? Why did I doom the clans?