p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Leafpaw sighed, and looked at the remains of the juicy mouse. It was leaf-bare, and there was barely enough food for the queens, not to mention the whole clan. She shivered as a harsh, rainy wind blew her fur flat. She lowered her head and crouched down, scanning the camp for her sister, Redpaw. She spotted her on the far side of the Tall-Rock, the bright red fur that gave her her name plastered against her flank./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;""Redpaw!" she meowed loudly, as she pushed aside the carcass, "Let's go under shelter!" She had to raise her voice against the howling winds./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Redpaw raised her head, a vole dangling in her jaws. "Okay." she agreed, padding over to the apprentices den. Leafpaw joined her, tail drooping under the heavy downpour of emwetness./em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"As they huddled together under the branches, Leafpaw spotted her fellow apprentice, Dustpaw, sharing tongues with Sweetpaw./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;""Ooh," Leafpaw hissed to Redpaw under her breath, "Looks like Dustpaw found a future mate..." Redpaw snickered, not unkindly. "Did you know that Hawkstar and Snowheart are having kits?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;""Oh, really? I knew Snowheart was looking a little plump, but I wasn't sure. Is she in the nursery?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;""Yes, mousebrain. Every queen goes into the nursery."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" Leafpaw started to protest, "But, well, she /spanemis /emspan style="font-style: normal;"Hawkstar's mate, so you know, maybe..."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"Redpaw sighed, and curled up in her nest, her eyes drooping sleepily. "You know, it is night time..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"Leafpaw agreed, and sat down to sleep. As she was drifting off, she heard a voice in her head./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"emSuddenly, she found herself in a meadow, surrounded by trees. A cat with long gray fur, speckled with stars, was watching her. Leafpaw gave a quiet gasp. "Dovewing! Is this Starclan?" /em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"em "Yes," the legendary cat responded, her tail twitching in amusement. /em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"em "Wow," Leafpaw gave an awed sigh, and looked around, her eyes shining with delight. Suddenly, she sat down. "Wait," she meowed, her ears perked up, quickly alert, "I know when Starclan visits someone in a dream, they usually have to tell them something. What do you want to tell me?"/em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"em Dovewing sighed softly, like wind swishing through the feathers that gave her her name. "There will be six- six who hold the fate of the forest in their paws- wind, water, thunder, shadows, sky and rock. Seek them out, and defeat the Dark." /em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"em Starclan faded away, and Leafpaw was falling, falling into empty blackness. She clawed at the air, and her paws found a branch to grasp. There, in front of her, was an expansive forest. She purred in relief, but, as she got adjusted, and her head started to clear, she started in fear. Inside the forest was a dark nothingness. The trees were rotting, trucks coming apart at the slightest touch. The prey lay dead in hollow logs, and snow coated the ground. She found her breath, and her eyes widened. A voice, filled with bitter hatred, sounded in her ears, /emspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;""/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"This is the forest, as it will be. This is your Clan's demise... You will fall into despair, with no prey, and no means of healing. You will all die, and it will be your fault, for you did nothing." /spanemLeafpaw opened her mouth but no sound came out. Her paws slipped, and she tumbled into the abyss, her mouth letting out a horse cry as she fell. /em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" Leafpaw woke with a start, letting her mouth hang open. Had that been real? No, it couldn't have been, she concluded. Why would Starclan, and more importantly, /spanemDovewing, /emspan style="font-style: normal;"one of the cats who saved the clans long ago, speak to /spanemher/emspan style="font-style: normal;"? And anyway, what does /spanemthe rock/emspan style="font-style: normal;" mean? It had been a dream, just a dream. Leafpaw nodded silently to herself, and padded outside, careful not to disturb Redpaw. She found that the wind had since died down, and it was a relativity calm night. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" As she walked along, she tripped over a root, and stumbled, catching her claw against a pebble. She bit back a cry of pain. That was the paw she had injured in the dream! She stared at her torn paw, hoping the scraped claw could give her some answers. So, the dream /spanemhad/emspan style="font-style: normal;" been real. But why? Why send a nonsense prophecy (for she had figured out by now what it was) to her, a lowly apprentice? And she knew what the wind, the water, thunder and shadows were, of course: Windclan, Riverclan, Thunderclan, and Shadowclan. But /spanemrock/emspan style="font-style: normal;"? And /spanemsky/emspan style="font-style: normal;"? Surely there weren't any other clans out there!/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"She sighed, and cradled her paw, limping back to the den. As she fell asleep, she thought she heard a soft sigh, like wind on a dove's wing./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;""Redpaw!" she meowed loudly, as she pushed aside the carcass, "Let's go under shelter!" She had to raise her voice against the howling winds./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"Redpaw raised her head, a vole dangling in her jaws. "Okay." she agreed, padding over to the apprentices den. Leafpaw joined her, tail drooping under the heavy downpour of emwetness./em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"As they huddled together under the branches, Leafpaw spotted her fellow apprentice, Dustpaw, sharing tongues with Sweetpaw./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;""Ooh," Leafpaw hissed to Redpaw under her breath, "Looks like Dustpaw found a future mate..." Redpaw snickered, not unkindly. "Did you know that Hawkstar and Snowheart are having kits?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;""Oh, really? I knew Snowheart was looking a little plump, but I wasn't sure. Is she in the nursery?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;""Yes, mousebrain. Every queen goes into the nursery."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" Leafpaw started to protest, "But, well, she /spanemis /emspan style="font-style: normal;"Hawkstar's mate, so you know, maybe..."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"Redpaw sighed, and curled up in her nest, her eyes drooping sleepily. "You know, it is night time..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"Leafpaw agreed, and sat down to sleep. As she was drifting off, she heard a voice in her head./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"emSuddenly, she found herself in a meadow, surrounded by trees. A cat with long gray fur, speckled with stars, was watching her. Leafpaw gave a quiet gasp. "Dovewing! Is this Starclan?" /em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"em "Yes," the legendary cat responded, her tail twitching in amusement. /em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"em "Wow," Leafpaw gave an awed sigh, and looked around, her eyes shining with delight. Suddenly, she sat down. "Wait," she meowed, her ears perked up, quickly alert, "I know when Starclan visits someone in a dream, they usually have to tell them something. What do you want to tell me?"/em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"em Dovewing sighed softly, like wind swishing through the feathers that gave her her name. "There will be six- six who hold the fate of the forest in their paws- wind, water, thunder, shadows, sky and rock. Seek them out, and defeat the Dark." /em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"em Starclan faded away, and Leafpaw was falling, falling into empty blackness. She clawed at the air, and her paws found a branch to grasp. There, in front of her, was an expansive forest. She purred in relief, but, as she got adjusted, and her head started to clear, she started in fear. Inside the forest was a dark nothingness. The trees were rotting, trucks coming apart at the slightest touch. The prey lay dead in hollow logs, and snow coated the ground. She found her breath, and her eyes widened. A voice, filled with bitter hatred, sounded in her ears, /emspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;""/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"This is the forest, as it will be. This is your Clan's demise... You will fall into despair, with no prey, and no means of healing. You will all die, and it will be your fault, for you did nothing." /spanemLeafpaw opened her mouth but no sound came out. Her paws slipped, and she tumbled into the abyss, her mouth letting out a horse cry as she fell. /em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" Leafpaw woke with a start, letting her mouth hang open. Had that been real? No, it couldn't have been, she concluded. Why would Starclan, and more importantly, /spanemDovewing, /emspan style="font-style: normal;"one of the cats who saved the clans long ago, speak to /spanemher/emspan style="font-style: normal;"? And anyway, what does /spanemthe rock/emspan style="font-style: normal;" mean? It had been a dream, just a dream. Leafpaw nodded silently to herself, and padded outside, careful not to disturb Redpaw. She found that the wind had since died down, and it was a relativity calm night. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-style: normal;" As she walked along, she tripped over a root, and stumbled, catching her claw against a pebble. She bit back a cry of pain. That was the paw she had injured in the dream! She stared at her torn paw, hoping the scraped claw could give her some answers. So, the dream /spanemhad/emspan style="font-style: normal;" been real. But why? Why send a nonsense prophecy (for she had figured out by now what it was) to her, a lowly apprentice? And she knew what the wind, the water, thunder and shadows were, of course: Windclan, Riverclan, Thunderclan, and Shadowclan. But /spanemrock/emspan style="font-style: normal;"? And /spanemsky/emspan style="font-style: normal;"? Surely there weren't any other clans out there!/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"She sighed, and cradled her paw, limping back to the den. As she fell asleep, she thought she heard a soft sigh, like wind on a dove's wing./p