"Mousefur please tell us another story!" Ivykit pleaded, her blue eyes staring up at the elder.
"It's late, and you two should be getting back to the nursery." Mousefur mewed, resting her head on her paws.
"Oh just one more, please. Then we promise we'll go back to the nursery." Ivykit nodded as Dovekit spoke.
"Well I guess one more story wouldn't hurt…settle down here." The elder flicked her tail to the patch of moss between her and Longtail, the blind elder. The two kits scampered over as Mousefur began her tale. "Since the Clans came to the lake, it is said that that tonight, the longest night of leaf bare, when the moon is highest. Our warrior ancestors, the cats of StarClan come down to the world of the living, quiet as snow, and dance on the frozen lake."
"Can we go see them?!" Dovekit asked her green eyes flickering in the moon light.
"No we can't." It was Longtail who spoke up, "Many cats bigger and scarier than us have tried to watch this dance in the past, but none have been successful. They all comeback to say that they were merely chasing shadows."
"Shadows?" Ivykit's mew was small and fear filled. "What do you mean?"
"That shouldn't be the question of your interest. What you should be asking is; what makes our warrior ancestors return to silverpelt after such a short time?" Longtail replied.
"What?"
"I don't understand?" The kits meowed.
"What Longtail is trying to say is what could possibly be frightening enough to chase the warriors of StarClan back into the sky?" Mousefur answered.
"Are you telling them that old story again?" Lionblaze's voice reached them as he entered the elders den. The golden tom sighed, "You'll only get them worked up over nothing, and it's almost time for them to go to sleep."
"I think you just may be hurt because you and your siblings never got to see StarClan on the lake." Longtail replied with a purr of amusement.
"We only tried twice." Lionblaze retorted before turning to the kits. "Now it's time for you to be getting back to your mother, she's waiting for you in the nursery."
"Yes Lionblaze." The two she-kits said in unison.
Dovekit didn't want to go back to the nursery, she wanted to go and see the cats of StarClan. She'd always wondered what her warrior ancestors were like. As soon as Lionblaze had seen them on their way and began heading back to the warrior's den, the pale grey kit rounded on her sister, "We should go and see if we can see the Warriors of StarClan on the lake!"
"But the elders and Lionblaze said-"
Dovekit was quick to cut off her sister, "Who cares what they said! We may never get to do this again, and if we see our warrior ancestors Firestar's bound to make us apprentices right away or something!"
Ivykit still had an air of fear about her, "But what about the shadow?"
Dovekit flicked her tail over her sister's ear, "That's just meant to scare us so we'll stay in camp." Ivykit's eyes began to light up as she spoke, "Come on we won't take long, and we'll be back before Whitewing even knows we're gone, but we'll have to leave soon." Her sister nodded and they were off on their first adventure through ThunderClan territory.
"I'm not sure where we are, how will we ever find the lake?" Ivykit's shaking mew sounded over the wind as Dovekit shook snow from her kit-soft pelt.
"It's in that direction, can't you scent it?" She pointed her nose in the direction of the smell of water. It smelled like the moss Jayfeather had given her when she was in the medicine den with whitecough, only fresher.
Ivykit tilted her head to the side, "I can't smell anything."
"I guess you just don't know the scent from being in the med-" Dovekit stopped as a silver shape bounded between the trees in the direction of the lake. "Look a StarClan Warrior!" The large silver tabby looked up at them for a moment and Dovekit realized he wasn't just silver, he was golden and looked more like a warrior from LionClan than any cat she'd ever seen before he dove between the bushes towards the lake.
The kits took off running as fast as their small legs would carry them through the snow that was almost a mouse length deep. They skittered to a halt on the pebbles that made up the shore as they took in the glittering white expanse of the icy lake.
"It's completely frozen!" Ivykit squeaked.
"And look!" Dovekit gestured with her tail, "StarClan Warriors!" Silver shapes with the faint colours of their pelts danced and slid across the ice. Cats who used to be in rival clans now playing together like kits on the frozen water. "Let's go! We can see if we can play with any of them!"
Dovekit took off onto the ice and barely heard her sister behind her, "Hey! Wait for me!" The two kits came to a sliding halt in front of a calico she-cat who smelled faintly of ThunderClan. "Hi!" Ivykit piped.
As she spoke another cat, a silver tabby from RiverClan came gliding past, "Come on Spottedleaf!"
"Wait for me Feathertail!" Spottedleaf mewed chasing after the tabby.
"Wait I thought Feathertail was in the Tribe of Endless Hunting." Dovekit whispered to her sister.
"Can't you see?" She laughed, "There are tribe cat's here too!"
Dovekit cast her gaze around at the cats skating across the lake and just as Ivykit had said, there were more than just clan cats, but why would they be here?
"Come on lets go play!" Ivykit shot off across the ice, leaving Dovekit to chase in her wake.
As they ran, they passed a lean white tom who the LionClan looking cat called Whitestorm. There were so many warriors, that they went by in a blur, and Dovekit could hardly remember all the names she heard. Silverstream, Redtail, Tallstar Half Moon, Speckletail, Tallpoppy, Morningflower, Swiftpaw, Fallen Leaves, Snowkit, Bright Stream, Bluestar, Stonefur, Crookedstar. The names started jumbling in her mind as cats slid gracefully past them, some of them purred to the kits, but they never spoke, at least not to them.
As Dovekit locked eyes with a RiverClan queen named Greypool she heard Ivykit's yowl behind her, "Dovekit! Help me!"
She whisked around as she heard the ice cracking beneath her sister's paws, "Don't worry Ivykit I'll do something!" She was hardly aware that the StarClan cats had stopped and come to see what was happening, but they were no longer living, and couldn't do anything to help the kits. "I'll…I'll-" Dovekit jumped and knocked Ivykit onto thicker ice, but as she landed the ice gave way beneath her and she plunged into the freezing water.
Starry pelt's jumped in after her as if they were frantically searching for a way to help her, when she felt a strong tug on her scruff. The Warriors of StarClan swam began swimming back up, but before they reached the surface they vanished into a white mist.
She gasped for air as she scrabbled back onto the ice, under the impression she was out of harm's way, but Ivykit's shriek broke the night air, "Dovekit! The shadow!" He sister leaped at the cat that still had hold of her scruff and knocked her free as she jumped on the cat's muzzle. Dovekit only got a glimpse of the cat as they tore into the trees. A large black she-cat with long fur and glowing green eyes pelted across the lake after them.
"Dovekit! Ivykit! Where are you?!" The she-kit had never been happier to hear Lionblaze's yowl.
"Here! We're here!" Dovekit called out, knowing the warrior could protect them from the shadow, but as she turned to look at her pursuer, she watched the shadowy cat meet her gaze before diving into what looked like a fox den. There was one thing she noticed about the black cat, her eyes weren't starry or dark like she had heard in the elder's tales about the cats from the Dark Forset, they were glassy and reflective…just like a living cat's.
"What are you two doing out of camp?! Your mother's worried sick about you!" Lionblaze sounded both relieved and angry as he bounded into the clearing. As she saw the golden warrior who looked so much like the first StarClan cat they had seen, Dovekit noticed how much she was shivering, and longed to curl up in her nest next to Whitewing.
"We saw StarClan Warriors!" Ivykit exclaimed, "They were dancing on the lake! Just like Mousefur and Longtail said!"
Lionblaze just seemed more infuriated, "You were only dreaming Ivykit, once warriors go to StarClan they stay there unless they are talking to a clan leader or medicine cat, now come on let's get you back to camp." Dovekit thought she saw a glimmer of uncertainty in the tom's eyes, but it was so brief she couldn't tell.
Lionblaze reached to pick her up by the scruff as Ivykit began to retort, but he spoke first, "You're soaked! Were you two at the lake?! StarClan help you; let's get you back to Jayfeather before you catch whitecough again." He said, picking her up by the scruff.
They tried to help me! I know they did! Dovekit thought as Lionblaze carried her back to camp, Ivykit trotting beside them.
When they got to the medicine den, the blind cat was livid, and their mother wasn't much better. "How could you two just go off to the lake?! You had the whole camp worried out there looking for you!"
"Whitewing, take Ivykit and go back to the nursery, how am I supposed to help this kit when the medicine den is too full for me to move?!" Jayfeather snapped before turning his attention back to his herbs.
Her mother didn't seem happy about being rebuked, but she picked up Ivykit and left the den, leaving her alone with Jayfeather. "I don't want to see you and your sister pulling another stunt like that!" Dovekit couldn't respond, she knew the medicine cat was usually grumpy but he wasn't normally this bad. Suddenly he stood up straight and rested his eyes on her, and it was almost as if his piercing blue eyes could see her. When he spoke again his voice had lost some of its edge, "You did see the Warriors of StarClan," He said. "You realize why warriors bigger and scarier than you have never seen the dance of the StarClan Warriors, don't you?"
Dovekit shook her head before she realized he couldn't see her, "N-no I don't…was it because of the shadow?"
Jayfeather scoffed, "No kit, the answer is in the story, cats bigger and scarier. It was never the shadow the cats of StarClan were afraid of; it was being seen by living warriors. You and your sister are only kits, you have lively imaginations and they knew your clan would put it down to elder's tales or a bad mouse you ate, where as a fully grown warrior would be taken more seriously." Jayfeather set a few leaves in front of her, "Now eat these and get some rest so you don't get sick, if all goes well you should be able to go back to the nursery in two sunrises." He began to make his way to his own nest before he turned back to her again. "Keep in mind how lucky you and your sister are, not many cats have seen what you have," A tone of indignation returned to his voice, "Because most kits are smart enough to stay in camp." With a final swish of his tail he curled up in his nest, and the den fell silent.