~You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.~
-Christopher Columbus
DARKNESS COATED THE FOREST, broken only by a tiny beam of light shining through the trees on the RainClan medicine den. The moonlight was little. A she-cat, yearning for a beacon, padded toward the medicine den. Inside was the silhouette of a warrior, lying there still.
The warrior was asleep. And Wintermist should have been, too.
The medicine cat yawned, stretched, and curled up in an unoccupied nest.
Dreams of the nursery and the kits inside it filled her sleep until sunrise signaled the arrival of morning. Cats of all ages crawled out of the dens. The warrior groaned and remained in his bed.
"Can you get me more herbs, Wintermist?" Pumaflight meowed.
"Sure, hold on a moment." The she-cat whipped around and reached for the herbs with her mouth. "But these are Catmints. They relieve your pain a little bit. They cure Greencough. But they have crazy side effects."
"Catmint is fine," the tom purred, rolling around. "I enjoy it."
The tom slinked along the forest floor slowly. It was slightly dark under the mass of foliage that towered over him. He crept toward the rabbit. The prey had not seen him yet.
The coast was clear. The warrior darted toward the prey and grabbed its neck before the animal had any chance to react. After suffocating the prey, the cat looked around and bolted in the other direction. Before he could, though, another cat spotted him.
"Tigerfang!" Skyclaw hissed. "Get out of here! Or have you given up on the Warrior Code?"
Tigerfang hissed back, "This territory is rightfully mine. I will fight for it, you hear?"
"Give us the food. A lot of our cats are starving. And you caught this in RainClan territory. What makes this territory yours? You're not part of RainClan."
"If I say something is mine, it's mine!" Tigerfang leaped for Skyclaw, claws outstretched.
With ears flat and teeth bared, the she-cat dodged the attack and bit the tom's throat, ruthlessly ripping at it.
"Fox-dung!" Tigerfang yowled in pain. "Let me go! Please! I'll give you the food and never hunt in your territory again! I promise!"
Thunderclaw, Riverclaw, Shadowclaw, and Windclaw jumped out of the bushes. Skyclaw hesitantly loosened her grip on the tom's neck.
Whimpering, Tigerfang limped away. The rabbit he had killed was in Thunderclaw's paws.
"That was close," the panting Skyclaw meowed. "I'm tired. I think he drew blood."
"Let's get you to the medicine den," Windclaw meowed.
Within a few moments, the injured she-cat was lying in a nest in the medicine den, Wintermist standing over her.
"Are you okay?" the medicine cat asked. "Do you want some Catmint? It helps relieve your pain. The bleeding will stop by itself."
"I'm okay, thanks," Skyclaw meowed. "Er, actually, give me a little bit."
The warrior became wide-eyed when she ate the herb. "More!" She began pacing.
Pumaflight yawned. "I just had Catmint, but it didn't do that to me."
"It does that to some cats," Wintermist meowed, "But it makes others tired. When it does that, it distracts you from your pain. It also cures Whitecough and Greencough.
"Huh," the tom sighed. "I'm out." He drifted to sleep within moments.
Grasskit yawned and stretched, peering at the newborn Beetlekit and Cricketkit, and padded out of the nursery. Destiny followed shortly thereafter. The two laid down and batted at each others' noses, which was followed by a fun yet clumsily played game of chase. The other kits suddenly dashed out of the nursery and began to cause a lot of racket, running around and falling over. Orca watched them play and crouched into a pouncing position.
Shark rolled his eyes and leapt at his brother. "You're it!"
All of the five-moon-olds were having lots of fun. Destiny sighed, squirming out of Flowerkit's grasp, and stepped out of the crowd to the edge of the water where she sat.
"Don't be shy, she-kit!" Treekit giggled. "Come play!"
"No thank you," she responded, "I need to ponder."
The other kit shrugged and turned to continue the fun and games. Destiny curled into a tight ball and began to think- what her purpose was, why she was found by RainClan, why she had that dream about the ginger toms, and why her name even was Destiny in the first place. It wasn't a coincidence. StarClan must have been involved.
A prophecy… about what?