Chapter 3:
"Brightpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
Stormlight watched, her chest swelling with pride as her apprentice solemnly and respectfully dipped her head.
"I do," the apprentice said firmly, looking Brackenstar right in the eye.
The golden-brown tom raised his head, "then, by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Brightpaw, from this moment forward you will be known as Brightfur. Starclan honours your enthusiasm and independence."
Brackenfur rested her head on top of Brightfur's as the clan began to call her new name.
"Brightfur! Sandfeather! Brownfoot!" The clan chanted.
Stormlight padded over to her old apprentice who seemed to be fidgeting on the spot, practically vibrating with excitement. She was sitting next to her sibling who, as usual, was slightly calmer than their sister.
"Don't forget," Stormlight said to them, "you still have the vigil tonight."
"I'll be great at it," Brightfur puffed out her chest fur.
Stormlight looked at her and then at Sandfeather and Brownfoot beside her. Brownfoot was vaguely listening to the conversation, a stoic look on his face like he was already holding his vigil. Sandfeather on her other side was smoothing down her fur, laughing at the boasting of her sister.
"I can be quiet," the black and white assured them, "I'm always quiet."
"Whatever you say," Sandfeather rolled his eyes.
"Well," Stormlight glanced up, "the sun's starting to set so have fun guarding camp all night, you three."
Brightfur groaned but Brownfoot and Sandfeather nodded.
It had nearly been a moon since the fire and Stormlight had pressed on forward with her warrior duties, refusing to go into the nursery until the very last minute. Then again, she had hidden it from most of the clan, mainly from fear they'd figure out who the father was.
At this point, every cat in the clan knew the tale that Stormlight had told Brackenstar on the night of the fire and weren't very happy about it. She realised how lucky she was when no one really seemed to suspect her of being Cursed, thinking it was a one off thing in her family with Shadowheart. They didn't know who her father really was and they all seemed to have forgotten that Ivyheart's own mother was Cursed, otherwise, she reckoned they'd definitely realise that she was Cursed.
She had decided to keep the kits her own secret, for now, only Fogfur, the medicine cat, knew about them.
"Well," Stormlight got to her paws, "I'm gonna get some sleep," she grinned at them, "have fun staying awake all night."
She trotted towards the warrior's den, ignoring the way Flamescar and Greynose glared at her as she walked past, they were suspicious of her.
She entered the den, noticing that all of her clanmates were also settling down to sleep. She moved towards the back of the den and into her nest. For the first few nights, she had slept in her old one with the empty nests of both Ace and Shadowheart beside her. But, after awhile, she couldn't take it and opt to sleep beside Flamefern who had experienced just as much rejection from her clanmates as Stormlight had herself.
The smoky grey she-cat flicked her tail in greeting as she heard the lighter coloured warrior pad over. Her leaf-green eyes were closed and her head was tucked between her paws.
Sighing, Stormlight settled down in the nest next to her, twisting around until she found a comfortable position. When she did, she closed her eyes as let herself drift off into sleep.
When Stormlight woke up to the sound of rushing air and damp starlight, she shot up and looked around wildly. She wasn't in her den, she is some sort of strange place. The colours of everything were much brighter here. The night sky seemed more purple than ever and looked as though it were covered with millions upon millions of stars, more than she had ever seen before.
Blinking, she tried to regain herself, shaking away the strange feeling in her paws.
"Where am I?" She asked to no one.
"You're in Starclan," an unexpected reply made her jump.
Stormlight twisted around to see a familiar grey and black pelted tom with blue eyes sitting behind her.
"Am I dead?" She asked.
"No," Patchfur lifted his head, "I want to speak with you."
"You're lying," Stormlight said slowly, "every cat says that Cursed cats don't go to Starclan, so this can't be Starclan."
"No, only evil cats don't go to Starclan," he told her, "I did not do any wrong in my life, and neither have you."
"Why have you come to speak to me then?" She took a cautious step towards her lost clanmate.
"A darkness is following you, Stormlight," Patchfur said solemnly, "you have lost so much but you will only lose more."
She reeled back, "no, I can't lose more than I already have."
"But you will," his voice was flat, "and Starclan cannot prevent this, only you can. You must learn to forgive those who have done you wrong and see past the lies that others will tell you."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because the greatest change you have ever seen will come to the lake and you must follow it," Patchfur looked up, "if you do not, then you will lose more and more."
Stormlight swallowed and looked away, "What is the change?"
"You must see for yourself."
The world began to fade.
"Wait!" She called to Patchfur, "I don't understand!"
"Follow the change!" He yowled, "follow it before you lose."
And then she woke up.
Stormlight finished up her mouse, her paws still tingling from the excitement of the dream. She'd seen Patchfur again! She remembered looking over at Flamefern and wondering whether or not to tell her before deciding against it.
She hadn't had much time to ponder the dream as she'd been quickly sent out to do a hunting patrol and then to sleep again in preparation for the gathering.
They were just about ready to leave, the three new warriors, Stormlight and Flamefern were part of the patrol also made up Applepaw, Birdpaw, Clawnose, Burntpelt, Stonepelt, Reddust and Flamescar.
"Are you coming?" Brightfur asked, peering at Stormlight.
She looked up, "Oh- uh- yeah."
Getting to her paws, she joined the patrol and waited for Brackenstar to gesture for them all to leave. She dropped into a pace beside Sandfeather and Brightfur who were happily chatting away. She wondered what Patchfur had meant in the dream, what change? Was he warning her?
'What do I have left to lose?' Was the biggest question on her mind.
Shaking the thoughts away, she decided to concentrate on what she was doing now, travelling to the gathering. They crossed over Heatherclan territory, keeping three tail-lengths from the lake shore. They reached the tree bridge and Stormlight scented the strong scents of Rainclan and Pineclan converging but no Heatherclan yet.
She thought about Pineclan and, for some reason, an uneasy feeling swept over her. Shivering slightly, Stormlight chose to ignore it and followed Brightfur across the tree bridge.
When they reached the other side, she stepped off, taking a deep breath, inhaling the scents of the other clans.
She split off from her clan mates to go find another cat who she'd secretly been missing.
Sure enough, a black and ginger figure darted out in front of her.
"Starlingpaw!" She cried, happy to see the Pineclan she-cat.
"It's Starlingwing now," the younger warrior grinned, "where's Brightpaw?"
Starlingwing, back when she was only a kit, helped Stormlight along with Brightpaw and Sandpaw escape from Pineclan camp back when Duskpelt was in control by showing Ace and Shadowheart where they needed to break into to get them out. Stormlight was forever grateful for that and had remained a steady friendship with her, but not quite as strong as the bond that Brightfur and Starlingwing had formed.
"It's Brightfur," the black and white she-cat appeared beside Stormlight, "hi."
"Hi," Starlingwing greeted back before her voice dropped into a serious tone, "look, I need to ask you guys something."
But Stormlight wasn't paying attention, she was too busy watching an exchange between Violetstar and Snowstar, the Rainclan leader, on top of their tree branches. Brackenstar was yet to join them but Stormlight could almost see the conflict growing violent.
"What is it?" Brightfur asked, not noticing how distracted her clanmate was.
"Around a moon or so ago," Starlingwing began, "we got some new clanmates."
But Stormlight still wasn't listening.
"I'm not supposed to say this but," the Pineclan cat's voice dropped to a whisper, "we'd been hit by Greencough badly, we lost quite a few warriors so letting others join the clan seemed like a great thing. But…. they're…"
"Spit it out, Starlingwing," laughed Brightfur, "who are they?"
Stormlight finally looked up only to meet eyes with another cat, but it wasn't Brightfur or Starlingwing.
A tom had emerged from the crowd and was looking directly at her. His pelt was a dark, dark grey but had lighter coloured markings. He was much taller and larger than Stormlight, it was easy to see his muscles rippling beneath his pelt.
But the most notable thing about him was his bright, violet eyes that bore into her pelt.
She took a step back.
Starlingwing spoke up, "the other moon, Ace joined our clan."
A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuuuun! Hahahaha, I need to stop leaving you guys on cliffhangers, but I just can't help myself!
So, Ace is back and Snowstar isn't very happy with Violetstar, I wonder why….
It's really, really beginning to go down now and, I'm sorry to say this, but the road from here isn't gonna get much happier for Stormlight. In fact, it's gonna get much, much worse...