Chapter 2- Love, Life, Death, Hatred
"Death is another life in itself"
"Fire will save all," I heard a voice in my head. There was a sudden image of darkness shrouding four symbols that were too dark for me to see. Vines were in the darkness, helping it trap the symbols from sight. Suddenly, a fire came up and the darkness began to disperse. A dawning light appeared behind the vines and in a flash, the dawn light faded, leaving only wisps.
The vines lashed out in surprise and destroyed the returning darkness. The fire leaped for the sky in the middle of it all, surrounded by ice, lilies, clovers, a soft wisp of clouds and a single moon and sun above it all. The symbols came into view at last; the first was a cat with a lightning bolt scored across the middle. The second was a cat with a semicircle for a mouth and two more as eyes. The third was a cat with a wind-like shape in the middle. And the last one was a cat with two waves from left to right, like a river.
"These symbols. They're the symbols for the four clans," a new voice spoke. "Tangled vines will destroy the darkness as dawn's light fades, leaving only the future. The amber fire will save all, the chosen eight will triumph over the darkness. Twilight lifts, ice freezes, clovers rise, lilies scatter, the sun soars, soft wisps flutter, dawn fades, and the fire will blaze. Eight are chosen... But only seven will live."
"Amberpaw," I heard a voice.
"Remember," the voice spoke. "Eight are chosen. But only seven will live."
The voice began to fade. "Wait!" I yowled. "Come back! What do you mean!?"
"Amberpaw!" something prodded me in the side. "Wake up!"
My eyes shot open and I leaped to my feet, my fur bristling, my claws unsheathed. I breathed with relief when I realized that I was back in the apprentices den, Skypaw was there, looking worried. "Are you alright?" he asked. "You were thrashing around in your sleep..."
"I'm okay," I sighed. "It was just a dream."
"Dream?" he tilted his head. "Like what?"
"Never mind," I shook my head.
Just as my fur was beginning to lie flat, it puffed out when a loud screech made me jump.
Skypaw and I ran out of the den and out of camp, following the sound of the screech. We found her in the forest, it was Streamfur. She wouldn't move her gaze away from what she was looking at to turn and see who approached her.
"Move aside," Cloudstar ordered as the rest of the clan came racing out and gathered around, me and Skypaw couldn't see.
All we heard was loud gasps rippling through the clan. What was going on!?
"Good riddance," I heard a tom whisper. "Now we just need the other one dead."
Was someone dead?! One of our clanmates... dead? Surely no cat would say that about a fellow clanmate...
"Everyone, back to camp," Cloudstar hissed in anger.
Skypaw and I turned to leave with the rest of the clan, they shot me glares as they shouldered past me.
"Amberpaw, you stay. Snowheart, Ashpaw, you too," Cloudstar said and the three of us stopped.
Skypaw looked at me and gave me a quick lick on the ear.
"Skypaw, you can stay," Cloudstar added. "Amberpaw might need you."
I was confused. I might need him? Why? What happened?
The four of us padded back to where Cloudstar sat, facing whatever it was. The first thing I saw was the charcoal colored fur and my heart began to race.
"No..." I whispered and shook my head. "Not him..."
In front of me was Tangleclaw, his body limp, unmoving. He was dead. On his paws were the stains of berries; Deathberries. They were scattered all around him, his eyes were dull, no life left in them.
My legs gave way beneath me and I fell to the ground in front of him. "Tangleclaw, wake up," I tried. But his body didn't budge. "Tangleclaw, stop joking around!" my voice was getting louder.
The body looked like it moved a little, I think. Was he really playing around? But there was no more movement, his body was still. I must have imagined it. Was he really dead? Did he really eat those Deathberries to find be free of the hatred cast upon him because of our mother? Why?
"Amberpaw," Cloudstar whispered.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screeched. "TANGLECLAW! I DON'T WANT YOU TO PLAY ANYMORE!"
There was no movement. Cloudstar nodded and led Snowheart and Ashpaw away, the two of them struck by grief. Skypaw stayed by me, his eyes dull with grief as well.
"Tangleclaw, wake up, please wake up," I whispered, reaching a forepaw out to touch his, but there was still no movement. "I can't deal with this pain, this hatred... I can't deal with it alone. I can't, I just can't. I'm not strong enough..."
I looked at Tangleclaw's body, praying to Starclan that he was still alive.
"Please! Why are you doing this!?" I raised my voice, desperation creeping in. "Please! I beg you, Tangleclaw, open your eyes! Open them and say this is all a joke, please! Ha ha ha, see it's funny," I begged with a strained laugh.
I saw no movement, I heard no reply. This was no joke, this was no game. Tangleclaw had eaten those Deathberries, he was really gone...
"TANGLECLAW!" I threw my head back and yowled to the sky as loud as I could.
I couldn't carry this burden by myself. All the hate, all the glares... Why couldn't Tangleclaw have taken me with him!? I felt that my life no longer had meaning, I had lost my only remaining kin, and now there was no one able to stop the heartache of my burden. No one left that could really understand what I was going through. No one left that could stop me from breaking down in front of the whole clan. Why couldn't I die right now? Maybe if I ate one of those Deathberries...
Suddenly, Skypaw nudged me to my feet and began to herd me away from Tangleclaw's body. His blue eyes were troubled. "Amberpaw, I know what you're thinking, so please don't. I don't want you to die. Please don't try and kill yourself."
"I'm fine, Skypaw," I tried to purr, but it cut off. "Really..."
"You don't have to act strong. It's okay to be sad, any cat would be because of what happened..." he told me.
That did it for me. A string inside snapped, I couldn't hold it back any more. My legs buckled and I fell to the ground, my face buried in my paws. Tangleclaw was gone, he wasn't coming back. I lost him.
I let out all my grief, for Tangleclaw, for myself, for the glares, the beatings and the directed hate. I let out everything that I had held in, everything I never truly wanted to show weakness in. Before I knew it, it was getting dark.
I forced myself to my paws and I turned around, beginning to pad back to my brother's body and say my last farewell. But when I got there, the leaves where in a different position, like someone had stepped on them. And where Tangleclaw's body had laid... he wasn't there anymore, he was gone.
"Skypaw?" I looked over my shoulder at him.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Did Cloudstar or Snowheart come and get Tangleclaw's body?" I asked worriedly.
"Um, no. No one passed us," he replied, starting to pad over to me. "Why?"
"He's gone," I murmured, shocked.
"The body can't just get up and walk away," he replied and reached me, staring in shock to see Tangleclaw gone.
We slowly looked at each other and in that same heartbeat, we spun around and raced back to camp, running like a hoard of badgers were right on our tails!
"Cloudstar!" we howled when we reached camp and skidded to a stop in the clearing.
He came out of his den and approached us, many of the clan turned and looked in our direction questioningly.
"What has happened?" he asked calmly.
"Tangleclaw's body is gone!" I yelled.
Cloudstar looked at me as if I had just turned into a hedgehog and started flying! He saw the seriousness in my eyes and he began barking out orders.
"Willowheart, gather up two patrols, three cats in each. We're looking for Tangleclaw's missing body," he ordered.
Willowheart looked at his leader as if he had gone crazy, but he knew better than to defy orders. He raced off the gather more cats.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"It seemed like your plan worked out," a dark figure spoke in the dim light of the cave.
"Yeah, but now I have to wash this scent away," another figure replied.
"Any regrets?" the first one asked.
"Just two... Two she-cats who are special to me," the second one sighed.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"Sorry, Cloudstar, but we didn't find anything," Willowheart bowed his head.
Grief washed over me and I hung my head, starting across the clearing to the apprentices den.
Sunpaw came out just as I reached the den. "I don't see what's the big deal. My mum said he's a freak and shouldn't have been born in the first place. But she said the same thing about you as well."
Rage boiled up in my and I was about to strike the smug apprentice, but Skypaw shot out of the den and held me back.
"Why?" I growled. "Why does everyone hate me so much? What did I ever do to you!? The glares, the hate, the beatings. You don't even care that one of your own clanmates is dead!"
Sunpaw looked at me, her eyes wide with shock.
"You always had such a good life," I growled, my body shaking with fury. "Do you know what harshness is really like? While you had a warm mother to be by in leaf-bare, I had to huddle to myself, trying to keep out the cold. I had no mother, or a father. All I had was my brother, and now he's gone! What pain have you ever gone through? Hunger, is that it? Have you ever been hit by your own clanmates? Given wounds before you were able to walk? Having kits younger than you that hate you? No, because you've never had to go through that. Why? Why is this clan so stereotypical!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"
Sunpaw looked at me, her eyes full of wonder. She would never know what I had endured, because nobody hated her! I turned and raced off into the forest.
Loneliness swept over me as I ran through the forest, I was all by myself now, I had to fend for myself now. There was nothing I could do to stop my clan from hating me.
I heard a rush of pawsteps behind me and I skidded to a stop and spun around. The other cat stopped to and I recognized Sunpaw.
"What do you want?" I hissed, my voice thick with venom.
"I... I want to say sorry," she murmured. "Ever since I was a kit, my mother always told me bad things about you and Tangleclaw. I believed her, but I never thought about how hard it was for you..."
I blinked at her.
"I want to be a Medicine Cat of Riverclan," she continued. "And my job is to treat all cats fairly, even if they are outside the warrior code, from a rival clan, or if nobody cares about them. But I had never taken that in, I had never thought about it. But it applies to you. I'm really sorry for what I've done to you, Amberpaw... Can we... start over?"
I looked into her eyes, she truly meant what she said. And who was I to pass up the chance to have another cat on my side who didn't hate me like the others?
I bowed my head. "Thank you so much, Sunpaw."
She stepped forward and licked my head in a show of our new friendship, I returned the gesture and we padded back to camp where Skypaw would be waiting worriedly.
When we returned, all the apprentices were asleep, even Skypaw.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Sunpaw murmured and headed over to Snowheart's den where she slept. I entered the den and curled up beside Skypaw.
I pushed back all the bad memories of today to the back of my mind. In Riverclan with Skypaw, Ashpaw, Cloudstar, Snowheart and now Sunpaw, my spirits began to rise. Maybe my life wasn't as bad as I thought. Maybe I could see past all the glares, all the hatred, all the beatings. Maybe I could see past it all and see only those who cared about me, the cats that would help me become a strong and loyal warrior to prove the others wrong.
I hope Tangleclaw is truly happy now, I thought. I hope Starclan don't shun him like Riverclan did. Before I knew it, my eyes drooped and sleep took over me.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"Cloudstar, Starclan have sent me a prophecy. But I don't know what it means."
Cloudstar sat up in his mossy nest. "Snowheart, tell me. What did they say?"
"They said; Vine and fire together will vanquish the darkness," Snowheart replied. "But I can't figure it out. What could it mean?"
"I am not sure," Cloudstar shook his head. "You of all cats know that Starclan do not like to give much away. We need faith and courage to help us. Whatever this prophecy is, we'll face it just like we would face a battle."
"I hope you're right, Cloudstar," Snowheart sighed.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"You are destined to help the chosen one."
Cloverpaw awoke with a start. "What was that!?" she hissed under he breath.
The vines, the light, the lilies, all of it, she thought. What could it mean?
"Just a nightmare," she concluded to herself.
"Shut up!" one of her denmates, Twilightpaw growled. But to Cloverpaw's surprise, his eyes were full of a shining mystery of unknown, he was half dazed, half startled. Could he have had the same dream?
But instead of asking questions, she decided to leave it until the morning. They both put their heads back down and fell into a deep sleep.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"Dawn fades, but you will help the blazing fire."
"Wait! Come back!" Dawnpaw whispered as the images faded and she awoke in the Medicine Cat Den. "I'm just a Medicine Cat Apprentice... Could this be my first sign from Starclan? The tangled vines... Starclan, I hope you're okay..."
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"The lilies scatter, but you will help the blazing fire."
Lilypaw moved back and forth in her tight spot in the Windclan apprentice den.
That was one weird dream, she thought.
"Stop moving!" Icepaw grumbled beside her.
Both of the cats were edgy, Icepaw looked like he had had a dream as well. Lilypaw shivered, unsure of whether it was just the cold, or if her instincts were right and something bad was coming to the forest.
Starclan, she thought. What do you want me to do?
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"The soft wisps flutter but you will help the chosen one."
Thump!
Softpaw woke with a jolt. I knew Medicine Cats received dreams from Starclan, she thought. But why send one to me? Was it even a prophecy of some kind? I don't know... I will help the chosen one... What does that mean?
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"The sun soars, but you will help the chosen one."
Sunpaw awoke with a start, breathing deeply to try and control her shock. What was that? She thought. Was it a message from Starclan? Are they trying to tell me something?
She sighed. The dream pushed its way to the back of her mind, and then all she could think about was Amberpaw and how disgusted she was with herself to have been so cruel to her.
I was such mouse-brain, she thought. And from now on, I treat Amberpaw with kindness. There is nothing wrong with her, she doesn't deserve to be hated, she's done nothing wrong. She's a good cat. Starting tomorrow, Amberpaw is my friend.
