Chapter Three

Skypaw's eyes widened and he rushed up to the warriors who were carrying his mentors body out of the den. She couldn't be dead, he had just seen her yesterday, and she looked fine. He stiffly padded over, pressing his nose to her cold flank as they took her out to the middle of the camp. He looked around, searching for someone who could give him an answer. His whiskers drooped when no one noticed him, or offered to give him an explanation.

"What – what happened?" he meowed loudly.

"We don't know," one of the warriors said, looking down at his paws. "But I'm sorry about your mentor, young Skypaw."

Skypaw's eyes were wide. "How could you not know? Cats don't just die without a cause!"

Duskpool spoke up, "Rainheart thinks it may have been caused by an old injury."

Skypaw felt like thorns were pricking at his pelt, and his heart was racing faster than a rabbit. If his mentor had died, who would train him? Would he have to relearn everything he'd learned before, or would his new mentor pick up where Sootclaw left off? Questions raced through the young apprentice's mind as he stood, dizziness taking hold of him as he staggered to the place they had set Sootclaw's body so that everyone could pay their last respects to her. He touched his nose to her flank and murmured a goodbye before walking over to a shaded corner of the camp and sitting down.

"Ah, Skypaw, there you are," came a meow. It was Kestrelstar, the Clan's leader, a large brown tabby with sunken-in amber eyes. "I'm sure you're wondering who's going to train you now, am I right?"

"Yeah," replied Skypaw. "I mean, I've never heard of anyone's mentor dying before."

Kestrelstar touched his nose to Skypaw's head. "Well, we'll simply assign you a new one. Spottedflower has been asking me to give her an apprentice for moons now. I kept telling her to wait until Whitefeather's kits were of the right age, but now I have an opportunity to give her one sooner."

"I don't think I want to be a warrior anymore," Skypaw murmured. "Sootclaw just – died, without warning, she wasn't even really hurt. Duskpool told me that Rainheart said it was from an old injury. Sootclaw never even saw it coming. I don't want to die that way."

"There's not much of a chance that you'll die the way Sootclaw did. We don't know for sure what happened to her, but when you live in a Clan, there's always a chance of dying one way or another. Whether it be in battle, or from sickness, or if you live to be an elder and simply pass away from old age." Kestrelstar informed him.

"No," Skypaw sniffed. "I don't want to die in battle or anything like that. Rainheart's really old, right? Do you think he'd want me as his apprentice?"

Kestrelstar stiffened for a moment, but then nodded. "I'm sure he'd love that, Skypaw. If that's truly the path you want to take in life, it's fine with me if you become a medicine cat apprentice. Just remember that there are a lot of responsibilities that will come with being Rainheart's apprentice. You'll have to learn about herbs and take care of cats when they're sick, you'll receive dreams from StarClan, and you won't get to have a mate."

"That's all fine with me, Kestrelstar. I can handle it, trust me," Skypaw assured the leader, giving a dip of his head.

"I'll go speak with Rainheart about it, then. If all goes well you both can visit the Moonpool tonight and have your apprentice ceremony preformed there," Kestrelstar meowed.

"I have to go to the Moonpool?" Skypaw asked. "I thought you're just made an apprentice like usual."

"No, you have to share tongues with StarClan for the first time when you go there. Now, if you're done talking, I'll go and speak with Rainheart."

"Alright, Kestrelstar, thank you!"

Skypaw watched as Kestrelstar padded towards the medicine cat den. It seemed like an eternity before both leader and medicine cat exited the den and came back over to him. "Rainheart says he'll be happy to take you as an apprentice, Skypaw," Kestrelstar told him. "He'll take you to the Moonpool tonight."

"We'll start the journey at about Sunhigh," mewed the old medicine cat. "It'll be dark by the time we reach the Moonpool."

"Will the other medicine cats be there?" asked Skypaw.

"It's a half moon tonight, so yes, they'll be there," Rainheart replied. "Watch out for that Lizardtail, though, he has a tongue sharper than his claws."

Skypaw nodded, "I will."

"Since you're not doing anything in the meantime, Skypaw, why don't you go and change the elders' bedding?" Kestrelstar suggested.

Skypaw's whiskers drooped. "Alright, I will. But I think it's a terribly boring chore!"

"I cleaned out my share of bedding when I was an apprentice myself," meowed Kestrelstar. "I know how boring it can be, but it isn't going to change itself."

Skypaw flicked his tail and stalked off towards the elders' den, hoping that he wouldn't have to endure listening to Foxcatcher's stories again.

--

Nettlepaw barreled towards his mentor, trying to knock him off his paws, only to find he had either missed and gone too far, or that he had tripped and fell onto his face again. Torntail shook his head and let out a heavy sigh of stress. He knew that Nettlepaw wasn't making any progress, and that he'd be utterly useless in battle.

"Try again, Nettlepaw," he meowed, trying to sound as encouraging as possible. "This time, try to aim for me, and not the tree behind me."

Nettlepaw wailed. "I'm not aiming for the tree!"

"Just try again," Torntail told him. "Maybe this time you'll make it."

"I won't make it! I'm an awful apprentice, and I'll make an even worse warrior! I'm just too fat to do anything! Why don't you just say it: I'm terrible, and I'll never, ever be a warrior!" Nettlepaw growled, his claws digging into the ground as he spoke.

Torntail was taken aback. "I'm sure you'll become a warrior someday, Nettlepaw," he meowed, trying to reassure his angry apprentice.

"Yeah, when I'm old enough to go to the elders' den! Redpaw was right, I should just give up, I'm good for nothing," Nettlepaw spat. "I'm probably better off as a kittypet living in some Twoleg Nest and being fed tasteless dry food!"

"Calm down now, Nettlepaw," Torntail meowed, ears flattening.

But Nettlepaw wasn't about to calm down. He charged towards Torntail, fast as his legs could carry him, claws extended and eyes narrowed. He collided with his mentor and brought him to the ground, landing directly on top of him and giving a few harsh nips. He suddenly realized what he was doing and fell back, nearly crushing his own tail with his weight. "I'm – I'm sorry, Torntail, I didn't mean it!" he gasped, eyes flooding with disbelief.

"No, no, that was good, Nettlepaw," Torntail rasped. "Maybe there's still hope for you. That's enough training for today, I need to see Rainheart about getting some poultice for these bites you delivered to me. I'm very proud of you, actually. It's the first time I've ever seen you aggressively attack like you would during a border fight."

"You mean I did well?" Nettlepaw mewed, his ears pricking as though he was having a hard time believing what he was hearing.

Torntail nodded and coughed. "Yes, you did! Now let's get going back to camp."

Nettlepaw looked absolutely delighted as he lumbered behind his mentor, head held as high as he could hold it. He actually had a chance at becoming a warrior, and he believed more than anything that he would become one. They ducked through the entrance to the camp, and stopped suddenly as they saw cats crowded around the body of a small black she-cat. They slowly approached, wondering what had happened. Had there been a battle while they were gone? Perhaps ShadowClan had tried to raid the camp.

"What's going on?" Torntail asked Oakpelt, who was mourning over the loss of Sootclaw.

"We found her dead right after you left the camp, Torntail," replied the senior warrior.

Torntail looked at the tabby with disbelief. "Impossible, I was sharing tongues with her just yesterday. Was she murdered? What happened?"

"It was an old injury," meowed Rainheart as he padded up to the three. "It hadn't healed properly and she simply died from a clot or infection of sorts."

Nettlepaw had gone over to pay his last respects to the dead she-cat. Torntail looked on in confusion, his nose twitching as he looked from Rainheart to Oakpelt. "That's terribly sad," he meowed at last, walking over to the body and touching his nose to Sootclaw's cold flank. "May she hunt with StarClan in peace."

There was a murmur of agreement from nearby cats. Sootclaw's sudden death had seemingly interrupted everyone's routine. Kestrelstar was standing over by the High Ledge, organizing both a hunting patrol and a border patrol, and trying to get things back in order again. He was having a hard time assuring some of the warriors that there wasn't a disease going around. Whitefeather was especially worried, and kept her distance from Sootclaw's body, just in case there had been some sort of sickness.

Foxcatcher and Hollyleaf seemed to be the least worried. They'd been through a lot in their time and death was no stranger to either of them. Both of them had witnessed many a cat close to them die long before their time. Nettlepaw finished grieving over Sootclaw and bumbled over towards the nursery, hoping he could assure Whitefeather that there was nothing to worry about.

"Don't come in here if you've been anywhere near Sootclaw!" the queen exclaimed, fur pricked as Nettlepaw entered the small den.

"It's alright, Whitefeather, she didn't die from a sickness," Nettlepaw meowed, trying to reassure the frantic queen. "Can I get you and your kits something from the fresh kill pile?"

Whitefeather sighed. "Alright, just make sure it's fresh and not disease ridden."

"I wouldn't give you crowfood, Whitefeather, I assure you that," mewed Nettlepaw before stalking off. That queen really needs to calm down, she's always alarmed about something.

He picked up a starling and carried it back to the nursery. He dropped it on the ground and let the queen eat. Her kits gathered around and began sniffing the prey before taking little bites of it. Pouncekit, a little brown tabby with white around his muzzle, took large bites and wound up nearly choking as he scarfed the bird down. Whitefeather looked worried for a moment, licking her kit heavily to try and coax the food down his throat.

"I'm okay, mom," Pouncekit mewed, though it didn't seem to assure Whitefeather one bit. Sunkit, another tabby nearly identical to her brother, looked horrified at the whole seen. Her eyes were as round as the full moon, and she backed away from the piece of fresh kill to hide behind her mother. Petalkit followed her sister's lead and crawled behind Whitefeather, peeking out occasionally to see if everything was alright.

"Mom, stop licking!" Pouncekit complained, pulling away from Whitefeather and taking another bite out of the bird. Sunkit and Petalkit decided it was safe to come out and tentatively began munching on the juicy piece of prey themselves.

"Thank you, Nettlepaw," meowed Whitefeather, dipping her head as she thanked him.

Nettlepaw purred. "No problem, Whitefeather. I've got to go now, I think I hear Torntail calling me!"

He scrambled out of the den and padded up to his mentor. "What is it?" he asked.

"First off, your brother Skypaw has decided to become a medicine cat apprentice, second –,"

Nettlepaw interrupted with a loud meow. "Really?"

"Yes, now please let me speak. Second of all, Hollyleaf has been complaining of ticks in her pelt. Why don't you bring her a piece of prey and then get some bile from Rainheart and clean them off?"

"I did that yesterday! She attracts ticks like a piece of crowfood attracts maggots!" Nettlepaw complained, his tail lashing back and forth.

"Even so, they are our elders and we have to respect them. So go and do what I've said, and maybe if use a little extra bile it'll keep the ticks off her for a while longer," Torntail meowed, turning around to go grab a piece of fresh kill for himself. Nettlepaw's ears were pinned against his head as he grabbed a piece of prey for the elders and lumbered towards their den. I wish I didn't have to do this!

--

"Skypaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of a medicine cat?" Rainheart rasped to his apprentice. The half moon glowed, casting light down on the medicine cats who had gathered by the Moonpool to share tongues with their warrior ancestors.

Skypaw nodded. "It is."

"Then come forward. Warriors of StarClan, I present to you this apprentice. He has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant him your wisdom and insight, so that he may understand your ways and heal his Clan in accordance with your will. Now, crouch down and drink from the pool." Rainheart told the new medicine cat apprentice.

Skypaw did so, walking down to the edge of the pool and flattening himself as though he were about to go hunting. He lapped from the waters and soon felt a wash of sleep come over him. He found himself in a clearing, surrounded by starry cats of all shapes and sizes. He felt like he couldn't breathe as one of them walked over to him, leaning down to examine him.

"Welcome, Skypaw," the cat meowed to him, touching his nose to the apprentice's forehead. "My name is Jayfeather, and I am a medicine cat much like you will be someday."

"Jayfeather!" exclaimed Skypaw. "I've heard of you, you're legendary! You have the power of the stars in your paws!"

Jayfeather shook his head. "I no longer simply have the power of the stars, I have become one of the stars in Silverpelt."

Skypaw looked confused for a moment, but he shook his head to clear his mind. "Well, is there anything you need me to tell the Clan?"

"We see a time of darkness coming," Jayfeather murmured. "Many a cat will die, but you have to remember that there is always a ray of hope."

Skypaw gasped. "A time of darkness? What's going to happen?"

"We don't know, Skypaw, it is not given to us to gaze into the future," Jayfeather meowed. "We can only catch glimpses of what is to come."

"But there is a prophecy," came a voice from behind the starry medicine cat. "Tell him about the prophecy!"

Jayfeather nodded and closed his blue eyes. "Water will become the fire, flames will rise from ashes, and blood will cover the ground."

Skypaw felt weak as Jayfeather spoke, and began to shiver with cold. Images of the bloodied corpses of cats flashed in his mind and he let out a squeak of fear. Before he knew it he was awake by the Moonpool, looking around back and forth, panting. None of the other medicine cats were awake yet, so he decided to rest and think about what he had just seen. Was what Jayfeather said true? Were the Clans going to experience a time of darkness in the near future? He felt another shiver go down his spine as he thought about it. There must be some way the forest could be saved from the impending doom.