Echo of a Wish: Rainstorm

Act 3

The sun was nearing it's peak in the cloudless blue sky as Duskpaw began to wake up. His eyes fluttered open, but he didn't move, in the hope that he could go back to sleep. There was no sign of his den mate, which was odd seeing as it was usually her who had difficulty getting up after a gathering. It'd only been a short one, but the grey tom's whole body ached with sleep, like he'd been up for much longer.

Then in a flash, Duskpaw leapt to his feet. The dream! Or was it more than that? Either way, Duskpaw could still smell the rain and the weird lake he'd been stood on. What had Galestar said again?

"There are two others, apprentices like you..."

Right, two more cats. Could one perhaps be Briarpaw? Galestar had said she was related to her.

"- Evil force. It lives inside all cats, but one is being controlled."

So the threat was another cat, then, not a flood or a fire. That was a relief, he supposed. You can't put out a forest fire but you sure as hell can kill another cat.

"Duskpaw, you're finally awake! I didn't think you were gonna wake up 'till tomorrow!

"Briarpaw, good morning."

Duskpaw moved out of the way as Briarpaw came into the den, her long brown fur catching a few leaves as she did. As she bent her head to get them out, Duskpaw realised. He could find out if Galestar was real, or just dreamt up, by asking Briarpaw.

Would she admit it though, if her a member of her family was the one who lead Tideclan into the great battle? It was worth a shot.

"Briarpaw? Did you, uh, have any strange dreams last night?"

Briarpaw stopped nudgeing at a leaf and brought her head up to look at Duskpaw. For a moment, there was something there, some unrecognizable worry in her yellow eyes. But it was gone as soon as it appeared, and Duskpaw put it off as nothing.

"No, why? Did you have a nightmare?" She said, curious.

"Something like that. And this might sound a little weird, but do you have ancestors in Tideclan?"

"Oh," Briarpaw said bluntly. "Yes I do. I won't ask how you know, because that is a weird question to ask before we've even had lunch."

Duskpaw looked away, awkwardly pretending to study the moss on the floor. Briarpaw never usually spoke that way, especially not to him.

"Oh, uh, sorry." He said. "Does that mean I can ask you again after lunch? Heh heh heh..."

Briarpaw looked blankly at Duskpaw. Then, she broke into a grin and chuckled.

"Nah! C'mon, I was sent in to get you for training. Nightspot and Foxstep will be wondering where we went."

"Yeah, let's go."

There was silence as the two cats walked through the woods, where there would usually be laughter and chatter. It felt as though they had just met for the first time, instead of growing up together, and it was bothering Duskpaw.

Even though he was kind of rude, Briarpaw had never reacted like that before. On a better note though, that ruled one cat out. What other apprentices were there, that he knew of? Sure, he'd met a couple at the gatherings, but they never really spoke much.

As they approached the clearing, all thoughts of prophecies and apprentices were pushed out of his head. Instead, he now focused on the two cats stood ahead of him. Nightspot, his mentor, was tall and slender with a black and white pelt, and Foxstep, Briarpaw's mentor was short and stocky with a ginger and white pelt.

Their personalities were totally different too. Nightspot was proud and respectful, where Foxstep was cheerful and talkative.

"Good morning, guys!" She greeted them. "How are you both?"

Briarpaw laughed and responded happily, but went back to silence right away after.

"I'm great, thanks." Duskpaw replied. He didn't know Foxstep all that well, so he kept his tone respectful and slightly more formal than Briarpaw.

Nightspot nodded to Briarpaw, and then turned to touch noses with his apprentice. "Let's get going." He said. "We're practicing climbing trees today, so you better stretch a little first."

"Yeah," Duskpaw answered.

Foxstep turned, Briarpaw beside her. "We'll be heading off into the forest, so we'll see you both later."

Nightspot nodded again. Duskpaw copied him, and then the pair turned to the tree lined border of the clearing. In amongst the trees was a big ash tree, it's bark worn smooth by many generations of cats using it for climbing practice.

"You know the basic techniques, I assume?" The older cat said.

Duskpaw thought for a moment. "Back legs for power, tail for balence and front paws for grip." He said confidently.

"Correct, but can you put that into practice?" Nightspot motioned upwards, to a branch about seven feet above them. It looked thick enough to stand on providing you had good balence. "Try and get up there."

Duskpaw flicked his tail. He looked for the best places to put his paws, thought out how many strides he'd need...

"You're overthinking. If you were being chased, you wouldn't have time to think about things. You'd just have to go for it." He muttered quietly. "Here we go..."

The grey cat heard a click as his claws connected with the hard bark, digging in and making a strong enough hold to push himself up from. As he leapt again, it felt like he was flying for a second, and that fleeting moment, that rush of power made him feel truly alive, a bird set free for the first time.

He touched down to the tree again, and turned in mid air, landing gracefully on the target branch with only a slight wobble. Nightspot yelled up a few words of praise, and told him to come back down.

Poised again, he let himself slide off his perch. Jumping down would only add more momentum, making him hit the ground harder. There was a soft 'phut' as Duskpaw hit the ground, bunching his legs under him to minimise the fall damage.

"Ah, crap!" He said under his breath, as he felt his ankle jar slightly.

It'd been a while since he'd jumped like that, so it was to be expected, but Nightspot still appeared concerned about it.

"Did you feel the joint slide?" He asked.

"Only a little this time; it's nothing I can't walk off." The apprentice replied.

"That's good. We need all our warriors in peak condition in case something bad happens, so-"

'Duskpaw.'

"Eh?"

"Hey, are you listening?"

"Sorry, Nightspot. I thought I heard someone say my name."

"It must've been the wind, it's started to pick up a little."

Duskpaw shook his head. He was sure he'd heard a voice.

'Duskpaw, come here'

"There, again!" He meowed at his mentor. "How can you not hear that?"

Nightspot frowned. "I think you need a little rest, if you're hearing things."

All of a sudden, Duskpaw's eyes caught a movement behind Nightspot. The shimmering silhouette of a cat stood behind the black and white cat, staring with green eyes at Duskpaw.

'Follow me,' It called, turning tail to walk away. 'Follow me."

"Hm? What are you looking at?" The older cat said. "Are you feeling okay, or do you-"

"Sorry!" Duskpaw blurted out. "I need to go!"

Can we get some more reviews before the next chapter? ;)