Chapter 4, which is from Ashpaw's POV!

Ashpaw awoke to talking outside the den. He opened his eyes, revealing shining dark blue pools, and yawned. It was the middle of the night; who could still be awake?

Hoping he wasn't heard, he crept out of the den to see the silhouette of two cats sitting across the clearing side-by-side, staring up into the dark sky. As he neared closer, he could just make out Cinderstar and Leafwhisper, the medicine cat. Ashpaw strained his ears, trying to hear their conversation, but sadly failed. He crawled along the gorse that surrounded the camp towards the spot that they sat, and leapt into the bushes as he realized that he could understand what they were saying.

"…And the ground was covered in ashes. The air was so misty that I couldn't see anything until a gray tabby cat padded over to me," Leafwhisper was telling her leader. "She gave me a prophecy: Three from each of the four will unite and risk their lives battling against the thunder and rain."

Through the darkness, Ashpaw could see Cinderstar's shocked and puzzled expression. "What…what is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know." Leafwhisper shook her head. "Then I was in the darkness except for Silverpelt over me and a small pool of water in front of me that looked like the Moonpool. Rain was falling and drops splashed into the pool, creating a ripple. It showed me the picture of two blurry gray cats that were both carrying small gray bundles of fur. Another darker gray thing was following them. It was stormy and windy, and it felt as though I were there with them. I was terribly cold and tired and the ground was wet and ashy beneath my paws."

Cinderstar was silent for a moment, and then meowed, "How strange. I wish I knew what this could mean! If only I knew…" She shook her head.

"Don't blame yourself, Cinderstar." Leafwhisper ran her tail comfortingly along Cinderstar's flank. "I, too, cannot understand this. But I think the three bundles of gray stuff are kits. I'm not sure we have any three gray kits in the Clan."

"Perhaps Nightfeather will give birth to them soon!" Cinderstar exclaimed.

"Yes! She is very close to giving birth to them. Good thinking!"

"Well, we should get back to our dens so we're not tired tomorrow." Ashpaw watched as the two she-cats parted, both entering their own den. He waited until they disappeared, then crept out of the gorse and into the apprentices' den, wondering what that prophecy meant. Leafwhisper must've seen all this in a dream or a vision. He curled back up into his nest, but couldn't fall asleep because he kept thinking about what he had just heard. Finally, he slowly dozed off.

"Wake up, Ashpaw!"

Ashpaw opened his eyes and gazed up to see Owlpaw standing over him. "Mossheart wants you on the dawn patrol."

Groaning inwardly, Ashpaw heaved himself to his paws and stumbled out of the apprentices' den. The air was damp and thick, and the sky was grayish-white. Mossheart was devouring a vole beside Splashfur and Sageleaf. Ashpaw snatched a mouse from the pile, hurried over to join them, and settled down to eat.

"The Gathering is soon," Sageleaf commented. "I wonder who Cinderstar will choose to take? I hope I can go."

"Me too!" Splashfur agreed. "It'll be my first Gathering as a warrior! Maybe she'll take Willowbreeze and Sprucefoot too!"

"I'll let her know that you're dying to go," Mossheart meowed, swiping her tongue over her mouth. "For now, let's head on out." The four cats rose to their paws, shook their coats, and hurried out of the camp.

Ashpaw gazed around the damp forest. Wet leaves had fallen and the grass was covered in dew and rain. His dark gray fur stuck up from the thickness of the air. He yawned; the dreariness of the forest was making him sleepy.

"Didn't get enough sleep, huh?" Sageleaf commented. Ashpaw turned to him and shook his head. "No, it's just…everything is so dreary."

Sageleaf was Ashpaw's uncle, and he and Silverstripe were very close. Ashpaw sighed, wishing he and his sisters were as close as they were. Maybe Echopaw was, but Mistpaw could never be very tight with Ashpaw.

Once the patrol reached the river, Ashpaw immediately scented WindClan. He narrowed his eyes to see two cats dashing toward the river.

As they neared closer, he could make out a black and white tom and a small brown tabby tom. Finally they reached the edge of their territory.

"Runningbreeze, what in the name of StarClan has sent you here?" Mossheart demanded.

"ThunderClan…are attacking!" he panted. Ashpaw could see three long claw marks down the side of his flank, and the small tabby tom had a ripped ear and a scratched cheek. "Please…help us! There are…too many of them!"

Ashpaw froze, and heartbeats hammered by slowly as they waited for Mossheart's reaction. She turned to Ashpaw and Splashfur. "Go to the camp and fetch a patrol of cats. Quickly!"

The two cats nodded, spun around, and began to dart towards the camp. Once there, they burst through the entrance and immediately raced to Eaglefeather, the deputy, to give him the news. "ThunderClan are attacking the WindClan camp!" Splashfur gasped, her tortoiseshell fur bristling with excitement and surprise. "We came across two WindClan cats at the river on our patrol and they begged us to bring some of our cats to help them!"

Eaglefeather didn't appear shocked; Ashpaw wondered how he didn't panic. He would've, if he were deputy!

"Everyone, listen up!" Eaglefeather announced. "ThunderClan are attacking WindClan! We are going to take a patrol of cats to help WindClan. Ravenflight, Rosethorn, Stormfeather, Gorseclaw, Ripplepaw, and Morningpaw, come with me."

Ashpaw fell into step beside Morningpaw as they dashed across the grass to the river. He had a big crush on her when they were kits, but now Ashpaw felt as though she ignored him. He didn't like her much anymore, but Ashpaw knew there was still a little love for her left over from being a kit.

Once they reached the river, the patrol crossed the stepping stones and immediately heard yowls and screeches. This must be a really big fight! Ashpaw thought. He wished his sisters were there with him. Mossheart and Sageleaf joined them on the other side of the river, both looking worried.

Soon the grass underneath his paws turned to sand, much rougher than the sand at the training area. Finally they arrived to a dip in the ground that led to a hollow. There, Ashpaw could see cats fighting against each other. By the looks of it, ThunderClan was winning.

Eaglefeather gave a yowl and the patrol plunged into the WindClan camp. Sand skidded from underneath Ashpaw's heels as he darted toward the nearest ThunderClan apprentice. He recognized the black tom as Reedpaw; Ashpaw had met him at their first Gathering. He was quiet and a bit rude and full of himself.

Ashpaw flung himself onto Reedpaw, who was scrabbling his hind claws against the soft underbelly of a ginger WindClan apprentice. Reedpaw gave a hiss of surprise and toppled to the ground. Ashpaw pressed his forepaw against Reedpaw's head, smashing his face into the sand.

Suddenly, a great weight knocked Ashpaw off of Reedpaw. Gasping, Ashpaw glanced up to see a gray-brown tabby tom springing toward him. Ashpaw quickly jumped out of the way. The ThunderClan apprentice crashed to the ground. Triumphantly, Ashpaw tackled him and dug his claws into the apprentice's shoulders.

"Give up yet?" Ashpaw hissed into his ear.

"Never!" The apprentice heaved upward, twisted in the air, and flew towards his opponent. Ashpaw stumbled backward and landed in the sand as the apprentice pinned him down. He lowered his head down for the killing bite.

Lol, another one of my dumb cliffie endings! XD Well, will Ashpaw live? Of course he will! He's one of the main characters. See ya!

xx-Starfall-xx