"Where's Blossomfall?" Oakkit mewed softly, his eyes blinking innocently.
Silvercloud sighed. "Oakkit, she's not here. She's, she's..." The she-cat stopped talking. What could she tell this kit? That his mother had been killed by a bird? No, she just couldn't do it.
Oakkit's big amber eyes looked up at his grandmother. "She's what?" His small voice squeaked.
"Oakkit!" Firekit's small voice came from inside the nursery. Oakkit looked over at the orange tom and cocked his head a bit.
"What is it, Firekit?" He mewed.
Firekit bounded out of the nursery and leaped on top of Oakkit. "Come on, Ambereye promised he would show us how to attack a surprised cat!" The ginger kit and the cream-and-brown kit bounced off towards the new training area.
Silvercloud shook her head, watching them disappear into the sandy hollow. She turned around and padded over to the warrior's den where she slipped inside, curled up into her nest, and fell asleep.
"Silvercloud," A voice spoke into Silvercloud's ear. Her eyes opened drowsily. She looked around to find herself in an bright forest unlike home.
"Silvercloud," The voice spoke again.
Now the voice was close, and Silvercloud turned to see a shabby gray she-cat with ugly scars and fur. She recognized this cat somehow. Then the name popped up in her mind.
"Yellowfang!"
The old she-cat nodded and Silvercloud got to her paws quickly. "Yes, Silvercloud." The tattered she-cat sat on what Silvercloud thought might have been her hind-end, but she couldn't tell with all the scars and knotted fur.
"Why are you here?" The silver she-cat meowed to the StarClan."No, why am I here?"
Yellowfang looked up from cleaning her left fore-paw. "I brought you here so that I could tell you what you must do. Another great battle is coming, Silvercloud. You are the one destined to destroy the forever lasting darkness that crawls at your Clan. You duty is to save your Clan, don't forget that, Silvercloud."
Before Silvercloud could respond, the dark cat had vanished and she found herself in the warrior's den again curled up next to Graystripe who was snoring away softly. She looked around the den to find that most of the warriors were still sleeping, and only three nests were empty: Thornclaw, Poppyfrost and Lionblaze. They must have gone on the dawn patrol," she thought.
Getting to her paws, Silvercloud tried her best not to disturb her mate as she padded out into the sunlight. She squinted as the bright light hit her eyes and blinked them into the right adjustment.
She saw Birchfall's brown tail flicking outside of the camp entrance, which indicated he was on duty. She saw Bramblestar speaking softly with Lionblaze in front of Bramblestar's den. Thornclaw and Poppyfrost were standing next to the entrance, possibly waiting for Lionblaze. As Silvercloud padded towards them, Bramblestar and Lionblaze looked up at her from their conversation. Bramblestar told Lionblaze something and the ginger warrior took his patrol out of camp while the tabby leader padded over to where Silvercloud stood.
"Can I help you with anything?" He asked in a cheerful voice.
She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just thinking about the past moon. It's hard to believe we just came out of a hard battle and we are still fighting one right here with the two-legs."
The older tom nodded. "Yes, it is hard to imagine," his voice lowered in concern. "I'm sorry, about what happened to your kits. They were all of our friends, as well as our Clanmates."
Silvercloud shrugged. "It just happens like that, I guess. Like my two-leg use to say, 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire'."
Bramblestar nodded in understanding and sighed. "Well, I'd better go and see how Firekit is doing."
Silvercloud nodded and watched him leave before padded out of camp to find something to eat.
The wind blew in her face as Silvercloud padded through the tall trees, mouth open to see if she could smell any mice or moles. Nothing came to her, so she kept walking. 'The two-legs probably scared them off…' she thought, glancing at a few fallen leaves.
A stronger blast of the cold breeze pushed her onwards, forcing her paws to keep moving. She sighed and followed it, padding along with a rhythm to her steps. To a two-leg, the air would have been ice cold. But, because of her fur, it was just another warm day to Silvercloud.
She kept going quietly, only her paw pads making light pounds onto the cold earth. The sky was dark and the trees were swaying with the wind. Leaves fluttered past in large groups and pushed against trees and bushes in their way.
As she came around a bend, Silvercloud noticed a strong scent of rogue nearby. It wasn't old, or just from a couple days ago. It was recent. and was heading towards the heart of ThunderClan territory. With quick speed the warrior followed the scent, keeping her jaws parted to catch each bit of scent that came her way. Racing down a hill, the scent became almost unbearable to Silvercloud and she forced her mouth shut to keep it all from rushing right in. Slowing to a stop at the bottom, she looked around through the bushes, keeping her ears wide open. If the rogue was here, she would find it.
"Hello?" Silvercloud jumped at a small voice and padded towards it. It was a light voice, probably a she-cat. Young, too.
Turning around the bend, Silvercloud spotted a long dark brown figure lying in a circle of grass. Blood was dripping out of a wound in her abdomen. Her eyes were open, revealing dark green eyes and dilated pupils. Her hindquarters were rising a falling in slow, sharp breaths.
She turned her head towards Silvercloud. "Please, help…"