CHAPTER SIX

After Sparrowheart left the camp, he ran, blinded by rage and sorrow, not really sure exactly where he was going. All of his emotions were welling up at once, making his stomach ache dully and frustrating him.

He focused on the steady thud of his paws on the soft green grass, and nothing else. Trees, bushes, ferns- it all blurred past Sparrowheart as he ran, on and on, ignoring his exhaustion and his emotions. Finally, he came to a halt after almost crashing into a tree.

He was at the WoodClan-StormClan border. Through the ferns, he could see the sandy shore of the vast lake marking the edge of the clans' territory. The lake was so enormous, he couldn't even see what lay beyond. If he shifted the ferns slightly, he could just barely make out the large cave, which broke off into tunnels, that was StormClan's camp. And there was the slippery edge his father had slipped off during the battle seasons ago.

He glanced up at the dark sky. It was getting late, and the new-leaf nights were still cold. Sparrowheart shivered, spotting the moon glowing dully among faint, tiny stars. One of them was Bluestream. He could imagine her, even more beautiful, with dozens of stars caught in her blue-gray pelt.

Suddenly, he scented the wild, fishy tang that marked a StormClan cat. He crouched low in the grass, squinting. There! Only rabbit-lengths away from the border was a StormClan warrior, stalking a squirrel.

The fern patch was the border marker, but there was still a bit of field and grass in StormClan before it trailed into sand and mud. The StormClan warrior crept closer to the squirrel, hiding in the grass, her belly low to the ground. She was a graceful-looking she-cat, a dark gray tabby, but her hunting technique seemed a little shabby. If you asked him, StormClan should stick to fishing.

She pounced a moment too late, landing on a patch of grass. The squirrel took off, fleeing directly toward WoodClan territory. Just as Sparrowheart suspected she would, she chased after it, grinning as the wind flattened her fur back. And then she chased the squirrel through the ferns and across the border.

A surge of misdirected anger jolted through him. He growled loudly and sprang on her, pinning her down. The squirrel disappeared up a tree.

"Hey!" the she-cat gasped. "What're you doing?"

"I was just about to ask the same thing," he hissed. "This is WoodClan territory! Explain yourself!"

Her eyes widened.

-x-

Shadowstream was dreaming.

She always knew when it was a dream and when it was reality, no matter how vivid it was.

In this one, she was standing on the WoodClan-MoorClan border, gazing at the calm, tall grasses. A soft wind was rustling the grass and sweeping up her fur. She squinted against the wind, gazing up at the sky. The sun glimmered above, casting orange hazy light over everything.

Suddenly, her paws lifted, and she was running across the moor, deep into MoorClan territory, faster and faster. No, she wasn't running…she was gliding, hovering a little above the thick yellow-white grass.

She passed the shallow land basin where MoorClan made their camp, watching the dark cats mill around for a moment, but unable to make any of them out. Then she was on the move again, gliding further, until she was beyond their territory marker, the row of large boulders.

She glided over the boulders effortlessly. Beyond them lay a lush green field, not a moor, dotted with flowers and rimmed with trees. The clans had not explored this place- in fact, she hadn't even known it existed. Of course, it probably didn't; this was, after all, a dream. She settled down in the center of the field, touching down on the land for the first time. The grass was soft and plush feeling.

A great feeling of calm washed over her as soon as did. An immense relaxation drifted over her, refreshing her like mist. Suddenly, a cat appeared between the trees, padding toward Shadowstream slowly.

"Bluestream?" she gasped. "Is it you?"

"Yes, Shadowstream. See this field?"

"Sure, yeah. It's a real nice place." she was sleepy all of the sudden.

"Pay attention, Shadowstream. This is very important. This field is important."

"Why?"

"A great darkness is coming to your clan, to all the clans. But fear not, for you will have a savior. And he will come from this field. StarClan wishes me to tell you this. But…"

Shadowstream cocked her head. "But what?"

"They have not told me to say this, but there is something I must tell you, Shadowstream. But…it is hard for me to say. As a warrior of StarClan, I am supposed to enforce the warrior code. I must deliver words of wisdom to the cats of my clan who still walk this earth. Words that support the code."

Shadowstream paused. She wasn't sure she understood everything the she-cat was saying, but it was clear she was conflicted.

"Listen. A change will come to your life soon. You will have to make a choice, and it will be even harder than the one I had to make with Sparrowheart. You may not understand now, but you will later. And the choice you make…it will affect not just you, but your littermates and your clan.

"I should tell you to choose them over yourself. I should say that the other choice is selfish and inconsiderate. But I can't…I just can't. I made the choice you will have to make soon…and it made me happy. So all I can say is that…" she trailed off.

Shadowstream was puzzled. "What, Bluestream?"

"Please, just choose what you believe in your heart to be right. Do not choose for any other reason. You will only make yourself miserable."

"I understand," Shadowstream said, even though she really didn't.

"And, please…tell Sparrowheart I love him still." her eyes glistened faintly.

"I will, of course. But…why me, Bluestream? Why not Thornstar, or your apprentice, Mousewhisker? Or even Stonetail? Why tell me such important things?"

"You will see," she said, in that irritatingly cryptic StarClan way. "But until your time of great change, we trust you will keep this a secret. Most of your clanmates are not ready to know about the darkness coming." Bluestream started to back up, weaving gracefully despite walking backwards.

"Most of my clanmates? Does that mean I can tell my littermates?" she hoped the answer was yes. Her littermates had never kept secrets from each other before Sparrowheart's affair with Bluestream. And look how that had torn them apart. Her littermates were all she had, and she didn't want secrets and deception to come between them even further. Sparrowheart's lies and secrets had already driven a wedge between him and Blacktail.

Bluestream paused for just a moment, thinking. "Yes, I suppose you can tell them. But they must keep it a secret!"

The fierceness of her words got Shadowstream thinking. "Bluestream, does StarClan really know that you're telling me all of this? Did they really tell you to come talk to me?"

Bluestream's eyes twinkled in response, and then she faded away steadily until Shadowstream was alone in the field, her head filled with questions.