A/N: Chapter 8 is in the house! Haha. This is probably going to be my last chapter for a while since I leave for camp in 2 days and I won't get back until the 3rd of August. And then on the 11th of August, I leave to go on vacation with my dad in North Carolina for a week! YAY!
Thanks to my anonymous reviewer and Meta-If for correcting me on my spelling and for finding the mistake where I called Cloudstar Cloudtail.
Also thanks to Fruitloops25, Meta-If and my anonymous reviewer for reviewing.
Thank you to Cinwan, and any others who added me to their alerts/favorites. (If I missed you please PM me and I'll add a thanks to you in here)
Disclaimer:
Me: I own Sandstorm, and Firestar, and Echosong and Jayfeather!
Tigerstar: Ha! Yeah, right. You could never own something that has awesome me in it!
Me: Ah yeah I could.
Tigerstar: *bites me*
Me: OW! Okay! Okay! I don't own warriors!
Echosong glanced back over her shoulder as the clan left the old territory of the clan. She was so deep in thought that she didn't even realize that Leafstar had stopped the clan until she walked into Tangle. The old tom turned around and huffed angrily at her.
"Watch where you're going!" She put the kit she was carrying down to apologize.
"S-s-sorry Tangle. I wasn't looking at where I was going." Echosong meowed sheepishly, bowing her head. He huffed again before turning back to the front.
"We will stop here to take a short rest. Shapclaw will organize two patrols to go hunting. If any cat has any wounds, see Echosong and Frecklewish. As soon as every cat has rested, we will continue on our way to the mountains." Leafstar meowed.
"So, what herbs do you need?" Frecklewish meowed excitedly, making Echosong jump.
"Frecklewish! Don't do that! You nearly made me jump out of my fur!" She scolded trying to catch her breath. "I'm sorry. We will need dock leaves and some juniper berries."
"Why will we need juniper? No cat has a bellyache or trouble breathing." Frecklewish said, cocking her head to the side in confusion.
Sighing, Echosong answered. "Because, Frecklewish, juniper also gives cats strength. We need to give some to the elders, kits and queens before we continue on our journey." Frecklewish nodded in understanding and ran off, promising to bring back as many berries as she could find. Not long after, Lichenfur came over to her.
"Hello Lichenfur. What can I do for you?" she asked the elder.
"Oh, not much. My pads are just sore. Would you take a look at them?" the elder she-cat asked.
"Of course. I'll look at them as soon as Frecklewish comes back with the dock leaves." As soon as she said this, her young and energetic apprentice returned, her mouth overflowing with green dock leaves.
"Is this enough?" she asked, setting the leaves down at her mentor's paws.
"Yes, it is probably more than enough, but it's good. This way we'll be able to bring some with us. Now go and get those juniper berries." Echosong said, proud of how well her apprentice was doing. Turning to Lichenfur, she took a dock leaf and told the older she-cat to rub her paws on them.
Echosong had treated all the cats with sore paws and Frecklewish had given some juniper berries to the queens, kits and elders, so she decided to close her eyes and rest for a while.
When she opened her eyes, she wasn't surprised to find herself back on the rock ledge. She was surprised, however, that there was a starry cat standing on the ledge next to her.
"Beautiful night isn't it?" the cat said. Echosong realized it was a tom and the stars in his pelt must mean that he was an ancestor of the cats they would find in the mountains.
"It is. But why am I here? Who are you?" she asked. She hoped this dream wouldn't be as omniscient as the last dream she had that same ledge.
"Calm down, Echosong. I am Water That Falls on Rocks, an ancestor of the Tribe of Rushing Water. And you are here because you must see the way." The star covered tom said.
"See the way? What do you mean?" Echosong was quite confused now. How was she supposed to see the way? Only StarClan could see what was coming.
"You must see the way of those who came before you, for you are The Echo of The Past." Water said as he faded into the rocks.
Echosong awoke with a start, the last words of the tribe's ancestor running through her mind You must see the way of those who came before you, for you are The Echo of The Past. If she was the Echo of the past, how could she see the way before her? She shook her head and sat up. She saw that most of the clan was already up, so she shook out her fur and stretched, before joining the rest of the clan.
"We will be traveling all day today. We will not be stopping until it is dark. I had a dream last night, and we must reach the mountain cats within the next two sunrises, or else there will be a loss among us. Now, go eat and see Echosong about any sore pads." Leafstar meowed.
Soon after, the clan was on their way once again. The day of travel was relatively easy, they didn't see any twolegs and they only had to cross one thunderpath. But, even with the ease of their travel, Echosong still felt edgy. She sensed that some kind of danger was approaching. Her sense of dread only increased the closer they got to the mountains.
On the morning of the second sunrise, Echosong woke with a feeling of fear in her heart as the clan climbed the rocky ledges of the mountain. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them, something big.
At sunhigh, while the clan had stopped for a short rest, Echosong swore she saw a shadow of a cat on one of the rock walls. But there was something wrong with the shadow; it was far too big to belong to a cat.
As the day passed, Echosong drifted to the back of the clan. She couldn't explain why, only that it felt right for her to be there. She slowed and watched the cats of her beloved clan walk away in front of her. She kept up a slow pace and followed three tail lengths behind the last cat.
A short while later, Echosong heard a growl above her; a low, deep growl that sounded different from that of a normal cat. She looked up at the ledge above her and saw a huge cat. It had tawny coloured fur and round ears. It looked like the how the cats of LionClan where described, except without a mane. She realized with terror that the large cat was stalking her.
Echosong didn't know what to do. There was a huge cat hunting her. She couldn't catch up with her clan, because then the cat might hunt them to. And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the lion without a mane disappeared.
Panting, she ran to catch up to the clan. They were walking along the rock ledge Echosong had seen in her dreams twice now. She looked around and saw that starry cats were sitting all around the clan, as if granting them safe passage into the tribe's territory. Echosong saw Water That Falls on Rocks and he nodded at her. She blinked, and the ledge went back to normal, the starry ancestors of the tribe no longer watching.
The clan walked on and soon left the ledge behind, to emerge into a rocky landscape with a few small bushes scattered around the clearing. Then, out of nowhere, the clan was surrounded by cats covered in mud. One of them, bigger than the rest, stepped forward.
"Who is your leader and why are you here?" the cat said.
"I am Leafstar, SkyClan's leader. We are here because we were told to find a tribe of cats who live in these mountains." Leafstar answered defiantly.
"Very well. Follow us back to the Cave of Rushing Water where you shall meet the tribe." the cat said. Echosong could see that her leader did not trust them, but she knew, somehow, that they had to follow the strange cats.
"Leafstar, we can trust them. We must follow them." She told her leader. Leafstar nodded and waved her tail at the mud covered cats, signaling that they should lead the way.
The clan followed the cats over the rocky landscape. They were led over rock piles and under ledges, until they reached a waterfall. Echosong didn't see why they were led here, until the first cats disappeared behind the falling water. Her eyes widened in disbelief as Leafstar led the clan on and she saw where the cats must have gone. Behind the sheet of falling mountain water, there was a hole that led into a cave.
When they entered, Echosong gazed around and saw, with shock, that the tribe had enough cats to form an entire clan. She also saw that her clanmates were glancing around themselves nervously, as though not trusting the tribe cats. A long legged, muscular dark grey tom stepped towards the clan.
"Greetings. I am Cr-I mean the Stoneteller, or as you clan cats call them, leader of the Tribe of Rushing Water. You must be SkyClan, Jayfeather said you were coming. May I speak to your leader?" he said in a rush. Leafstar hesitated a second before responding.
"Greetings, Stoneteller. I am Leafstar, SkyClan's leader. Jayfeather said you were friends of theirs and that you could help us find the lake. Is that so?" she said, stepping towards Stoneteller, and away from the clan. She was soon joined by Billystorm.
"Yes, we are friends of the clans. And we will help you. Once your clan is full fed and rested, we will set off for the lake." Stoneteller meowed. Leafstar asked where the clan would be sleeping while they were in the tribe's home. Stoneteller nodded at three tribe cats and had them show the clan where they would sleep.
A lithe brown tabby she-cat introduced herself as Brook Where Small Fish Swim and said that she would show the queens and kits where they would be sleeping. A pale grey she-cat, smaller than a warrior would be, introduced herself as Pebble That Rolls Down Mountain and said she would show the to-be's to their nests. When the clan cats stared at her blankly, she corrected herself and said that she would show the apprentices, because clans don't use the word to-be. But when the third cat, the same cat who had led the clan to the cave, introduced himself, Billystorm started.
"Stormfur? Isn't that a clan name?" he said to the grey tom that was to show the warriors to their nests.
Sighing, the tom said "Yes, it is. I was from RiverClan, but on a journey from the old forest I lost my sister here. And then, later, when we brought the four clans, I decided to stay, since I fit in well here, better than in my own clan, and since I had fallen in love with Brook." Billystorm nodded and the warriors went off to their nests. Echosong stayed behind, not sure where she would stay, since she wasn't an apprentice, queen or a warrior. She decided she would ask Leafstar. She looked around and saw her leader walk over to Stoneteller.
"So, Stoneteller, Jayfeather told you we were coming?" she asked, sounding suspicious.
"Yes. He came to visit me in a dream. I don't know how, I swear he must have some kind of special ability." Leafstar nodded and said "Can you prove it?" Stoneteller thought for a moment before answering.
"How about I tell you that I know you're here because the twolegs are destroying your territory, which is by a gorge, on the other side of the other clans' old territory, and because Jayfeather convinced you that the only way any of the clans would survive the Dark Forest is if you joined them." Leafstar's mouth, as well as Echosong's, gapped open and Leafstar nodded.
"I believe we can trust you. Jayfeather is the only one outside of SkyClan that knows this." Stoneteller nodded and told her to tell the clan to eat and rest, and that every cat would be leaving in two sunrises.
Leafstar turned and walked over to the tunnel where Stormfur had led the warriors. Echosong ran over to her to ask where she should stay.
"I don't know. Ask Stoneteller and tell him you are our medicine cat." She answered before walking into the tunnel.
Echosong sighed and padded over to the muscular dark grey tom in the center of the cave.
"Hello Stoneteller. I am Echosong, the medicine cat of SkyClan. I was wondering where I should stay, since I am not a queen, apprentice or warrior." She told him.
"Ah, yes. I forgot that clans have a leader as well as a medicine cat. How about you stay with me in the Cave of Pointed Stones?" Stoneteller asked her, nodding to the tunnel behind him.
"I would like that. Thank you." Echosong answered, dipping her head with both gratitude and respect. Stoneteller led her into the cave and showed her to the small dip in the ground she would use as a nest. Nodding her thanks once again, she curled up in her borrowed nest and had a sweet and peaceful dreamless sleep.
A/N: Hope you guys all liked this chapter and review *hint, hint* ;) If you find anything wrong in the chapter, or have any questions, please feel free to leave them in your reviews or to PM me.
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Thanks for reading,
Jay~
