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Mudpool's Path- Chapter 9

Mudpool emerged from beneath the spruce tree where the warriors' den was situated. She yawned, stretching out her legs and back. Warmth filled the air, the sun shone above the camp, and a couple of stray clouds rolled along the sky.

"It's such a nice day out," she purred.

Rockpool stepped out from behind her. "You can say that again."

The two she-cats stepped out into the center of the clearing. Weaselfang was padding over to the elders' den, Birchkit following close behind. Birdwing and Featherflight were sharing tongues outside the nursery. Judging by Birdwing's swollen belly, Mudpool guessed she'd be having kits soon.

"I'm surprised she hasn't given up her warrior duties, yet," Rockpool commented. "She'll end up hurting herself if she keeps going."

"She'll go to the nursery when she's ready," Mudpool insisted.

Rockpool shrugged. "I guess. She should be worrying about her kits though."

Mudpool heard a squeak coming from the medicine den and saw Dapplepaw and Nettlepelt pad out from the rock cave. Dapplepaw stared at her reflection in a nearby puddle.

"Look, Nettlepelt!" she mewed with glee. "I really look like a warrior now!"

Mudpool took note of the large scar the attack with the hawk the previous moon had left behind. Her fur was thinner near that area, and the scar veered towards her left eye. Mudpool was surprised that the young apprentice was excited about having such a scar, but she didn't bring it up.

Nettlepelt shook her head. "Dapplepaw, you must be careful the next time you go out into the forest. I don't want you to get killed."

Dapplepaw spun around. "I look like a real warrior though, right?"

Nettlepelt sighed and touched her nose to Dapplepaw's. "Yes, of course. Now hurry along. Riverflower said she wants to do some training with you."

Dapplepaw sped towards the camp entrance, where Riverflower was waiting, and they left together into the forest.

"So has anyone told Dapplepaw and Fernpaw about them being rogues, yet?" Rockpool pondered.

Mudpool pricked her ears in shock, darting her head around to make sure no cat had heard. "Keep your voice down!" she hissed. "No cat has told them about anything, and right now we'd like to keep it that way."

"It almost seems as though some cats would do anything to spill the secret," the gray she-cat mentioned. "Look around you."

Mudpool did so, and she noticed Weaselfang and Maplefrost had unsure looks on their faces, and were glancing out the entrance tunnel with a possibly hostile light in their eyes. Weaselfang looked at Maplefrost, who nodded and went out the entrance.

Mudpool sprung to her paws. "We have to stop him!"

Rockpool slammed her paw down on Mudpool's tail, dragging her back. "Wait a second, mouse-brain! Maybe this is for the best."

Mudpool struggled to turn around and face her. "No, it isn't! If Maplefrost tells them about them being rogues, they'll blame me!"

Rockpool cocked her head. "What makes you think they'll blame you?"

Mudpool ripped her tail out from beneath Rockpool's paws. "I was the one that brought them here in the first place!"

Without another word, she sped out the entrance tunnel, speeding through the forest. The trees were a blur as she ran, trying to detect Maplefrost's scent. She caught a whiff of him through a narrow path, and continued to sprint after him.

Looking up to the sky, she saw that clouds were beginning to cover the sun. The birds were quieting down, and grasshoppers ceased their chirping.

Oh StarClan, please don't let me be too late!

She almost froze when she heard the apprentices voices.

"Like this?" Mudpool heard Dapplepaw's voice echo through the trees.

"No mousebrain!" That was Fernpaw. "Riverflower meant like this!"

Mudpool ran faster, her now coming in short, quick gasps. The sky continued to be filled with clouds, and she saw squirrels retreating to their nests in the trees. When she finally reached the training area, she found that she was too late.

Maplefrost stood in front of the kits. "You two know you aren't Clan cats, right?"

Dapplepaw purred and rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly! We were born in LeafClan!"

Fernpaw turned to Riverflower, an amused look in her eyes. "He's so funny, isn't he?"

Riverflower turned her head away, and Fernpaw's amused gaze turned into a look of worry. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

Maplefrost stepped forward. "Oh everything's fine. I just came to tell you about where you really came from."

Mudpool ran up to him. "Maplefrost... don't..." she could hardly speak, since she was so out of breath.

Maplefrost twitched his tail, but didn't turn around. "You two aren't from LeafClan. You aren't even from any of the other Clans."

Dapplepaw and Fernpaw exchanged confused glances, then turned back to him. "What do you mean?" Dapplepaw meowed.

"You're rogues," Maplefrost replied, without a single emotion. "You two were found at the MistClan border. You never had even a single drop of Clan blood in you."

Dapplepaw stepped back. "You're wrong! You're lying to us!"

Maplefrost finally took note of Mudpool's presence. "Why not ask Mudpool what she thinks? She was the one who brought you here after all."

Maplefrost smirked at Mudpool and padded past her back to camp.

Fernpaw looked up at her, sadness lighting her eyes. "Is he really telling the truth, Mudpool? Are we really rogues?"

Mudpool looked at the two apprentices, unsure of what to say. She let out a shaky breath. "Yes," she admitted. "You two are rogues. Nutwhisker and I brought you here in leaf-bare, on my first day as an apprentice."

They looked up at her with horror. Mudpool quickly added, "Please don't think badly of me. I thought that I did the right thing by not telling you. I thought that if you never learned about being rogues, you'd live a normal Clan life, as normal Clan cats. No matter what, you'll still be LeafClan warriors. Please understand that."

Dapplepaw and Fernpaw looked at each other, and they flattened their ears, turning to face her once more.

"You lied to us," Dapplepaw hissed. "You always pretended as though there was nothing wrong with us, as though we were 'normal' Clan cats. Now you come up to us and tell us we're rogues, after all these moons, and expect us to forgive you?"

Mudpool nodded solemnly, keeping her head down, feeling her heart breaking.

"Did any other cat know?" Fernpaw demanded. "Were they all lying to us too?"

Riverflower finally turned to look at them. "Yes. We all knew you were rogues. The only cat that doesn't know you were rogues is Birchkit. But we didn't lie to you. We were only trying to keep you safe."

Dapplepaw and Fernpaw padded over to the gray warrior. "We forgive you, and the rest of the Clan," Dapplepaw assured. "But Mudpool didn't tell us. She was the one that brought us here, so she should've been the one to tell us."

Fernpaw looked at Mudpool, hostility darkening her face. "Is there anything else we need to know?" she spat. "Are we part kittypet, too?"

Mudpool tried to reply, but Dapplepaw interrupted her. "Just go away, Mudpool! We don't want to talk to you anymore!"

The two apprentices turned away from her, and Riverflower stared at the brown tabby she-cat, with a look that said it all. "I'm so sorry."

Mudpool turned away, her tail and ears drooping. She felt a raindrop fall onto her head, and rain soon began to pour down. She felt a sob rising in her chest, but she supressed it.

I have to be strong, she told herself. It doesn't matter that my two adoptive sisters hate me now and never want to speak to me again. I have... the rest of my life ahead of me.

She soon felt that she couldn't hold down the feelings of sadness anymore. She collapsed onto the now-muddy ground, sobs erupting from her chest. She forced her eyes shut, letting the rain soak her fur, and letting it freeze her down to her bones.

Maplefrost... why? I thought we put aside our differences... did that mean nothing to you?

~o~o~o~o~

She awoke to find herself on a barren field, nothing but emptiness stretching out around her. The sky and landscape were gray, and no sound but her own breathing could be heard.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing eerily through the field.

As soon as she spoke, dark trees sprouted out of the ground, surrounding her, trapping her in the emptiness.

She froze in horror as a familiar noise rang through the trees. It was a sound she hadn't heard in a long time, a sound she hoped she had heard the last of. It was the sound of rattling bones.

Her eyes widened as the shadow of a cat approached.

"You poor, pathetic kit," the shadow mocked. "I told you to join me. But did you? No, you chose your Clan over me."

Mudpool stopped cowering and straightened up. "I'm not a 'kit' anymore," she declared. "I'm a warrior now. I'm not scared of you."

The unseeable cat purred. "Oh, but you will be. In the moons to come, things will only get worse. Cats you think you can trust will betray you, just like Maplefrost did today. Cats will think that you are the cause of their fates and problems, just like Dapplepaw and Fernpaw think about you."

"How do you even know me?" Mudpool hissed. "We've never even met! I don't even know who you are!"

"I know you all too well, Mudpool," the shadow meowed. "I know all about your little Clans, too. They're going to crash and fall, and darkness will rule."

"That's a load of fox-dung," Mudpool snarled. "Darkness will always fall to the light."

The shadow crept closer. "But if the light is destroyed, then the darkness will rise, and it will engulf all those around it."

Mudpool turned away. "Get away from me, you fox-heart. You don't know anything."

The cat hissed, and slammed her paws down on the ground. "You are the one that knows nothing!"

The trees soon began to fall, their roots ripping from beneath the ground. Yowls of terror rang out among the forest, and cats were screaming for help.

Mudpool ran through the forest, attempting to dodge every incoming tree. She froze when she came to a dead end, in front of the face of a cliff. She watched in terror as a tree began to topple in her direction.

"No!" she howled, frozen to the spot. "It can't end like this!"

A flash of orange sped among the trees, and Mudpool saw it was an enormous cat with black stripes. It grabbed her by the scruff, yanking her out of harm's way. Mudpool could hear the shadow cat's yowls of rage echo through the forest.

The cat continued to run with her, until a silvery mist rose in front of them, and when they emerged, Mudpool saw she was alone, in a much more pleasant area. Mudpool stared ahead, and saw that Shimmerheart, the StarClan cat, was approaching her.

"Thought we'd leave you hanging, huh?" the she-cat purred, nuzzling Mudpool's flank.

Mudpool looked around in confusion. "That cat... what was it?"

"It was a tiger," Shimmerheart mewed. "They are from the Clans of long ago. It will be the one who assists you in times of trouble. They are courageous and they were once very loyal to their Clanmates."

Mudpool cocked her head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Shimmerheart leaned closer. "Why not ask the tiger that currently lives with you?"

Mudpool was about to ask what she meant by that, when everything suddenly began to fade. She heard the prophecy echo through her mind, the prophecy she hadn't heard in a long time.

The shadows of the past are threatening the Clans. The cats of mud, hawk, rock, rain and tiger must come together to defeat the impending darkness.

~o~o~o~o~

"Mudpool! Wake up!"

Mudpool's eyes opened, and she slowly rose to her feet, her bones aching. She saw Tigerpaw and Hawkpaw standing in front of her.

"Where... what happened?" she sat down in the nest she was resting in, looking around the cave she was in.

"You're in the medicine den," Hawkpaw replied. "Sandfur saw that you had collapsed on the ground and was worried you were sick. He brought you here with our help."

"He also wanted you to have these," Tigerpaw pushed a poultice of feverfew toward her. "They'll soothe your chills and fever. They'll also help with your aching."

Mudpool soon realized the fever, and quickly ate the herbs, making a face as she swallowed them.

"You were twitching in your sleep," Tigerpaw mentioned. "Were you having a bad dream?"

Mudpool nodded. "It was an awful dream."

"Like the ones you've had before?" Hawkpaw asked.

Tigerpaw cocked her head. "The ones before? This has happened other times before now?"

Mudpool nodded. "I also found out... who the last cat in the prophecy is."

Hawkpaw placed her tail over Mudpool mouth quickly. "Don't say that while other cats are around!"

"What prophecy?" Tigerpaw demanded. "Have you been keeping secrets from me, Hawkpaw?"

"Yes, we have," Mudpool moved her head away from Hawkpaw's tail. "But there's no need to anymore."

Hawkpaw's eyes widened. "Are you...?"

Mudpool nodded, and turned to face Tigerpaw. "When I was still a kit, StarClan gave me a prophecy. They told me that the cats of mud, hawk, rock, rain and tiger must come together to save the Clans, but it wasn't until later that I realized they meant I needed to find five cats I had grown close to.

"Hawkpaw was the first cat that I had found, and she helped me find the next two cats, Rockpool and Rainspots."

"For the longest time, we didn't know where to look for the last cat, since StarClan wasn't sending Mudpool any more dreams," Hawkpaw added. "Until now, at least."

"In my most recent dream, I was running out of a forest with collapsing trees. I was about to be killed by one, until a tiger came from out of nowhere and saved me," Mudpool finished.

Tigerpaw shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense. Why are you telling me this?"

Hawkpaw and Mudpool looked at each other, nodded, and, in unison, they meowed, "You're the last cat in the prophecy."

Tigerpaw's eyes widened, and she stared at them both. "That can't be true... can it? I'm just an ordinary cat, I'm nothing special."

"Maybe none of us are," Mudpool meowed. "But that changes nothing. You're still a part of the prophecy, and now that we have found all five cats, we can finally figure out what it means."

Tigerpaw looked down. "I don't know what to say... but I promise I won't let you down."

Mudpool purred, then realized her strength was fading.

"You should get some rest," Hawkpaw insisted. "I'll tell Rockpool and Rainspots that the last cat has been found."

"Thanks Hawkpaw..." Mudpool whispered. Her eyes closed, and the darkness closed in on her, giving her a peaceful sleep.

But even though she felt at peace, she couldn't help but worry about whether Dapplepaw and Fernpaw would ever forgive her.

~o~o~o~o~

Mudpool ran up Hawkpaw and Tigerpaw, now known as Hawkwing and Tigerstripe, who had just had their warrior ceremony the day before. It was only four sunrises after she had the awful nightmare, but she was happy it was all over now.

"How was your vigil?" Mudpool asked. "Was it cold?"

Hawkwing shrugged. "It was okay. We heard weird noises out in the forest that sounded like cats, but other than that it was fine."

"That's good to hear," Mudpool turned her attention to Weaselfang and Blacktail, who were sharing tongues outside the elders' den. "I'm going to bring them something from the fresh-kill pile. Want to come?"

Tigerstripe purred. "Sure! We'd be happy to!"

The three cats sauntered over to the fresh-kill pile, nosing through the bodies of prey. Mudpool spotted a large rabbit, picking it up with her teeth.

"Great StarClan! This is the heaviest rabbit I've ever seen!" Mudpool remarked through a mouthful of rabbit fur.

"That must mean it's very good," Hawkwing meowed. "Blacktail and Weaselfang will love it!"

Mudpool, with some assistance from Hawkwing and Tigerstripe, carried the large rabbit over to where the two toms sat.

Weaselfang looked up. "Is this for us?"

Mudpool nodded, placing the rabbit down gently. "Looks good, doesn't it?"

Blacktail bent his head over to take a large bite. "It sure does."

The two cats began to eat their prey, and Mudpool noticed bright red juice flowing out of it.

"That must be a very fresh rabbit," Mudpool whispered in Hawkwing's ear. "Look at all that blood."

Hawkwing sniffed it, and sprang back in horror. "That's not blood! It's-"

Her words were cut off, as Blacktail and Weaselfang began to writhe and shriek in agony.

I'm a terrible person for leaving you with a cliffhanger. Okay, bye now!

But seriously, review this. I've had over 200 views and only 2 reviews. I don't want to sound rude, but please, just do me a favour and review this.