Chapter 10: There Will be Five

I shivered against the cold-leafbare wind. All of the Clans had gathered for the Gathering, and although I was excited, I felt no warmth in my body whatsoever. RiverClan had barely made their report, along with ShadowClan, although I hadn't payed attention to either of them. My mind was wandering towards Mistypaw. I wonder why StarClan led her here? My gaze landed on the excited she-cat. She had been talking to a WindClan tom and RiverClan she-cat. It was her first ever Gathering. She doesn't know anything about the Clans, so why is she here?

"ThunderClan has been coping well just as the other Clans," Firestar meowed. "We also have a new apprentice, Mistypaw."

"Mistypaw, Mistypaw!" chanted the cats from the Clans. I saw Mistypaw puff out her chest in glee as the apprentices around her cheered the loudest.

"WindClan is also doing well," Onestar meowed, "we did have a dog problem, but Breezepelt and a few other warriors were able to fix that."

Dog problem? I didn't remember that from the books, but then again, they do live on highlands. Twolegs usually take their dogs for walks near there. I glanced over at Breezepelt, who looked confident at Onestar mentioning his name. He caught me staring at him and his gaze changed to something unreadable, his amber eyes not leaving mine. I awkwardly turned away. If he hurt the dogs I swear to StarClan…

"Echoflight?" mewed Honeyfern. I glanced at the pretty golden tabby. Her blue eyes were bright. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "I'm fine," I meowed, staring at the ground. Why was he looking at me like that?

As the Gathering came to a close, I found Mistypaw telling a story to the apprentices surrounding her.

"But then-" she was cut off once she spotted me. Her blue eyes brightened. "Oh, hey Echoflight!"

The other apprentices looked up at me, their eyes gleaming. "Hi!"

I smiled, "hello," I meowed. I gave Mistypaw a look. "We have to go now, Mistypaw."

She let out a groan. "I don't want to," she sighed. I rolled my eyes, nudging my stubborn apprentice away from her friends. She called goodbye to them as we followed ThunderClan back to our camp.

"So who were they?" I asked her as we passed WindClan border.

Mistypaw shrugged. "Just some really cool RiverClan and WindClan apprentices," she mewed. I smiled.

"It's alright for you to have friends in other Clans… but you shouldn't get too close."

Mistypaw frowned, looking up at me. "Why not? They were cool."

I sighed. "I don't care if they're "cool", Mistypaw," I meowed. "It's… dangerous…"

Mistypaw groaned. "You never let me do anything… it's either "Mistypaw, remember the code", "Mistypaw, don't think that ShadowClan tom was hot", "Mistypaw, forbidden love is forbidden for a reason"."

My eyes widened at her tone. Although I had told her all that stuff, she had no right to backtalk me. I was her mentor! I cleared my throat, "Mistypaw-"

"No, I'm done listening to your crap!" she snapped, running ahead of me. I sighed, staring at my paws.

"Echoflight?" Honeyfern asked again. I jumped, turning around to face the light brown tabby. Her blue eyes were wide as she watched me carefully. "Are you sure you're alright? You've been acting funny since the Gathering."
I sighed. "That obvious?"

Honeyfern shrugged. "I only noticed because I'm your friend," she mewed, her blue eyes glimmering. "And you can tell me what's bothering you."

"It's Mistypaw," I meowed, watching as my apprentice attempted to speak with Thornclaw and Spiderleg. Surprisingly, they were nice to the apprentice.

"What about her?"

"She… She just won't listen to what I tell her. She's just so stubborn and has such a strong will…"

Honeyfern smiled. "It's fine, I'm sure she'll stop eventually. After all, you're probably the best mentor there ever could be."

I glanced back at her. "You really think that?"

Honeyfern nodded. "Of course!"

I sighed. "Well, I guess that makes me feel a little bit better."

"It better!" Honeyfern exclaimed, making us both mrrow with laughter. We finally reached camp, and it was late. I watched as Mistypaw made her way into the apprentice den - probably to gossip to the other apprentices.

"How was the Gathering?" Lionblaze asked. He was finishing the last bit of his fresh-kill.

I shrugged. "I didn't hear most of it," I admitted. "Although WindClan did chase of some pestering dogs."

Lionblaze let out a mrrow of laughter. "What's this? The great and mighty Echoflight ignored a Gathering? Jayfeather!" The gray tabby tom had barely just walked by. I felt my ears redden. Shut up already, Lionblaze.

"What?" he meowed, walking towards us.

"Echoflight here ignored most of the Gathering!" Lionblaze announced. "Surprising, eh? Since she is so obsessed with the warrior code like Hollyleaf."

"What?" Hollyleaf's mew sounded from behind us.

"Fox-dung…"

As I headed to my den to sleep, I woke up again to a StarClan cat whispering in my ears;

"Open your eyes, Echoflight."
I blinked, obeying what they had said. My eyes widened when I was facing the great leader Bluestar. "B-Bluestar!" I stammered. "What are you doing here?"

The gray she-cat's blue eyes glimmered. "What do normal StarClan cats do when they visit you?" she asked.

"Usually give prophecies?"

Bluestar smirked. Oh, duh…

"The time of fire has ended. Now, darkness rises, but only the Five can bring the light that the darkness threatens to take. Only the Five will be able to protect the Clans from utter darkness," meowed the starry she-cat.

I frowned. The Five? "Isn't it the Four, Bluestar?" I asked. But it was no use. The StarClan warrior was beginning to fade away. "Wait, Bluestar!" I called after her, only to be greeted by darkness as well.

The next day I was confident in actually getting Mistypaw to listen to me. She's never going to be a respected ThunderClan warrior if she keeps acting like this, I thought as spotted her. "Mistypaw!" I called to her. The she-cat looked up from her fresh-kill, frowning.

"What?" she asked.

"Do you want to do some battle training?" I asked her. Her eyes glimmered.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. I smiled. "Great, finish your fresh-kill and then meet me by the camp entrance."

Mistypaw nodded as she continued to eat, being jumped on by Dovekit and Ivykit. "Not now!" she exclaimed. "I'm eating!" I smiled. Although Dovekit and Ivykit were only four moons old now, they couldn't wait to become apprentices.

As I began to make my way to the fresh-kill pile to get my food, I stopped dead in my tracks when a voice hissed, "The Five must win or else the Clans will be engulfed by darkness."

I jerked back, alarmed, my spine tingling. What the hell?

I backed away from the fresh-kill pile, instantly losing my appetite. I need to tell Jayfeather about this… He is one of the Four after all…

Bounding off to the medicine den, I stuck my head in. No one was in sight. "Jayfeather?" I called, walking in. The scent of herbs was overwhelming, but I could pick out lavender as the strongest.

"What?" Jayfeather grumbled, appearing. He must've been farther back sorting through herbs.

"StarClan visited me in a dream," I meowed. Jayfeather blinked, finally looking interested.

"Really? And what did they say?"

"It was Bluestar," I explained, "and she gave me a prophecy saying "The time of fire has ended. Now rises the darkness but only the Five can bring the light the darkness threatens to take. Only the Five will be able to protect the Clans from utter darkness". But… I don't know what she means by that. Five? There was only Four mentioned…"

Jayfeather frowned, thinking through the prophecy.

"Do you have any idea what this could mean?" I asked.

Jayfeather shook his head. "No… but I do know that if we don't find 'the Five', then everything will be lost… and everything the Clans worked for will die with them."