Disclaimer: srorraws nwo t'nod I (Backwards for I don't own warriors)
Chapter 8
As Skyheart and Aspenfall strode through the entrance of camp they noticed all of Iceclan was under the Leader Oak. Skyheart quickly spotted Nightgaze sitting next to Frostfall, and she bounded up to him. " What's happening?" She asked, concern filling her voice. Nightgaze turned his head and Skyheart saw the dread, shock, and fear clouding his usual determined gaze.
" Snowsong's kits were attacked by..... something," He meowed, the same emotions that shone in his eyes laced every word that left his mouth.
Skyheart opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off as Blizzardstar's call rang around the clearing.
" A terrible thing has happened today," Blizzardstar's mewed, " Snowsong's kits were attacked by some type of monster. For now they are resting in the Medicine Cats' den, and we will find out who hurt them when they wake up."
Mews of concern filled the silent clearing.
Skyheart just sat dumbstruck through the whole meeting. She had a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach The timing is so weird. . . the kits being attacked right after Whitefoot died she thought I have to check this out... She quickly ran to the Medicine Cats' Den and pushed through. To her relief only Maplepaw was in there. " Maplepaw, Snowsong said she has a bellyache," she lied. Maplepaw believed her and ran to the herb store, grabbed some shiny blue berries, and raced out of the den. Skyheart sighed in relief Now I can talk to the kits she thought. She quickly spotted Rainkit twitching in his moss nest in the corner. She crept up to the sleeping tom kit, and gently prodded his side.
The kit's eyes shot open and his jaws opened into a soundless wail.
" It's okay, It is just Skyheart," The she-cat tried to soothe the kit, but failed.
The tiny kit's body gave a string of convulsions and then lay still and his eyes closed.
Panic surged through the grey she-cat, " Rainkit...?" Skyheart whispered begging Starclan that nothing happened to the young tom.
The kit opened his eyes, panting. Skyheart let out a sigh of relief then the kit turned his head to face her.
Fear and wisdom shone in their light blue depths, " It is them and they are coming for us all," he squeaked his breath coming in rasping gasps,
Fear coursed through Skyheart, but also overpowering curiousity, " Who is them?" Skyheart whispered.
Rainkit's body twitched, and his eyes drooped.
" Rainkit... Tell me who is them," Skyheart wailed silently.
Rainkit coughed out, "Blood," before his eyes closed and his breathing became normal once again.
Skyheart took a few paces back from the sleeping kit. She pieced together the prophecy with Blood and Skystar and she finally realized The old, forgotten enemy is Dead and the NightSky is Nightgaze and I. How are we going to defeat a whole group of rouges by ourselves and how is Blood hurting living cats? She thought I have to tell Nightgaze and Aspenfall.
Skyheart raced out of the den ramming straight into Maplepaw. She saw anger in the apprentice's eyes.
" Snowsong didn't have a bellyache," She hissed bending over to pick up the scattered berries.
Skyheart shuffled her paws in the dust, " Sorry, I guess I heard wrong," she shrugged.
Maplepaw shot her a glance before barging past her and into the den.
Guilt pulsed through her I had to do it I needed information She thought anyways I have more important things to do than worry about Maplepaw. Skyheart shook her head to clear the guilt. She scanned the clearing for Nightgaze, and once again found him sharing tougues with Frostfall. Do they like each other she wondered no I have more important things to worry about at the moment. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she padded up to her brother and flicked him with her tail. " Hey," She meowed trying to hide the urgency in her voice.
" Hey," he purred, apparently over the shock of the meeting.
" I need to talk to you in private," Skyheart meowed shooting a quick glance at Frostfall.
Nightgaze got the message and quickly said goodbye and nuzzled Frostfall's cheek, before following Skyheart to the Warriors' Den. Skyheart poked her head inside and spotted Aspenfall dozing in his nest in the corner. " Aspenfall!" She whispered.
Aspenfall raised his head drowsily. Realizing his mate called him he jumped up and ran to her side.
She purred, " Nightgaze and I have something important to. . . . . discuss with you," Skyheart whispered.
Aspenfall nodded confusion and curiosity flickering in his eyes.
Skyheart made her way out of the Warriors' Den and padded toward the camp entrance.
" Where are you three going," a voice from behind made Skyheart stop in her tracks.
" We're going hunting, Cedarwisp," Nightgaze stated a little too quickly.
The deputy stared at them then sighed, " You better bring back some prey." He gave one last supicious glance before heading to the Warriors' Den.
Skyheart exhaled a breath that she didn't know she was holding and quickly ran out of the hollow so no other warriors would have suspicions about them. The three warriors raced through the forest the sun warming their fur through the leaf canopy above. They stopped by the stream that split the territories of Streamclan and Iceclan and sat down panting from the long run across the forest.
" So," Aspenfall meowed, " what is so important that we had to run all the way here for me to hear about it?"
Skyheart and Nghtgaze looked at each other uneasily.
" Well," Skyheart began, " I have a theory about what attacked the kits."
Aspenfall's eyes grew wide with shock, " What?"
" Remember when Skyheart ran off when the patrol came across Whitefoot's body?" Nightgaze asked.
Aspenfall eyes flashed with grief, but the emotion passed so quickly that Skyheart questioned she had even saw it at all. " Yes I remember. What was she doing?" Aspenfall asked cocking his head to the side.
" She heard a voice whisper that the Clans won't win the battle," Nightgaze concluded shuffling his paws in the sand.
Aspenfall asked, " Whose voice did you hear?"
Skyheart answered, " Nightgaze and I have been having weird dreams about an evil cat that would hold us down and say we wouldn't defeat them this time. Then Skystar came to us in our dreams and told us an old, forgotten enemy would return and only we could defeat them."
Aspenfall's eyes grew wide once again, " The same Skystar that drove Dead out all those moons ago?"
Skyheart nodded.
" Blood, the leader of Dead back then, keeps coming back as spirit and killing and attacking cats," Nightgaze added, " he killed your mom and now we know he attacked Snowsong's kits."
" How do you know all this?" Aspenfall questioned.
Skyheart and Nightgaze exhanged a glance, " All fits together now that I think about it," Skyheart answered not including the major piece of information that Rainkit had given her, that had confirmed her theories.
Aspenfall sat back. All the new information he received floating in his brain that is a lot of responsibility put on just two cats He thought I am going to help. Aspenfall had made up his mind, " Hey I want to help."
Skyheart and Nightgaze stared at him in confusion, " Help with what?"
Aspenfall rolled his eyes, " I want to help you guys find a way to beat Dead."
Nightgaze scoffed, " I knew that."
Skyheart rolled her eyes and started giggling.
" Lets go back to camp and tell Ashwing about this," Nightgaze muttered as he got up and shook sand from his fur. Skyheart agreed and swftly started licking sand off her back.
" Let me help you," Aspenfall mewed licking the rest of the sand out of her fur. She purred and licked Aspenfall clean before following the muttering Nightgaze back home.
**********
" Ashwing," Skyheart called bursting through the bramble screen of the Medicine Cats' Den with Aspenfall and Nightgaze close behind.
" What's the rush?" Ashwing asked, suprised by their urgency.
" We have something important to tell you," Skyheart panted, settling herself down.
" Tell me," Ashwing said, sympathy in her eyes.
" Well, Nightgaze and I had a dre....," Skyheart broke off as a cat barreled into the den," Ashwing.... Poppybreeze.... Kits.... COMING," the cat panted.
Ashwing yowled for Maplepaw to gather Poppy seeds, Thyme and Borage Leaves. As she ran out of the den she turned her head and gave Aspenfall and her a look that said Come with me. They understood and followed her to the Nursery while Nightgaze stayed behind with the other kits. Cats were already forming there to see the queen.
" Get out of the way, move!" Ashwing yowled, pushing her way through the crowd with Skyheart close behind and Aspenfall close behind her.
" OWWW!!," Poppybreeze skrieked.
" Eat this herbs, they will make you feel better, but it will still hurt," Ashwing murmured taking the herbs from Maplepaw and giving them to the queen.
She quickly ate the herbs before another ear- piercing wail left her jaws.
Ashwing put her paws on the queen's stomach and only a few heartbeats passed before Ashwing yowled, " Push, Poppybreeze, push."
Another yowl left Poppybreeze's jaws as a wet bundle dropped onto the moss floor of the Nursery. Ashwing broke the membrane and passed the kit to Skyheart telling her to lick the fur the wrong way.
Skyheart did as she was told licking the kit the wrong way until the little she-cat was nice and fluffy.
" That was great, now I think you have about five more," Ashwing purred.
" FIVE! HOLY STARCLAN!" Poppybreeze shrieked.
" Push, NOW!" Ashwing yowled once more.
Two wet bundles dropped to the floor, Once again Ashwing broke the slimy film surrounding the kits and passed one to Snowsong and one to Aspenfall. Aspenfall licked the little kit dry and glanced at his mate love and compassion deep in his blue eyes.
Skyheart felt as light as air I would love to have beautiful kits with Aspenfall one day She purred at the thought.
Poppybreeze pushed three more times and her last kits were licked dry. The crawled along the floor attaching on to their mom to suckle. Skyheart purred she had six new little cousins to play with.
Poppybreeze sighed, exhaustion in her eyes. Lionspring pushed is way through the crowd into the nursery to see his mate and their new kits, " They're beautiful," He purred licking Poppybreeze between the ears.
" Have you thought of any names?" Ashwing asked.
Poppybreeze nodded, " This one is Sunkit," she said pointing with her tail to a golden tom.
" That is a wonderful name," Lionspring purred.
" And these two," She said pointing to a light brown tom with black paws and a light brown she-cat with whitepaws and underbelly, " are Cloverkit and Briarkit. Cloverkit is the she-kit and Briarkit is the tom."
" Those names are pretty too," Skyheart meowed.
" And the last three kits names are Ashenkit for the little gray she-kit with a white ear, tail, paws, and underbelly, Blossomkit for the she-kit that looks like Lionspring, and Dewkit for the little cream she-kit with golden spots." Poppybreeze purred giving each kit a lick on the head.
" They are beautiful kits and will be strong warriors when they grow up," Ashwing purred. before backing out to give the couple some privacy. Skyheart gave the adorable kits one more glance before following the medicine cat after the den.
" Those were some really cute kits," Aspenfall purred coming up from behind her.
Skyheart turned and saw the powerful emotions emitting from his eyes... Love.... Longing.....Compassion..... Sympathy.
She licked him on the nose, " Kits would be great don't you think?" She purred.
Aspenfall nodded, " We could have beautiful kits together."
Skyheart stared straight into his eyes and murmured, " That would be great." Pressing herself up against Aspenfall she purred loud enough that she thought all the clans could hear her.
" You guys... we still have something important to talk about," Nightgaze meowed from the entrance of the Medicine Cats' Den.
Skyheart finally remembered why she went to Ashwing in the first place, and quickly turned serious.
'Come on," She mouthed to Aspenfall. He nodded and trudged into the Medicine Cats' Den.
" So what is it you need to tell me?" Ashwing asked turning from her herb store, herb dust speckling her pelt.
" We had a prophecy," Skyheart murmured.
Ashwing's eyes grew with shock, " So you had more dreams? What is the prophecy?"
Nightgaze whispered, " Skystar came to us and said that a old, forgotten enemy will return and only with the help of the NightSky will the clans prevail," He recited the prophecy once again.
Ashwing sat down and pondered the prophecy for a few heartbeats then sighed, " That means you two have to defeat the the new awakened Dead,"
Skyhearts jaw dropped, " How did you figure it out so fast?"
Ashwing let out a mrrow of laughter, " I have been a medicine cat for a long time and have dechiphered several prophecies."
" How are we supposed to defeat Dead. How was Dead defeated all those moons ago?" Nightgaze asked cocking his head.
Ashwing sighed, " I don't know.... I wasn't even born yet when Dead sent fear through the forest. Most of our senior warriors were killed in the battle like Cherryfur, Stripedtail, Moonshine, Leopardfoot, the deputy, and several others." Ashwing hung her head in sorrow, " Blizzardstar was a kit though he might remember something."
Skyheart nodded and thanked the medicine cat before backing out of the den with Nightgaze and Aspenfall right behind her.
She padded into the Leaders' Den and stood outside the screen.
"Come in," Blizzardstar called from inside.
The three warriors pushed past the screen into the dark place that was the Leaders' Den.
" What do you want?" Blizzardstar asked, laying his head on his paws.
Nightgaze stepped forward, " Dead is returning to the forest."
Blizzardstar's jaw dropped in disbelief, " That can't be possible. Skystar drove them out with the other leaders moons ago."
" We recieved a prophecy from Skystar saying they are returning, and Nightgaze and I are the ones who has to stop them," Skyheart meowed.
" How did the clans defeat Dead back then?" Aspenfall asked.
Blizzardstar closed his eyes in thought, " One senior warrior named Gingerheart and her brother Badgerstripe recieved a prophecy telling them an evil was coming, and the tribes' help was needed to beat the evil."
" Tribes?" Nightgaze asked.
" Yes," Blizzardstar answered, " There are two tribes, The Tribe of Falling Snow and The Tribe of Misting Rain."
" How did the Tribes help." Skyheart asked.
" Skystar sent a patrol of warriors to the Tribes. Gingerheart's patrol went to The Tribe of Falling Snow, and her brother and his patrol went to The Tribe of Misting Rain," Blizzardstar continued, " they asked the Tribes if they could help the clans defeat the oncoming evil and they agreed."
Skyheart listened with awe to the story, " But how are we going to defeat the Dead?" She asked.
" I know how," Blizzardstar meowed.
" How?" Nightgaze whispered impatiently.
" You must go to the Tribes," Blizzardstar meowed.
What do you think? I know it took awhile for me to update, but this chapter took me forever to think up! It is my longest chapter yet! Yay! Thanks to Featheredwing for being the only reviewer for last chapter. Next chapter is updated allegiances for all the clans and then I am doing a Gathering! Please review I like reviews! I want at least three reviews "Pweeze Readers Pweeze," Mintkit squeaked cutely. Reviewers get a Rainkit, Robinkit, Mintkit, and Mosskit Plushies! Please Read and Review!
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