Well, we finally get to find out who the other chosen cat is! Please read and enjoy!

Chapter 8: A Quest to Greatwater

The rest of that day, Lynxpaw and her two friends spent hunting in the forest near the camp. Lynxpaw had managed to catch a squirrel, Frostpaw had caught two voles, and Nightpaw had managed to catch a starling and a mouse before the hunting party degenerated into fun and games.

At one stream, Frostpaw had decided to show off her fishing technique by swiping a trout out of the stream with her claws. The result, though, was less than satisfactory. The trout managed to avoid her, and Frostpaw had landed with a splash into the chilly water of the stream. Her two friends laughed at this, but Frostpaw was not amused as she climbed out onto the mossy bank. With a mischievous gleam in her eyes she had proceeded to launch herself at the two culprits, flipping the three of them back into the stream. All three emerged sputtering and laughing.

After a bit more hunting, the Three Whiskers caught a couple more mice and then hauled their catch back to the camp.

"You should have seen yourself, all dripping wet", Nightpaw said, and grinned at Frostpaw as they headed back to camp.

"You didn't look so much better yourself," smirked Frostpaw. Then both of them chuckled and looked at Lynxpaw.

"What?" the third apprentice wanted to know.

"Its just that…, you looked so funny soaking wet "Frostpaw yowled. She and Nightpaw laughed.

"It's the long fur",chuckled Lynxpaw, "I look so furry at other times that I look kind of… pathetic when I am wet."

When the three finally got back to camp they added their catch to the freshkill pile and then Lynxpaw, who had had a great deal of excitement that day and important things planned for that night, curled up in her mossy nest in the apprentices den for a nap. Silverfang, who had seen the three return, just shook her head and chuckled at the trio of mischief makers.

… … …

Later that night, once her two friends were asleep and most of the rest of the warriors had gone to their den for the night; Lynxpaw crawled out of the apprentices den. She knew, of course, that she had permission to go, but had been warned to avoid drawing any more attention to her departure than necessary This was mainly because it was unusual for an apprentice that young to be making the trip to greatwater; some of the warriors might have argued that it broke with tradition, and the apprentices would all have wanted to know why they could not make the trip yet.

Lynxpaw padded past Skyclaw, who happened to have guard duty that night, he glanced at the young apprentice, but said nothing. Perhaps Leafstar had informed him of her trip; Lynxpaw did not know. She slipped silently out of the little clearing in the forest that housed the MapleClan camp and out into the deeper forest. It felt strange, going out of camp by herself, without her mentor or her friends of the "Three Whiskers". "Remember the code", she told herself as she angled her way to the north, where greatwater lay.

… … …

After several hours of weaving her way through the forest, over logs and around stumps and brambles, Lynxpaw reached the greatwater place. As she came to the edge of where the trees grew, she was astonished by what she saw.

"Wow!" the young apprentice thought as she padded out onto the wide swath of sand that stretched out from where the forest ended. She climbed a dune, careful to avoid the coarse, rough dune grass that grew upon it. When she reached the top, she could see out over the water. Never in her life had Lynxpaw seen so much water in one place before. The land formed a rocky cliff bound point a little to the east of where she stood, but beyond that , there was nothing but water. The waves of the greatwater crashed, and strange white birds swirled and screeched over head.

Lynxpaw padded down near the water's edge. A wave rushed up and lapped at her paws. "Brrrrrr…, cold" winced Lynxpaw backing up from the water, which was far colder than the stream she and her friends had been playing in that afternoon had been.

She turned and began to make her way towards the rocky area further to the east, where Maplestream had told her that she would find a rocky bluff jutting up out of the sand, and in it, the crystal cave. There were a clear set of paw prints in the sand heading up to where the opening in the bluff lead down to the cave.

"Strange", she thought, "It appears that someone has been by this way recently."

Try as she might though, the smell of the spray smell of the water covered up any scent, and the breeze which blew in off the water and ruffled her fur was quite effective at carrying it away. Lynxpaw could not even identify which clan the other cat might belong to, much less which cat it was.

"Well", she thought, "there is only one way to find out for sure…". And with that, she continued to pick her way towards the rocky cliffs.

As she reached them, she spotted the place Maplestream had told her about, but just as she rounded a point of the cliff, she came nose to nose with a tawny ticked she-cat.

"Cougarpaw?" Lynxpaw gasped, "What are you doing here?"

" I was just about to ask you the same thing," returned the AshClan apprentice who appeared to be every bit as surprised to see her MapleClan rival.

"Well, I've been having these dreams and…" Lynxpaw began

"You've got to be joking", snorted the sandy colored she-cat with disgust, "You mean to tell me that you are the other cat I am supposed to work with. StarClan help me." Lynxpaw inwardly groaned, couldn't it have been anyone but Cougarpaw. Still, though, in her heart, Lynxpaw knew what she had to do.

Lynxpaw flicked her brushy tail over her rival and now partner's mouth,

"You will listen to me.," she spat, "I am not any happier about this than you are. The fact is, though that if the prophecy is right, then the only way we can help either of our clans is by putting aside our distaste for each other, for the time being, and work together." Cougarpaw appeared to ponder this for a moment, and then nodded.

"You are right, of course," she conceded grudgingly. With this, the two unwilling partners began to pick their way up the side of the rocky cliff to where the opening to the crystal cave was.

"The dreams", inquired Lynxpaw when they reached the ledge in front of the cave, "I take you have been having them ,too." The tawny she-cat nodded.

"Ashheart told me that the best thing for me to do would be to come here and see if I can find out anything more. I assume that is why you are out here tonight, as well."

"I'm not out here at this time of night after a dawn patrol to take a stroll for my health," smirked Lynxpaw mischievously. Cougarpaw just rolled her eyes at this.

"But, yes, Maplestream took the prophecy to mean me and so well, here I am," she continued as the headed down the opening to the crystal cave.

OOO, Cliffhanger again! What awaits our two unwilling partners in this prophecy in the crystal caves, what will they find out. Well, keep looking for the new installments to find out.