A/N: This is occurring at the Gathering before Graystripe returns with Millie. So, major spoilers for The Sight.
By the way, my dogs can climb trees. It sounds a little weird, but hey, dogs can't talk either.
Chapter Nine: Prophecies
Lightpaw trotted proudly back from patrol, having helped Skycloud, Wolftooth, and Rockpaw chase off a few rogue cat intruders. Mountainstar was speaking to Skycloud and the she-dog warrior was saying, "Lightpaw fought well against the cats. It is near time that all of them become warriors." Her leader and mentor glanced in her direction. "They aren't old enough yet, Skycloud, but thank you for telling me."
Lightpaw counted up the moons since they had left the nursery: One, two, three, fo—
"Hey, Lightpaw, want to go hunting?" Falconpaw interrupted her, his golden eyes glowing in the sun. She smiled. "Sure, I'm not tired." "No, Lightpaw, I don't want you to." It was Mountainstar. "You, Windpaw, Flamepaw, Blackpaw, and the two new apprentices will go to the Gathering tonight."
Falconpaw's face fell. "What two new apprentices?" Mountainstar nodded at Longstride, who was just coming out of the nursery with Redpup and Oakpup, their fire- and bronze-colored coats gleaming.
Lightpaw grinned, and flicked Falconpaw with her tail. "Come on, we'll go hunting tomorrow." He nodded and they bounded over to the Middle Rock together.
Windpaw was waiting for Lightpaw, his indigo eyes burning right through her as he said, "Here, guys, I saved you a spot." Tails swishing, they sat down and waiting with the rest of the clan until Mountainstar bounded upon the Middle Rock.
"Dogs of DarkClan, today we have a glorious occasion: Redpup and Oakpup have reached their sixth moon."
Redpup raised her head proudly, while her brother lowered his modestly. "Redpup, from now on you will be known as Redpaw. Nightfur, you are experienced and wise; you will be Redpaw's mentor." Redpaw let out a little bark and ran down to touch noses with her mentor, and tumbled into her. The dogs let out little rumbles of amusement as Nightfur gently set the new apprentice on her feet and touched her nose.
"Sandclaw, you have proved your skills in battle and training. You will be mentor to Oakpaw." More dignified than his sister, Oakpaw strode down to touch noses with the white dog.
"The dogs who will go to the Gathering are Nightfur, Sandclaw, Spottedpelt, Swiftwind, Sunfur, Swallowcall, Lightpaw, Windpaw, Flamepaw, Blackpaw, Redpaw, and Oakpaw." "Wow!" exclaimed Redpaw to her brother. "Our first Gathering on our first day of apprenticeship!"
"Adjourned."
The dogs went about their business: Redpaw and Oakpaw went out to explore the territory with their mentors; Goldentail arranged some patrols; Runningpaw, Snakepaw, and Icepaw were sent to get fresh moss for the nursery, warriors den, and apprentices den ("How come we have to do everything around here?!" "I know! We elder apprentices deserve to go on more patrols." "Harrumph."); and the other four apprentices who were going to the Gathering were told to get some sleep.
Lightpaw was running through the forest, running until she saw three shapes standing on a rock high above her. One shape was gray, one shape was golden, and the other was shadowed. Their pelts rippled with strength, their eyes blazed with power. A whisper passed her ear: There will be three, kin of Firestar's kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws.
She jolted awake, breathing hard. Looking around her, she saw trees reaching up to graze the sky, and the scents of cats and dogs wreathed around her.
She rose to her feet and began to follow the strongest scent. It led her to a place where she heard the hisses and spitting of cats. "You are a fool, Bluestar! You know how dangerous a rogue dreamer can be to all of StarClan!" "This apprentice can help us, just like Firestar once did!" snarled the one whom Lightpaw presumed was Bluestar, the former leader of ThunderClan.
What's a 'rogue dreamer'?, she wondered, and then a different cat spoke. "Lightpaw has a great destiny, and it is because of her dreams that she will be able to save the order of the Clans from the Underworld God's rule." Lightpaw's eyes widened. She was the rogue dreamer, whatever that meant.
"Thank you, Oakheart" came Bluestar's curt voice. "Now, she has dreamed of the latest prophecy, and one that has been around for a very long time. Both concern the future of all the clans." "'There will be three, kin of Firestar's kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws'" a black cat echoed the whisper that Lightpaw had heard. "Bluestar, that concerns ThunderClan more than DarkClan. But the other…"
"'Spawn of the water and bird, curse of Cama Zotz, traitor to DarkClan'" said a light brown cat. "That is the prophecy that Lightpaw must deal with." "She is young, brave, and compassionate. She does not need to be burdened with the deals of StarClan" growled Bluestar. Then a female voice that was not cat at all. "But it is her problem just as it is ours. We cannot stop it; Cama Zotz has already begun his work. His victim cannot be saved."
Lightpaw suddenly saw a flash of light and then two giant eyes without pupils. A hissing sound came from behind the eyes, and a yowl: "Zotz is here! Scatter!"
No more voices came from the StarClan warriors. The eyes narrowed and grew bigger until they took up all of Lightpaw's vision. She let out a scream and then awoke.
Looking around, she saw no other dogs. Peeking outside, she felt the moon on her face and knew that they had already gathered. She scrambled over to the others and Windpaw blinked at her. "We tried to wake you" he whispered, "but you were out." "Yeah" said Blackpaw, leaning forward. Then, even quieter, she asked, "That one night where you muttered in your sleep—did you figure out anything about it?" Lightpaw hesitated, then shook her head. "No."
Then the dogs headed out through the Exit Hole and crossed their territory to WindClan's, where they met the ThunderClan patrol. "Mountainstar" Firestar greeted his ally. "You look well." "And you" Mountainstar replied. "ThunderClan is welcome to walk with DarkClan."
Lightpaw looked around for her friend Hollypaw, but didn't see her. Disappointed, her ears suddenly pricked up at the sight of a golden tabby apprentice that she recognized. Treading slightly between a chatting pair of the deputies, Goldentail and Brambleclaw, she fell in next to him.
"Hello" she greeted him. He glanced at her and grinned. "Hey. I'm Lionpaw." "I'm Lightpaw." "Are you a warrior apprentice?" he asked her. "Yes. Do you know a cat named Hollypaw?" she asked Lionpaw. "Yes" he said, a little surprised. "She's my sister." "Oh. How is she?" Lionpaw glanced around, and then murmured, "She's not too happy. She doesn't think she's cut out to be a medicine cat." "She should talk to Cedarpaw" Lightpaw said. "He's our medicine dog apprentice."
After a silence, Lionpaw asked her tentatively, "What warrior techniques do DarkClan apprentices learn?" "Oh, there are lots of things. You're a young apprentice, right? Six moons old?" "Almost seven" he muttered. "But yes." "Well, when we're six moons old, we begin to learn the basics in both traditional fighting and adaptive fighting, so they call it." "What's adaptive fighting?" asked Lionpaw, his eyes wide with the prospect of another way to fight.
"Adaptive fighting is like"—Lightpaw struggled for the right word—"fighting that uses your main body more than your claws and teeth." "Wow!" exclaimed Lionpaw. "It's so cool that we're allied. Otherwise I'd never have heard of adaptive fighting."
"I can teach you a bit, maybe" Lightpaw offered. "Seriously?" Lionpaw demanded. His eyes gleamed. "Thanks, Lightpaw! You're a lot nicer than the elder apprentices in my clan." "Like who?" she asked as they neared the fallen tree that bridged the gap between the mainland and the island. "Well, there's Berrypaw, for instance…"
Soon they reached the island, and Lionpaw looked around, taking it all in. "Yow" he breathed. Windpaw came over to Lightpaw and said excitedly, "Come on, it's going to start in a moment." She rumbled at his eagerness. "Why are you so bouncy?" Flamepaw came over and rolled his eyes. "Lightpaw, Mountainstar and Firestar are going to announce the alliance! We want to be right there!" "Okay, okay!" she laughed. "I'll be there in a second."
Lionpaw waited until the two he-dogs were gone before saying, "Who were they? That gray dog looks tough." "That's Windpaw and Flamepaw," explained Lightpaw. "They're good friends of mine."
Then a caterwaul announced the beginning of the Gathering. Cats and dogs fell silent as Leopardstar said the first words.
"Welcome, all clans. I would like to speak first." She glanced back at the other leaders, and they all nodded in agreement.
"A sickness has run rampant through our camp, but most of us have recovered. It grieves me to report the death of one of our elders and one of our kits." Murmurs of sorrow echoed through the clearing. Blackstar stepped forward and growled, "Firestar has won back his territory, but my warriors are as fine as ever." He glared back at the flame-colored leader, but his face remained stony.
Onestar spoke next. "DarkClan has claimed some of our territory, but only because they have promised us peace for the next half-moon." Lightpaw snorted. They could have torn all of WindClan apart if they wanted to. "Firestar?" The tabby looked back at him.
Firestar strode forward a few steps and announced, "ThunderClan is faring well, and have created an alliance with DarkClan." There were surprise yowls from the cats below. ThunderClan cats were glaring around, as if daring the other clans to deny their worth.
"Are you sure you can trust Mountainstar, Firestar?" Onestar asked testily. "After all, DarkClan are prey-stealers." Lightpaw leapt to her feet and spat, "Liar!" among many other protests. "Are you asking for a fight, Onestar?" snarled Sandclaw. Her new apprentice Oakpaw had bared his teeth at a WindClan apprentice.
"Silence!" barked Mountainstar. "We will honor our promise to WindClan, no matter how much they pretend to accuse us." "My patrols have found rabbit scraps in our territory smelling of DarkClan" said Onestar coolly. "As if they had been eating them before taking them back to their nursing she-dogs and pups! Firestar, these dishonorable dogs are breaking more than one code!"
Suddenly Leafpool let out a yowl. "The moon is covered in shadow! StarClan disagrees with WindClan!" There were howls and caterwauls of agreement. Mountainstar faced the clans again. "Cats and dogs of all clans, why should you believe Onestar over us dogs?" Reedwhisker of RiverClan yowled, "It sounds to me as if Onestar's a bit touchy about losing his territory!" There were mutters of agreement from RiverClan, ShadowClan, and ThunderClan.
Onestar bristled, and he looked a second away from leaping at the RiverClan warrior. "STOP."
All cats and dogs looked up to see a great cat standing high above them. "Onestar, why do you lie to ThunderClan, and to all clans?" it asked in its thunderous voice that echoed throughout the clearing. The tabby leader's ears folded back. "I apologize, Tallstar," he muttered. "I only want what's best for my clan. If ThunderClan and DarkClan are allies, it won't be long before they'll be able to take all my territory if they want to." Firestar looked alarmed. "Onestar, we have all the territory we need, and you don't even share a border with ThunderClan." The StarClan cat, Tallstar, raised his head, and let out a booming yowl.
"Let this serve as a lesson to all Clan leaders: lying and deceit will get you nowhere." All five dipped their heads in respect. With that, Tallstar vanished in a starry wind.
"WindClan has lied and broken the warrior code," growled Blackstar. "They should be punished." "Yes" agreed Leopardstar. "WindClan should suffer like DarkClan would've." She nodded to Firestar and Mountainstar. "I accept your alliance, and hope it will help you both."
Blackstar raised his voice. "Let all Clans hear and note what we say here now: WindClan, because of breaking the warrior code and lying to other Clan leaders, is doomed to spend a moon in the darkness. Also, no cat can leave or enter WindClan territory, except to go to the Moonpool. Do StarClan agree with my words?" He looked up at the moon; it was clear. "Then let these punishments give you justice. This Gathering is over." Lightpaw said goodbye to Lionpaw as her clan left.
It wasn't until she was back in her den that she remembered where she had seen Lionpaw: he was one of the cats who had stood on the rock in her dream; he was one of the three.
A/N: If you can guess who the 'curse of Cama Zotz' is, please don't spoil it. Thank you.
Yay, WINDCLAN GOT TORTURED! Who else really hates WindClan, and stupid, bleeping Onestar?