Sorry that the update took a while D: I've been focused on a co-author project for Warriors, but I realized I need to continue this too (thanks Puppy!) so here's Chapter 11!
Thanks to ALL reviewers!
Deadpath seemed to darken the mood further as he stormed back into ThunderClan camp. He had lost the trail of PondClan's cats, and was surprised as he met Darkpaw on the way back.
"Did you find them?" He grunted.
"Yes." Darkpaw said simply. Her expression was cold, and Deadpath felt odd around her for once. He had disliked her for being nosy about his life in RiverClan, but he felt a certain bond with her now. They had both lost their friends to Pondclaw.
"I'm… I'm sorry that Shiningsky decided to go with them. Berryfrost likes her, he should have done something…" Deadpath muttered. To his shock, Darkpaw sprang up with her eyes wide.
"That's exactly what I said to him! But he just ignored me!" She hissed. "He's pretty set on PondClan's ways."
Deadpath bent his head and they entered camp. All eyes of the Clan were open and on them. But they said nothing to them. Darkpaw slunk into her den and Deadpath went to his.
The ex-RiverClan warrior tried to ignore the sniffling Flowerbelly in the warrior's den but it was hard to do so. The atmosphere of the camp was worse than ever now, and ThunderClan's numbers were dangerously low. Something must be done. He thought as he allowed himself to drift away to sleep.
His eyes opened slightly and saw a rapidly flowing river right before him. Deadpath jumped back in surprise.
"This isn't ThunderClan!" He gasped, and a figure appeared in front of him across the river. "Hello?" He called out.
The cat stared at Deadpath blankly.
"Deadpaw?" The cat questioned.
"It's… it's Deadpath now, Marshstar." Deadpath mumbled. The RiverClan leader showed visible surprise.
"But, you couldn't have gotten your warrior name! You're still alive, and RiverClan is not!" Marshstar gasped.
"Yes, I'm still alive. But I'll only be dead to you." Deadpath growled. He started to walk away from the raging river.
"Wait! My kit!" Marshstar called, her fur ruffled in annoyance. "Sprang from water, sprang from heart, if so the days ahead are dark. Sprang from darkness, aimed much higher, and then the days won't be so dire." The dark she-cat's voice faded, and Deadpath found himself being prodded awake by Lightheart.
"Time for a hunting patrol, Deadpath." Lightheart mumbled, and then left him to his thoughts.
"Wait for it…" Night said calmly, eyeing the falcon that was soaring ahead. "Just wait in the shadows, and don't move."
The falcon circled overhead and eventually lowered. A plump rabbit had somehow perched itself on a nearby rock, and was practically begging to be caught. The falcon dove for it.
"Now!" Night whispered, and Pondclaw darted out from the shade of the overhang and landed on the falcon as it sank its talons into its prey. The rabbit scrambled as blood spilled from its fur, but it went limp. The falcon shrieked and tried to knock Pondclaw away, but Pondclaw delivered a quick bite to its neck, and all three creatures fell to the rocks. But only the cat survived.
"Nice catch!" Night purred, "And you only saw me do it once!" Pondclaw basked in his praise.
"It's a very clever technique." Pondclaw insisted. "It would be foolish of me not to learn it quickly."
"I suppose so." Night grinned, stepping closer to Pondclaw.
"We better go teach the others how to hunt like you." Pondclaw said smoothly.
"You mean how to hunt like us." Night corrected with laughter. The two reunited with the rest of the hunting patrol. Berryfrost and Quailpaw had come up with three mice, while Night and Pondclaw had caught two falcons and two rabbits. Quailpaw's jaw dropped as he saw their catches.
"Wow, how did you get the falcons?" He asked Pondclaw in awe. Pondclaw is amazing! Quailpaw thought happily.
"Night showed me a Tribe hunting technique, and we're going to teach it to everyone." Pondclaw replied, and Quailpaw's mood went south. Of course, Night is the amazing one. He thought scornfully.
"It's important to learn when hunting in the mountains." Night insisted. "Let's get back to the Clan."
"Seems great, I can't wait to show it off to Shiningsky." Berryfrost joked.
"You'll have to learn it first." Night laughed in response. Berryfrost smiled, Night didn't seem so bad. Quailpaw only uttered a low growl.
"Quailpaw, show some manners." Pondclaw hissed, and the apprentice ducked his head in embarrassment. Oh, she heard me!
Night and Berryfrost made polite chit-chat as they walked back to PondClan camp. Quailpaw faced Pondclaw with a new determination.
"When can I be deputy, Pondclaw?" He asked, hoping she would hurry it up. The sooner he was deputy, the sooner Night could be out of the picture. He wasn't even a warrior yet!
"You haven't finished your training yet, Quailpaw, and I am not Pondstar yet." Pondclaw reminded. "How about I teach you Night's technique right now?" That'll shut him up for a while.
"Oh, alright. That'll further my training, right?" Quailpaw prompted, but Pondclaw didn't respond. She retreated back to the shady rock overhang where she and Night had stood.
"You have to stay very still once you spot prey. If you're lucky, a large bird will spot the prey instead of you, and once it goes in for the kill, you pounce." Pondclaw instructed. But if I'm lucky, it'll go for you instead.
"Okay!" Quailpaw said excitedly, and willed himself to stay still in wait of a bird of prey.
"I'll head back to camp, you come back when you catch something, alright?" Pondclaw sounded weary, and Quailpaw reluctantly let her leave. He watched her as she trotted off back to PondClan camp, back to Night and Berryfrost. He felt a spike of jealousy in him, but tried to shake it away.
Berryfrost already has Shiningsky, and Night… Pondclaw only just met him! We've known each other forever, she can't just ignore my feelings!
He awaited prey patiently, hoping Pondclaw would praise him, knowing Pondclaw would praise him, and with new hope in his heart.
"So just wait, Shiningsky, I'll master the technique and show it to you!" Berryfrost said happily to the unhappy she-cat. Shiningsky tried to smile back at him.
"I'll look forward to it." She replied.
"Good, since it's gonna be great!" Berryfrost grinned. "It'll cheer you right up!"
"Okay." Shiningsky mumbled.
Night was explaining the hunting technique to Shadefur, who was listening intently. Flamekit and Tigerkit were listening also, but Lilykit was surrounding herself in her mother's fur, her brow furrowed. She didn't care too much about what Night was saying.
Coldpaw was somewhat listening, but seemed to be more interested at a crack on the rocks where weeds were growing.
Pondclaw strolled into camp and picked a high point under the overhang where rocks jutted out to stand.
"Cats of PondClan! Lend me your ears!" She yowled, and cats stopped what they were doing to look up.
"Night is doing well to teach us Clan cats the ways of the mountain, and I would like to invite him to become a full warrior of PondClan." Pondclaw started. "Night?"
"I would be honored, Pondclaw. You have a respectable Clan put together here for the circumstances." Night chuckled. "I would like to keep my name, though."
"Of course, Night. By my powers as leader of this group, I hereby call you as a full warrior of PondClan. Night!" Pondclaw prompted a chant, and the other cats joined in.
"Thank you, thank you. I will ask though, where's Quailpaw?" Night brought up. Pondclaw shrugged, "He's practicing your hunting technique, Night. See how you have influenced our Clan so well?" She purred.
The Clan dispersed and Night talked with Pondclaw some more.
"I sense some cats are worried about your leadership. You do not have the 'star' suffix yet, so they do not think you fit to be leader." Night murmured.
"But are you worried, Night?" Pondclaw questioned.
"Of course not. I can see you're a fine leader." Night purred. However Night brought up the same problem Lilykit had. Pondclaw figured that in order to be truly accepted among the Clan cats, she would have to become Pondstar. But without the aid of StarClan, that was not going to happen.
"I think I'm going to rest for a while." She mumbled, and Night nodded. She headed towards the makeshift den she had made for herself out of grasses and feathers from the falcon she had caught. She made herself comfortable and then fell asleep.
Her eyes snapped open as she felt pain like no other. It felt as if spines were jabbing themselves at every angle into Pondclaw's skin. She hissed in pain but it only made it worse. With a tearful movement, she looked up to see a looming ginger figure above her.
"Scorchwind?" She managed to ask, and he nodded. His face was grave.
"Sprang from water, sprang from heart, if so the days ahead are dark. Sprang from darkness, aimed much higher, and then the days won't be so dire." Scorchwind warned, and faded from view.
"Scorchwind, wait! Tell me what that means!" Pondclaw yowled with all of her energy, but the background faded. The pain began to lift, and she found herself in a dense wood where bats flew overhead. The moon was a faint and pale light behind dark clouds.
With the pain gone, she stretched and took a walk around. Where am I?
As if to answer her question, a cat who looked similar to herself dropped from the trees. Her silver fur gleamed even though no light hit it.
"You are in the Dark Forest, Pondclaw." The cat grinned.
"What? That's not possible! I'm in the mountains!" Pondclaw gasped. "I must be making this up…"
"No, you are not." The cat hissed. "My name is Ivyleap. I will grant you the wish that Scorchwind could not. Pondclaw, do you wish to become leader of your Clan officially?"
"Of… of course…" Pondclaw growled. "What fool do you take me for?"
"I do not mock you, Pondclaw, I am only confirming. After all, we are in different grounds here. Are you in pain?"
"No. Not at the moment, anyway. I felt like I was dying a moment ago." Pondclaw revealed. Ivyleap's teeth showed as she grinned like a hyena. The two silver and white cats' fur shown in the pale moonlight, even through the dense clouds.
"Good. Would you be interested in helping me, Pondclaw? If you promise to help me, I'll give you the name you desire." Ivyleap approached her moonlight double.
"Can you really do such a thing?" Pondclaw inquired, and Ivyleap nodded.
"I would not lie to a comrade." Ivyleap replied.
"Very well. Your offer?" She prompted.
"You and your Clan will distract the other two Clans in an attack, which will give us the upper edge."
"Who is 'us', in this case?" Pondclaw growled.
"Why, me, you, and the rest of the Dark Forest." Ivyleap pretended to be surprised. "You're part of this world now, which is why you can be here. Before, when you felt like you were being skinned alive, you were in StarClan's grounds, where it hurts to even blink for us."
Pondclaw was shocked. She had started PondClan to rid herself of the Dark Forest, but it seemed as if these menacing cats were accepting her as one of their own. She gulped back any remaining fear she had and stood tall against Ivyleap.
"And what will you do while PondClan attacks the remaining two Clans of the lake?"
"Why, we'll steal away as many cats as we can in preparation with our battle with StarClan." Ivyleap said brightly. "We'll fight at the Great Border, where the Dark Forest meets the grasses of StarClan. There we are not so badly affected."
Pondclaw blinked. "Scorchwind gave me a prophecy- "
"Oh, prophecies, prophecies, prophecies. If you choose to follow them, that is your choice and no one else's. StarClan cannot force the prophecies to come true, only you can."
"Do you know of it?"
"Of course. But that doesn't matter, do you accept the offer?" Ivyleap seemed annoyed now.
"Ah, yes. PondClan shall attack the other two." Pondclaw admitted. Ivyleap's frown curled up to a smile and straightened herself as tall as possible.
"Pondclaw, are you ready to accept the responsibilities of a Clan leader and everything that goes with being one?"
"Yes." Pondclaw's voice only wavered slightly.
"By the powers invested in me by the Dark Forest, I grant you your nine lives." Ivyleap's face grew crazed for a brief moment before she touched noses with Pondclaw.
"Courage." The voice didn't seem to come from Ivyleap's throat. A dark shadow dashed madly through the trees and headed straight for Pondclaw. However, the cat in question could not move even a whisker as the spirit crashed into her skull. Pondclaw wanted to double over in pain and cradle herself, but she was locked in place. She howled in agony before Ivyleap drew her nose away. Pondclaw hardly had time to recover before Ivyleap put her nose to her own again.
"Justice." Another voice came through the trees as a swift spirit collided with her head again. Pondclaw's head pounded and she panted.
"Loyalty." A clear voice rang in the shadowy grove as a white cat moved through the trees. She was clearly visible, and Pondclaw braced for impact, but as the spirit glided towards her, she went through her forehead slowly, and Pondclaw felt only light pain.
"Energy." A cat that sped quicker than any other dashed at Pondclaw at full force. Pondclaw was almost knocked off of her feet by the energy that coursed through her veins now, but Ivyleap kept a firm grip on her.
"Protection." A squeaky voice emerged from the wood and barreled into Pondclaw's paws. The kit passed through her, and surprisingly Pondclaw felt more pain than ever. The kit seemed to fill Pondclaw of the emotions of the moment when it was stolen away from its mother.
"Mentoring." A young cat mewed and a spirit passed by Pondclaw once more. Pondclaw felt more agony as the cat remembered when it was stolen away with his mentor only tail lengths away.
"Compassion." The voice of a quiet she-cat almost passed Pondclaw's ears, and she felt a wave of feelings crash down upon her.
"Love." A sand colored she-cat's voice was painful to hear as she rushed through Pondclaw. Pondclaw felt softened immediately by the life bestowed upon her. The life of love brought images to her mind. Thoughts of Night and Quailpaw flickered by, and even Berryfrost, but in the end no cat remained in her thoughts.
"Nobility." At last, Ivyleap raised her nose from Pondclaw's brow and rushed at her full force. Pondclaw expected to be knocked over, but Ivyleap disappeared as her insides grew cold. After the chill, she yowled in pain and fell to the ground. The last life was powerful, and Ivyleap's thoughts raced by her. Pondclaw couldn't seem to grab on to any one thought, and at last all was calm.
The nine voices joined and said, "Pondclaw, we call you by your new name, Pondstar. Now be gone, and do not forget the task ahead…"
Pondstar felt dizzy as the dense forest faded around her, and all became black.
The deed had to be done, or something unimaginable could happen.
Again, sorry for the delay, and remember to review.
