-10-

Lichencloud happily nosed her three healthy kits closer to her. Being a queen was much more interesting now that she had kits. They were fun to watch as they stumbled around the small but cozy nursery, examining things with their newly opened eyes.

Ivykit had come first, a light brown tom with darker brown flecks. Next was Swampkit, a beautiful dark brown she-cat who looked exactly like her father except with Lichencloud's amber eyes. Last was Pinekit, a tom; he was the opposite of Ivykit, dark brown with lighter flecks. Lichencloud was very pleased with all of them, and she was impatient for the full moon to come so that Nightflower or Moonflower could bring Swamptail the news at the Gathering.

Lichencloud patiently picked up Pinekit in her teeth (he'd been wandering toward the nursery's entrance) and deposited him next to his siblings. One thing she'd learned about kits in the past few days was that they weren't easy to take care of.

A gray nose poked into the nursery, and Riverpaw padded inside.

"Still?" Lichencloud meowed, exasperated. Surely Owlstar wasn't being this hard on the young apprentice.

"No, actually, I just came to see the kits. I guess I'm used to coming here," Riverpaw confessed. He eyed Swampkit, Pinekit, and Ivykit curiously as they reached up to bat at his whiskers with tiny paws. "So is Swamptail really their father?"

Lichencloud bit her tongue and nodded, once again reminded of how much she was breaking the warrior code.

"Don't worry, I haven't told anyone," he reassured her. Then his eyes darted toward the gap in the nursery wall. "You haven't told anyone about my hunting, have you?"

Lichencloud shook her head. "Of course not. I'm trustworthy."

"Yeah, I know, I'm just nervous that someone's going to find out anyway," Riverpaw muttered. He took one last glance at the kits and then said goodbye before exiting the nursery.

Lichencloud felt disappointed that he hadn't stayed longer. Her kits kept her busy, but she couldn't exactly have conversations with them yet. Now all three of them were mewling, displaying their small pink tongues. Lichencloud obliged and lay on her side, pushing the kits toward her with one paw so they could eat. The mewling stopped immediately as they latched onto her belly, their voices lessening to contented purrs.

Lichencloud looked up as the vines rustled again. This time a white she-cat slipped inside and greeted her with a friendly meow.

"Hi Moonflower," Lichencloud purred, "how's life outside the nursery?"

Moonflower shrugged. "It's okay. Owlstar's still trying to figure out what we should do with that prisoner." There was venom in her voice as she spat out the word "prisoner". "He's taking all our fresh-kill, so we don't know what to do about him. If we let him go, he could tell CloudClan the location of our camp."

Lichencloud nodded. It was a pretty bad predicament. "We should try and get him to tell us some secrets about his own Clan and be careful about what we say around him, for now at least," she meowed.

A look of agreement crossed Moonflower's face. "Yes, we'll have to do that for the time being. Owlstar will come up with something eventually. I have to go now."

Moonflower's tail disappeared from sight in a matter of seconds. Lichencloud sighed, once again bored. I'll take a short nap, she decided, rounding up the playful kits and making sure they couldn't run away. With the sound of the camp's activity in her ears, she slipped into the world of dreams.

Lichencloud found herself standing in a different jungle, not the one she lived in. This jungle had much shorter trees, and the air was cooler and thinner somehow. She shut her eyes, shivering from cold. When she opened them again, the trees were gone, replaced by odd structures that varied in shape and size. Instead of soft soil under her paws, there was a hot, smooth, and sticky surface. Lichencloud turned her eyes to her left, and yowled in terror as she saw a huge, shiny thing rushing toward her with unmatched speed. Within a second, it was even larger as it stood a whisker's breadth from her face.

Just before impact, she found herself standing in yet another environment. A smooth, calm lake now stretched over the landscape. Lichencloud felt relieved that she'd been transported to this much safer place. The blades of moist grass felt good between her toes as she padded around, anxious to explore. A crack of thunder snapped her attention to the sky. Clouds were forming, dark gray and larger than any Lichencloud had ever set her amber eyes on in the jungle she knew.

The rain came all at once, smacking the ground with surprising force. Lichencloud had to dash to a nearby tree for shelter, but even there, the leaves were blown aside by the powerful drops. She stood there: cold, miserable, and soaked to the bone. What is this place? she asked herself, shivering. It was just sunny and beautiful, but now it's horrible. Lichencloud turned her eyes toward the lake. The water's smooth surface was now covered in ripples and gigantic splashes from the rain, and, to Lichencloud's disbelief, it seemed to be growing. It seemed like the lake was being ripped apart by StarClan. Was StarClan angry? Something inside Lichencloud told her that StarClan wasn't causing this, but instead trying with all their might to stop it.

However, StarClan didn't seem to be succeeding. Lichencloud yowled in alarm as the roaring lake overflowed, sweeping toward her. The wave left destruction in its wake; trees were torn from their roots, flowers blown to pieces, grass ripped from the ground. She started running, fearing that if the wave caught up with her she would be shredded like the scenery. Her breathing came heavy and shallow; it had not been long since her kitting and her belly was still slightly swollen. Chancing another glance back, Lichencloud tried to speed up, but only succeeded in making her lungs burn with a fiery pain. She cried out as one of her claws snagged in a bramble lying across the path. Now she really was trapped.

Lichencloud braced herself, clenching her teeth and letting her muscles knot tightly. If she could survive the strong wave, she could probably make it through everything else. The water hit her as a solid, ice-cold wall, and she felt her grip on the ground slipping. She'd be washed away!

She was swept around helplessly like a toy. Her yowls for help were growing fainter; she could tell because of the way her throat was drying up and closing. This is it. I'm going to die. What would become of her kits? What would Swamptail do when he found out she was gone forever?

Just as Lichencloud was about to give in to death, she felt sharp pinpricks in the loose skin around her neck. When she felt the ground under her paws, the teeth left her neck. Lichencloud turned to see a small gray cat walking away on white paws. This cat saved me. I owe her my life. Determined to do what she thought was right, Lichencloud padded after the steadily plodding she-cat.