Chapter Thirteen: Prophecy

A few days later, Silverfur and his apprentice, Littlepaw, were sharing a rabbit and watching the newly liberated StoneClan cats-in Silverfur's case, with no small amount of amusement.

"Oh, will you look at that, Littlepaw?" Silverfur said with a laugh. Several former slaves were also sharing some freshkill, but they were doing so with much nervousness, glancing around every few seconds.

"These cats seem to expect Bloodstar to drop in for a chat at any minute," he continued, but was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Hey, we'll take that rabbit!"

It was a trio of StoneClan warriors-all strong and tough looking.

"The woods are down that way," Silverfur growled, gesturing in the general direction of the woods, "Go get your own."

"I said we'll have that one," the StoneClan warrior repeated.

Always ready to oblige, and hoping to stop a fight before it started, Littlepaw nudged the rabbit toward the StoneClan cats, but Silverfur stopped him.

"I'll deal with this, kid."

"It's just a rabbit!" Littlepaw squeaked, "We can get more."

"I said I'll deal with it," Silverfur said. "Run along, Littlepaw."

The apprentice scampered off, leaving Silverfur alone with the three StoneClan warriors.

"Why don't you worthless pieces of foxdung just try to take the rabbit, then?" he growled.

Meanwhile, Mossfall and Hazelstar were just emerging from the camp. Hazelstar had taken Mossfall under his wing, so to speak, recognizing a potential leader in the young tom.

Hazelstar shook his head as he watched the liberated StoneClan cats, who glanced around nervously at his appearance.

"They don't have to be afraid of me," he said to Mossfall, "They're free now."

"They've had a lifetime of being enslaved by StoneClan," Mossfall said, "It's all they know."

"And there are still a lot of them out there," Hazelstar said, directing his attention to Kehaar, who was standing nearby. "It's your job to find them."

Mousetail and Kehaar were close friends, and, as the she-cat had been chatting with her seagull friend before Hazelstar arrived, she was quick to state her opinion.

"Haven't we got enough riffraff round here already?" she muttered.

Mossfall glared at her, but Hazelstar was quick to reconcile the issue.

"We won the war, Mousetail. It's our duty to help the survivors."

"Whatever," Mousetail grumbled, strolling off, "You're the boss."

A moment later, the sound of a fight going on nearby became evident.

"Not again," Hazelstar muttered, as he and Mossfall made their way toward the source of the uproar.

It was Silverfur, who, along with Bigstorm, was engaged in a full scale fight with the three troublemaking StoneClan warriors.

"For goodness sake…" Hazelstar murmured.

Silverfur was grappling with one of the warriors, while the other two had pinned Bigstorm down.

"Ow!" the grey tom growled, as one of the StoneClan warriors scratched his ear. The other StoneClan cat raised his paw threateningly, but was quickly stopped by Mossfall, who bounded forward and knocked him off of Bigstorm.

The grey warrior leapt to his feet, ready to continue the battle, but Hazelstar blocked his path.

"That's enough!" the FlameClan leader hissed.

"The next mousebrain picking a fight will be one very sorry cat!" Mossfall growled at the three StoneClan cats. "Go find some way to be useful."

As the StoneClan cats stalked off, Silverfur turned angrily to Hazelstar.

"We could've handled them!" he growled.

"Yes," Bigstorm added, "We'd have had them in another minute."

"No more fighting, Bigstorm!" Hazelstar said.

"Tell them that!" the grey warrior objected. "I've had it with StoneClan warriors! Bunch of lazy waste of space they are! No offense."

The last bit was directed at Mossfall, who had obviously overheard.

As Bigstorm and Silverfur turned to leave, the StoneClan warrior blocked their path.

"Offense taken!" he growled at Bigstorm.

The two warriors faced each other, growling, but Hazelstar quickly stepped between them.

"That's enough! Bigstorm…Silverfur…go lead a patrol…or something."

As the two warriors stalked angrily off, Mossfall sighed.

"Sorry, Hazelstar," he said, "Bloodstar's way of thinking…it'll take some time for us to leave it behind."

"I know," Hazelstar said, "But it's up to you to lead the way, Mossfall."

"I don't want to be a leader," Mossfall objected.

"Neither did I," Hazelstar said, "But you don't always have a choice."

The red-fawn tom turned away, leaving Mossfall behind to think it over.

Meanwhile, somewhere not too far from the FlameClan camp, Littlepaw was sulking. The small apprentice would have liked to stay and fight the StoneClan cats with Silverfur and Bigstorm, but instead, he had been sent away.

"Run along, Littlepaw," he grumbled, "Do as you're told, Littlepaw! I'm almost a warrior! I can help!"

The little cat looked around, and noticed a group of crows gathered around a rocky outcropping. He remembered that Starpaw-who had been a loner until he was captured by StoneClan-had told him that when crows did that, they were often waiting for something to die.

"Maybe it's not too late to help," Littlepaw thought.

The young cat scampered in the direction of the birds, yelling:

"Hey! Get away! Leave whatever it is alone!"

The birds quickly took flight, startled by the appearance of the young cat. Once they had gone, Littlepaw turned to whatever he had just rescued…and saw the last thing he had expected. There, inside a small indentation in the rock, was a very familiar but heavily scarred cat.

"Campionstripe!" Littlepaw gasped.

Sometime later, Campionstripe was awake, due to Littlepaw's attempts to treat his wounds. The apprentice had fetched some moss, which he had soaked in water. Campionstripe was now feeling somewhat better, and Littlepaw was now partway through telling him what had happened to StoneClan.

"Lightning came from the sky," the young tom said, "The twisted tree split and caught fire. The warren caved in as if the earth just swallowed it… It was horrible, Campionstripe!"

"And Bloodstar?" Campionstripe asked, "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," Littlepaw said, "But I think he's dead. And you'll die too, if you don't come back with me to FlameClan."

"This is where I belong," Campionstripe growled, "Where I can't hurt anyone else!"

"But everyone's so sad…" Littlepaw argued, "Thinking you're…um…dead…"

"I betrayed my Clan leader," Campionstripe said, "Now he's gone, and StoneClan is in ruins. An honorable Clan like yours is no place for me."

"But you saved FlameClan!" Littlepaw squeaked, "You're a hero!"

"Listen, Littlepaw!" Campionstripe growled, "No one can know that I'm alive! I don't want anyone's help!"

And with that, he collapsed unconscious on the ground.

"You'll have my help," Littlepaw whispered, "Whether you like it or not."

Heatherflight had been watching Mossfall. The grey tom seemed preoccupied with something, although the she-cat wasn't sure exactly what it was. Finally, Heatherflight decided to go and see if she could help.

"Hello, Mossfall," she mewed, trotting over to the grey warrior. "How are you getting on, then?"

"Err…hello, Heatherflight," Mossfall said. "Actually…I'm not doing so well. I've got a lot of thinking to do."

"Well, two heads are better than one," the she-cat mewed.

Campionstripe awoke to a very unfamiliar scene.

"StarClan?" he thought, "It would be a relief."

However, upon the appearance of the she-cat from his previous dream, Campionstripe concluded that he would have no such luck.

This time, Violetleaf did not speak immediately. Instead, she gestured off to the side. Campionstripe looked, and was astonished to see, as if in a vision, none other than Bloodstar moving through the woods near FlameClan.

"Bloodstar…alive?"

"He has become a threat to the world of the living," Violetleaf mewed solemnly, "And especially to your friends in FlameClan. You must stop him, Campionstripe."

"Haven't I done enough?" Campionstripe growled, "I'm tired of war and fear!"

"He seeks to build an empire that will destroy all three remaining Clans," Violetleaf said, "You must lead the way, or no one will."

"I don't want to fight!" Campionstripe snarled, "Someone else can!"

"They will not find their courage without you," Violetleaf said, "Now they are scattered. Now they are only a few brave cats among many. You must bring them together. Give them the courage to fight for their freedom and for the good of all."

"How can I do that if I don't know who they are?" Campionstripe asked.

"You will know," Violetleaf said, "For you will all meet in DarkClan, when the time is right."

Suddenly, a new voice penetrated Campionstripe's dream.

"Campionstripe! Can you hear me?"

The sienna-furred tom's eyes snapped open, and he found himself face to face with Littlepaw.

"I brought healing herbs!" Littlepaw announced, "Berrypool told me how to use them!"

"I said I didn't need help," Campionstripe growled.

"But…but you have to live, Campionstripe!" the young tom said, "You have to fight!"

Campionstripe sighed. It seemed he had no choice but to live, and find this DarkClan place and the cats who were supposed to help him.

"All right, Littlepaw. I'll fight."

Sometime that night, Campionstripe had another dream. He was running through a strange places full of sleeping-or possibly dead-Twoleg monsters. He knew he was looking for someone, but he wasn't sure who. He could catch glimpses of different cats-a silver tabby…a reddish brown cat with a white chest…a brown tabby kit…a grey cat with creamy fur on his face and chest…a dark grey cat with a feather in her ear…and a silver she-cat whom he recognized as Berrypool.

"You will find them," the voice of Violetleaf whispered. "You will find them. But can you save them? Only by bringing them all safely out of DarkClan, can you prevail…"

He could see a seemingly endless cycle of pain, betrayal, and possibly even death.

"It will happen," Violetleaf said, "If you fail, they will all die. And if they do not, they will not be the same…"

Well, I've got a few things to say here. Obviously, as you can see, I'm screwing around with the plot, but that shouldn't be too unusual by now. I'm trying to keep the Campionstripe/Berrypool love at first sight thing a bit more...uh...realistic. WSD had a thing for rushing romance, and since I have another twenty or thirty chapters to work with, I see no point in rushing things. One other thing: I'm curious to know if you guys can guess who the other cats who are going to play a crucial role in this are. I won't be telling you if you're right, but, if you want to guess, I'd be really interested to see what you think. Until next time! :)