Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors, but I do own the characters created for this story. Please don't steal them.
Chapter 18
"Are you busy right now, Rowanwind?" Clawstar asked, walking over to the spotbeside the fresh-kill pile that Rowanwind was lying.
Rowanwind looked up from the chaffinch he'd been eating. "No. Was there something you needed to talk about?"
Clawstar chose a rather skinny mouse from the pile. "The prey is getting thin, I've noticed. Is a hunting party out right now?"
"Yes," Rowanwind replied. He knew hunting patrols was not what the leader wanted to talk about. "Thornfur and Thunderstripe took their apprentices out to hunt."
"Good," Clawstar said. He took a few bites of the mouse. "I've been thinking. I know we have quite a few already, but we need more warriors. I think Duskpaw has showed us that he is loyal to the warrior code. I believe it's time for him to be given a warrior name."
"I think it's a brilliant idea," Rowanwind said.
Clawstar nodded. "I'm also going to ask all of the kittypets we have staying here if they are interested in joining ThunderClan. I'm sorry to say, but Stormypelt's parents have not been doing much lately while they have been here. If they don't join the Clan, or at least begin to do more for us, they will need to go back to Twolegplace."
"Francis and Lola," Rowanwind replied. He didn't want to admit it, but he'd been thinking about his mate's parents as well. "I'm sure if you spoke to them, they would try to help out more."
"What about the kittypets we rescued from DarkClan?" Clawstar wondered.
"Whisker might join, since Maggotstripe is his sister. I'm not sure about Josephine and Doodle," Rowanwind said. "All we can do is ask."
"Thank you for your input," Clawstar said.
"You're welcome," Rowanwind replied.
"I'll hold Duskpaw's ceremony tonight. I'll go speak to the kittypets right now, so they can think about their decision until the ceremony," Clawstar said.
"Good idea," Rowanwind said.
"I'll let you finish your meal," Clawstar said. The leader stood up and walked away, heading for the den where the kittypets slept.
"All cats who are old enough to catch their own prey, gather before me for a Clan meeting!" Clawstar shouted.
Rowanwind took his seat beside the rock where Clawstar stood and watched as his Clanmates came out of their dens and walked over from the fresh-kill pile. Once all of the cats were seated comfortably, Clawstar began.
"Some time ago, I allowed a black cat named Switch into ThunderClan," Clawstar said. "He was once our enemy. But, now that I have gotten to know him, I realize that he was never our enemy. Duskpaw has showed us all, without question, that he is loyal to the warrior code, and loyal to his new Clan. Duskpaw, please come forward."
As Duskpaw padded forward, Clawstar slipped off the rock he was standing on.
"I, Clawstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on Duskpaw. He has trained hard to understand the way of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn."
Rowanwind watched Duskpaw's one green eye and one blue eye sparkle excitedly in the moonlight. He glanced over at Ghostlight to see the tom's yellow eyes blazing with pride.
"Duskpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do," Duskpaw said, his voice unwavering.
"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this day forward, you will be known as Dusklight. StarClan honors your bravery and your strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan. We now officially accept you into our Clan," Clawstar said.
Dusklight licked Clawstar's shoulder in respect as Clawstar touched Dusklight's head with his nose.
"Duslight! Dusklight!" the cats of ThunderClan shouted.
Ghostlight's voice was the loudest.
Dusklight's eyes danced with happiness as he padded over to sit beside his brother.
"Will Whisker, Josephine, and Doodle please come forward?" Clawstar asked when the shouting had died down.
The three kittypets walked forward.
"Earlier today, I asked the three of you if you would like to join ThunderClan as warriors," Clawstar said. "Have any of you made your decision?"
Josephine stepped forward. "Doodle and I thought long and hard about your offer. Neither of us feels right accepting. If it is okay with you, we would like to continue staying as guests."
"That is fine," Clawstar said. "We will not force you to join us." He turned to Whisker. "Have you decided?"
Whisker nodded. "I've seen how happy my sister, Maggotstripe, is here. I would like to join ThunderClan."
"Very well," Clawstar said. "It is obvious that you are strong of will and heart, and you must have learned the warrior code while you were here healing.
"I, Clawstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on Whisker. He has learned the way of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn.
"Whisker, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do," Whisker replied.
"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this day forward, you will be known as Whiskerheart. StarClan honors your bravery and your strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
"Whiskerheart! Whiskerheart!" the cats all cried.
This time, Maggotstripe's shout was the loudest of all.
"That is all for tonight," Clawstar said. "Congratulations to our new warriors."
"Tired?" Stormypelt asked, brushing her shoulder against Rowanwind's shoulder. "You look like you're about to fall over. Let's go get some sleep."
Rowanwind nodded. "I could use it."
Side by side, Rowanwind and Stormypelt headed to the warriors' den for a good night's rest.
Orange eyes glinted in the darkness. His paws felt frozen beneath him as the eyes grew larger and brighter. The eyes suddenly became the eyes of a monster zooming toward him. The monster blared loudly as it whooshed over him. His paws sprang to life, and he ran forward, only to fall into bone-chilling water.
His paws churned at the water, but his limbs were growing numb. His fur was plastered to his skin. Rocks touched his feet, and he dragged himself forward onto a sandy shore. Exhausted, he slumped to the ground. Gritty sand stuck to his face.
Vicious growling made him jump back to his feet. His sides heaved as he panted. Every breath felt like it brought a raging fire inside his chest. His eyes scanned the area around him, but it was still so dark he couldn't see anything.
Something suddenly flashed brightly in front of him. A badger lumbered toward him, going too fast for him to dodge. The badger's massive head collided with his side, and he went flying into the air. Instead of hitting water, like he expected, he kept on falling...and falling...and falling...his limbs flapped listlessly through the air, attemting to turn him so that he could land on his feet, but he no longer knew which way was up and which way was down...
Orange eyes appeared again, and he heard Sly's malicious laughter. "It's not fun, realizing that I can attack you in your dreams, is it, light-demon?"
"Rowanwind! Rowanwind, wake up!" Stormypelt's frantic voice reached him through the darkness.
Rowanwind's eyes flared open. He rolled to his feet and all the fur on his body fluffed up. His tail lashed back and forth, striking two cats still partially curled up in their nests.
"Rowanwind, stop! You're hitting us with your tail!" Thunderstripe yelped.
Stormypelt's warm body brushed up against Rowanwind, and he immediately calmed down. His pants were still ragged and harsh. His fur began to lie flat.
"It's okay. It was just a bad dream," Stormypelt whispered. "You woke the whole den."
Rowanwind glanced around and saw all of the glowing eyes of his Clanmates staring at him. Remembering Sly's glowing, orange ideas, Rowanwind shivered.
It's not fun, realizing that I can attack you in your dreams, is it, light-demon?
The phrase echoed in Rowanwind's mind. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the voice, but nothing helped. With slow certainty, Rowanwind realized that Sly must have put a spell on him, to attack him in his dreams...
"Dusklight! I need to speak to Dusklight!" Rowanwind said.
Dusklight walked forward. "Come on, Rowanwind. Follow me." When Stormypelt tried to follow, Dusklight gestured at her with his tail. "No. Let me speak to him alone, please."
Stormypelt nodded and sat back.
Rowanwind stumbled outside, following Dusklight's black, shadowy shape. They stopped a few fox-lengths away from the entrance to the warriors' den.
"That wasn't a normal nightmare you had, was it?" Dusklight asked, sitting down and curling his tail around his paws. "Sly put a nightmare spell on you. I can feel it coming off you in waves."
Rowanwind shivered. "Can you...take it away?"
Dusklight nodded. "Try to hold still. Just listen to my voice, okay? Try and block out everything, especially the dream. Can you do that?"
Rowanwind nodded. He forced the thoughts of the dream out of his head, ignored the noises of the night around him, and focued in on Dusklight's voice.
"Naghtmehos cumo ent
naghtmehos gu
Hat thas nublo cet
uf ell bet thoems."
Rowanwind felt like a huge tree limb was being lifted off of him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thank you, Dusklight. I feel much better."
"We need to put a dream protection spell on you, so that Sly can't do this again," Dusklight said. "You have to be the one to say the spell, though."
"What's the spell?" Rowanwind wondered.
"You have to make it up yourself," Dusklight replied. "Almost every dream protection spell is different."
Rowanwind nodded. "Right." He took a few moments to think before saying,
"Mp thoems eho sechot
nut unlp A knuw thet
meko at su thet oval
cennut ontoh mp
sechot thoems."
A golden light shimmered around Rowanwind for a few moments before disappearing.
"Good. That means it worked," Dusklight said. "Nothing like what you dreamed tonight will happen again."
"I sure hope not," Rowanwind muttered. "Thank you for your help, Dusklight. I couldn't have gone on with those thoughts in my head."
"You're very welcome," Dusklight replied. "Let's get back to sleep."
A few days later, Rowanwind had just returned from a hunting patrol and was dropping a few mice onto the fresh-kill pile when Maggotstripe ran over to him.
"Icefur is dying," Maggotstripe said sadly.
"Right now?" Rowanwind's heart dropped.
Maggotstripe nodded. "Rainfur and their kits are saying their good-byes. Rainfur asked me to fetch you and Oakpelt, but I still haven't found Oakpelt."
"Try the nursery," Rowanwind suggested.
"I did," Maggotstripe said. "He wasn't there."
Rowanwind grew immediately suspicious. If Oakpelt wasn't in camp, and he hadn't been sent out on a patrol, where could he have gone? Rowanwind knew there was one place Oakpelt would go, a place that few cats had known he'd gone until Twigleaf had overheard them speaking...
"There he is," Maggotstripe said.
Rowanwind turned to see his half brother walking out of the dirtplace.
"I'll go tell him," Maggotstripe said. "You go on to Frostflower's den."
As Rowanwind padded over to Frostflower's den, he couldn't help but wonder if Oakpelt really had just been making dirt, or if he had gone off to meet Maplerose. Surely the RiverClan she-cat would want to know how her son was doing? Oakpelt would be all too ready to secretly meet her every once in a while to speak to her about their children.
The atmosphere of sorrow overwhelmed Rowanwind as he entered the medicine cat's den. The only other cats inside were Frostflower, Rainfur, and Rainfur's three kits. Icefur's breathing was coming in slow, hoarse breaths.
"Rowanwind," Rainfur whispered, her voice full of pain.
Rowanwind heard the kits weeping softly for their dying father. His heart felt like it was being smothered in sorrow.
"Rowan...wind."
Rowanwind's ears twitched. It took him a moment to realize that Icefur was trying to talk to him because the tom's eyes were closed.
"I'm here, Icefur," Rowanwind whispered. He bent his head forward toward Icefur's lips to hear him more clearly.
"I'm...sorry," Icefur's weak voice said. "I was...foolish...did more harm...than good." He paused and took a deep breath. "I can...only...only...hope...that StarClan will...forgive me."
Rowanwind's throat felt tight, like a piece of fresh-kill was caught in it. "StarClan will forgive you, Icefur. How could they not, when you believe in the warrior code so strongly?"
A small purr escaped from the dying tom. "Rainfur..."
Rainfur crept forward on her belly and touching her nose to Icefur's cheek. "What is it, my love?" Rowanwind could hear the emotion in her voice.
Oakpelt and Maggotstripe entered then. Maggotstripe went to sit beside her mentor, her whiskers drooping sadly. Oakpelt went and wrapped his tail around a weeping Webpaw, whose shoulders shook with each sob.
"I will...always love you," Icefur said to Rainfur. His yellow eyes finally blinked open. "Where...are our...kits?"
"Right here," Rainfur whispered. "They are right here."
"They are...apprentices," Icefur said. "Strong, healthy..."
"Yes. Yes, they are," Rainfur agreed.
"Good luck...my kits," Icefur said with a long sigh. "Our kits...so beautiful...the day they...were born."
Rainfur pressed her face into Icefur's neck as the tom struggled to breathe. "Please, Icefur. Please, don't leave us. We need you to stay. You can't...you just can't give up."
Icefur's breathing was more shallow now. Rowanwind wanted so badly to turn away, but he continued to watch as Icefur's breaths grew fewer and fewer.
"Icefur, please," Rainfur said, her shoulders shaking now.
"Love...you," Icefur said, slowly. His breath left his body, and he did not breathe again.
Rowanwind watched, barely hearing the sobs of his family around him, as Icefur's soul stepped out of his body. He looked younger, more vibrant; his blue-gray fur shimmered like stars on the clearest of all nights. Yellow eyes turned to Rowanwind. The spirit nodded before turning and walking up into the ceiling of the den, producing a shimmery trail of light that twinkled briefly before completely disappearing...leaving behind a den full of grieving ThunderClan cats.
End of Chapter Eighteen