Chapter Twenty Five

Talk about a boring day: Caring for the elders all day. I would do dawn patrols every day of my life to not care for the elders! Well thank StarClan it's over, now I can focus on night hunting, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to suck at because my pelt isn't dark. I'm in such a cheery mood!

"Hey," Nightpaw whispers as he runs beside me, his dark pelt blending with mine. I try to muster a purr, but it comes out ragged, almost a growl. He tenses up.

"Sorry, today has been crazy boring." I huff, tying not to bring the stress back.

"Oh, well night hunting should be fun!" He mews eagerly.

Yeah for you, I want to say but I nod eagerly instead as he races ahead to talk with Midnightstorm. He really likes her.

"Hey girl!" I jump as Ravenclaw materializes out of the darkness, her silver eyes shining.

"Jeez don't scare me like that."

"Sorry, didn't realize you couldn't see me." She mews and bats her eyes.

"Oh whatever!" I roll my eyes.

"Well aren't they cute." She huffs and looks at Midnightstorm and Nightpaw.

When will he realize?

"Did you say something?" Ravenclaw looked shocked and somewhat freaked out.

"Um, no…?" She narrows her eyes and I shiver. When she looks at me like that I feel like she's reading my mind, and I'm really only accustomed with Midnightstorm doing that. Creepy.

"You know there's a gathering tomorrow?" Ravenclaw says changing the subject.

"Yeah! I'm excited! Can't wait to see the other Clans for once." I gush, letting excitement replace my stress.

"Uh huh, me too…" She hums, eyes glazing over.

"Echopaw!" Rosepetal calls from ahead.

"Okay…well I'll catch you later!" I meow as I sprint ahead to where Rosepetal sits.

"So, since both of us have light pelts we have to be more careful." Rosepetal says as she launches into this whole discussion of how to stay hidden. Blah, blah, blah. My mind keeps drifting to the kit.

"Okay so I'll let you go off by yourself." She finishes. I nod and start in the other direction. I open my mouth to taste the air. Bunch of mice, easy prey. I crouch low to the ground, and inch by inch I make my way to where they are, all huddled by the burrow. I get close enough, ready to strike, lifting my paw slowly, over them, then…They all disappear.

"Foxdung!" I curse. My pelt starts to itch with the feeling that someone's watching. The leaves up in the tree shake and my head whips up to see a pair of glowing eyes. I laugh.

"Ha ha. Not funny guys." I mew but there's no answer, I frown.

"Come on, I know you're up there." Still nothing. I start to climb the tree since whoever it is doesn't want to reveal itself. I look back up to where the glowing eyes were but there was nothing! No glowing eyes and no cat. Ice runs through my veins; I can't move.

"Hey Echopaw! What are you doing?" Midnightstorm says from below noticing me frozen, half way up a tree.

"Err, nothing." I say, still not wanting to move.

"Doesn't look like nothing." She persists, coming closer.

"Well it is." I mutter.

"Echopaw, you look like you seen a freaking Dark Forest warrior!" She explodes.

I finally get my body to move, taking me back down to land by Midnightstorm, who's sitting down and glaring at me. She of course has enough prey to feed the whole bloody Clan. Dang overachiever.

"Talk." She instructs.

"Fine! I saw a pair of glowing eyes up in that tree and I thought it was Ravenclaw or Nightpaw. When I climbed up they disappeared." I explain quickly.

Concern lights her eyes but is soon covered up. "It could have been an owl." She mews casually. And with that she gets up, licks my ear, and leaves.

"Could have been an owl, my butt!" I hiss under my breath. I walk out to a small clearing where the moon shines down on the little patch of grass. Night hunting is definitely not for me. I look around, I'm surrounded by darkness. Suddenly I feel claustrophobic. A sparkle of yellow catches my attention. But it's gone. Then out of the corner of my eye it flashes again. Then many little yellow dots flash in front of my eyes. They are everywhere! It is so cool! Maybe night hunting won't be so bad.

"Echopaw! Did you catch anything?" Rosepetal comes running through the darkness carrying two mice.

"No," I look down in shame.

"It's okay, night hunting is hard," She mews sympathetically.

"I agree with you on that." I grumble.

"Come on, let's get back to camp, I bet you're tired." She continues.

I nod and follow her. On the way back I catch glimpses of the yellow flashes.

Right as I'm about to curl up in my nest, Rosepetal pops her head in.

"Oh Echopaw I almost forgot! We are going to the Gathering tomorrow! So rest up!"

"Will do," I barely muster as I curl up in my nest and fall asleep.

I open my eyes to the beautiful meadow. I love coming here. It's so peaceful. I run around, jumping and chasing butterflies. Suddenly I hear giggling. It echoes in my ears, the beautiful peals of laughter. I blink a couple times, where have I heard that before? Then the kit I saw yesterday appears in front of me. I jump, not expecting to see anyone here.

"Who are you?" My voice echoes eerily, sending chills down my spine. She laughs again. It is so beautiful.

"My name is Mosskit."

Ooo! Cliffy! I love the ending of this chapter.

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-Echosong