The Legacy of the Three: Chapter Twenty Seven

Galepaw .

The pine trees towered above the small apprentice's head; they were so thick that only tiny shafts of sunlight were able to break through. They dotted the forest, making an intricate and unique pattern. Looking up, the gray apprentice felt choked and contained by the trees. He missed the feeling of running in the open and have nothing but the sky overhead. He missed the sun beating on his fur.

In front of him, the IceClan warriors bounded towards the ShadowClan camp. Not for the first time, Galepaw felt a knot of apprehension twist his stomach. He was unfortunate enough to be chosen for the patrol that would attack ShadowClan and force them to join IceClan; Galepaw did not want to see a battle like that ever again. Nightmares from when IceClan had taken over WindClan still haunted him. His sister was haunted, too; not by the battle, but of being put under torture when the IceClan she-cats were under enslavement.

Fogpaw was trotting next to Galepaw. Galepaw could see the nervous gleam in her blue eyes, and knew they shared the same feelings about this battle. She was still scarred from her two days' enslavement, and had really changed as a cat. His sister was now more quiet and guarded. Galepaw suspected that the she-cats had been punished severely if they didn't catch enough prey.

"Keep quiet, now," hissed Stoneheart from the front of the line. Lashing his tail, he ordered the cats to stop. Galepaw glanced around. Breezepelt and Bramblestar were left behind, heavily guarded. Freezestar didn't think they were loyal enough to fight for IceClan, so he decided to leave them at home. Stoneheart and Freezestar were in charge of the battle patrol.

Strong scents of ShadowClan wafted through Galepaw's senses. Pricking his ears and opening his mouth, he realized that the IceClan battle patrol must be nearing the camp. Around him, everything looked the same; he couldn't distinguish one part of the forest from the other. He wondered how Stoneheart knew where he was going.

The IceClan deputy lowered his tail, signaling for the patrol to creep forward slowly. Galepaw followed Stoneheart's order, keeping his belly low to the ground. The patrol suddenly stopped in front of a well-guarded bramble entrance, and Galepaw felt a swooping sensation in his stomach. This had to be it, this had to be the ShadowClan camp. He was nervous to fight in the battle; he had hardly learned any moves, and highly depended on his speed.

His sister glanced at him. "It'll be okay," She whispered, lightly touching her tail on her brother's shoulder. Her blue eyes were round with nervousness, and Galepaw suspected she was trying to convince him as well as herself. "Hopefully we'll beat ShadowClan quickly, so we don't even have to fight."

Galepaw was in the second wave to attack ShadowClan, but he still had a chance of fighting them. He knew ShadowClan was outnumbered, but he heard they were fierce fighters; cats he wouldn't want to face in battle. The gray apprentice shrugged and nodded, trying to convince himself he would be alright.

He was about to hiss a reply to his sister when Freezestar's battle yowl rang through the forest. The cats in the first wave exploded into the entrance, and Galepaw could already hear the sounds of battle. Cats yowled in triumph and pain, while others snarled and hissed. Flattening his ears, Galepaw unsheathed his claws and prepared to jump into the fray.

Stoneheart's yowl jolted Galepaw back to reality. At his signal, the second wave of cats flooded through the entrance and into the camp. Upon entering, Galepaw glanced around. Cats were fighting for their lives, but the IceClan cats were hardly trying. They were only sending ShadowClan a message; they didn't want to kill them. A yowl of help came from Galepaw's left.

Nightcloud was battling a huge ShadowClan warrior. He was a huge dark brown tabby with menacing amber eyes. He leaned in and fastened his teeth to deliver the death blow to the black warrior who was feebly struggling under his massive paws. With a yowl, Galepaw leaped on top of him, trying to claw him off of his kin. But the tom was tough and did not let go, and Galepaw looked on with horror as Nightcloud stopped twitching and became strangely still.

The brown tabby rounded on Galepaw, his eyes glittering. "Do you want to become like your friend?" He snarled, waving his tail to the motionless Nightcloud. "Get out of our camp and never come back. You are too small to fight in this battle. I will allow you a chance to escape."

Galepaw glanced around the clearing. The third wave of warriors had streamed in, ready to take on any last ShadowClan stragglers. "No!" He growled. The gray apprentice hated what IceClan stood for, but he had no choice. Plus, Nightcloud was his kin; he had to revenge her death. "That was my kin!" Without thinking, he launched himself at the brown tabby with astonishing speed.

The tabby was taken off guard and grunted in surprise as Galepaw sped around him, delivering sharp blows wherever he could. At one point, the brown tabby tried to collapse on Galepaw, but the quick apprentice wouldn't allow it. He dodged out of the way just in time, and the ShadowClan warrior fell clumsily to the ground. Taking his chance, Galepaw leaped on his belly and was about to rip open the warrior's stomach.

"Stop!" Freezestar's commanding yowl sounded from a large tree. Galepaw stepped back from the dark tabby, allowing him to stand up. The tabby didn't try to fight, only stared at Galepaw with undisguised shock and bewilderment. Twitching his whiskers, the apprentice bounded away to find his sister.

She was by the foot of the tree, staring at a motionless lump of ginger fur. Her eyes were huge and haunted, but she didn't seem to have any injuries that Galepaw could see.

He sighed, lightly touching his muzzle to her shoulder. "You're safe!" He breathed. Galepaw flicked his tail to the still cat. "Who is that?" He murmured, confused. His confusion grew when a light-golden tabby apprentice rushed up to the cat, wailing a low and sad yowl. Turning to his sister again, Galepaw repeated his question.

"Rowanstar," rasped Fogpaw, looking down at the mighty ShadowClan leader. "He has a few more lives left, I think..."

The huge ShadowClan leader looked very small in death. Galepaw assumed he was losing a life, but that didn't explain the distraught apprentice burying his nose in Rowanstar's fur. Faintly, Galepaw noticed a small, elderly cat hobbling up to the ginger leader. His amber eyes burned with hatred as he glared up at Freezestar. However, the IceClan cat didn't seem to notice.

"Cats of ShadowClan!" He yowled, his tail high. Galepaw sighed internally, he didn't feel up to listening to the IceClan speech. "You are now a part of history! The greatest Clan that will ever rule the moors, rivers and the forests! Faster than WindClan, sleeker than RiverClan, sneakier than ShadowClan and more noble than ThunderClan! You are now a part of IceClan!"

"What if we don't want to be?" snarled the brown tabby that Galepaw had recently fought. Galepaw felt an icy claw clutch at his chest; this cat would probably be murdered in cold blood like Owlwhisker of WindClan and Bluestrike of ThunderClan. Those cats were only murdered to send a message; a message of fear.

"Do you want to see an example?" purred Freezestar, beckoning Stoneheart forward with his tail. The huge former RiverClan warrior was even bigger than the huge tabby, and his curved claws unsheathed with anticipation.

"Go ahead!" yowled the dark tabby, his amber eyes flashing. "I'll kill any warrior you send to me!" There were murmurs of 'No, Hawkstrike', from the ShadowClan cats, and Galepaw realized that this cat was named Hawkstrike. He hoped that Hawkstrike didn't get killed, even though he had fought with the dark tabby. Galepaw didn't like seeing any cats die.

With a flick of Freezestar's tail, Stoneheart leaped forward, pinning the dark tabby to the ground immediately. But Hawkstrike wasn't going to give up that easily. With his hind paws, he launched Stoneheart off of him. The dark gray tom easily recovered and tackled Hawkstrike to the ground again. This time, while they were tussling, he hooked his teeth around Hawkstrike's neck and bit down hard. The dark tabby tried to snarl, but it came out as a gurgle; moments later, he was on the ground, limp and still.

"That is an example for those who will not follow me and IceClan," Freezestar mewed quietly, flicking his tail towards Hawkstrike. A sandy, pregnant she-cat burst out of the medicine cat den and hurled herself on Hawkstrike, moaning in grief. A brown-striped she-cat followed hesitantly, her eyes full of regret and loss. "We invite you to join us. You have no choice. Your new camp will be in the abandoned Twoleg nest on ThunderClan territory. Guards will be posted there at all times. If you resist, well, you have just seen the consequences."

"What about Rowanstar?" called a nervous voice from the back of the crowd.

The ginger shape moved in front of Galepaw, and Rowanstar shakily stood up, his eyes glinting defiance. "ShadowClan will never submit," He hissed, his green eyes narrowed. "I will never allow a rogue and a traitor to take over my Clan. Come down and fight me, Freezestar, instead of having your assistant do your dirty work."

Freezestar grinned, and his icy blue eyes glinted. "Gladly," he purred, snaking down the tree and unsheathing his long claws. As soon as he landed on the ground, Rowanstar launched himself at the faded gray tom, who squeaked in surprise. The ginger leader raked his claws wherever he could while Freezestar moaned in agony. Then, Rowanstar bit down hard on Freezestar's neck. The IceClan leader yowled, and then went still.

Rowanstar stepped back, wiping the blood off of his claws. Turning to the watching cats, he mewed, "We must defeat this tyrant. He is finishing Tigerstar's dirty work, and he is using all of you. Surely you cannot support this evil cat? StarClan honors the cats who died in his path of destruction. Let's not have any more die for his sake."

As he was talking, Freezestar pushed himself to his paws and leaped at Rowanstar, aiming for his neck. Rowanstar gasped in surprise as Freezestar ripped open the leader's neck with his claws; blood gushed out. Galepaw looked away as Rowanstar fell to the ground, twitching. There was a gasp from the audience as Rowanstar stopped twitching and became motionless.

Then, as Galepaw looked on, he woke up and another spasm shook him. The neck wound was healing, but not soon enough. Rowanstar gasped in pain as yet another spasm shook him. Has Freezestar really caused a wound that awful that Rowanstar had to die more than one time? A final spasm shook Rowanstar, and the leader let out a hiss of defiance as death overtook him.

"As you can see, I can kill a leader with four lives left!" Freezestar yowled triumphantly, his icy blue eyes flashing with pride. "No cat stands a chance against me; against IceClan! We are the most powerful Clan there is. And no cat, not even a leader with nine lives, can stop me!"

Stoneheart yowled along with Freezestar, and hesitantly the other IceClan cats followed, yowling their triumph and glory to the stars. Galepaw was scared, so he joined in, but looking beside him, he realized that Fogpaw was not. Her eyes were narrowed as she glared at Freezestar.

"Why aren't you cheering?" Galepaw hissed, glancing up at Freezestar to see if he saw.

"I won't listen to him," she growled, her heather-blue eyes glittering. "You might be stupid enough to, but I won't. I'll beat him somehow. The forest isn't right without four Clans."


Galepaw curled up uncomfortably on a moss nest in the Twoleg nest. He was on the above floor, guarding the queens and elders. ShadowClan and WindClan were confined to this small and cramped place. Galepaw supposed it was because the ThunderClan cats had accepted Freezestar's leadership more easily than ShadowClan and WindClan.

"What's your name?" A quiet voice called from behind Galepaw. The gray tabby turned around and saw a brown ShadowClan she-cat talking to him. She had bright green eyes, but a strange pelt color. Her face had dark brown stripes, while her paws were dark brown and her legs a light brown. Her tail was a dark brown, and he noticed a lone dark brown stripe running down her side.

"Galepaw," Galepaw mumbled, glancing around. He was the only guard tonight, and the queens and elders were asleep. Down below, most of the warriors and apprentices were asleep, but no cat could hear them. "Why do you want to know?"

The ShadowClan queen disregarded the question. "Are you Breezepelt's son, by chance? Do you have any special abilities... something that's strange, and no cat has this power? Something unique about you?"

Galepaw was taken off guard by the questions. The she-cat was asking him too many questions to handle; too many questions that he understood. He looked into her green eyes and saw curiosity there, along with a determination. What was she trying to figure out? "Yes... Breezepelt is my father," Galepaw began awkwardly. "And... kind of. I can just run very fast, I'm the fastest cat in my Clan. Why?"

"Have you ever... had any strange dreams? From StarClan? Did they ever tell you about a prophecy?" The she-cat leaned close; she obviously wanted to know something. But what? Galepaw really wasn't that interesting. Yes, he had dreams... but he had assumed other cats had them.

"Yes," Galepaw admitted. "They told me about some prophecy, and to find three other cats, but it was awhile ago... I haven't really had any in awhile, though..." He thought back to the dream where Tallstar had told him to stay strong for Freezestar, and that Galepaw was destined for something great. It was when Galepaw was a kit, though, so he didn't quite remember a lot of it.

"I'm one of the three you must find," The she-cat's eyes glinted excitedly. "I've found the WindClan Fourth at last! My name is Wrensong, and I'm from ShadowClan. I have powers and dreams like yours. Together, we're supposed to defeat the seven plagues and Freezestar to save the forest."

"Seven plagues?" Galepaw echoed, confused. He had heard Wrensong's name at a Gathering, but didn't really recognize her. He had never received a dream about seven plagues; just about Freezestar. "Sorry, I don't really know what you're talking about when you say, 'seven plagues'."

Wrensong rolled her eyes impatiently. "Surely StarClan has told you," She mewed, "But I'll refresh your memory. There are seven plagues sent to the forest by some power... StarClan thinks it's the Dark Forest. The greencough epidemic in your Clan was one, and ShadowClan's fox attack was another. The third one is supposed to happen tonight, so right now. Each Clan is supposed to have two, but RiverClan doesn't because they have Freezestar. He is the final plague that wasn't supposed to happen. The Four are supposed to stop the plagues and defeat Freezestar. We were blessed with power for that reason."

Galepaw couldn't believe all of this. He was one of the Four, who were supposed to save the forest? He was only an apprentice that could run fast, how was he supposed to save all four of the Clans? "Who are the other two that we have to find?" Galepaw asked. "And how did you know I'm one of the Four?"

"StarClan gave me hints," Wrensong murmured. "I think they're based on first names. One was about time-changing leaves, and the other was about a stone that can take many shapes. Do you know any powerful cats with the prefix or suffix of stone or leaf? I've been thinking, but I don't know any."

An idea flashed through Galepaw's mind, and the apprentice gasped. "One must be Stoneheart!" He whispered in awe. "He's a good fighter, and Freezestar's second-in-command... it has to be him!"

"Keep your voice down," hissed Wrensong irritably, glaring at the apprentice. Galepaw didn't shrink under her gaze; her eyes weren't scary enough to make him flinch. They weren't Freezestar's eyes. "Okay, so that's RiverClan down, I guess. We have to find out his power. Do you have any idea how to do that?"

"Maybe we should figure out the other one before we start that," reasoned Galepaw. "The other cat might be easy to figure out..."

As he was pondering, a mottled golden and brown shape exploded from the window downstairs. "The hollow has flooded!" Leafstorm, a strong ThunderClan warrior, gasped. "The hollow has flooded!"

The third plague!


AN: Firepaw isn't evil, just extremely loyal and ambitious :P Kind of like a young Thistleclaw. I don't really consider Thistleclaw evil, just let his ambitions get a hold of him. Therefore Firepaw isn't meant to be "evil", just very aggressive and ambitious.

Pikachu: Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad you like the story :) Yeah, Wrensong is a bit mary sueish, but that will soon change. Pinky promise. ;) I love your long review! And yes... Breezepelt is two-faced. He really loves Wrensong, but that's the only cat he cares for, really... Wrensong doesn't know that yet ;)