"Sunstripe," Shadowpelt meowed. Sunstripe turned to acknowledge her. "Where do you think Promiseheart vanished to? No cat's seen her in moons!" Sunstripe heaved a soft sigh. Shadowpelt wondered if he was preparing to divulge some great secret to her. She was right.
"Wavesong told me...She and Trickmind had a kit. They want to keep it just between us, you know, the 'Prophecy Fulfillers.'" Shadowpelt couldn't help a purr. "She left to raise their kit in privacy."
"When is she coming back? Is she ever coming back?"
"I don't know...but I know she is coming back."
Shadowpelt lay her head sadly on her dark paws. She sighed. "I miss her. She's really the only she-cat who understands me...Not even Riverstar knows me so well." Sunstripe licked behind his friend's ears.
The two warriors lay back to enjoy the beautiful morning. It was a few hours before sunhigh. Shadowpelt let her ear come into contact with the moist earth. She took a deep breath in, but did not release it in a sigh. "Newleaf certainly got off to a good start this year," she mewed. Sunstripe nodded.
"It's wonderful to be warriors," he murmured. "We can spend a part of the day just doing," and he flopped down beside Shadowpelt, "nothing!" Shadowpelt hushed him. "Why? What's wrong?"
"I hear pawsteps," Shadowpelt replied in a soft voice. "Familiar pawsteps..." She sat bolt upright. "Promiseheart!" She flung herself into the brush, leaving Sunstripe alone to stare in awe. Sure enough, the dark gray she-cat emerged leading the cat who had been missing for almost half a year.
Promiseheart.
"Promiseheart!" Sunstripe mewed, pouncing in front of her. The white queen nodded, smiling serenely. She had her tail draped on the flank of a stocky kitten with black, scruffy fur. The young cat's mismatched eyes were glassy and cloudy. Shadowpelt realized the kit was blind.
"This is Sorrowkit," Promiseheart meowed. "Named after her tragic past. I love her regardless." She nuzzled Sorrowkit. "Her life will be difficult, but she's such a strong, bold kit. She will manage." Bending down, she whispered in the kit's ear, "Say hello to Shadowpelt and Sunstripe."
Sorrowkit blinked her eyes slowly and turned her head up slightly until her gaze brushed the top of Shadowpelt's head. The black kit nodded. "Hello," she mewed. Shadowpelt shivered. The kit's voice was disturbingly mellow. It lacked the high, squealing tone of other kits'. She gave Sorrowkit a friendly nuzzle.
"Promiseheart, you need to come back to the Clan," Sunstripe burst in. "Seedgrowth's getting old, and his paws are full enough as is. It's time for you to return to the position in the Clan you once held, and maybe then some."
"I will," Promiseheart replied. "I needed time to let Sorrowkit grow. I'll pass her off as a kit I found wandering alone. Shadowpelt, I know you and Sunstripe are going to have kits soon. Please...take Sorrowkit in."
Shadowpelt purred. "Why would you even ask? Stupid question, you stupid furball! Of course I'll take her in! She'll grow up alongside the rest of our kits." She rubbed her muzzle against Sunstripe's. "Come back, Promiseheart."
.-''-.-''-.-''-.
As they walked along, Shadowpelt filled her old friend in on what had been happening in PromiseClan. Hexmind was in the nursery with Whitebelly's kits (the father had died at the jaws of the white hound). Firebelly's last litter was getting ready to be apprenticed, and Stormkit spent most of her time in the medicine cat's den studying herbs. Wavesong and Summerstream were getting closer by the day. Clan gossip.
As she walked, Shadowpelt couldn't help staring as Sorrowkit navigated around everything in her path, limping neatly around stumps and rocks even though she was sightless. When she asked Promiseheart, the queen merely replied, "She does that often. It's like she has some sixth sense. I'm not sure myself."
The returning cats were greeted with warm meows and happy purrs. Shadowpelt drew her tail across Sorrowkit's shoulders to guide the kit after her. Sorrowkit followed, keeping her nose to the ground. "Why are you walking like that?" Shadowpelt asked.
"This is my new home, right? I'm going to learn every pawstep of it."
"I bet you're tired."
"Not really. I want to explore this place."
"Come into the nursery, Sorrowkit."
"You're not my mother. Don't tell me what to do."
Shadowpelt was growing rapidly frustrated with Sorrowkit. The dark queen let out a short growl. "Come here, Sorrowkit," she repeated, this time a little louder.
"I'm blind, not deaf," Sorrowkit retorted. "I heard you the first time. And I said I was going to explore more."
Shadowpelt watched the black kit pad around the camp until Sorrowkit found herself confronted with the young apprentice Windpaw. The silver she-cat scoffed. "Look at that ug-ly kit," Windpaw mewed softly. "Looks like a lame, waterlogged rat!"
"And now I'm done exploring!" Sorrowkit mewed, turning back. "Shadowpelt? Shadowpelt?" She looked wildly around. "Where...Where are you, Shadowpelt?"
Shadowpelt bounded over and gave Sorrowkit a gentle lick. "Right here," she replied in a soothing murmur. "Come on. I think some cat should be with you when you explore. Where do you want to go?"
"The nursery," Sorrowkit stated. "I'm a bit tired..."
"We're going to get along famously, aren't we?" Shadowpelt asked sarcastically
"Starting to look like it." Sorrowkit returned the sarcasm. Shadowpelt gave a mrrow of laughter.
"Oh, yes."
.-''-.-''-.-''-.
Curled up in the nursery, Shadowpelt gave the young cat a lick on the head. Sorrowkit's tiny paws twitched and jerked fitfully, as if she was escaping some nightmare creature. The dark queen was getting worried. A moon she had been caring for Sorrowkit, and every night the kit had this same reaction. Every morning, Sorrowkit maintained she couldn't recall any nightmares.
A soft gasp broke the uncomfortable silence. Sorrowkit jerked into wakefulness, looking around wildly. Shadowpelt gave her a few calming licks. "What was it? Do you remember?" To her surprise, Sorrowkit nodded.
"I could see...and I saw myself in a pool of silver water. Only...I was different. White-furred. Pretty. And there were voices all around me...and scents of ice...cat...and emptiness...and the voices kept saying the same thing, over and over again."
"What did they say?" Shadowpelt asked gently. Sorrowkit shuddered.
"They were saying Find your future with Hope." Sorrowkit tipped her head back, her blind gaze burning into Shadowpelt's. "Why? What does it mean? What is Hope? How do they know my future? Will I see, Shadowpelt?"
Shadowpelt barely heard the kit. Hope. That's what Promiseheart was in that old prophecy. Sorrowkit's voice crowded out all other thoughts as she kept asking for clarification. The dark she-cat sighed. "We'll check with Promiseheart in the morning," she meowed.
"You can check with her now," Promiseheart's voice muttered. "A fine pile of fresh-kill, this. Can't sleep for dreaming. Ever have a night like that?" The white she-cat shook her pelt briskly. "Yes. I saw it all. Sorrowkit has a great future. A painful future, but a great one." She settled down beside Shadowpelt's nest.
"Do you know anything else?" Shadowpelt asked.
"Yes. The four cats who were killed by the hound Pack visited me: Nighthawk, Mudpaw, Heavenstep, and Whitebelly. They each delivered a line of a prophecy. Whitebelly began with When tragedy strikes and the blind lead the blind..."
"Who spoke next?"
"Heavenstep. She added Loyalties will be found and lost..."
"I'm guessing Nighthawk was next, seeing as we're going in order of age."
"Correct. The sun will drench the land in blood..."
"Will you two please stop drawing this out?" Sorrowkit growled. "This concerns my future!"
"Fine. What did Mudpaw say?"
Promiseheart looked at her paws. "It's strange...He started to speak. He started the line And heroes unknown will..., but out of nowhere, he broken into a terrible scream." Her hackles rose stiffly. "The whole clearing where I saw StarClan was swallowed in darkness."
"And heroes unknown will rise? Will fall? Will catch a plump vole and call it a day?" Sorrowkit demanded. "You get back to sleep and ask Mudpaw to finish what he started! I will not have an uncertain future!"
"Calm down," Shadowpelt soothed. "That's as much as we're getting from StarClan for now. I'll tell Wavesong and Sunstripe and Trickmind in the morning. We've cracked prophecies before. We'll sort it out before long. When tragedy strikes and the blind lead the blind, loyalties will be found and lost. The sun will drench the land in blood, and heroes unknown will..."
Promiseheart dipped her head and left the nursery. It was many hours before any of the three she-cats returned to the land of dreams. Sorrowkit awoke at dawn and padded from the nursery. She now knew exactly how many steps it took for her to make it out of the den, and even where to make that final hop down to the ground. Her sightless eyes scanned the rosy skies.
"StarClan," she whispered, "I know I'm not the most polite, or prettiest, or even the smartest of kits, but you have something special planned for me. Make it at least a little easy on me. After all, I don't know anything outside of this camp. Er...thanks, I guess."
Above her head, leaflets rustled on branches as a warm, newleaf wind sang through the trees. It darted through the forest, racing over streams and caressing hilltops. It seemed to come to rest on a small, grassy clearing. Small wildflowers sent up their shoots in the soft soil. A small gray mouse scurried through the grass, coming to stop at a strange rock. It was slightly porous and soft, with a few dark holes. She peeked inside, but seeing nothing interesting, departed.
The wind sprang up again, restless StarClan warriors patrolling their old territory. It stopped at the strange rock like the mouse had, and sang through the holes. The eerie music filled the air, hanging still after the wind had left to roam other land. Then, it faded, leaving nothing but an empty clearing and the skull of the wolf formerly called Follower.
end
And so ends the second part in my Warriors trilogy: Shaded Promises. The third and final part will be coming in...a while. A long while. I'm not sure when. I need time to let my juices replenish themselves. If you have suggestions of how the prophecy will be fulfilled, please do not hesitate to suggest them to me through private messages. I would love to see how others think my writing will turn out.
Oh, and by the way, I'm not sure how the prophecy will end right now.