Before we get started, I'm just gonna say this. There's a small dream sequence that may feel a little weird.
Understand that the cats in said dream don't follow rules all the time, and sometimes dead cats wanna just chat for a bit before going to a Prophecy cat and giving info on the Prophecy. uwu
(alsocuziwantedtohavethethreecloneboisinoneplace)
The echoes of rushing water filled the air as the sun slowly started making it's way to the horizon, and soon the glimmering form of a waterfall came into sight.
An excited, awe-inspired gasp slipped from Kestrelpaw's jaws, and her eyes widened with excitement.
She pranced up to Pearlight's side, her fur ruffled as she pranced around with refreshed energy, her heart racing at the idea of finally reaching their destination. Her mentor quickly spotted her behavior, chuckling softly as he gently nudges her.
"You ready for this?" He purrs. "You'll be one of the only five cats that will see this place for a while. And you'll be one of the five cats that gets to decide if this is a good place for our Clan."
"Yes!" She gasps, her gaze shimmering as she looks up at him, their steps bringing them ever so closer to their destination. "I'm so excited! I want to see what this place looks like; I wanna imagine our Clan here!"
The white and silver tom chuckled again, playfully bumping her shoulder.
"Hopefully you'll have enough patience to at least reach the place? You look like you might pop from excitement." She giggles at his words, her fur fluffing up even more.
"I think I'll survive that long," she teases back. "This is a lot more fun than I thought it'd be. I was kinda dreading this, hah."
"It's scary, leaving the Clan for the first time like this," he agrees. "But you've discovered a love for it, so... you learned something new at least."
"I always learn something new with you," she beamed, only for her gaze to fixate on the path ahead of them. A river cut across their path, but several stones jutted out of the water. "Oh! Look! Crossing stones!" She gasps, bounding forward.
"Kestrelpaw, wait—" But the young apprentice didn't listen to Pearlight's warning, instead leaping onto the first rock.
Her ears twitched and her gaze flickered to the water when she saw something dart through the current away from her shadow.
"Ah! There's a fish!" She crowed. "Y'think we can catch it?!" Without waiting for an answer, she crouched down on the rock, quiet as can be, her gaze fixated on the water.
Pearlight stopped at the edge of the river, watching her with a twitch of amusement and also worry.
"Be careful," he called gently. "I don't want you to slip in. The current looks strong." As he spoke, Cindercall, Fleetpaw, and Nettlepelt finally moved forward, their fur fluffed up against the slight breeze that moved over the water.
"Kestrelpaw," Fleetpaw whined when he noticed the she-cat. "You're blocking the path across."
"Sh!" She snaps softly. "I'm tryina catch a fish."
"That's a RainClan thing," he scoffs. "Move!"
"Fleetpaw," Cindercall's words were edged with warning, her gaze flickering to the small apprentice.
But he was already moving forward, his ears low with annoyance.
"I want to get across," he mumbles. "We're supposed to get there on time and stuff!"
Nettlepelt stepped forward quickly as Fleetpaw bunched his muscles to jump, but he narrowly missed as the tom launched himself onto the rock Kestrelpaw was on.
"Woah!" The brown tabby apprentice squawked. "Hey, there's not a lot of room here!" She says, as she turns to the younger apprentice, her face falling into a scowl.
"Both of you calm down," Cindercall snapped suddenly. "Fleetpaw, get back over here. Kestrelpaw, we can catch fish later, alright? It's dangerous on that river."
The two apprentices glanced each other, before sighing.
"Alright," they mewed in unison. Fleetpaw bunched his muscles to cross again, but the rock had grown slippery from the current, his claws sliding on the stone. With a wail of surprise, his leap was interrupted and he crashed into the water.
With a cry of fear, the three warriors on the bank stiffened with panic, Kestrelpaw freezing on the rock.
"Quickly!" Nettlepelt yowled, as Fleetpaw flailed in the water, the current dragging him quickly downstream. "We need to catch him! Who knows how to swim?!"
"I doubt any of us know how to swim," Cindercall replied swiftly. "Let's get a stick to grab him out of the water." As she spoke, she began racing down the bank after her apprentice, Nettlepelt hot on her heels to help.
Meanwhile, Pearlight turned to Kestrelpaw, fear piercing his chest at the thought of the apprentice also flowing downstream.
The brown tabby she-cat was crouched on the rock, trembling as she stared at the water with new horror, her ears pinned to her head.
"Kestrelpaw—"
"I didn't mean for that to happen!" She wailed suddenly, her eyes as wide as moons. "I just wanted to catch a fish, I swear, I didn't want Fleetpaw to get thrown in the water! I'm sorry!"
"It's okay," his voice was soft and just, his gaze flickering downstream to see if Cindercall or Nettlepelt needed help. It seemed as though they had retrieved a large branch, using it to catch the apprentice quickly as he came hurtling towards them. "Kestrelpaw, can you jump over?" His gaze returned to his apprentice when he saw that they had the situation under control.
The she-cat was silent for a moment, before she shook her head.
"N-no..." She whimpers. "I-I'm too scared... I-I don't wanna get swept up..."
Pearlight's ears twitch, before he carefully steps to the edge of the river.
"Listen to me very carefully, Kestrelpaw," he replied gently. "If you're careful, and if you watch your footing, you'll be safe as a kit by her mother's belly."
"B-but what if I slip? What if I miss something?"
"You won't," he encouraged gently. "Now, listen. It's really muddy over here, and that side has proven to be a bit slippery. Go ahead and try to cross the rest of the way."
She glanced behind her briefly, before glancing at Pearlight and nodding.
She turned, eyeing the next rock carefully, studying where she would land.
It looked dry; easy to land on, just like this rock had been at first.
Testing the ground under her, she bunched her muscles, and sprang forward, scrambling to stabilize herself on the next rock.
With a small omnf, she turned to see that Pearlight had hopped to the rock she had just been on.
"See?" He purrs softly. "Not that hard, right? Just gotta watch your footing and make sure you're landing well. You think you got this? You just have two more rocks."
"I, uh..." She glanced forward, before nodding. "Y-yeah, I think I got this..." She glanced briefly at where Cindercall and Nettlepelt were dragging Fleetpaw out of the river. He looked tired and shaken, but alright.
With a deep breath, she crouched down and sprang onto the next rock, her heart leaping into her throat when her paw slipped. But she caught herself, taking a small breath of relief. A quick glance behind her showed her that Pearlight was right behind her.
Something about it made her feel a bit better. He wouldn't let her fall into the river, right? Or at least he'd do his best to help? Like Cindercall was doing with Fleetpaw? She glanced at her mother, watching as the grey she-cat scolded her apprentice quietly while Nettlepelt checked him over.
"Pay attention to what you're doing, Kestrelpaw," Pearlight's voice sounded softly. "Fleetpaw is alright; focus on getting across so you can get some soil beneath your paws."
She nods, turning her gaze back to the final rock.
It was smaller, and a lot more slick looking.
She studied it a moment longer, before launching forward and landing squarely on top of it. Her eyes widened as she realized she had made it to the last rock, and she turned to Pearlight with a slight look of surprise.
"I-I did it!" She squeaks. "I actually did it, I got to the last rock!"
"Good job!" The tom purrs sweetly. "Now, get to the bank, alright? Not too far of a jump."
Kestrelpaw nodded, giving one glance back at Cindercall and Nettlepelt who were bringing Fleetpaw back up to the stepping stones, before turning to the bank.
Just one more leap.
She crouched down, ready to spring forward.
But her paws slipped on the rock, her heart skipping a beat as she saw herself crashing straight for the water.
She could barely hear the wail lifting from Pearlight's throat as her head crashed into the water.
For a brief moment, the cold knocked the breath from her, and she gagged beneath the current, choking as water started to fill her jaws.
But teeth met her scruff and she was suddenly launched onto the bank, gasping for air as paws pressed against her chest, massaging it gently.
"Calm down," Pearlight's voice was gentle. "It's okay, just try to cough up water."
And she did. Quite a bit came tumbling out of her jaws, and she took a gasp of air the moment she could, panting with pain. She looked up at Pearlight in fear, realizing the tom was soaking wet like she was.
"Did you—"
"It's alright," he purrs. "You just splashed me a bit." He glanced back across the river, where Cindercall and Nettlepelt were watching with worry, Fleetpaw's ears pinned to his head. "I don't think we should use these stones!" He yowled to them. "Try looking for a rotten tree we can try to knock over!" The two warriors nodded, before searching the trees along the bank, leaving Fleetpaw by the water's edge.
Pearlight turned to Kestrelpaw.
"Stay here, alright? You're still a little weak from that tumble, and I'm sure you're tired."
She nods, watching as the silver tom moved along to the nearest tree, testing it's roots and trunk, before turning to meet Fleetpaw's gaze across the river.
He watched her, ears pinned, his gaze glowing as he dropped it to the ground.
She wanted to raise her voice and assure him that it was okay, but at the same time she felt too tired.
There was a loud crack from her right, as she saw Cindercall and Nettlepelt shoving down an old looking oak tree, it's rotten wood easily tipping against their weight. Pearlight dodged out of the way as the tree came down, it's long trunk bridging the way across the water easily.
"Perfect!" The white and silver tom yowled. "Bring Fleetpaw over! I'll get Kestrelpaw into the hollow!"
"Alright!" The two called, as Pearlight turned back to his apprentice.
"C'mon," he mewed. "Can you stand up?"
She nods, shakily getting to her paws.
"Is that tree gonna be better?" She asks softly.
"It will work for now," he mewed. "We'll try to get a sturdier tree to cross with. If we have a large enough brigade of cats, we could probably get a bit of a tougher tree. But it'll work for now." He pressed against her pelt, guiding her to what looked to be the entrance of the hollow. "I'm glad you're alright, Kestrelpaw. I know that was a little scary."
"Yeah," she agrees. "But, that's what Warriors have to deal with, right?" She asks, peering up at him.
"Indeed. Maybe not drowning specifically, but they always worry about getting hurt and dying. But you survived; a lot of us do, because we're tough." His eyes shut and he nudges her gently. "Real tough." They entered the hollow as he spoke, and Kestrelpaw looked around. She didn't quite have the energy to be as excited as before, but she did look around with awe.
"Woah... It looks like camp, but a little bit smaller..." Her eyes flicker around the hollow, before she gasps when she sees a dead tree pressed against the curve of the hollow. "Look! It even has an old tree here too!" Pearlight chuckles at her words, before nodding.
"Yes, it does feel very homey, doesn't it? Come, let's get you a nest set up. And one for Fleetpaw as well." He guided her over to a side wall, where what looked like a patch of moss was growing. He pulls away from her and scrapes a small dip into the earth, before taking the spongy green plant and setting it along the edges.
"There," he mewed. "Should feel like home."
She stepped into the nest, curling up with a sigh.
"Thanks Pearlight," she mewed.
"No problem," he replied, as he began to get to work for a nest for Fleetpaw.
Just as he finished, Cindercall and Nettlepelt came bursting into the hollow, the aforementioned apprentice right behind them.
"Kestrelpaw!" The two warriors squawked, racing to her side and curling around her. Nettlepelt began grooming her fur gently as Cindercall began checking over her.
"Are you alright?" Her mother gasped worriedly, fear edging her voice. "We saw you crash into the water. I thought you were a goner for certain but then Pearlight got you out and—"
"I know," Kestrelpaw interrupted. "I was there. But I'm okay. I just slipped on the rock. I thought it was safe." Cindercall nodded, grooming the top of her daughter's head gently, before casting a glance at Fleetpaw. The apprentice dropped his head in shame, not meeting his mentor's gaze.
"I, uh..." he mumbled. "I'm, uh..." He seemed to struggle for the right words, his tail twitching. "I just... I wanted to get across, y'know? So we could go home...? I'm not as big of a fan, and, well, um..."
He glanced up, pausing when he saw Cindercall's dark eyes, before dropping his gaze back to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Kestrelpaw," he mumbled, barely audible. "That I got you scared n' stuff, and that I jumped up beside you."
"It's okay," she replied. "I was the one blocking the way, and it's not like you pushed me or anything. And it's not like I pushed you."
Fleetpaw looked up, confusion swarming his gaze.
"But—"
"Kestrelpaw is right," Cindercall mewed. "The only thing you did wrong was being careless. You could've gotten hurt, Fleetpaw, you need to be more careful, alright?"
"But, but I thought that... weren't you mad at me?" He cocked his head. "I thought this was my fault."
"No, no," Pearlight shook his head. "It wasn't anyone's fault. You all were curious. Kestrelpaw wanted to catch a fish, you wanted to continue on with the mission. Things like this happen, you just need to be more careful next time. Go one at a time when crossing a river, and have patience and be ready to help at any moment. We won't punish you, since I imagine getting swept into the water is enough. You both learned a lesson on being careful, and also helped us decide that we need a better way of crossing. You're both alright, so I think we can safely say we've learned a bit from this experience." He glanced at Nettlepelt and Cindercall, who nodded in agreement. "And speaking of experience, I'm going to go ahead and search some of these caverns. You two should still rest since you both got swept up in that current. Fleetpaw, here's your nest," he nodded at the nest beside Kestrelpaw, and the small tom moved over and into it, nestling down comfortably.
Cindercall and Nettlepelt rose to their paws.
"We'll help," the brown tabby tom mewed, moving away from his daughter, as Cindercall glanced at her apprentice and daughter with a small smile.
"Rest easy," she purred. "We'll leave stuff for you two to look at tomorrow, alright?" She turned to the two toms. "I'm going to go hunting. I'm sure everyone's a bit hungry after that."
"Good idea," Pearlight mewed. "Come, Nettlepelt, I want to start searching the caves in case anything's decided to hole itself up in there."
"Right."
With that, the three warriors dispersed to do their duties, and Kestrelpaw and Fleetpaw watched in silence as they worked.
Cindercall bounded out of the hollow, while Nettlepelt and Pearlight swiftly moved through caves, weaving through and expertly searching the walls and entrances by scent before entering each one.
"Y'think we'll ever look like that?" Kestrelpaw mused aloud.
"Maybe," Fleetpaw mewed. "If we both don't fall in a river."
She laughs, looking at him with a snort.
"Ha, I only fell cuz you looked like you were having fun," she teased.
"Well I only fell cuz your fat tail was in my way," he teased back.
The two shared a laugh before Kestrelpaw rested her head on her paws.
"Hey, Fleetpaw?" She asks, looking at him. "You seemed to be a lot braver despite nearly drowning. All I did was get a little wet. I'm kinda jealous."
He blinks, before laughing.
"Nah, I was terrified," he purrs, amused. "But Cindercall told me that panicking during a time of distress is a bad idea, so I tried to do my best to be brave and stuff. It's not too hard."
"Well, it was hard for me," she laughed. "But hey; that just means I've got more to learn, right?"
Fleetpaw beamed at the slight praise, before nodding.
"Right. But hey; don't worry. You'll get there."
"I know I will," Kestrelpaw purrs. "I know."
As darkness began to drift over the hollow, Cindercall returned with a rabbit and three squirrels, her ears twitching with excitement as she moved over to the apprentices. Pearlight and Nettlepelt slipped out of the third cave opening they had inspected in the time she had been gone, moving over to her as they saw the prey.
"Wow!" Pearlight gaped. "That's a really fat rabbit right there."
The grey warrior dropped the prey, nodding.
"Yes, the forest is really abundant with prey, all of it looking well fed and good. We just need to reinforce a good way across the river, and I think this would at least make a good hunting ground. What about the caves?" She asked, looking to them curiously.
"Nothing much," Pearlight mewed. "Some mouse droppings, but no rats or badgers or foxes or anything." His gaze flashed as he spoke the last word, and Cindercall nodded.
"Wonderful. I imagine we still have caves to explore, though, right?" She asks.
"Yes," Pearlight mewed. "There's a larger one in the back that I'm curious on checking out in the morning. It sounded like water was coming from there, and if there's a source of water in the rocks, we may have a prime medicine cat den."
"Oh, that's wonderful," Cindercall purred. "I saw quite a few herb-like plants while I was out in the forest. I'm hoping that means we'll have quite a bit of material for a medicine cat here. We'll need to get Mumblebee out here to inspect them." She sighs. "For now, we should probably get some rest. Of course, we need full bellies to do that."
She nudged a squirrel to Fleetpaw and Kestrelpaw, who both began to dig in swiftly at the sight of prey, before nudging the third squirrel to Pearlight.
"I'll share the rabbit with Nettlepelt," she purred. "We should eat."
"Of course," Pearlight mewed, settling in beside Fleetpaw as the cats gathered around to eat.
As they ate, Pearlight and Nettlepelt mentioned the different things they had discovered in the caves; one of which looked small but was actually quite spacious with several mini tunnels that may make for a perfect nursery or warriors den. Cindercall discussed the different things she had found in the forest; a fallen tree where a catmint-like plant was growing, another small source of water, and a small patch of meadow that might be able to be used for training should any apprentices be trained here.
As they spoke, Kestrelpaw listened in silence, licking her jaws as the squirrel settled warmly into her stomach.
She felt herself slowly starting to fall asleep as the warriors spoke, her gaze flickering briefly to Fleetpaw to see that the apprentice was already fast asleep.
Cindercall moving made Kestrelpaw blink back awake, and she paused when she realized the three warriors had risen to their paws.
"I'll take the first watch," Cindercall mewed. "Who'll be second?"
"I will," Nettlepelt mewed softly.
"That leaves me with third," Pearlight chuckled gently. "Well, that's alright. I was pretty beat after earlier." He shifted over to the left of Kestrelpaw, curling up on the ground as he quickly fell asleep. Nettlepelt shifted and found his place between Kestrelpaw and Fleetpaw, already fast asleep the moment he settled into the ground.
Cindercall fell silent as she looked at the toms, sighing softly, her gaze flickering back up to the hollow's opening in the ceiling. It was farther up than the original camp, and far more narrow, but Cindercall stared up at it nonetheless.
If she knew that Kestrelpaw was awake, she didn't show it, and the she-cat slowly began to move to the hollow entrance.
"Tell me, Aspenfang..." Cindercall's words were soft, and Kestrelpaw could barely hear them as she started to drift to sleep. "Is it safe here...? From them...?"
Kestrelpaw tried to keep herself awake to listen to more, but sleep called her name, and pulled her into it's embrace despite her attempts to stop it.
But it wasn't long before she opened her eyes again.
Confusion swarmed in her gaze as she turned around, finding herself in a warm, sunlit meadow.
The light was warm against her fur, and the breeze that ran over the long grass ran over her fur comfortingly, and she paused.
It was so... Peaceful.
"Slow down there, Goosewing!"
The voice and made Kestrelpaw freeze, and she turned around to see the long grass moving.
"No way!" Another, familiar voice pierced Kestrelpaw's ears, and her heart squeezed in pain. "I wanna see her. You get to see Cindercall all the time—"
"Psh, no I do not."
The two voices were getting closer, and suddenly three forms broke through the grass.
For a moment, Kestrelpaw's bewilderment only grew.
There were three toms in front of her, all of them...
Kind of clones of each other.
One, she recognized immediately. His patterns were as she remembered them.
"Goosekit..." She gasped, gaping in shock. He looked bigger. Stronger, and far less feeble than she recalled.
The tom beamed at his name, before shaking his head.
"Nope," he teases. "I'm Goosewing now. Heya Kestrelpaw! How's training going? And Cindercall?"
"Goosewing," the tom to his right snapped. "You can't use dreams like this just to catch up. We can only do this so much—"
"Aspenfang," the third tom mewed softly. "Come now; you do get to speak to Cindercall often. And Moonstar allowed it, so it's alright."
"Yeah, but I was always told that dreams were for prophecies, not casual chats," the second tom, Aspenfang, snorted. Goosekit—no, Goosewing—bumped his shoulder hard, his nose scrunching up with disappointment. Despite them looking similar, Goosewing was far larger than either of the other two toms. Even a bit bigger than Nettlepelt.
"Says the tom who totally tried to talk to Sweethawk in her—"
"Shhh!" Aspenfang squeaked, his voice going shrill. "I did not."
"Oh, you so did," the third black and white tom purred.
"Ashwater!" Aspenfang wailed. "You're supposed to be on my side!"
"I'm on no one's side," the third tom, Ashwater, purred. "I'm on my own side."
Kestrelpaw watched the exchange go back and forth, her mind spinning as more thoughts tumbled through her head.
Finally, she couldn't handle it.
"Can you guys shut up?!" She squawks. "What is going on here?!"
The three fell silent, glancing at each other with similarly colored eyes.
The third tom, Ashwater, stepped forward.
"My name is Ashwater," he purrs gently. "I'm Cindercall's father. It's a pleasure to meet you, dear. This is Aspenfang, Cindercall's brother," he nodded to the second tom. "And of course you know your brother, Goosewing." He nodded to her brother. "You had quite a tumble today, and Goosewing demanded to speak to you to make sure you were alright. Of course, we had to run it by a leader, and she of course okayed it, so here we are."
"Wait, so..." She paused, settling down. "I'm not dead, but you're visiting me because you were worried?"
"Of course I'm worried!" Goosewing piped up. "I've been watching you and Jaypaw since I got up here. I've been trying to make sure you two were okay and stuff, but I was worried I wouldn't be allowed to talk to you guys in dream and stuff. StarClan's pretty weird about their dream rules."
"It's for a reason!" Aspenfang retorts softly.
"Oh yeah? And what's the reason?" Goosewing retorted back. Aspenfang fell silent, pawing at the ground with a huff of defeat. With a glow of triumph, Goosewing returned his gaze to his sister.
"Hey, Kestrelpaw," he purred. "You are okay, right?"
"Yeah," she replied.
"Good! I'm really glad! I miss you lots, y'know? Which is why it sucks that I've already got to go. Aspenfang has to go chat with Cindercall now that Nettlepelt and her are switching shifts, and we're tagging along."
"Why?" Kestrelpaw asks. "Can't Aspenfang go alone?"
"Of course I can," Aspenfang sniffs. "But Cindercall really likes seeing her old family again. It's been awhile since she's spoken with Ashwater, and she hasn't seen Goosewing in a bit. If I were bringing bad news, I'd go alone, but thankfully I'm not this time."
"What do you mean by 'this time'?" Kestrelpaw asked.
"Oh, wow, look at that!" Goosewing squawked suddenly. "Cindercall's going to sleep! Bye!"
Kestrelpaw blinked in shock as the three toms up and vanished, and she turned around in the meadow, confusion burning in her mind even more.
What in the name of StarClan was that...?