Chapter 5: Splashing logic
Dawntail followed Nightslash to a river-or what it should be. It looked foul, just like other things in this forest, and sticky. Dawntail had a strong suspicion that part of the flowing liquid was blood.
"We're doing water training tonight." Nightslash announced, "Let's wait for the others."
Water training? Dawntail twitched her nose. We are not going to fight in that, are we?
Nightslash seemed to notice her reaction and gave her a stern look, "I've already let you skip tree training because you don't need it. But you will need to learn to fight in water. What if some cat tries to drown you? What if you're fighting RiverClan? It's an important skill."
Dawntail felt like she didn't need other cats to hold her to make her drown, ThunderClan hated getting their paws wet. She put a paw in to test. The water was warm, it made her feel sick.
"There they come." Nightslash mewed as figures appeared from the darkness.
Reedpelt was sneering, "Oh great, I'd love to see other Clans getting their paws wet."
The other Clan cats weren't so happy about it.
"That's a river? I'm not going in that!" Needlewhisker exclaimed.
"It's the best we've got," Snakedusk retorted with a huff, "In fact, Needlewhisker, why don't you go first?"
Needlewhisker backed away with a disgust look on her face.
"That's an order, mouse-heart!" Snakedusk snarled. Lightningface and Mudpool dashed to Needlewhisker's side, dragging her towards the river. Needlewhisker's paws flailed under the two powerful toms' drag, and was helpless.
Splash. She hit the water head-first and her body followed in as the two toms flung her like a piece of prey. It looked deep. Dawntail swallowed. Needlewhisker didn't reappear after a while. Did she drown?
"That," Nightslash sneered, "Was an example for how you drown. Now some cat helps her out before she really drowns. We can't afford having Cinderstar's kit dying here."
Needlewhisker's mentor, Ravenpool dived into the river, along with Reedpelt. They reappeared a moment later, supporting an unconscious Needlewhisker between them. Needlewhisker staggered to the ground, a steady trail of water running from her jaws.
"Get up when you're done, useless lump." Mudpool mewed unsympathetically.
"Now, that's enough time wasted. Let's start with swimming first." Nightslash announced, "Any suggestions from RiverClan cats?" He shot a meaning gaze at Reedpelt.
Reedpelt cleared his throat, "It's like running, but in the water. If you fight it, it will drag you down. It's best if you wad with your paws and let the current support you."
"Nice one, Reedpelt. And keep your claws sheathed when fighting in water, we don't want any torn claws." Snakedusk praised the RiverClan warrior, "Now into the water, all of you. No hesitations, or you'll end up like her." She jabbed Needlewhisker with a paw, making her groan.
Dawntail took a deep breath and walked into the dirty water. She imagined the ground and started to move her paws like walking. It's not as hard as I imagined. She thought as the water supported her weight. At least I didn't drown.
"Now, mentors with apprentices, let's start practice fighting." Nightslash yowled above the splashing sounds.
The black cat wadded to Dawntail, who was struggling to keep her head above water. He slammed a paw down and splashed a huge wave to her. The wave sprayed into her jaws. She fought the urge to cough, knowing that will make her more vulnerable.
Nightslash turned. He gripped a stone underwater and flung his hind legs towards her, unbalancing the smaller cat. Dawntail's paws failed and her head went under water.
She tried her hardest to move her legs. The grip on her chest became tighter and tighter. She swam-or more accurately, splashed-to the side, then she touched the ground in the shallower part. She desperately pushed her paws hard.
Finally, she broke the surface and gasped for air. Breathless, she turned to face her mentor.
Nightslash was moving towards her again. He splashed through the water with his long pelt. His paws gripped Dawntail's head, trying to force her underwater.
But his paws slipped. Dawntail's pelt was slippery with water. She managed to lose his grip and ducked around him. Nightslash turned. He was on his hind legs again, trying to do the move again.
This time, Dawntail wasn't that lucky. Her head was in the water again before she could do anything. Her paws moved blindly in the water.
Her hind paw hit something. Then the grip loosened. She pushed her legs hard to make her head up, and saw what she had hit.
Nightslash was a few tail-lengths away, clearly hit by her. She noticed the tom's belly wound. A thin trail of blood was running down his thick fur.
"Not bad, for a ThunderClan cat in the water." He purred, "That's enough her tonight. Clean your fur before going back."
Like I would forget.
She had no idea why her Dark Forest mentor was so serious about the secrecy, especially to keep it away from Foxstar.
She shook her fur and began to lick off the dirty water.
. . .
Half a moon later, Nightspirit and Featherheart returned from the Moonpool, and were now sitting in Foxstar's den with Dawntail.
"The end of peace is nearing when darkness will rise again." Nightspirit told them about the prophecy.
"Does it connect to the one before?" Dawntail asked, "When the tails of beginning and end are bond together, they will drive the darkness away?"
"We have no idea." Featherheart shook her head, "We can only keep the words in mind as things happens."
"Then what are prophecies for, if we can only do nothing about it as they're impossible to understand?" Foxstar was confused.
Featherheart sighed, "StarClan works in mysterious ways, a warning for the future isn't a bad thing, but it can't do any good either."
"So, we do nothing?" Dawntail stressed, "Until this darkness actually rises?"
"We should be alarmed, but that's all." Nightspirit mewed, "And don't look for trouble, let them come to us."
"At least we should drive it away, according to the prophecy." Foxstar declared.
The other three cats murmured in agreement.
"Now you can all go." Foxstar dismissed them.
Dawntail leapt down from the Highledge, only to find Bluebelltail approaching her.
"What was that about?" The silver cat dipped her head to one side.
"Medicine cats' business, which means I'm not telling." Dawntail mewed coolly.
Bluebelltail huffed, "I don't need to hear things to know them."
A pang of shock hit Dawntail. Don't need to hear things to know them? She had heard of the stories of The Three with abilities beyond normal cats who saved the Clans from darkness. One of them was called Jayfeather, his power was mind reading and walk in dreams.
Is Bluebelltail a cat with powers? A loner? She could hardly believe it.
"Why do you ask then, if you knew?"
"To see if you trust me, which you don't." Bluebelltail mewed, "I knew your doubts the moment I became a warrior of this Clan, and I also know things you don't want any cat to." She narrowed her eyes at Dawntail, satisfied with the effect.
"So, you know about the prophecy? And the- "Dawntail stopped herself in time, "The trainings?"
"You mean the Dark Forest, the end of peace is nearing when darkness will rise again, and when the tails of beginning and end are bond together, they will drive the darkness away." Bluebelltail mewed airily, "Yes, I knew about them. A piece of advice, Dawntail, keep your mind shut in front of me."
Dawntail stared in disbelief. She really knew! She knew about everything!
"Also, just a fact, that the whole logic of prophecies is questionable. If a prophecy is unpreventable, why should you do anything at all? It's that when you do the things you will do even without knowing the prophecy, it will happen. Same way, prophecies can be broken." Bluebelltail told her.
Dawntail felt empty. Prophecies can be broken? Then does that mean... we might also lose to the darkness?
"That's right, glade you understood." Bluebelltail flicked her tail and walked away, leaving Dawntail standing there, jaws open.
She really can read minds!
And she knew about the Dark Forest trainings.
Dawntail was breathless as another thought just hit her.
What if the Dark Forest if the "darkness" in both prophecies? What if-
The second thought struck her more.
What if she was used by them? What if she was used by the Dark Forest to strike the Clans?
She had to get out of there.
But it can't be. The Dark Forest hardly have enough cats to do anything. The cats there were strict and skilled, but they weren't exactly evil, not anymore.
If she didn't know about the prophecies, will she do the same? No. What if she quit the Dark Forest, then the prophecy won't be fulfilled?
She shook her head. This is too confusing. I'd better try to forget about it and carry on as normal.
Why would StarClan send us prophecies if they might interfere our choices? What if our choices based on the knowledge of the prophecy actually break it and it won't be fulfilled?
The logic was blowing up her mind. She forced herself to push it away. Prophecy or not, the Dark Forest was helping her to become a better warrior for ThunderClan. Surely that's a good thing? Surely, it's not the darkness?
She finally decided that Dark Forest is not the darkness in the prophecies. A place can't be judged by its appearance and name. There are as many troubles out there as there are countless stars in the night sky. How could Dark Forest be the only possible threat?
Besides, darkness. It's got to be really evil that we can't imagine, and Dark Forest isn't that evil.
Satisfied with the result, she brushed past the fern tunnel to get some fresh air.