"And Cherrydawn reported a thorn in her paw. What do we do for it?"
"Clean it and put chervil on in case of infection," Smokepaw recited dutifully, "Cobwebs, if the bleeding is heavy."
Berryclaw purred and wrapped his tail around his paws.
"Very good, Smokepaw," he praised, "Can you point out which one it is?"
Smokepaw thought for a moment. Then he remembered the sweet scent and its small white flowers. He picked up what he thought was chervil in his jaws and turned back to Berryclaw.
"Excellent!" Berryclaw purred louder, bending down to give Smokepaw a quick lick on the top of his head, "You'll make the best medicine cat in all five Clans."
"Thank you, Berryclaw," Smokepaw stammered, pinning his ears back in embarrassment. He wasn't used to this much praise from the older cat, but Berryclaw told him he had been impressed with how quickly Smokepaw memorized herbs lately.
"Berryclaw," a quick and urgent voice sounded from outside the den. Smokepaw looked up in surprise to see Runningstar in its entrance. The thin brown tabby flicked his tail in impatience as he looked at the medicine cat, not even sparing a glance at Smokepaw. "I need to have a word with you and Harefeather in my den."
Smokepaw felt a chill run through his fur. Ever since he and Berryclaw informed the WindClan leader about StarClan's mysterious prophecy, Runningstar had been on edge. And new threats were on the moor. A pack of small dogs had arrived in the northern part of WindClan territory and even though they were too small and stupid to be much of a threat to WindClan, their yammering had been scaring away all the rabbits and Runningstar had interpreted it as a bad omen.
"I'll be right there as soon as I put this poultice on Cherrydawn's paw," Berryclaw explained, taking the chervil from Smokepaw.
"Now, Berryclaw," Runningstar insisted.
Berryclaw looked up at his leader in surprise. Then he turned to look down at Smokepaw.
"Go find Cherrydawn and treat her foot," Berryclaw told Smokepaw, getting ready to turn away to follow Runningstar to his den.
Smokepaw felt a trickle of nervousness run through him.
"All by myself?" he asked, afraid.
Berryclaw nodded. "You'll do fine."
Then the medicine cat followed the leader out of the den without another word.
All by myself? Smokepaw thought again, feeling his heart beat against his chest. What if I make a mistake?
But it was too late, Berryclaw was already gone.
Hoping that he wouldn't mess up too badly, Smokepaw shakily picked up the bundle of leaves and padded out of the den. He looked around the WindClan camp until he spotted the pale ginger and white she-cat sharing a rabbit with Oaktail.
She looked up when she saw him, and beckoned him over with her tail.
"Is that for my paw?" Cherrydawn asked, "I got the thorn out, but it still smarts."
Smokepaw set down the chervil and started chewing its green leaves. Motioning with his ears for her to stretch out her paw where he could get to it, Smokepaw dripped the juices into the wound and pasted the chewed up leaves on top of it.
"There," he said, proud of the small dressing, "That should keep it from getting infected. Be careful on that foot and don't lick it off until it dries."
Cherrydawn sniffed at it.
"Thanks, Smokepaw," she mewed contentedly, "It stings a little, but I suppose that's to be expected."
"Great job, Smokepaw," Oaktail purred, looking up briefly from the rabbit.
"Nothing to it," Smokepaw mewed quietly, feeling embarrassed from their praise. He quickly excused himself and turned to go back to the medicine cat den, wondering when Berryclaw would be back.
"Smokepaw," a voice called from behind him, and the small black cat turned to see Grasspaw laying in the sun, trying to pick out all the burrs from his long white fur. Smokepaw didn't envy the apprentice's thick pelt, it was longer than most WindClan cats' and got caught in thorns much more often. But Grasspaw never let it slow him down and always took great care to clean them out of his pelt before it got hopelessly tangled. Grasspaw stopped his grooming to stare at Smokepaw intently with blue eyes. "I haven't seen you out of that den in a while. Is everything all right?"
Smokepaw paused. Though the white cat was often brash and occasionally harsh, the two of them were close as littermates. After Nightgaze's death, Grasspaw's mother, Sandwhisper, had taken Smokepaw in, and he had always felt a special connection with Grasspaw.
"No, everything is not all right," Grasspaw sighed, correctly guessing what Smokepaw's hesitation meant. "Come on over here and share tongues with me."
Smokepaw dutifully padded over to Grasspaw, tail drooping and settled down in the clearing next to him.
"It's about the prophecy, isn't it?" Grasspaw asked in a low voice, glancing around to see if any other cats could hear him. Cherrydawn and Oaktail were laughing and joking with each other, and neither seemed to have noticed the two apprentices.
Smokepaw nodded.
Runningstar had forbidden Smokepaw to tell any other cat about the prophecy, wanting to keep it between him, Berryclaw, and Harefeather, the deputy. But Grasspaw had seen how nervous it had made Smokepaw and badgered him about it until Smokepaw revealed that there had been a prophecy and no medicine cat seemed to know what it meant, though he didn't tell Grasspaw exactly what it was.
"And the battle with RiverClan," Smokepaw admitted.
Grasspaw's fur bristled slightly and Smokepaw winced. Last night's Gathering was still fresh in both their minds. Smokepaw could still remember how shocked and appalled he had been when Meadowclaw returned with Thorntooth, reporting how he had almost dealt the killing blow on a kit! They knew that RiverClan wouldn't forget that in a hurry, but the Gathering had been much more disastrous than any cat could have expected, with Creekstar bringing her up on Fivestones like that.
All for a border dispute. After the pack of dogs, no matter how small and yippy, had driven away all the prey from the far side of the moor, Runningstar believed the best way to deal with the shortage was to claim some of RiverClan's territory. But any cat could see how well that went.
Grasspaw was fiercely loyal to WindClan and Smokepaw knew he had been disappointed that he hadn't been in the battle. But Thorntooth's actions had startled him as much as it had any other cat.
Runningstar is insistent that we prevent the destruction, Smokepaw thought, But what if his obsession causes it?
Smokepaw sat with his adopted littermate in silence for several long moments, hoping that he was wrong. Finally, Berryclaw emerged from Runningstar's den and beckoned him over with the flick of his tail. Smokepaw mewed goodbye to Grasspaw and followed the medicine cat back in his den.
"We're running low on coltsfoot and comfrey," Berryclaw told Smokepaw, sounding moons older than he should have. "Take another cat and go collect some."
"What did Runningstar say?" Smokepaw mewed quietly, afraid of what could have made his old, but tough mentor sound so defeated.
Berryclaw didn't turn around.
"Leave now before it gets dark," he grunted before turning back to sort the herbs.
Smokepaw gave a timid nod and raced back out of the den to Grasspaw, knowing that Berryclaw wouldn't give him any answers.
"Come one, Grasspaw," Smokepaw squeaked at the white apprentice, "Help me collect herbs."
"What did Runningstar tell Berryclaw?" Grasspaw asked, mew tinged with concern.
Smokepaw just looked at Grasspaw, fear in his eyes. The warrior apprentice understood.
"Come one," he meowed, matter-of-factly to get both their minds off of it, "The sooner we go the sooner we get back."
And with that, the two young apprentices left WindClan's protected camp, worries about the future clouding their minds.
Rainpaw emerged through the thorn tunnel into the RiverClan camp, soaked from tail to whisker. She had just made her first catch! She had dropped it in the water and dove back at it. And then she got Fernpaw and Graypaw all wet.
"Is that for us?" Twistedtail asked as Rainpaw proudly hauled her trout to the clearing where the elders were sharing tongues, followed close behind by Graypaw and Fernpaw.
Rainpaw dropped them in front of the mouse-colored elder and grinned.
"This is my first one!" she told them excitedly, "You should have seen me! I wrestled it until it believed it had never been born."
"Rainpaw pulled one out of the water and then it fell back in," Fernpaw put in with amusement, "She dove in after it."
"And I got it again," Rainpaw reminded her sister, puffing out her chest proudly. She knew Fernpaw would have been too mousehearted to dive back in the water the way she had. "It doesn't matter how it happened."
Thrushsong mrrowed with amusement as she picked up the fish and brought it closer to the rest of the elders.
"You're a very adventurous cat, Rainpaw," she purred, "Your energy will make you a great warrior one day."
Rainpaw felt a pang of sadness at the old cat's words. They reminded her of what Braveheart had told her, only a few sunrises ago. She had finally gotten the okay from Dawnriver to go out training with Pinefern and her littermates and catching that trout had given her a burst of happiness and excitement that seemed could never be quenched. But the reminder that Braveheart was gone quelled the flame just a little bit.
"Well don't just stand there," Odd-eyes huffed, pushing Twistedtail out of the way to reach a cod that Graypaw had caught, "Let me at that fresh-kill!"
"I'm going to go see how Stormkit and Streamkit are doing," Graypaw mewed quickly with a flash of fear at the crazy old cat, "Enjoy the meal!"
Then he dashed away without another word.
The elders all laughed.
"I promised Mousetail I'd join the evening patrol," Fernpaw said, watching their brother leave, "I'd better get going." She nodded at the elders and then licked her sister's shoulder. "See you, Rainpaw."
"Bye," Rainpaw mewed, watching as Fernpaw disappeared to go meet with her mentor.
"Why don't you take this trout to Morningrain?" Thrushsong suggested kindly, motioning to Rainpaw's catch, "She hasn't left the elders' den all evening."
"Okay," Rainpaw responded, picking the fish up. She padded over to the elder's den with the trout in her jaws. She could just see Morningrain's striped silver fur going up and down as she breathed. Thinking the old cat was asleep, Rainpaw dropped the fish at the entrance and turned to go.
"Rainpaw," a deep, quiet voice called after her. Rainpaw froze. Apparently Morningrain was not asleep. That or she was sleep talking. She turned her head to see two green eyes staring at her from the darkness. Maybe she slept with her eyes open.
"Rainpaw," Morningrain said again, without blinking, "Come here."
Apprehensively, Rainpaw padded closer. What did Morningrain want? Was the trout the wrong color or something? Was she afraid it had fur? Did it have fur and Rainpaw just didn't notice?
Morningrain just stared at Rainpaw for a few moments before speaking, making Rainpaw even more confused and even more uneasy.
"Did you know that you have ThunderClan blood, Rainpaw?" she mewed unexpectedly.
Rainpaw was taken aback. No, she didn't know that she had ThunderClan blood specifically, but she knew when the Clans were driven from the old forest by BloodClan and reformed SkyClan that Clan bloodlines had been muddied. Then of course there were all those kittypets and loners that joined the Clans in their new territories. Pretty much every cat in the territories, not just Rainpaw, had mixed heritage. Why would Morningrain bring up ThunderClan blood? Was this because Rainpaw liked climbing? She felt a prickle of annoyance. Climbing didn't make her ThunderClan! She climbed... because it was fun. And it wasn't like she didn't like swimming. She dove back in the river to catch her trout. Fernpaw was the one complaining when she splashed her.
"Don't most cats have blood from every Clan?" Rainpaw mewed, twitching a whisker, trying not to sound annoyed.
"Yes." Morningrain responded curtly. "But did you know that my mother's mother was half-Clan?"
"...No," Rainpaw replied slowly, trying to figure out where Morningrain was going with this. Morningrain was Blackstripe's mother's mother, but she didn't know anything about Morningrain's mother, not to mention Morningrain's mother's mother. Rainpaw realized she didn't know much about any of her relatives. Snowstorm and Nightwhisper were Blackstripe's littermates, (as well as Stripetail who died in a battle with SkyClan), and she knew Meadowstream's littermate, Treeleaf, had died before Rainpaw and her siblings were born, but she realized that she didn't know who Meadowstream's mother was or who her mother's mother was, or who her mother's mother's mother was, not to mention her father's father or father's mother or siblings and littermates of her mother's father. Thinking about it, Rainpaw felt a pang of sadness. It didn't take long to be forgotten. If Morningrain hadn't outlived the rest of Rainpaw's dead relatives, she would probably have been forgotten too.
How long would it take Rainpaw to be forgotten?
She didn't like thinking about that.
Rainpaw pulled herself out of her existential crisis and back to the present. Why was Morningrain telling her about her half-Clan ancestor?
"She was only an apprentice when Tigerstar brought BloodClan to the forest," Morningrain continued. Rainpaw's ears pricked up at the mention of BloodClan. Was she finally going to hear this story? Tigerstar must have been the ShadowClan leader Grasspaw mentioned at the Gathering. "He tried to have her killed for being half-Clan."
It took a second for Rainpaw to register what Morningrain had just said.
"What?" she gasped, "But wasn't Tigerstar chosen by StarClan to lead?"
"Tigerstar was an evil cat," Morningrain continued, ignoring Rainpaw's question. "He was the ThunderClan deputy, was exiled for attempting to kill his leader, became ShadowClan's leader, and took over RiverClan."
Rainpaw's head was whirling. How could a cat given nine lives by StarClan be so terrible? How did he become leader of ShadowClan and then take over RiverClan of all things? And what did this have to do with her? Why was Morningrain telling her this?
"He commanded the RiverClan deputy, who was also half-ThunderClan, to kill my mother's mother and her brother for being half-Clan," Morningrain said sternly, looking back at Rainpaw with such intensity in her gaze it made Rainpaw frightened, "And yet he had two half-Clan kits in ThunderClan. Do you understand this, Rainpaw? Tigerstar punished others for being half-Clan while having half-Clan kits himself. Do you understand this, Rainpaw?"
Rainpaw took a step backwards, heart beating hard against her chest. Morningrain had stood up, and was lashing her tail back and forth with anger.
"Tigerstar sought to destroy Clan boundaries and yet he killed half-Clan cats!" Morningrain hissed. Rainpaw took another step backwards, afraid Morningrain was going to attack her, heart pounding against her chest with the fury of a thousand angry squirrels. "His logic was not sound! He did not care about half-Clan! He only cared about power! He brought BloodClan to the forest, believing he would control them the way he controlled ShadowClan and RiverClan!"
Rainpaw shrunk backwards as Morningrain hissed again, creeping forwards. What did this mean? Why was Morningrain telling her this? Why was she so angry?
Morningrain took a deep breath and shrunk backwards, giving a deep sigh and looking more like the tired old elder Rainpaw was used to. Still trembling, Rainpaw waited for her to continue.
"Tigerstar was killed by Scourge, the leader of BloodClan," Morningrain mumbled, almost calmly, completely confusing Rainpaw who was expecting her to lash out again, "In one blow. All nine lives were gone. The wound was too much. Tigerstar lost life after life, again and again, until he was dead. Dead because he tried to rise to power. Dead because he was greedy."
Rainpaw's heart was still beating against her chest, but with much less force this time. Tigerstar was killed by the leader of BloodClan? It had a bit of poetic irony.
"Tigerstar was dead, but BloodClan remained," Morningrain hissed, making Rainpaw jump again but the other silver tabby only stared at the ground, "BloodClan wanted the forest. They told the Clans to leave in three sunrises or be killed. The Clans decided to fight."
"But they lost," Rainpaw remembered. She knew that much. Obviously the Clans lost the fight or they would still be in the old forest, although without SkyClan.
"ThunderClan's leader Firestar, a former kittypet, lead the Clans against Scourge," Morningrain went on, ignoring Rainpaw yet again. She would have been annoyed, but she was distracted by the mention of the leader. Firestar, that was who Firepaw had mentioned. The one she was named after. Honestly, Rainpaw was impressed that a kittypet had become Clan leader but she figured that was a story for a different time. Morningrain would ignore her if she interrupted. Plus she wanted to see where the elder was going with this story. "But he was killed the same way Tigerstar was. A blow to the belly. All nine lives, gone. Just like that."
Rainpaw felt a shiver run down her spine. She remembered her own belly scrape and couldn't imagine what would have happened if Thorntooth hadn't been stopped.
"The battle was long and bloody," Morningrain continued, eyes clouding as if she was far from the den and in the midst of the battle, "Many, many, cats died."
Morningrain was silent for a few moments as Rainpaw felt another shiver run down her spine. She waited for the elder to say something, but Morningrain did not say a word for several more moments. Finally, right when Rainpaw was debating whether or not it would be more awkward to stay or to back away slowly, Morningrain continued.
"Few cats survived the battle," Morningrain mumbled, "The ones that remained left the forest in search of a new home, guided by StarClan. They recruited kittypets and loners to join the Clans and received omens to reform SkyClan, whose descendants lived near a nearby gorge."
Morningrain paused again, staring at the ground. Then she looked back up at Rainpaw with her cool, unblinking green eyes.
"Do you know why I told you this story, Rainpaw?" she finally mewed after a while.
"No," Rainpaw responded. At least now she had a better overview of the battle of BloodClan. But why mention Tigerstar and her half-Clan ancestor? What did that have to do with anything? What did that have to do with her?
"To remember," Morningrain said wistfully, looking past Rainpaw to something beyond the den. Rainpaw twisted around to look, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Graypaw had just tripped over Goldenpaw's dead squirrel, but that couldn't be what Morningrain was referring to.
The old elder stared over Rainpaw's shoulder for a few more moments before giving a sigh and turning to look down at her.
"One day you will understand," she murmured.
Rainpaw's ears pricked up excitedly. Morningrain sounded like she had a prophecy!
"Did StarClan tell you that, Morningrain?" Rainpaw asked, struggling to contain her excitement.
Morningrain looked down at her as if only seeing her for the first time, with what Rainpaw could have sworn was confusion (that or annoyance, which Rainpaw was used to seeing when cats looked at her) in her gaze.
"StarClan does not speak to cats like me," Morningrain huffed, twitching her tail, "I am no medicine cat. I just… know."
Rainpaw was silent, waiting for Morningrain to say something else. The elder caught her eye and glared at her. Rainpaw felt even more awkward. Why was Morningrain suddenly angry with her?
"Go on and pick something from the fresh-kill pile for yourself, Rainpaw," the old cat murmured, "You've earned it."
Rainpaw nodded respectfully and then padded out of the elders' den, trying not to run. As she walked, she could feel Morningrain's eyes still on her.
"Hey Rainpaw," Stormkit mewed, walking up to her, "Want to share this cod?"
"Yeah, that looks good," Rainpaw responded, trying to forget Morningrain's strangeness.
But as Rainpaw shared the meal with Stormkit and joked with Streamkit and Rockkit, the story of Tigerstar and BloodClan didn't leave her head.
What did it mean? Why did Morningrain choose to tell me this?
Rainpaw didn't know.
A/N
I know this story seems a little different from the prologue and what the blurb promised at the moment, but it won't last for long and Birchleaf and the crazy leader giving crazy names and the other characters mentioned in the blurb will all become more prevalent soon. I haven't forgotten them!
Thank you for the reviews, I love reading them! And I hope you enjoy this story! I've had a lot of fun writing and planning it and I can't wait for things to get intense and for StarClan to get called out on their incompetence. Don't worry, it's coming!