I know I've been gone a while and

I'm sorry aaaaaaa

Hopefully I'll write the next chapter soon

But for now let's have a oneshot about some of the cast but younger :)

Enjoy!

"Pansyleaf has another prophecyyyy," Mossypaw reported to the rest of the apprentices as she, Blackpaw and Adderpaw trotted into their Den. A chill ran through her and she shook her fur out with a shiver. Some of the eerie StarClan-y mist had condensed onto her long coat and was now steadily trickling through it.

A low, sarcastic cheer rose from the rest of the group.

"What's it about this time?" Boulderpaw asked, throwing a moss-ball at the wall boredly. It narrowly missed hitting Blackpaw on it's way back down as she curled up into her nest.

"Bleh, StarClan knows."

"Quite literally."

"Silence, Webpaw."

The silver non-binary chuckled and winked, blue eyes glistening like starlight.

"Something fancy and confusing about the life cycle of pyrophytic plants. Barely rhymed this time around." she replied.

"You pronounced pyrophytic wrong."

"Silence, Webpaw."

"I'm sure it's more important than it sounds," Adderpaw said, not too unkindly, yawning and stretching, "you know the drill. All prophecies have a deeper meaning."

"Yayayah." Boulderpaw murmured, kicking the moss ball out of the den and then immediately turning to Blackpaw, "Could you get that for me? Pleeeaaase?"

"Why? You have legs, don't you?" Mossypaw's twin replied, voice muffled by her tail.

"Yeah, but they're aaaaching," the grey tom whined in exaggerated exhaustion, "I had to to laps of the territory with Swifthawk today and I'm tired."

"Mmmph well it's your own fault you wanted him for a mentor. I swear, before you were an apprentice, he'd be in here encouraging us all out to go grab a run. 'The morning air is nice and refreshing, yeah!'. It haunts me."

But still the moss ball suddenly appeared in the air above Boulderpaw, falling down and bouncing off his head.

"Thank you."

"So go on then," said Frostpaw, speaking up for the first time, "what was it? The prophecy, I mean."

Mossypaw sat down and thought back, trying to remember every detail.

"Okay, here we go.

'It takes fire for the seed to burst,

And only then will you find out the curse,'"

"Huh," Webpaw commented quietly, "it's not one of their better ones, is it?"

"It's probably not the best to disrespect StarClan."

"Adderpaw's right," the thick-furred she-cat commented, "it's hard enough to decipher the prophecies as it is."

"That's not what I was trying to-"

"Why do they have to be so complicated?" Boulderpaw complained suddenly, "Like, it would save a lot of deaths in the Clan if they just told us who the murderer was instead of some elaborate prophecy."

Frostpaw nodded, "I get the whole 'You must find your own path' and 'Would you rather we guide your every pawstep?' and 'Your destiny is yours to design' shtuff, but it would be helpful to have a little more guidance."

There was a short silence, then-

"What do you think it means?" Webpaw asked, rolling over onto their back to stare at the roof of the Den.

"That someone is going to explode in a fire and curse the Clan." Boulderpaw replied, half-sarcastically.

Mossypaw chuckled. "I highly doubt it's going to be that. Prophecies are never that literal."

"You never know," the silver tabby replied, "it might be."

"What, that the territory is going to burn down and just...explode a cat?" Adderpaw asked, eyes narrow with doubt, "I don't think so."

His large size made it hard to stand up in the low-roofed Den. He sat down instead.

"But you never know~"

"Silence, Webpaw."

"Phrase of the century."

"Would you like me to repeat it?"

"Yes please, do go ahead."

The non-binary held Adderpaw's gaze levelly for a long minute before the dark brown tabby turned away with a growl of annoyance.

"In all seriousness though," Frostpaw said, ice-blue eyes narrowing, "what does it mean."

"Well," Blackpaw replied to her sister's surprise, rolling over. She'd thought her twin was asleep, "all these words like 'seed' and 'burst' are substitutions for something, aren't they? That's what usually happens in prophecies. So what if it's more figurative? Like...'seed' stands for a cat, and 'burst' means they're going to reveal or do something shocking suddenly?"

"That's clever." Adderpaw commented, eyes closed in thinking. Mossypaw nodded.

Her twin continued, "So what do you all imagine when you hear the word burst?"

"Explosions."

"All I can think of is seed pods, now."

"Shocking stuff, like you said."

"Secrets."

Mossypaw thought deeper, "Something someone has been keeping bottled up for ages, to like the point it's overflowing and close to shattering. Something like a secret, like Adderpaw said, or another side to them. And then it shatters. In a fire. Like the prophecy."

There was a collection of muttered approval from the apprentices as Blackpaw nodded approvingly. "Good. You're thinking deeper. Reading between the lines."

"But if that's what 'burst' means, then what does 'seed' mean?" Frostpaw asked, looking at Blackpaw, "As far as I know, there's no one around right now, in any Clan, with the prefix or suffix 'seed'."

"In all honesty?" the thick-furred she-cat replied, "I don't know. But I'm sure it will become apparent someday. Hopefully soon."

"Yeah."

Webpaw yawned. "Well, if that's that, I'm going to turn in for the night. See ya'll in the morning."

"Goodnight Webpaw."

"I'm following."
"'night."

"Goodnight."

Mossypaw turned in her nest, pawing down a loose piece, before settling into it. She glanced at her sister once more, eyes bleary with tiredness.

"You should tell that to Lynxstar and Pansyleaf in the morning." she said, before closing her eyes.

She just about heard a soft voice reply, "I will. Sweet dreams." before drifting off to sleep.