CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
Petalstar's tail lashed as she stood on the Highledge, eyes sweeping across the rocky hollow of ThunderClan camp. She'd stood at the top of this rock for many moons, addressing the Clan and giving countless ceremonies. After watching ThunderClan grow and prosper for seasons, she knew that the peace wouldn't last long. As much as it pained her to admit it, she had been worried about the prophecy that had been given to her upon Roseclaw's kitting.
She was given a dream that could not be ignored. One that she had confided with in Dusknose. The medicine cat was hardly surprised with her revelation when she shared it with him. Instead, he'd explained to her that this was a sign from StarClan.
"Four must become Five," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes as she tried understanding what that meant.
At first, she thought it meant finding the Clan that Flamestrike had mentioned. SkyClan. She didn't want to believe that another Clan existed far away from the others. That the Clans had been cruel enough to send another away. But, seeing Birdpaw only left a vial taste in the back of her throat.
The light gray she-cat understood the gravity of the situation that Birdpaw was in. Her Clanmates were in danger. She had been determined to find them, with or without the Clans' help. In the end, RiverClan and ThunderClan had agreed to help her, along with the banished WindClan warrior, Spruceleaf. There was no telling what ShadowClan would have thought of it all.
"Petalstar!" She nearly leaped to her paws at the sound of Feathermist's voice. The gray and white she-cat bounded over to her, worry clouding her eyes when she approached, "We've picked up WindClan scent along the ShadowClan border. It's fresh, too."
Petalstar narrowed her eyes at the mention of WindClan and ShadowClan. Both Clans had been particularly hostile, lately. After hearing what had happened to Spruceleaf and her family during Icestar's reign, she had no doubt WindClan was capable of doing the same to her own Clan. To hear that they were working with ShadowClan, though, only added to her worries.
"I'm sure that it is nothing to worry about," she tried dismissing it with a wave of her tail, "What happens between ShadowClan and WindClan isn't our problem."
Especially with leafbare on its way. Petalstar knew that the cold season would be difficult enough to survive. She silently prayed that Stormshadow, Oakfire and Flamestrike returned before than. The last thing she wanted was to hear that they had perished during their journey.
"But, what if Icestar is forming an alliance with Russetstar?" Feathermist asked worriedly.
Of course, she'd thought of that. The odds of them forming an alliance were slim. Clans had done so in the past, before.
"Tell Hawktalon to keep an eye on the border," she sighed after realizing that Feathermist brought up a reasonable question, "If they decide to form an alliance, we'll need to keep our wits about us, and our borders safe."
The gray and white she-cat gave a nod to that, already having decided something needed to be done. Once she left, Petalstar let out a sigh of frustration. She hoped the others were fairing better than they were. More importantly, though, she hoped they would return, soon. They could use all the able warriors they could get their paws on.
...
The large group of cats had been traveling along the mountains for what felt like moons, now.
Flamestrike kept a distance from the SkyClan cats, feeling a sense of urgency to return to the Clans now more than ever.
He couldn't shake off the sense of dread that swept through him each time he pictured his Clanmates. The problem was, he'd been suffering from nightmares every now and then. Each time he would dream, it always ended the same: In bloodshed. The lake would turn red with the blood of his Clanmates, and the other Clans that were slain.
A shudder swept through him at the thought. If such a tragedy happened, he didn't know what he would do. He wanted nothing more than to make sure his Clanmates were safe. His Clan meant more to him than he would ever let on.
"You're worried about our Clan." Flamestrike shook his head at the sound of Oakfire's voice. "I know that look."
He tried to smooth his already ruffled fur. Between the nightmares and everything else, it was impossible to keep track of how much sleep he was losing.
"Of course, I'm worried," he sighed.
He knew that they had taken a risk by leaving the Clan and helping Birdpaw find her Clan. The need to find SkyClan had outweighed that risk, though. Now that they found SkyClan, he realized with a start that everything Birdpaw had told him was true. She cared about her Clanmates, and had been willing to make the journey to the lake all on her own just to find help in getting them back. That took courage, something Flamestrike was beginning to realize every warrior needed.
"There's no need to worry, son," Oakfire assured him, though, even Flamestrike could hear the doubt in his voice, "We're stronger than ever, and, Petalstar won't let anything happen to the Clan."
You sound so sure, he thought, wishing that was true.
He was beginning to hate traveling through the mountains. The snow made climbing treacherous. When the sun was up, it blinded him due to the reflection of the bright rays. Traveling in general had been slow because they were such a large group, and there were many mouths to feed, on top of it.
"What is it like at the lake?"
He glanced in the direction of a gray she-cat with darker gray paws padding alongside Reedriver. Flamestrike watched the pair curiously, having noticed that they were spending more time together than they probably should. Cats from different Clans weren't meant to be together. The warrior code had forbidden it for a reason.
"The lake itself is huge, and there's plenty of territory for everyone," the silver-furred RiverClan warrior explained. "I'm sure there will be space for SkyClan, once we get there."
"The real challenge is going to be explaining to them how there's a fifth Clan, in the first place," Spruceleaf pointed out when she joined in.
Amusement swept through Flamestrike as he already imagined how the rest of the Clans would react. ThunderClan had reacted exactly like he expected. Some of them refused to believe Birdpaw's story, while others were sympathetic to her cause. Even RiverClan had been reluctant to accept that another Clan existed far from the lake. Though, Minnowstar had finally agreed in sending three cats with them on their journey.
"We should never have been cast out, in the first place," he heard Emberstar growl. "We've heard stories from the elders that the Clans forced us to leave because our territory was destroyed by Twolegs."
That was enough to catch Flamestrike's attention. He rarely heard stories about the old forest territories. Daisytail, being the eldest cat in the Clan, used to try and explain what the forest territories looked like from the stories she was told.
"We'll find a way to make them see that this is the right choice," he meowed, ignoring the warning look Oakfire threw him.
He was tired of Oakfire always acting like he was in charge. As much as Flamestrike admired his father for his bravery and courage, he wanted to prove himself to the others. More than anything, though, he wanted to protect his Clan from the unseen dangers that threatened them.
"If only it was that easy," Emberstar snorted, lashing his tail irritably as they climbed over a rocky crevice. Pebbles scattered from their movements as the group was forced into a single-file line. The slope that led down to the other end of the mountain was steep, and they had to be careful if they wanted to prevent themselves from slipping. "The need to protect territory runs deeply within every warrior."
Flamestrike nodded in understanding. He hated to admit it, but, Emberstar had a point. The rest of the Clans were going to be tense around SkyClan. Accepting what was in front of them would be easier said than done. He shook his head at the thought. There had to be a way of convincing the other Clans that letting SkyClan stay was the right decision.
...
Rain pelted the trees. Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the forest as thunder rumbled in the distance heartbeats later.
Dread swept through Flamestrike when he found himself drenched from the rain. He tried shaking it off, and searched for whatever shelter he could find. The undergrowth was too thick for him to make anything out. All he could see were the shadows dancing before him, and the lightning that flashed above every now and then.
What bothered him the most was that he knew this was a dream. The only reason he could figure that out was because this was similar to the one he'd had days ago. He could still remember the awful feeling of helplessness as his Clanmates were slaughtered before him.
It wasn't until spotting the familiar tortoiseshell she-cat from his last dream that his chest swelled with hope. What he wanted more than anything was to figure out why he kept having these dreams. Maybe this she-cat, the very one who called him 'Thunder', would be able to explain to him the reasons behind them.
He approached her cautiously, unsure of what would happen when he reached her. The moment he did reach her, though, she suddenly disappeared in a blinding flash of lightning. Flamestrike bit back a yowl of surprise at her sudden disappearance. The rain only seemed to intensify, after that.
"StarClan, why does this keep happening to me?" he pleaded, feeling his heartbeat racing faster than he thought possible. "Why do I keep having these nightmares?"
"They are not nightmares, Thunder." He stiffened at the sound of a toms voice. Flamestrike narrowed his eyes, fur rising when he turned to see a golden brown tom with ginger flecks watching him with amusement. "They are memories, of a distant past."
"What?" he asked, suddenly wishing that he had a better understanding of what was happening, "Who are you?"
"My name is Leopardheart," the tom explained, dipping his head as if to show his respect, "I have been watching over all five of you, from the moment of your birth."
Flamestrike only stepped back, feeling that familiar spark of unease when he realized what the tom meant by that. Yet, the name 'Leopardheart' sounded oddly familiar, to him. He'd heard of that name, before. He just couldn't place where, exactly.
"Why did you call me Thunder?" he demanded, trying to flatten his ruffled fur as he noticed that the rain had finally ceased.
"Because, you are Thunder," Leopardheart replied, his eyes brimming with amusement. His tail lashed with frustration; that only confused him even further. All he wanted was an explanation to the nightmares, and here he was, talking to some crazy cat who seemed to think he was a different cat. "You see, you along with four others were born to unite the Clans; they have been divided for too long, and, it is time they remembered why they were created, in the first place."
"I don't understand," Flamestrike shook his head, "Why do the Clans need to be united? There have always been... five Clans," he tried correcting himself after realizing what he was about to say.
"Precisely," Leopardheart dipped his head once more, "There have always been five Clans, but, the Clans of the lake do not know that. There will be tension between the Clans, when SkyClan arrives."
Once again, Flamestrike was left trying to figure out what Leopardheart meant by that.
"How are we supposed to make them see that SkyClan belongs at the lake?" he asked warily.
"In time, the Clans will realize that SkyClan belongs," the golden brown warrior reassured him, "For now, you must rest. The Clans will need you, and the other four, now, more than ever."
Before Flamestrike could ask what he meant by that, Leopardheart suddenly faded. He was left alone in the darkness, struggling to fight back a yowl of frustration. All that had done was only add to his confusion. He couldn't shake off the feeling that this meant something terrible was going to happen to the Clans. And, that he was destined for something far more than he had imagined.
AN: This chapter was a killer to write... I hate having writer's block. But, managed to get it finished, nonetheless. Anywho, updates for this story are going to be slow. I just want to put that out there before readers get too excited that I'm updating quickly. The reason behind this is because when I wrote this story five years ago, I had way too many ideas spinning around my head. Now, I've grown from that and realize that a lot of them were ridiculously unrealistic. Between that and the Erin's writing the Dawn of the Clans, I sort of lost interest.
That's why I plan on steering away from Dawn of the Clans. I might add a few things here and there from that arch, but, I want to keep my story as original as possible. So, thank you to anyone who's been reading this, and to anyone who's shown interest at all (especially with all the mistakes I've made), I truly appreciate it! I also wanted to thank Liquiir for reviewing, that encouraged me to write this chapter :)
Liquiir - Thank you! And thank you for that compliment ^^ There's going to be a lot of tension between the lake Clans and SkyClan, that's for sure. And, I'll be adding tidbits here and there about the Founders' spirits living in their bodies... Hopefully within the next couple of chapters, I'll be able to explain how that works :)
