But anyway…enjoy!
(Yeah, I know, it sounds way too much like a Fireheart-Spottedleaf dream. Never mind.)
Chapter ThreeDustpelt opened his eyes.
He was in the forest. He recognised this place. The sandy hollow where mentors and apprentices trained. Where he had once taken Fernpaw and her brother Ashpaw to train. Firmly, he pushed that thought out of his mind and stood up, looking around nervously.
Why am I here? the warrior wondered. BloodClan should have ravaged this place by now…
Yet the clearing was silent, peaceful. A cool night breeze ruffled Dustpelt's whiskers, and a cricket chirped amid the dappled moonlight that fell softly on the sandy floor.
Dustpelt breathed in the fresh night air. For the first time since fleeing BloodClan, he felt at peace.
The wind carried the sound of pawsteps to his keen ears. Suddenly alert and wary, Dustpelt whirled, instinctively dropping into a crouch and unsheathing his claws, fur bristling, ready to fight.
Then an all-too familiar scent wafted to him on the breeze. A pair of warm green eyes gleamed from the darkness, and Fernpaw – yes, Fernpaw! – stepped out into the open, glowing, it seemed, with the light of stars and fire and ice, even more beautiful than she had been in real life.
With a cry, Dustpelt bounded forward to thrust his nose into her fur, breathing in her sweet scent. "Fernpaw…" His voice was so choked he could barely speak.
Yet Fernpaw drew away from him. Her eyes were filled with sorrow as she gazed up at the warrior. "I can't, Dusty," she whispered, using her old nickname for him. "I'm…dead."
Dustpelt stared at her in shock. "But you're here…I felt you…smelled you…"
Fernpaw meowed, her voice filled with pain, "This is a dream. A dream from StarClan, but still only a dream. I came to tell you something."
Dustpelt's head dropped. Her felt cheated, to have Fernpaw returned to him, yet snatched away again so quickly. "What is it?" he asked quietly.
Fernpaw cleared her throat. StarClan or not, for a moment she looked like a newly raised apprentice again, young and shy and unsure of herself. "You…you have to travel to Highstones with the others, before Scourge and his rogues find it. Only at the Moonstone will StarClan have the powers to do what must be done. Firestar wishes to speak to you."
Dustpelt stared at her. "What must be done?"
Fernpaw gazed steadily back. "I cannot tell you, yet. You will know soon enough." She sighed, a soft sound filled with unbearable sadness, and looked away. "I have to go now. StarClan calls."
"No, Fernpaw," Dustpelt whispered. "Please don't go," he pleaded, feeling as if his heart was breaking. "Fernpaw!"
She was fading, her dappled fur mingling with the patches of moonlight and shadow. The silhouette of the StarClan cat became blurry, invisible.
She was gone.
A whisper on the breeze, so soft Dustpelt wondered if he had heard. "I'm sorry, Dusty…"
Dustpelt woke. Sunlight was streaming in through the barn entrance, turning the scattered hay golden. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was, his mind still filled with thoughts of Fernpaw. Then Sorrelkit's voice sounded by his ear. "Dustpelt! Wake up!"
Stretching, the tom got to his paws. At once, all his troubles crashed down on him. With a groan, he pushed them aside, and a fragment of memory from his dream surfaced.
…you have to travel to Highstones, before Scourge and his rogues find it. Only at the Moonstone will StarClan have the powers to do what must be done…
He sat bolt upright. Fernpaw had told him to travel to Highstones with the others. They should set off, immediately. Or BloodClan might get there first. It was lucky this place was not too far from Highstones.
The other cats – Russetfur, Boulder, Mosspelt, Stormpaw, Featherpaw, Webfoot, Ashfoot – were already awake. Russetfur sneered sarcastically, "So, the great ThunderClan warrior is finally up." Dustpelt ignored her, with some effort.
Stormpaw, the young RiverClan apprentice, spoke up. "What do we do now, Dustpelt?"
Somehow, Dustpelt didn't feel it was strange that all – well, most – of the other cats treated him as leader now. "We have to travel to Highstones," he meowed. "I…I had a dream last night, from StarClan. They told me to travel to the Moonstone."
"Are the rest of us coming?" Mosspelt, the RiverClan queen, queried.
Dustpelt nodded. "Yes. You can't stay here. It's not safe."
Russetfur thrust herself forward. "What kind of a mousebrained plan is this?" she snarled. "Why should we all listen to you just because you claim to have had a dream from StarClan? StarClan! Tales for kits! If they really existed, they would've helped us defeat BloodClan."
Dustpelt was stunned for a moment by her outburst. Her words sounded much too similar to those Scourge had spat before the battle. Then white-hot fury reared its head, and he spat back, "If you don't believe in StarClan, then you aren't much better than those mangy flea-ridden BloodClan cats! If you're not happy, you can leave! StarClan exists, and I did have a dream from them!"
Swinging around, the warrior glared at the other cats, who had fallen silent. "Anyone want to go with her?" he hissed. When no one spoke, he turned slowly to face Russetfur again. "Go on. Get out. Maybe BloodClan will allow you to join their ranks." Flicking his tail towards the door of the barn, he wondered why his voice sounded so distant and cold, as if he were watching everything unfold from someone else's body.
Russetfur glared back, her eyes deep pools of pure hatred. Her eyes sweeping across the other cats and finding no support, not even from her Clanmate Boulder, she slowly backed away. "Fine. I'm leaving." The dark ginger she-cat turned and stalked out, disappearing into the bushes.
Dustpelt stared after her, breathing heavily.
The barn was utterly silent for a moment, except for the rustles of foraging mice, unaware of what had just happened. Then Sorrelkit said in a very small voice, "You sounded really scary back there, Dustpelt."
Gently, Dustpelt set Sorrelkit down beside a large boulder. He looked towards the dark entrance of Mothermouth. He would have to enter there to commune with StarClan.
The tom shivered. He had never heard of a warrior sharing dreams with StarClan before.
Turning to face the other cats who had followed him, he cleared his throat. What should he say? No one knew what was going to happen in there.
"I…have to enter Mothermouth now. You cats…stay outside and guard the entrance. And the kits," he added, looking down at Sorrelkit and her siblings."
With a nod, he turned and padded towards the cave. Halting at the entrance, he looked into the yawning blackness. The Moonstone was down there. Down there, where he had to go.
Alone, the dusky brown tom entered, and was swallowed up by the darkness.