Disclaimer: I don't own the world of the warrior cats. I do, however own most of the characters in this story.
Chapter Five: Meeting at the Waterfall
"I have already told Snowwind of your visions, though, Dreamsong,. I thought she ought to know, having been the one prophesizing you birth." Deep and Dreamsong had decided to hunt again; they needed to get away from the other cats of the Tribe of Sunset Fire. The golden she-cat only nodded, then continued searching for prey, her green-brown eyes far away.
Suddenly she looked up at the healer. "What did Snowwind mean when she said she would find a to-be for you to train?" she asked. Deep made a face.
"She thinks that a cat will just appear out of the skies and announce itself as the next healer. No, I will wait until the right cat has come. The Tribe of Endless Hunting will let me know when my successor arrives," he said.
And I can turn to my heart without leaving the path of the healer that the Tribe of Endless Hunting has laid down.
000
Dreamsong wondered vaguely why the dreams were coming so frequently, and why were they more important now as she slid into one.
She seemed to be standing in a cave, with many pointed stones coming from ceiling and floor. Distributed between them were pools that reflected the moonlight that shone through a hole in the roof of the cavern.
Beyond what seemed to be the entrance and exit she could hear water, lots of it, falling in a continuous flow. She turned, feeling called to a particular pool, its surface nearly white with moon- and starlight, and padded over to it. As she gazed into the depths of the silvery water, she saw on the edge of her vision many other cats, glimmering silver as the pools, come to circle her and the water.
She raised her head slowly, sensing no hostility from the newcomers. One came forward.
"Look," commanded the shining tom, dipping his head to touch his nose to the pool. As Dreamsong obeyed, the cats spoke in one voice, though each was distinct within the words spoken from each throat.
"Follow the call, Dreamsong. At the end you will find out other messengers. None of you will need to persuade your Tribes to unite, for the Tribe of Endless Hunting sends dreams to each healer and leader, and they will hear us and obey."
Now the pool shimmered, and she saw the two cats from her dream, the earth-pelted one and the moon-pelted one, sitting with a golden cat. Dreamsong recognized herself and drew back with a gasp.
"They will be there, as will we," intoned the ranks of glittering cats. The picture changed, showing the meeting place in more detail. It was the rock from her dream of the gold sunset, the white clouds, the fading moon and the shadowed earth and stone.
"When you wake, follow the trail of the fallen star, and you will find them," chorused the ancestors as they, the pools and the cavern faded.
"We will be waiting," whispered the cats of the Tribe of Endless Hunting once more in the darkness.
"We will wait."
000
The golden cat woke, gasped and sprang to her feet. She raced outside just as a shooting star burned over the sky, marking the dawn with a trail.
Dreamsong turned her head, not surprised at all to find that Deep Waters Where Shadows Swim was awake, as was Wind That Blows Fresh Snow.
The tree of them stared at each other somberly, and then Snowwind nodded, giving permission to the unspoken request in the other two's eyes. Without a word, the gray-black healer and the golden she-cat raced up the rocks, bounding off in search of the meeting place.
It was nearly midday when they found the hollow, with a water fal rolling down one side. They could see that a brown and gray mottled tom was already sitting patiently on top of the rock in the center of the hollow, though he was facing the other way from the pair.
Here Deep stopped and sat. Neither had spoken on the way, but they had come to an unvoiced agreement that Dreamsong was to go down alone.
She made her way down into the hollow, then leaped on top of the rock, making the earth-pelted cat spin with his fur fluffed up until he saw her pelt and knew her for the second member of the prophecy.
They were not waiting long when the silvery-white cat leapt up beside them. The other two nodded, and he nodded back, then sat with his tail curled around his legs. Finally, the earth-pelted cat spoke. He seemed to be older that Deep, thought Dreamsong absently as he started.
"My name is Feathers of Earth on Fur, or Feather."
"And I am Dreamsong Foretelling the Golden Sunset,; Dreamsong," added the golden she-cat. "
The moon-pelted tom, who seemed to be just a little older than the only she-cat said that he was Silver Flash Racing the Wind's Path, or Silverpath for short, of the Tribe of
"Look!" cried Feather, as soon as the silvery tom said his name. The other two whirled around, prepared for anything, but it was no enemy, as they had feared. The vision that Dreamsong had twice received from the Tribe of Endless Hunting was now a reality. The shadowed earth, the moon and the glow of the sun flared once, then the picture broke apart as the moon and sun moved out of position.
"So. The three tribes will at last join as one in peace," whispered Silver.
"Now do we go to our own Tribes, and tell them of this place," added Feather, looking around the hollow, the waterfall, the stones, pebbles and wave-broken pool beside the rock on which the three cats sat.
The three of them left for their own tribes, to tell them of their fate.
