Chapter 7

Icepaw was running through the forest, dipping in between trees and shrubs. The air was strangely still; there was no wind blowing through the woods. Icepaw suddenly came to a halt by the river. She felt her eyes widen as she realized the water was not moving, but was stationary, as if it was frozen in place. Icepaw slowly looked around. The colors of the forest and the water was slightly wrong. Icepaw suddenly understood that she was dreaming again. She took a deep breath and calmly sat down on the cold ground.

"Leopardstar?" she called into the mist, "Are you there?"

There was no reply to Icepaw's calls. She felt her fur begin to stiffen from the dampness in the air.

"Hello? Is anyone out there? Starclan?"

A sudden rumbling started up from deep within the earth. Icepaw jumped up and hissed as the ground began to heave. All at once, Icepaw recognized the panicked screech of a cat. Icepaw leapt to the air and darted off after the noise, her eyes darted about wildly, looking for the source of the cries. Without warning, the ground suddenly opened up beneath Icepaw's feet and she found herself hurtling through the air. Icepaw meowed with distress and finally heard a voice call back to her.

"Help me, I can't breathe," a weak voice cried out.

Icepaw gasped with horror as she fell into consciousness. She knew that voice. It was Seakit.

Icepaw ran like a rabid squirrel to the nursery, her hackles on end, her lips curled over her teeth in a snarl. She hurtled into the den, fear wild in her eyes. It was almost sun-high and the kits were all up, tumbling around in the tree, batting at each other and pouncing on their neighbors. Icepaw frantically looked for Seakit and spotted her capering around with Pondkit. Icepaw almost knocked Dawncloud on her side in her haste to get to Seakit.

"Seakit, Seakit, are you okay? Do you feel okay?" she asked desperately.

Seakit glanced up to see Icepaw standing over her. The kit's eyes glazed over in confusion.

"I'm fine Icepaw," she said slowly. Icepaw was panting hard. Suddenly, Rosetail appeared at her side.

"Icepaw, what's wrong?" she asked, concern flooding her eyes.

Icepaw tried to get a rein on her breathing and slowly sat down on the hard earthy floor.

"Nothing, it was just a dream, just a bad dream," Icepaw said shakily.

Rosetail nuzzled her daughter comfortingly.

"Why don't you go see Owlear for some poppy seeds? They'll calm you down," Rosetail said.

Icepaw nodded her head and gave one last frightened look at Seakit before padding out of the den. Icepaw suddenly remembered Owlear's instructions to tell him about any dreams Icepaw had. She quickened her step and hurried to the medicine cat's den. Icepaw pushed her head inside the reeds and glanced around the den. It was empty except for the bundle of moss that was Owlear's bed and the stacks of herbs.

"Are you looking for Owlear?"

Icepaw turned around to see Rainpaw standing before her, a quizzical look on his face.

"Yes, do you know where he went?" Icepaw asked.

Rainpaw shook his tabby head.

"No. But he probably went to gather herbs and plants. He hasn't been here all morning. What's wrong?" Rainpaw said.

"Nothing important," Icepaw lied, "I just needed some poppy seeds."

"Icepaw!" Coldsnow yelled, coming across the clearing. "If you ever want to become a warrior you've got to practice. Come on, we're on the border patrol."

Icepaw felt her stomach tie into knots. She couldn't leave camp now! Seakit's panicked mewing from her dream were still fresh in her mind. What if something happened? But maybe she would be able to find Owlear on the boarder patrol if he was gathering plants. In a split second, Icepaw made up her mind to go with her mentor.

"See you Rainpaw," she said distractedly, running over to Coldsnow.

"Greybelly and Birdsong are waiting for us at the river," Coldsnow said to Icepaw as they both took off towards the river.

Icepaw considered telling her mentor about her dream but stopped herself. She didn't want to trouble Coldsnow with a dream. It was probably a nightmare anyway, Icepaw thought. She realized that no member of Starclan had appeared in her dream like last time. Maybe that means that it was just a regular dream, she thought. Icepaw darted through the trees with Coldsnow until they saw Greybelly and Birdsong sitting by the river.

"Let's go," Birdsong said, leading the way off towards the edge of Riverclan's territory. Icepaw followed them, her instincts doing the thinking for her. She was preoccupied with her concerns and thoughts. Icepaw just hoped that her dream was only that; a dream.

The four cats arrived back at camp when the sun was beginning its descent into the pearly sky. To Icepaw's displeasure, they had not happened across Owlear during their patrol. In fact the patrol had been boring to say the least. Icepaw's legs ached and her anxiety about her dream had not yet vanished. Riverclan camp was unusually quiet. Most cats were out hunting for dinner. The elders were sleeping in their dens. Icepaw could just make out the shapes of Silverstar and Pinetail conversing in their den. Icepaw shook the dirt and stray leaves from her light grey fur and made her way across camp to Owlear's den. Once again, she poked her head into the shelter and scanned the space, looking for the medicine cat. But once again, he was nowhere to be seen. Icepaw felt her heart sink. He was obviously not coming back to camp until late. It occurred to Icepaw that Owlear could be traveling to Moonpool to share dreams with Starclan. Either way Icepaw realized there was nothing she could do until Owlear returned to Riverclan. Icepaw yawned, feeling herself become more and more tired by the minute. Icepaw traipsed over to the apprentice's den. Before she slid down into the badger set, she glanced over to the nursery. In the dim light, she could just make out the forms of sleeping kits. Raising her nose to the wind, Icepaw searched for Seakit's kitscent and found it. Satisfied, she glided down the hole and into the warm den.