Chapter Four

She dashed toward the Corner of Elements, hoping that the other cats would be there. As she bounded along, she thought of what exactly had happened. Something was wrong, she knew. Something was missing. But she just couldn't figure out what. Then it hit her, sharp and painful as a badger's claw. She hadn't been able to say good-bye. To Mistypaw. To Ironpaw. And she felt a tug at heart as another thought entered her mind. To Thunderpaw.

She thought of how mysterious… how secretive Aspensun, Silvermoon, and Seastar had been. How they had selected specifically Iceheart and Stormcloud to be guards. Silvermoon's mate and one of her sons. Two people she could trust. Moonpaw doubted that Silvermoon would explain her disappearance either. She sighed. Why? Why was Silvermoon being so secretive? Were they afraid that perhaps someone in OceanClan was a traitor? She didn't know, but the thought sent her fur bristling.

She slowed as she neared the sand dune that was the OceanClan side of the Corner. She crept up the dune and peered over the edge. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw two other silhouettes of cats. Then she immediately tensed again and admonished herself. Why had she let herself become relaxed? There might be other cats waiting to ambush her once she was lured out.

She opened her mouth scenting the air. The Corner held the stale, mingled scents of all four Clans. But two scents were more fresh. One was of EarthClan, the other of NightClan. Perhaps these two were the other two chosen cats from the prophecy. Unless they were traitors to their Clans. Taking a risk, she slipped down into the Corner.

Both cats were looking at each other hostilely, but at Moonpaw's entrance, they quickly snapped their heads to look at Moonpaw. Moonpaw gasped as she recognized the two. Hollypaw and Splashedpaw! Both apprentices themselves. But she had to be on guard.

"Hello," She meowed curtly to the two.

"What are you doing here?" Splashedpaw hissed, her eyes narrowed.

"I could ask you the same thing," Moonpaw spat back, muscles tensed, ready to fight if necessary.

"You were both chosen cats from the prophecy, weren't you?" Hollypaw interrupted. She was quite smaller and slighter than Moonpaw and Splashedpaw, like her mother.

Splashedpaw looked surprised, but quickly hid it. Moonpaw didn't change her expression at all.

"What if we were?" Moonpaw asked.

"Well… so was I," Hollypaw replied nonchalantly, licking her paw. She looked almost comical in this tense scene of pre-combat.

"As was I," Splashedpaw surprised them both, by saying that. She glared at Moonpaw. "What about you?"

"I was too," Moonpaw finally answered. She didn't relax until Splashedpaw did. But she tensed right up again as she scented another cat. Splashedpaw and even Hollypaw did the same.

And they saw the culprit. A golden streak flew into the Corner. Sparkpaw. Moonpaw groaned inwardly, rolling her eyes. If Sparkpaw was the other chosen cat, she would throw herself into the sun-resting waters. She didn't know how she would survive with Sparkpaw coming along.

"And you are?" Splashedpaw hissed hostilely.

"Sparkpaw of SunClan. And don't you dare hurt me! Else you'll face the wrath of both my father, Goldenmoon, and StarClan!" Sparkpaw meowed shrilly.

"And why are you here?" Splashedpaw continued interrogating, not once relaxing from her battle-ready position.

Sparkpaw gave a short laugh. "StarClan chose me! That's why! Like the rest of you, I presume?" She added, giving the other apprentices a distasteful look.

"Yes," Hollypaw answered for all of them, relaxing immediately. "I'm Hollypaw from EarthClan."

"You already know me," Moonpaw said shortly when Sparkpaw glanced at her. The golden she-cat rolled her eyes before turning her imperious gaze on Splashedpaw.

Splashedpaw met Sparkpaw's gaze evenly with her own piercing glare. Moonpaw saw Sparkpaw flinch, as if she weren't used to being looked at in the eye. "And I'm Splashedpaw. Of NightClan," Splashedpaw finally spoke, after what seemed to be nine lifetimes.

"So where shall we go now?" Hollypaw asked quietly. "Did anyone get any message from StarClan? Other than me," She added.

The other three she-cats nodded. "StarClan showed me the way through some of EarthClan territory," Sparkpaw offered.

"And through NightClan territory," Splashedpaw added, seeming somewhat disgruntled.

"And StarClan showed me past the Twoleg nests," Hollypaw put in her part.

"They showed me all of that," Moonpaw muttered, her voice quiet. "And more." At that, all the cats turned their gaze on her. "They showed me into a Twoleg camp. Into a Twoleg pathway between two Twoleg nests."

"So… what are we waiting for?" Sparkpaw asked. When the other apprentices gave her blank looks, she sighed and rolled her eyes exasperatedly, as if what she was asking was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well… are we gonna get going or not?"

The other apprentices nodded as they followed Sparkpaw, who was in the lead, setting out to go through EarthClan territory. They both kept their own thoughts to themselves. But each held one thought that was the same. Why had StarClan chosen them? A bunch of apprentices? Why not warriors? After all, how could apprentices fulfill a prophecy?

(A/N: -chants- Review! Review! Oh yeah... and if I REALLY owned Warriors, I'd be the top horseback rider in the world.)