Feathertail speaks:

My destiny

There wasn't a day that went by that me and Stormfur were not suspected of being disloyal. We always had to prove ourselves more than anyone else. Then one night, as I went to sleep in the heavily decorated warriors den, I had a dream. I was padding along near the Twoleg Bridge when I came to a clearing. I'd never been in this part of the forest before and was shocked when I saw a huge bracken colored tabby sitting on a rounded rock in front of me.

"Greetings, Feathertail. I'm Oakheart, the former RiverClan deputy. I have come from StarClan with a message for you." I stared at him in awe. I was only a young warrior, why was he coming to me with a message instead of Leapordstar or Mudfur? "A time of trouble is coming to the forest. A new prophecy must be fulfilled if the Clans are to survive. You have been chosen to meet with three other cats at the new moon, and you must listen to what midnight tells you." Starlight sparkled in his eyes and he started to fade.

I yowled out, "No! What do you mean?!" What midnight tells us? Great StarClan, what does that mean? But he didn't answer; he just faded away into darkness. When I awoke, I didn't know what to think. It was all so confusing. For some reason, I didn't think I could tell Leapordstar or Mudfur. Stormfur could tell that I was upset and kept bugging me until I finally told him.

His amber eyes had brightened at the prospect of an adventure and he insisted that he should come with me to ensure my safety. I felt as if I was doing something wrong by having my brother tag along after me and I tried to convince him otherwise, but his mind was made up. He was going to come. I was very surprised at the new moon when we met our old denmates, Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt from ThunderClan and ShadowClan. And of course the feisty ginger apprentice Squirrlepaw, also Firestar's daughter tagged along with Mr. Brambly. Soon after, a WindClan cat came. We were all quite surprised to see an apprentice. His name was Crowpaw. He had a tongue sharp enough to slice your ears off! We talked and then before we knew it, were back to our clans already.

Lots happened over the next half-moon. I don't even know how it happened, but we ended up in a wild goose chase over trying to find the "sun-drown place". On our quest we all became close friends, even Crowpaw began to loosen up. I even became his best friend. Then I started to see a gleam in his eye whenever we spoke and I grew fearful. He was falling in love with me, and I didn't know what to do. Some part of me wanted to love him back, but I kept thinking about how my mother and father turned out to be.

Then I did start to love him, although I knew I could never love him as much as he loved me. I knew Stormfur was disapproving, I could tell by the glares he shot me whenever I talked to the wiry apprentice. Then we met the tribe. These were the most unusual cats you could ever meet, but also the most similar. They have a StarClan too, accept it is called The Tribe Of Endless Hunting. They were so mysterious and eerie. They constantly stole glances at Stormfur, knowing, hoping glances. This made my fur prickle with fear, what were these cats planning for my brother?

Then we learned. Sharptooth was its name. It was a huge mountain cat that was hunting and killing off the Tribe. We found out the truth, when their leader, Stoneteller, pulled us aside. He claimed that a silver cat would save them from this devil cat and they believed Stormfur was that warrior. I don't even know how they came to that assumption, Stormfur couldn't be that cat! He'd never even met these cats before. When they sent us away, and kept Stormfur, I was FURIOUS! How dare they take him away from his friends?

Of course we wouldn't leave him there to die a horrible death in the teeth of that monster so we went back for him. But our breath was wasted, for he insisted on going back again! I felt I didn't even know my brother anymore. And to Stormfur's dismay, I crept straight for Crowpaw. We then set a trap for Sharptooth, putting deathberries in a rabbit. We prayed to StarClan it would work, because we knew that if we didn't, the Tribe would keep us there. But Sharptooth came too soon, no one was hiding yet. Everyone ran, screeching in terror as the mountain lion ignored the rabbit and went after the cats. I didn't know what to do. I just ran after Stormfur, up the edge of the wall, and we crawled into a narrow ledge.

Then I saw Sharptooth clawing at my Crowpaw. He screamed in terror. My heart raced out of my chest and suddenly I heard mewing in my head… Save him! Avenge me! Rescue us Feathertail! It is your destiny. The talon, look up! I looked upwards, and there hanging was a loosely sharp rock, it was glowing brightly and I suddenly knew what I had to do, "Crowpaw." I muttered. I could feel my eyes glowing from the talon now and I looked over at Stormfur, knowing what pain this would cause him, "I can hear the voices clearly now. This is for me to do…"

I locked my eyes on the rock and felt my muscles bunch with me. I leaped, my claws extended, but my mind calm. They scraped loudly across the rock and it came loose, tumbling down onto the dreaded cat. I felt myself falling; falling to what I knew was my death. I hit the cold stone floor with a sickening thud, then blacked out.

I woke to see Stormfur standing over me, his eyes stricken with the fiercest panic I've ever seen. All the pain you could ever feel in entire lifetime I felt in that one moment, but there was a peace about it that I did not understand. "You'll have to go home without me brother. Save the Clan!" I knew that was all I had to say to him, and then I focused my eyes on Crowpaw and looked at him with all the love in my heart for him, "Think you have nine lives do you? I saved you once… Don't make me save you again."

Silverstream lifted me from my body and murmered, "It's time to go home dear, they'll be just fine." And with that, I padded after her, looking back more than once at my love, my brother, and the best friends I've ever had.