RainClan
Chapter Three
Sorrelpaw hadn't realized 'til they were almost to the camp that StarClan hadn't even mentioned Nightpaw, nor had Doestar or Brackenkit, her brother who had died along with her mother during an extreme outbreak of greencough that had ripped through the Clan like wildfire, appeared, not even for a moment. Instead, she and the other three medicine cat apprentices were told a prophecy and given a warning by Rock, a dreadful-looking ancient cat and his friend, the she-badger Midnight. That prophecy still rang in her ears: The mighty osprey, the powerful storm, the droplet of water, so small yet capable of causing peace-shattering ripples, and the healing sorrel stalk; all must become one to prevent all from becoming none. But what does it mean?
As Sorrelpaw and Dappledrose entered the camp, it was all Sorrelpaw could do to keep from running straight to Nightpaw and telling him everything. Instead, however, Nightpaw came running to her. "How did it go? What did they say about, you know, us?" He spoke the last few words in a whisper. "Well, they didn't really say anything about us at all. All they said was…" She stopped, remembering what Rock had told them about letting any other cats hear the prophecy, and how powerfully Ospreyfeather had pounced on Dropletpaw when she had almost told her mentor, Frogcroak, about it when they woke up. "Was what? You can tell me what they said, if it's meant to be a secret. I won't tell anyone else, I promise." They gazed into each other's eyes, and she couldn't help herself. "Okay, I'll tell you, but only where no one else can hear us."
She once again left camp, this time with Nightpaw by her side. They walked deeper and deeper into the wet pine forest, until they came to a tree with a large open gap at the base. Just then it started raining heavily, and the two took shelter in the tree. As she told Nightpaw what had happened the previous night, he sat and gazed at her intently, hardly ever blinking. Once she was done, he said, "Well, obviously you're the 'healing sorrel stalk', Ospreyfeather must be the 'mighty osprey', and the 'powerful storm' is Stormpaw. That leaves the 'droplet of water', which apparently can cause peace to shatter. That has to be Dropletpaw. But what does the last part mean? 'All must become one to prevent all from becoming none'? That doesn't sound too good."
"I know. But, why did Rock only refer to me as healing? We're all training to become medicine cats. It's not as if I'm the only one who knows how to dress a wound, or cure a cough."
"I don't really understand it, either." Nightpaw looked up at the sky. The rain had stopped coming down so harshly and was now only a slight sprinkle. It was almost dark out, as well; the sun was already halfway down, and beneath all the trees, it was almost pitch black. "We should probably be heading back. It's getting dark out and it's already cold enough to numb our noses!" Sorrelpaw only nodded in reply, and the two trotted off back to camp.
By the time Sorrelpaw reached her nest deep in the hollow evergreen, the sun was down and the moon was out. Through the miniscule holes formed by termites in the top of the den, moonlight shone down on her pelt as if she was a StarClan cat herself. She was asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes, and a dream followed not long after that.
Sorrelpaw found herself in a dark forest. Lightning cracked overhead. She tried to look around, but her neck wouldn't budge. Suddenly, a beautiful dusty brown she-cat and a brown tabby tomkit, both with blazing blue eyes, appeared out of a dense thicket of brambles. "Doestar! Brackenkit! Why didn't you visit me last night?"
"My dear kit, we tried, but we couldn't. The whole time you slept, Rock spoke to you, and you never were alone. If we could have, we would."
"But mother, what does Rock's prophecy mean? We've figured out the first part, but not the last. Please, help me understand."
"I can't tell you everything; it is your and the other apprentice medicine cats to figure out. However, I will show you something very special." At this, the forest around them melted away and was replaced by another, but this forest had wind whistling through it, and the air smelled of salty water. Sorrelpaw could hear waves pounding at cliffs far below them. "Are we in IslandClan?"
"Yes, Sorrelpaw. Now follow your brother and I. We have to show you something." They started walking through the windswept forest until they arrived at a wall of brambles which was apparently the IslandClan camp. "We're here!" squeaked Brackenkit. "Why are we at their camp?" Sorrelpaw asked. "You'll see. Now come. What we must show is very, very important." They walked through a small tunnel in the wall to emerge on the other side of the bramble thicket. A small area with dark, moist earth spread out in front of them, with other holes and clearings hidden in the bushes on all sides and a tree stump that must've been where the leader sat to address the Clan. "This way." Doestar lead her kits to one of the holes in the brambles, where a sickly sweet smell was coming from.
"Is this the medicine cat den?" Sorrelpaw asked, but she knew the answer before it came, for there was Nightshade and Stormpaw, sleeping in nests of dried pine needles and soil. That doesn't look very comfortable, Sorrelpaw thought. Maybe that's why those two are always so grumpy. In a similar nest closer to the entrance, a tiny kit lay, breathing so shallowly that at first Sorrelpaw thought it was dead. "Now, Sorrelpaw, I've brought you here to show you something very special you can do." Doestar spoke to Sorrelpaw as though she was still a kit in the Nursery. "Gently rest the tip of your tail on Splashkit's chest. That's where the infection is." Sorrelpaw wondered why her mother was doing this, but figured she was in StarClan, and did as her mother said. "Now, focus on Splashkit. Think of her chest, think of her infection, think of the herb you would use to heal it." As Sorrelpaw did this, the little pale gray she-kit started breathing normally. She woke up suddenly, saw the transparent cats looking down at her, and gasped. "Are you from StarClan? Oh no, I've died, haven't I? Please let me live, I don't want to leave my mother!"
"Hush, young one. No, you are not dead. I'm from StarClan, yes, and so is my youngest kit. Sorrelpaw, however, is very much alive, and you are, too, thanks to her."
"Are you a medicine cat?" Splashkit asked Sorrelpaw. "Did you heal me?"
Sorrelpaw began purring. "I guess I did, little kit. Now, you should go back to sleep. Your own medicine cats will soon find out you are as healthy as can be."
That morning, as Sorrelpaw awoke, she remembered her dream. I hope little Splashkit really is okay. As she thought of the kit, she had no means of knowing that alongside the young one lay a single sorrel stalk.