Chapter 10
Squirrelflight's P.O.V.
Squirrelflight padded out of the Nursery. She padded to her father's den. She called a greeting and padded in when she heard "Enter". She saw her father blinking his eyes and stretching.
"Squirrelflight, what is it?"
"I was just wondering when we were leaving to find SkyClan and the Tribe of Rushing Water."
Firestar sighed. "I don't know. Graystripe would look after the Clan well, but I can't leave my Clan."
Squirrelflight flattened her ears. "Dad! This is the will of StarClan! You taught me to never argue with the will of StarClan. They sent me that prophecy. Doom is upon us. We must go! StarClan is depending on us and the rest of the Clans!"
Firestar's ears twitched. "Rest of the Clans? I thought it would be just you, me, Sandstorm, Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, Brambleclaw, Crowfeather, Tawnypelt, and Stormfur would go?"
"The prophecy say we must unite! The leaders should go as well."
Firestar narrowed his eyes. "Did StarClan tell you this?"
Squirrelflight shuffled her paw, and her tail twitched nervously. "Yes, they did. They came to me last night. They said all the Clan leaders have to come; we must learn to cooperate to one another."
Firestar nodded his head. "Then I'll announce it at the Gathering tonight. You'll recite the prophecy."
Squirrelflight flicked her tail in acknowledgement. She dipped her head and padded out of her father's den.
She padded over to the Nursery, found a sunny spot and laid down against the ground, sunning herself and her swollen belly. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Squirrelflight woke up at The Island. She saw Bluestar, Spottedleaf, and Yellowfang. "Greetings." She dipped her head.
"Squirrelflight, the other Clan leaders will think you're lying. So the original leaders will make an appearance when the time is right. They are Skywatcher, River, Thunder, Shadow, and Wind. Look." Bluestar waved her blue-gray tail at five cats strolling toward her.
Squirrelflight crouched on the ground at the sight of the five original leaders. They flicked their tails, a sign that Squirrelflight should sit up. Squirrelflight sat up.
"We've heard so much about you, Squirrelflight. You're the daughter of Firestar, the Fire that saved the Clans. Therefore, you are the Fire that will save the Clans. And your mate, Brambleclaw, the son of the Tiger." Squirrelflight flicked her tail agitated, but kept silent. "Don't worry. He's a loyal cat at heart. You chose well. Even if the Ash doesn't think so. The Bramble is an important part of your life. You will have many kits. Not just Oakkit, Bluekit, Ivykit and Dovekit. Those are just part of the prophecy. You will serve as a queen for many more moons."
"Thunder, quit overwhelming the Squirrel. I'm sorry Squirrelflight. Allow us to introduce ourselves before Thunder keeps rambling about your future. I'm River, this is Thunder, as you know" -River flicked her tail at a smoky gray tom- "This is Wind" - her tail flicked in the general direction of a brown tabby tom that reminded her of Onewhisker- "This is Shadow" - River's blue-gray tail pointed to a black she-cat- "And this is Sky. Firestar calls him Skywatcher-" her tail pointed at a dark gray tom with pale blue eyes- Though he's not the original leader when SkyClan lived here, he wanted to come. We'll be there tonight at the Gathering. When they start protests of disbelief. Thunder, you may continue your rambling if you wish. We're going to get ready."
River, Shadow, Wind and Skywatcher padded off. Thunder, however, stayed. The smoky gray tom looked at Squirrelflight until her fur pricked. Then he spoke.
"Squirrelflight, you'll find kin where your going, picking up a couple of cats on the way and an admirer or two, but don't forget your destiny with the Bramble. One more thing. Your father heard a prophecy from Sky when he was saving Sky's Clan. He said There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the star in their paws. They will be called The Three. Two of them are in your Clan right now: The Jay and the Lion. The next one is the Dove. There's a prophecy that we came up with:
With the sharp-eyed jay, and the ferocious lion,
peace will come on the dove's gentle wing, but
the uncontrollable ivy must be stopped before
she strangles the gentle dove.
"Do not take this lightly Squirrelflight. There is doom ahead of us is this prophecy is too come true. The Dark Forest will return if the Ivy joins them." Thunder flicked his tail and padded away.
Squirrelflight turned to Bluestar. The blue-gray she-cat shrugged. "Thunder can be a little…er, strange at times and a little paranoid."
"I heard that!" Squirrelflight jumped as she heard Thunder's deep meow hiss from across the clearing.
Bluestar rolled her eyes. "It's time you must return to your Clan, Squirrelflight. Oh! And Beware the crow that pounces the leaf. Farewell, Squirrelflight."
Squirrelflight woke up and licked her paw, then drew it over her ears. She looked up as the heat of the sun disappeared. It was Brambleclaw. She purred as she saw him.
"Squirrelflight, Firestar want you to come to the Gathering. Do you know why? Shouldn't you be resting?"
Squirrelflight narrowed her eyes and snapped, "I've been resting all day!" She softened her voice. "Besides I could do with the exercise and so could Silverflower and Sandstorm."
Brambleclaw looked as if he was about to disagree, but before he could, Squirrelflight flattened her ears and hissed, "Who having kits here? Me or you?"
Brambleclaw's ear twitched. "Jayfeather sure has your temper. Even if he isn't your kit. But your right. You're the one having kits, not me."
Squirrelflight nodded and meowed, "I coming because I've had another dream from StarClan and one before I woke up."
Brambleclaw pricked his ears, his eyes shining. "Really?" Squirrelflight nodded. "Well, tell me about it, er, them!"
"I'll only tell you about one. The other is basically about my life." Brambleclaw nodded, his tail twitched impatiently.
As Squirrelflight told Brambleclaw her dream about the Clan leaders having to go on the journey with them, she couldn't help but think about Bluestar's parting words: Beware the crow that pounces the leaf.
Squirrelflight looked up as Firestar called the Clan together. She got up and padded over to the rest of the Clan. Sandstorm and Silverflower got out of the Nursery and sat beside Squirrelflight.
"I want to take to the Gathering with me these cats: Sandstorm, Silverflower, Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Cloudtail, Graystripe, Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Icecloud, Foxleap, Snowpaw, and Badgerpaw. Brackenfur, your in charge while we're at the Gathering." The golden brown warrior nodded his head. Firestar leaped down from the Highledge and flicked his tail. The cats he called followed him out of the clearing, into the forest and to the border with WindClan.
Halfway across the border, they saw Onestar and his cats. They paused to wait. Firestar nodded his head, but kept a steady, brisk pace to The Island.
Squirrelflight saw Crowfeather try to talk to his kits, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather; they ignored him, he kept trying to talk to them. Squirrelflight ran as fast as her swollen belly would allow to intercept him. She hissed, her fur bristling. Crowfeather flinched, but stood his ground.
Squirrelflight looked at her adopted kits and asked, "Is this stupid furball bothering you?"
Lionblaze, Hollyleaf and Jayfeather purred their thanks and nodded. Squirrelflight walked beside her adopted kits and asked them, "Do you want to be the older siblings of my kits? I mean, I did raise you, so you know me as your mother…or you used too." Squirrelflight flicked her ears nervously.
But Lionblaze, Hollyleaf and Jayfeather all looked at her warmly. "Yes, we would love that. You may not be our birth mother, but you're still our mother that raised us."
Squirrelflight purred. She scented Brambleclaw and turned to see his padding his way over to them. "Hey. Um, what's going on here? You guys look as if you as if you just re-bonded." Squirrelflight, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Jayfeather nodded. "That's great."
"They have agreed to be the older siblings of our kits."
Brambleclaw looked at them in shock. "Is this true?"
Jayfeather rolled his eyes and Hollyleaf hissed in annoyance, and Lionblaze answered, "Yes, it is. Squirrelflight is the only mother we have ever known and we love her. We didn't know that until we thought she was dead when Ashfur 'killed' her. We knew then that we thought of her as our mother."
Squirrelflight ducked her head in embarrassment and Brambleclaw, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Jayfeather all purred in amusement. She flicked her tail angrily, but just searched her gaze for The Island. They were almost there.
"Brambleclaw, maybe you should go talk to Firestar about the Gathering. I have to talk to these three." All three of them exchanged a look, wondering what they possibly could of done.
Brambleclaw shook his head and purred. "It's just like the old days. Alright, I'm off. See you guys later." He gave Squirrelflight a lick on her head and bounded off to meet Firestar.
Squirrelflight gazed at her adopted kits. They looked at her with innocent expressions.
Then they reached the bridge where they had to cross to get to The Island. Firestar went first, then Cloudtail. She gazed at her adopted kits.
"I'll talk to you at the Gathering. Meet me by the hazel bush. We'll talk about it." She saw Icecloud, Foxleap, Snowpaw, and Badgerpaw pad along the log and disappear. Lionblaze and Hollyleaf leaped onto it, then Jayfeather. Silverflower clawed her way up the log and padded slowly along it, Graystripe following her; Sandstorm did the same.
Finally it was her turn. She took a deep breath and clawed her way up the log. She was aware of Brambleclaw following her. She put on paw in front of the other, aware of the water below her. She shivered as she remembered she almost drowned. Only the help of Mistyfoot had saved her life. She reached the end of the log and slowly and carefully, aware of her swollen belly, she got off the log with a grunt.
She padded off to the hazel bush and found her three adopted kits there. She pushed her way in and sat down with a loud "huff".
Lionblaze, Hollyleaf and Jayfeather looked at her and Hollyleaf asked her, "What's this about?"
"I had a dream before the Gathering, from StarClan." The three of them pricked their ears. "I met Bluestar, Spottedleaf, and Yellowfang, but I also met the original leaders. Thunder told me There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the star in their paws. Then gave me a prophecy:
With the sharp-eyed jay, and the ferocious lion,
peace will come on the dove's gentle wing, but
the uncontrollable ivy must be stopped before
she strangles the gentle dove.
"Do you three know what that means? Jayfeather?"
Jayfeather sighed. "I knew you had this dream."
"How?"
"Thunder is right; I'm one of the Three. I can walk in other cats dreams and learn their secrets and I can see in them."
Squirrelflight pricked her ears. "Really?"
"Yes. And Lionblaze is also one of the Three."
"What can he do?"
"I can fight in battles and not get a scratch on me."
"Wow. What about Hollyleaf? Is she one of the Three?"
Hollyleaf shook her head. "I don't have any special powers. We thought it was me, but it wasn't."
"Wait what was the prophecy Thunder gave you?"
" He said: With the sharp-eyed jay, and the ferocious lion,
peace will come on the dove's gentle wing, but
the uncontrollable ivy must be stopped before
she strangles the gentle dove."
"Dove? Ivy? Hmm. We have our next possibilities."
Squirrelflight gasped. Ivy? Dove? Weren't those the names of two of my kits? Squirrelflight shook her head, It couldn't be. She saw Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Jayfeather all looked at her; they had heard her gasp.
"Do you know anything about this?" Squirrelflight nodded her head. "Well?"
Squirrelflight sighed. "There's another's prophecy; one for me and Brambleclaw. It says this: The squirrel will take flight,
but with the claw of a bramble,
they have a wing of a dove, a cloud
of blue, a storm of an ivy an a heart
of an oak.
"It goes on with this: The fearful ivy will take down
the gentle dove, but only the jay,
lion, oak, squirrel and bramble
will be able to save her.
"Finally the last part is a warning: Beware of the ash that seems
not to mind, but is jealous and
will do anything to seek the squirrel's
affection and love. The bramble and
ash will fight to the death."
Jayfeather, Hollyleaf and Lionblaze flicked their tails. "Hmm. Interesting. So both of the possibilities will be your kits. Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, you know what to do: look for signs of the One. Squirrelflight, don't tell anyone about this."
"Not even Brambleclaw?"
Jayfeather hesitated. He knew Squirrelflight wanted to show Brambleclaw that he could trust her. "All right. You can tell him and maybe Firestar, but no more. You can't tell Leafpool. Come on. The Gatherings starting."