Chapter 5

The air was fresh and clean with a gentle breeze that blowed through the trees. The sky was clear and blue above her head, while puffy, white clouds flouted lazily across the sky. The ground was soft beneath her feet; all the snow and ice had melted away leaving the fresh scent of newleaf. And for the first time since Cinderpelt's death Leafpool felt a deep, relaxing peace wrap around her.

But there was something different about this peace; it seemed as if it weren't really happening—because it wasn't. As soon as Leafpool closed her eyes the surroundings changed. She found that she was on the island and all around her there was the sickening stench of blood. Cats writhed all around her, hissing and spitting as they lashed out at each other, their eyes glazed with hatred. And behind them was the sun sinking beneath the waves of the lake. Then a clear voice came into her head, the one she had heard many times already—"Before there is peace, blood will spill blood and the lake will run red."

Then Leafpool felt the brush of soft fur against her pelt. As she turned her eyes away from the horror a flow of relief surged through her. Standing beside her was Feathertail; her silver tabby pelt was matted with blood just like the other cats but her blue eyes were clear.

"Remember, Leafpool," she murmured in her soft, sweet voice. "In a battle not every cat can come out alive." Then she disappeared in a swirl of starlight, leaving Leafpool alone on the island as the battle raged on around her.

Leafpool's eyes were glazed with terror as she awoke. A shudder pasted through her tabby pelt and she felt as if she would never be able to forget those terrors. A normal warrior would have dismissed the dream as a fantasy but Leafpool could not. She was a medicine cat and she knew this dream would come true—and that some cat would die in this battle.

She regained her composure as Brightheart stuck her head in the den. "Leafpool?" she questioned.

"Yes. What is it?

"Sorreltail wants to see you," she meowed, coming forward to nudge Leafpool out of her nest. "She says one of her kits has a bellyache."

Leafpool yawned, "Ok, just let me get some watermint," She pushed the dream to the back of her mind as she grabbed the herb and followed Brightheart out of the den.

"I don't know what's wrong!" Sorreltail sobbed when she got there. "She was fine last night but when she awoke this morning she was complaining of the most terrible bellyache!"

"Shhhh," Leafpool soothed her friend. "Finchkit will be fine. She just needs some rest."

Sorreltail didn't seem so sure, gazing down at the golden and black kit with worry clear in her amber eyes.

"She'll be fine," Leafpool repeated more firmly, resting her tailtip on Sorreltail's shoulder.

Brackenfur, Sorreltail's mate nodded and began to lick his Sorreltail's ears as Leafpool fed the kit a piece of watermint. She little she-kit hissed in disgust and almost spat the herb out until Leafpool gave her a stern stare.

Leafpool waited in the nursery until sunhigh, watching the kit's progress. She was sleeping peacefully now and not wailing as Sorreltail said she had done. Sorreltail too seemed more relaxed, staring down at her litter with the motherly love that all queens seemed to have. Finally Leafpool left the family alone and padded out the nursery with Brightheart.

"I never thought that Sorreltail would ever have kits of her own," Leafpool meowed out loud.

Brightheart glanced at her, surprised. "Really?" she mewed. "I always thought she had that motherly vibe!"

Leafpool didn't know what to say so Brightheart spoke for her. "Afterall, Swiftpaw always said that Ferncloud would never have any kits when they were apprentices," Her eyes shone with distant memories of her apprenticehood. "But look at her now! She's already had two litters!"

Leafpool purred with amusement, "You can never tell sometimes."

"No, I guess you can't," Brightheart replied. There was a pause then—"Want to come hunting with me?"

Leafpool thought for a moment. At last she replied, "No." Although she wanted to she knew she had other medicine cat business to attend to. She watched as the patched ginger and white she-cat bounded away. She stopped by the apprentice's den to nuzzle her daughter, Whitepaw affectionately. The young she-cat gazed up at her mother and chattered away excitedly.

The empty chasm in Leafpool's heart felt as if it were growing bigger by every heartbeat. And that someday it would pull her in to that eternity of grief and rage as her soul wandered endlessly searching for that freedom of loving a cat. But she couldn't find it no matter how hard she searched. She couldn't love Crowfeather. But she did. She loved him more than anything. The way he talked. The sheen on the black coat. And the love that she'd drown in those dusky, blue eyes.

Then she thought of Cinderpelt.

"You must want to be a medicine cat with all your heart." The medicine cat's last words had been.

"I do," Leafpool had promised. I do."

And she would keep that promise, even if it meant giving up Crowfeather. She would live up to being the great medicine cat that Cinderpelt thought she was. She would embrace that dream and nourish it until it grew like a flower in newleaf. And someday she might even be a cat like her mentor. A cat whose paws led her down the path of StarClan. A path of starlight. A path of broken dreams.

It's short--but it's my favourite chapter yet! I hope you guys like it too, even though it took so long to get up. ' Oh yes and i would like to know your guy's opinions. Should it be Brambleclaw or Leafpool's POV next chapter? Reviews would be appreciated--thanks!!