Ghostface awoke before dawn, when the sky was still littered with stars. He panted, trying to grasp the fragments of dream that threatened to drift from his memory forever. What had happened? Highstar had spoken to him. What did he say? The pale tom concentrated, trying to remember the great leader's words. Finally the full memory of the dream returned. Highstar had padded up to him. They had been at the boulder rock place. Highstar said, "Soon the clans will need you, and the love of two of you will prove helpful enough to bind them." Highstar showed Ghostface the image of two cats together on the stony surface, nuzzling each other. It took a moment for Ghostface to realize that the two cats were him and Fawnshadow.
Shaking his head, Ghostface stepped lightly out of the warriors den. Perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him, why in the world would StarClan ever want two cats of different clans together? Remembering what Fawnshadow had said yesterday, Ghostface contemplated whether he should actually go, but his strange dream persuaded him. The moonhigh patrol had returned long ago, and Ghostface knew that the dawn patrol wouldn't leave for a while. There was only a thin orange line on the eastern horizon to signal that night was ending. Padding out to the center of the sheltered camp, Ghostface looked around and listened. Suddenly Prairieheart poked her head out of the warriors den.
"Ghostface?" She said, looking at him curiously.
Ghostface spun around. "Oh, hi Prairieheart."
"What are you doing?" She asked, padding over to him.
"Nothing. I just felt like going for a morning stretch and maybe hunt."
"Can I come?"
"No. I… I mean, I prefer to hunt alone."
"Oh." Prairieheart said. She stared at him for a moment, and Ghostface held his breath. Was that suspicion dancing in her eyes? Nodding finally, the golden she-cat padded back into the warriors den.
Ghostface breathed a small sigh of relief and padded out of the camp before anyone else could stop him. Ghostface paused and leapt onto a lookout post and glanced around. He couldn't see any patrols moving through the grass. Ghostface leapt down and ran over to Boulder Rock Place. When Ghostface reached the massive gray rock, he leapt onto the ledges. Suddenly Fawnshadow stepped out from behind a bush.
"You showed up." She said.
"Yeah. Why did you want to see me?" Ghostface asked, looking around nervously.
"Oh relax. No one's coming. I just wanted to see if you'd actually show up."
"What! Is that all?" Ghostface said, glaring at her.
Fawnshadow grinned. "And I may have wanted to see you again."
"Why?"
"I don't know, but last night I had another dream." The she-cat said.
"You did?" Ghostface meowed in surprise, remembering his own strange dream. "What was it about?"
"Some cat named Highstar spoke to me and said, 'Your love for the spirit warrior will help the clans in their time of need.'"
"Highstar spoke to me too." Ghostface said, "And he said… 'Soon the clans will need you, and the love of two of you will prove helpful enough to bind them.'"
Fawnshadow looked up at him. "Did he also show you… two cats…?"
Ghostface nodded.
"Then that must mean… StarClan wants us together! But this has never happened before! And… And something terrible is going to happen to the clans!" Fawnshadow looked nervous and she started to shake. Ghostface stood and pressed his nose against her sleek shoulder and began to purr gently. He felt her relax under his touch and he was aware of her sweet scent as it flooded his senses.
"Fawnshadow, as much as I believe in StarClan, I don't think this is going to work, unless you can persuade your clan to stop hunting here. We are going to patrol the rock more now."
"I cant. Longstar is determined to take back boulder rock." She mewed sadly.
"Why?"
"I… I don't know."
They sat in silence, their fur touching gently and the quiet of early dawn surrounding them.
Suddenly Ghostface found himself on boulder rock at night. Fawnshadow was still beside him. Ghostface stood and nudged Fawnshadow. The she-cat opened her eyes and glanced around in confusion.
"Find a way." A deep voice said from behind the two cats. Ghostface whirled around and gasped, recognizing Highstar from his many dreams. The large shining silver tom padded up and touched the two cats on their noses kindly. There was no anger in his eyes as he gazed at the love, once forbidden in any other cat's eyes, that was beginning to blossom."Now awaken, a patrol comes!"
Ghostface closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, it was morning again. Fawnshadow stood and touched his nose. "Let's meet at the fox hole tomorrow before dawn again, okay?" Ghostface nodded and watched her dissapear behind the bushes.
Ghostface flicked his ears back as he heard a couple of cats crashing through the grass, laughing. Panicking, Ghostface leapt behind a jagged rock and began to wash his pelt. The voices were coming nearer. Ghostface hurriedly swiped his paw over his face, then leapt down from the rock. Out of the thick grass pelted Mossclaw, who didn't slow down as her ran towards Ghostface, followed closely by Prairieheart. With a loud oof, Mossclaw landed on top of Ghostface.
"Aha!" Prairieheart said triumphantly, leaping on top of the tortoise shell tom.
"Gerroffmewuzzama'erwiyoo?" Ghostface said, his voice muffled by Mossclaw's rump.
"Yeah, get off Prairieheart!" Mossclaw said. Prairieheart laughed and leapt off.
"Oops, sorry Ghostface. Didn't see you there." She said.
Mossclaw scrambled off of Ghostface. "It's fine." The pale tom said, shaking himself off.
"You okay?" Mossclaw asked in between chuckles as he gazed at him.
"Yeah I'm fine, though I am a little scared that the clan would entrust you two to patrol our borders!" Ghostface spat out some dust.
"Well then maybe you should come with us then!" Prairieheart suggested brightly. Ghostface nodded and followed her as she began to run off again. After a couple steps though, she stopped. "Is that… Hillsclan I smell? This far past Boulder rock?"
Mossclaw stopped beside her. "Yeah, I smell it too! Those dirty rotten prey-stealing flea-bitten fox-faced—"
"Um, maybe it's just the wind." Ghostface said, suddenly feeling nervous. He hoped that it wasn't his pelt that they smelled.
"Maybe…" Prairieheart said. "But we should tell Barkstar anyways. Perhaps we should plan a raid."
"Yeah." Mossclaw said. "And soon. They need to stop before leaf-bare." Prairieheart started off, followed closely by Mossclaw. Ghostface followed a couple of tail-lengths behind them, feeling as if his chest was tightening around his heart. When the reached the stream, Prairieheart paused. It wasn't too wide, and Ghostface knew they could leap across it. Prairieheart leapt and landed easily on the other side. Mossclaw followed suit and they paused at the other side, looking at him expectedly.
A small thought entered Ghostface's mind like a single leaf falling into a pond, but the ripples spreading throughout it. What if he… accidentally fell in. The scent would wash away and they wouldn't suspect anything once they got back to camp. Ghostface purposely perched precariously on a slippery rock and as he kicked off from it, he slipped and landed in the cold stream.
Mossclaw laughed from the bank. Prairieheart scolded him and asked Ghostface, "Are you okay?"
Ghostface nodded and swam to the bank, for once not minding getting we this close to leaf-bare. "I'm fine."
He pulled himself out, hoping that any scent of Fawnshadow had been washed out.