"Ghostface! Get up!" A voice entered Ghostface's dream and he felt paws pressing against his side. He groaned and opened an eye to find Mossclaw standing on top of him. "Barkstar's called a clan meeting." The tortoiseshell tom stepped off.
Ghostface got up and stretched, wishing he didn't have to leave the warmth of his nest. Everyone else was already outside. Ghostface settled himself beside Mossclaw. Spotting Thunderhawk in the crowd, he meowed a greeting and nudged her gently. She looked tired yet excited.
"At the gathering last night, as you may have heard, we found out that the other clans have cats that are getting sick with some unnamable disease." Barkstar said from atop deadtrunk. "The gathering was cut short due to the cats starting to argue… heatedly."
The cats who had stayed behind muttered curiously, but otherwise the crowd was silent. Barkstar continued, "About a half moon ago, Shrubfoot received a vision from StarClan and a prophecy."
Shrubfoot leapt up onto the rock. For a moment she stared at the crowd and then described her vision to them. Ghostface began to knead his paws nervously. Would she tell the clan what she thought it meant? When she finished she paused, staring at the crowd. After a few moments, the cats asked, "What does it mean?"
"I believe that it means that where Ghostface used to live, The Tribe of Stones and the Tribe of Wind, at the MoonFalls, where he said they would talk with StarClan, is where the cats will be saved from this… this… plague. And the cat who is to lead them: Ghostface."
A small gasp rippled through the crowd as they all turned to stare at him. He heard Icetail hiss slightly and he noticed Shadedpelt narrow his eyes. He heard Rabbittail say, "But he just got here! He's barely a warrior! Surely you're mistaken, Shrubfoot."
Despite being a fairly young cat, she looked old and tired at that moment. Taking a quick breath, Shrubfoot turned to Rabbittail and said, "Do you doubt my word? It is as clear as day."
Ghostface felt uncomfortable under their gaze. Even Mossclaw was surprised. Barkstar spoke up. "If this is true, then we've got to somehow warn the other clans before it's too late!"
Mottledsong spoke up, "But how? You heard the clans last night, everyone is blaming everyone else. They wouldn't allow any other cats on their territory, even if we carried a fresh killed deer for them!"
Barkstar nodded to Mottledsong, "You are right to be skeptical. I must discuss this with my senior warriors and medicine cat."
Coldpelt, Shadedpelt and Shrubfoot accompanied him into his den while the other cats dispersed. Thunderhawk yawned in front of him. He nudged her gently. "Go get some sleep. You look tired and cold." She nodded in agreement and jogged over to the apprentices den, but then remembering her new status, veered into the warriors den. Ghostface smiled. He hadn't had the chance to be an apprentice here, and he almost wished he had.
He walked swiftly towards the entrance, hoping to go visit Fawnshadow when suddenly he was stopped by Shadedpelt. "I would like you to go on a hunting patrol to the Upstone place and the pasture. Take Thunderhawk and—"
"Thunderhawk is tired from her vigil, she's sleeping." Ghostface reminded the tom.
Shadedpelt nodded slowly, "Oh, yes. Then take Icetail and Mossclaw." The dark tom didn't seem happy that Ghostface had corrected him and he padded off swiftly with his apprentice, Woodpaw.
Ghostface jogged off to find Mossclaw and Icetail. The three warriors ran swiftly towards the Northern corner of the territory.
"I'll cover this half of the upstones. Mossclaw, you can get the other half and Ghostface, you start on the pasture." Icetail said, staring defiantly at them as if challenging them to defy him. Mossclaw just shrugged and padded off. Ghostface did the same, acting as if he hardly heard him. It was cold out again this morning and most of the horses and cows in the pasture were turned to the wind.
Ghostface eyed the creatures nervously and began to sniff for prey. The field had been grazed low and there was little cover. The patched warrior sighed. Icetail had sent him here on purpose. Determinedly he crouched and began to creep across the field, sniffing and searching for several minutes. Suddenly one of the cows shifted and a hare leapt from it's hiding place not far from him. Whipping around he gave chase. The hare was huge and it was crashing towards a horse. At the last second it neatly avoided the huge animal. Ghostface tried to turn but it was no use. He darted through it's legs, his claws catching on it's back leg and his tail whipping it. With a loud, horrible cry it bucked and began to thunder away. Ghostface, frightened, slunk away, still searching for the hare. It had paused and was standing about six tail lengths away.
Ghostface, forgetting about his near death from the horse, gave chase again and this time the hare wasn't fast enough. Triumphantly he killed it and was about to drag it towards the fence when he felt the ground rumbling. He looked up and saw the massive beasts pounding towards him.
Ghostface's stomach lurched. Grabbing the hare by the ears he half ran, half stumbled out of their path. They narrowly avoided him and his prize, their hooves coming inches from his head. The thunderous beat matched the racing of his heart and when they had passed, Ghostface heard a yowl from the fence. Icetail was perched on it, calling to him.
Glad that he had saved his hard won prey; Ghostface dragged it back to him. Mossclaw joined Icetail on the fence and asked, "What in StarClan above happened?"
"I was chasing the hare and I guess I set off a stampede." Ghostface said, glaring at Icetail.
"Perhaps you should have been more careful." The silver warrior said, sneering.
Ghostface pretended to not have heard him and said, "What have you caught so far?"
Mossclaw pointed to a pile of prey. It was a good-sized pile; there was a dove, 3 mice, a vole and a magpie. Ghostface grinned. His hare was about the size of half the pile.
"Lets head back." Ghostface said. They somehow managed to drag their catch back in one trip, despite Ghostface being tired from his near trampling. When they got to camp, they immediately dropped it off on the fresh kill pile.
"Where is everyone?" He heard Mossclaw mew and Ghostface looked around. He spotted the cats crowding around on the far side of camp.
Curiously the three cats joined them. The crowd was whispering furiously. Suddenly Shrubfoot appeared out of her den and yowled. The cats grew quiet and moved out of her way as she moved towards the center. Ghostface gasped as he spotted the pelt of Lichenfur lying limp in the middle.