Ravenheart nervously crushed the ice she had retrieved to put in the medicine den. She felt a tail touch her ear and she jumped. "Oh, it's you. Sorry, Willowmoon. I've been jumpy lately." The pale gray she-cat nodded. "Ravenheart, Hailclaw is badly injured, and I need to stay here to help him. You must share tongues with StarClan alone tonight, as I fear his wounds will get worse." Ravenheart just stared at Willowmoon. "Alone? With the threat from the coyotes? Which was mainly directed at me, the one who felled Furyclaw?" Ravenheart's voice was panicky and she crushed the ice nervously. Willowmoon licked her chest and said "I would not send you out alone, you will have an escort." Ravenheart stopped kneading the ice and asked who. The answer came promptly.
"Sealfin is willing to go with you. Do you think she will be enough?"
"Absolutely!" Ravenheart purred, relieved.
"Then you will depart as soon as she rests up, the poor thing is dead tired from her vigil. I should get back to Hailclaw, I can hear him moaning." Ravenheart nodded and nudged over the crushed ice.
"Take this, it could help."
"Thank you, Ravenheart." Ravenheart dipped her head and started on some new ice as Willowmoon hauled the slush back towards Hailclaw.
The sun beat down on the two cat's pelts. Being the warm season of Sun, the small stream was bigger than it was for the whole year. Actually, it looked wider than Sealfin had ever seen it. Ravenheart led the way across the narrow ice bridge that went over the stream. As Sealfin stepped off the bridge, there was a horrible crack. She jumped, startled, and scurried away from the water as the thin bridge collapsed into the rushing water. "How will we get back?" Ravenheart cried miserably.
"That can't be the only way across?" Sealfin mewed desperately, peering down the stream to see if she could find any more bridges.
"You're right, that can't be the only one." Ravenheart forced herself to stay calm. She turned and beckoned with her tail for Sealfin to follow.
They approached a large cavern of sheer white ice and Sealfin stopped in awe. "Is that it? Is that the Glacier?" Ravenheart purred in amusement. "No, that's the cave for the Glacier. The Glacier itself is silvery and smooth, much more impressive."
Sealfin looked like an excited kit, staring at everything, asking a lot of questions, and bouncing around so much that Ravenheart thought the cave would collapse from Sealfin's pounding. The Glacier rested in the back of the cave, looking as wonderful as Ravenheart had described it. Ravenheart led Sealfin up the passage to the top. "It's closest to StarClan," Ravenheart had explained. "Which is why the medicine cats made the passage." Sealfin nodded and kept on climbing. The top was flat but for a sharp chunk of ice near the center. "That's where we meet StarClan," Ravenheart said. "We touch our noses to that ice that sticks out over there." Sealfin walked over and sniffed at the ice. "It smells like sap." she purred dreamily. Ravenheart trotted over to her. "Alright, you sit over there-" she pointed with her nose at a spot close by "-and I'll do what we came here for." Sealfin immediately obeyed, and Ravenheart touched her nose to the cold, hard ice, alone for the first time.
The starry cats appeared soon, every one looking like they had a purpose. Wavewhisker, the medicine cat before Willowmoon, looked doubtful and scared. "Is Willowmoon here?" he mewed.
"No, she's tending to Hailclaw back at camp." Ravenheart responded. Wavewhisker's tail drooped and his eyes clouded. Ravenheart turned towards the other cats. "What needs to be said should be said now. We must find a way to get back across the stream."
"That is the least of your worries, we assure you." Skystar said darkly. Ravenheart shuddered. Flowpelt, Ravenheart's long dead mother, hissed at him. "She has enough to worry about, and I suggest you stop giving her even more!" Flowpelt curled her tail around Ravenheart, making her feel safe and comfortable. The misty, indefinite color of StarClan faded into the white of the snow and ice that made up IceClan's camp. Ravenheart felt warm all over, as if tucked into Flowpelt's belly as a kit. She could tell, however, that Flowpelt had left her side, though trough the air came her disembodied whisper.
'It cannot be stopped. But when the warm wind catches the wing, the answer lies south.'
Ravenheart watched in horror as the ice beneath their camp melted and everything plunged into the bottomless ocean beneath. The indefinite color of StarClan came back into view. "There is another prophecy," Flowpelt told her "Listen." The scene didn't change this time, and Skystar murmured the prophecy.
'The one who will lead can tell what is coming.'
The short prophecy mystified Ravenheart, but she didn't pay much attention. It was nothing compared to the first ominous prophecy. Stress caused her to knead her paws anxiously. StarClan faded and the silvery Glacier came back into view. "Ravenheart?" Sealfin's voice came from a place far from where she had been sitting. "Sealfin, wher-" Ravenheart froze
"Is that supposed to be there?" Sealfin asked anxiously. Ravenheart slowly shook her head. A large dent filled with silvery water sat in the middle of the Glacier. Water dripped from the sides of the Glacier, hitting the ground steadily. Sealfin had the same worry as Ravenheart. The Glacier is melting!