Chapter 8

"Wow."

That's all that could come into Icepool's head at the time. She was standing with a cat that no ThunderClan-and few RainClan- cats would ever see in their lives. And she was looking at him.

"You led all those cats to a new territory several moons time trip away?" asked Leafpool, "How did you do it?"

"I didn't," he started, "I wasn't even born when my clan left the forest. My mother had told be we were decedents of a cat named Brokentail's followers. We had become a group of rouge cats trying to find somewhere where we could live by the warrior code again.

At the time we were in the Tribe of Rushing Water's cave, that's where I was born. I actually thought I was a tribe cat. We stayed there for about ten moons before setting off again.

But while I was there, I actually became a to-be. But not just a normal to-be, Stonetellers. I had told him I kept seeing these cats in my dreams so he thought I would become the newest leader of The Tribe of Rushing Water.

But before I finished training, my mother convinced the clan that the tribe was not where we were meant to stay, so then we left.

About two moons later we found our home by the river, and we were all given proper clan names again. I became Raincloud, and my best friend became Clouddapple. The rest will be reviled to you when you arrive Icepool."

"But how do I get to you?" she asked, "I don't know the way."

"Let the dying warrior guide you to your first stop, and then the stars will give you your next step," said Spottedleaf.

Then the two cats began to fade and Icepool blinked awake by the moonpool.

"Dying warrior?" she wondered out loud, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She means a falling star," said Leafpool hearing her. When she saw Icepool's confused face she said, "A star that streaks across the night sky. One was used to guide the clans here, now it's to guide you to your new home. Just follow the way it falls."

Icepool nodded telling her she understood. Then they said their final good-byes and Leafpool went back to her camp.

Icepool stretched awake the next morning and looked at her sleeping family around her. Lakeheart and Sandpelt were sleeping together at the entrance to their temporary den, Dawnleaf was stretched out under the hole in the sealing, and Ravenheart was in the back corner cleaning herself.

"Morning," she said, "How was the moonpool last night?"

"Fine," she answered, "I've got a question for you."

"And I've got an answer."

"Why have you been so made at Lakeheart and Sandpelt?"

Ravenheart hissed, "How could they leave me in RiverClan all alone like that? I was only four moons old by the time they both left. Why would they leave just because some stupid tabby was threatening?"

"How could the leave me alone in WindClan?" Dawnleaf's hiss scared her when she realized she wasn't sleeping, "At least you had memory of your family Ravenheart, all I had was a queen with none of my blood to suckle me. And how come you got to be with at least Lakeheart when we had no one?"

They both looked at Icepool and she felt like all the trees around the lake were piling up on her shoulders. Finally she said, "How am I supposed to know? But it doesn't matter anymore, what's important is that we make it to RainClan as soon as possible."

Both the she-cats seemed to calm down as Lakeheart and Sandpelt woke up. Ravenheart went back to cleaning herself and Dawnleaf walked out to go hunting.

"So what did you find out at the moonpool last night Icepool?" asked Lakeheart, "Did they tell you where to go?"

"Sort of," she said, "I have to follow a star that streaks across the sky. But I don't know how to do that in the daylight."

"Well what did they say specifically," asked Sandpelt, "StarClan are never that clear are they?"

"He said to follow the dying warrior," she answered, "I figured that meant the falling star, but I'm not sure anymore."

Icepool wasn't about to tell them she had met with Leafpool that night. That would just look like she wanted to stay, when she'd rather go to a place where she could get some answers. She still wished she didn't have to though. Even with all that, eventually the four clans would be a memory.

"Did StarClan give you any prophesies before all this started?" asked Ravenheart.

Icepool tried to remember. She new they did but she couldn't remember what. She tried to think of what had been happening when she got the prophesy to maybe jerk her memory.

She began to remember it suddenly, "Rain you shall find, Cloud and Star's time over, And destiny awaits three sisters." Every one in the small clearing cocked their heads in confusion. Then she tried to think of the meaning, "I think Rain is RainClan, Thunder is ThunderClan, River is RiverClan, Wind is WindClan and Shadow is ShadowClan."

"What about the family part?" asked Dawnleaf walking into the den with two rabbit in her mouth, "Sandpelt and Lakeheart are clan born. Right?"

"Well I know I wasn't," started Lakeheart, "I was found drowning it the lake when I was only a moon old."

"I was never sure," mentioned Sandpelt, "No one actually treated me like a mother. All the other kits had a proud mother and father by their side when apprenticed, all I had was you Lakeheart."

The two cats began to rub against each other and purr. Icepool was just trying to get the image of two apprentices in love. She always figured that the love part started as warriors. But she lived in a different world; she would never feel what it was like to be in love with a cat.

That day, Icepool kept watch on the sky for something that could lead them to their new home, but all she saw were clouds. She saw on cloud that seemed to look like a cat running into the mountains toward the rising sun. But she couldn't be sure. Even if it was, that wasn't a dying warrior.

At about sunhigh Icepool decided to have a look around the moonpool. She had never been there in daylight before and she never got the chance to look around at night. So now would be the best chance.

She walked around to the back side of the hollow and sniffed around. She started to smell this scent that reminded her of the medicine cats' den in the ThunderClan camp. She followed the scent and came to a broad leafed plant. Chervil! As she sniffed around more, she found every single herb that Leafpool had taught her. If only this was in ThunderClan territory, she thought, we'd never have to search all day for herbs.

Now twilight was approaching and she wanted to get one last look at the sky on the hill before the sun fully set. She walked up to the peak. She looked up at the twilight sky and saw a cloud that seemed to be changing shape. It turned into a cat-like shape, apprentice shaped, and it seemed to just sit there. Then another cloud came over and also took the shape of a cat. Only this cat was hissing. Before she could get a clear look, night time winds blew the clouds away from the setting sun, just like the other cloud from earlier. Then the clouds disappeared and there was no more wind.

She searched the sky one last time before heading back to the makeshift den. In the den she sat next to Dawnleaf below the appearing stars and they began to clean each other.

"So have you gotten anything from StarClan about the dying warrior?" she asked, "Or where to go?"

"Well I did see these strange clouds," she mentioned, "They all headed toward the direction the sun rises. Maybe we have to go there."

"Sounds reasonable," Dawnleaf answered, "Just as unclear as StarClan usually are."

Icepool purred in amusement, "We should still wait for the dying warrior before we set off," she mentioned between licks, "Rainstar and Spottedleaf never said anything about clouds showing where to go."

"Rainstar?"

Icepool took the rest of the time before all the stars came out to tell her about the leader of RainClan so many moons ago. She also told her about the meeting with Leafpool and how she told her what the dying warrior sign meant. Surprisingly, Dawnleaf didn't seem to care that she'd saw her old mentor again. And she just gave a snort when Icepool asked who her mentor was and if she'd miss him.

"Truthfully," said Dawnleaf, "I can't wait to get out of here. It's hard to have someone you love in other clans. Not a tom, you and Ravenheart. We're all kin, so we have to stick together."

Icepool wasn't shocked when she didn't mention their parents. They were just along for the ride. No one told them to travel to RainClan with them, the just came. Icepool was actually wondering if they would live in RainClan or not.

The group of cats walked to the peak of the hill after all the stars came out. Icepool looked up at them and looked for the falling one. Suddenly, one streaked out across the sky toward the rising moon.

"Looks like we should get moving toward the mountains," she said, "Let's get to the edge of the woods, and then we'll get some sleep for the night."

"We're leaving now?" asked Dawnleaf.

"Yes now," said Ravenheart, "Icepool you take the lead, I'll keep guard in back, and Dawnleaf, you make sure our parents don't fall over from walking."

"We're not elders yet," said Sandpelt.

"You might as well be though," purred Lakeheart, "you're scratched up enough to look like you battled a pack of badgers!"

"Actually it was cat crazy twolegs," purred Sandpelt back.

"Can we just get going?" said Dawnleaf, running out of patience, "The faster we get to the mountains, the quicker I get to sleep."

The small group walked through the small stretch of woodland between the moonpool and the mountains. She looked down at her paws and saw some snow beginning to fall onto the ground again. It wouldn't be very long till the heart of leaf-bare came. Then new-leaf wouldn't be far behind.

They kept going through the trees, keeping eyes and ears open for danger. But all she could hear was the rustle of prey in the undergrowth. It still looked like the woodland in ThunderClan territory. She was guessing it felt weird for Ravenheart; she was used to water everywhere she went. Now she was in think woodland, StarClan knows how far from water.

But it would be especially be aukweird for Dawnleaf. She was used to living in the wide open space of the moor, not trees every where you look. And when she looked back, she seemed to be crouched lower, and she was staring nervously at the trees above her head.

They kept on moving through the woods till after moonhigh before they finally found the edge of the trees. Dawnleaf darted out into the open space as if she just escaped joining StarClan that night. But it wasn't surprising seeing how she had seemed to feel trapped under the trees.

"So where are we sleeping?" asked Sandpelt, "my paws are sore."

Icepool looked around across the line of trees. She could see some bushes and low branches here and there, but nothing that they could shelter in. She looked up to the tree tops and saw that the branches were clustered together. She leaped up a tree and walked out on to the leaves that were weaved together.

She lightly stepped on the leaves, and when they didn't give, she put more pressure on the leaves until she was lying down on them. They didn't even give the slightest hint of breaking through and letting her fall to the ground.

"Come up here!" she called back, "The leaves are so close together they could hold a badger!"

Slowly they all came up onto the branches, even Sandpelt managed to pull himself up. They all eventually made their new makeshift nests in the tree. Even Ravenheart decided to join them when she usually denied a lot of things that could help them.

"I'm going to go find you something for your pads Sandpelt," said Icepool, "I think I scented something on the way here that could help."

Icepool leaped out of her nest back to the ground and began following her own scent to where she scented the herb before. She had her nose to the ground tracing her scent until she found this strange plant. Then all their scents just vanished. Vanished like the memory of them in the four clans.

She sniffed every where around the odd plant but the scent trail was nowhere to be found. She looked at the plant. It had large broad leaves, and they were an odd green color with bluish spots.

She sniffed the plant and it had no scent at all. I guess it's an herb that eliminates scent. Maybe if I put it around the tree it'll keep away any foxes and badgers, she wondered, but I still need to find that herb for Sandpelt.

Icepool got her distance between her and the scent eliminating plant she decided to call nostrans. Now she new the leaves would get rid of any scent within a fox length of the herb.

She began searching for the herb and when she found it she went back and put it on a nostrans leaf. Then she put the two ends of the leaf together and began to head back toward the tree.

When she got there she lept up the tree and was careful not to wake her sisters who had dosed off before she left. She walked over to Sandpelt and put the herb on his pads.

"What's that smell?" asked Lakeheart.

"I don't smell anything," said Sandpelt. And somehow he seemed to feel no pain from the herb, which always stung when she used it after walking on the old thunderpath to much.

"Exactly," answered Lakeheart, "What's that leaf you used?"

"I call it nostrans," Icepool answered, "it might have a different real name, but I'm not sure. It can eliminate all the scent a fox-length around it."

"Wow," Sandpelt let out a huge yawn and fell asleep.

"Well get some sleep Icepool," said Lakeheart, "It's after moonhigh and you need to get some sleep."

Icepool took that advice and curled up in her tree nest. It felt good to know that they had finally got on their way. Now, nothing could stop them.