Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors, but I do own the characters created for this fanfiction. Please don't intentionally steal any of my characters.
Chapter 3
Rowanwind stared out at the surface of the lake. The lake was so still it was reflecting the sparkling stars high above the earth. Rowanwind sighed and stared upward at the night sky. Somewhere up there, he knew, Cottonbrave was watching over them all. Despite all of the fights they'd had, he missed his cousin.
"Hello, Rowanwind."
He turned to see Firestar walking toward him. Firestar was a cat who had, many generations and moons ago, been the leader of ThunderClan. He'd had many adventures during his lifetime, and those adventures were still told by the elders to the apprentices and kits of ThunderClan. Firestar was one of the most legendary cats ThunderClan had ever had. Rowanwind was on of his descendants, as well.
"Hello, Firestar," Rowanwind whispered.
Firestar sat beside him. His green eyes were curious. "I know something is troubling you, Rowanwind."
Rowanwind wrapped his tail around his paws. "Did I do the right thing when I gave Cottonbrave his warrior name just before he died?"
"Is that really all that is troubling you?" Firestar purred. "Rowanwind, you are more special than you realize. You are one of the youngest deputies ThunderClan has ever had. I'm quite certain, in a time where your leader is too injured to commence a ceremony, you can instead. StarClan understands that Clawstar is too injured to even leave Frostflower's den at the moment."
"Did I interpret Ashfang's words correctly?" Rowanwind asked. All of this talk of ceremonies had made him think of Duskpaw's apprentice ceremony.
Firestar touched Rowanwind's shoulder with his tail-tip. "Why don't you ask her that yourself?" The ginger tom stood and began to walk away. Rowanwind watched the familiar scene of Firestar walking across the surface of the lake and then up into the sky. As Firestar reached the darkness above, his pelt began to shine.
"You've grown up so much since I left you."
Rowanwind spun around to see Ashfang walking toward him. She looked just as he remembered her; her silver pelt was slashed with dark gray stripes and her light green eyes, which she'd inherited from her father, Clawstar, were shimmering.
"Ashfang!" Rowanwind ran to her and touched his nose to hers.
"I can't stay long, Rowanwind," Ashfang whispered. A new pain filled her eyes.
Rowanwind sat back and looked at his old mentor. "Firestar said you would tell me if I interpreted your words correctly."
"You did. I knew you would understand the moment Switch looked at you," Ashfang replied. She looked apprehensively upward at the part of the sky that Firestar had disappeared into.
"What is it, Ashfang? I know there's something you want to tell me," Rowanwind said. He glanced upward as well.
"Something is coming, Rowanwind. Something that is not related to DarkClan in any way," Ashfang whispered, her voice full of mystery. "Something evil."
"What is it?" Rowanwind asked, looking at her again.
"Not even StarClan can see it clearly. It is shrouded in shadows," Ashfang said. "I can only warn you that something is coming."
"Will StarClan be able to help us?" Rowanwind wondered.
"It's too early to tell," Ashfang said with a sorrowful shake of her head. "I must go. StarClan needs me."
Rowanwind touched his nose to Ashfang's cheek. "Farewell, then."
He watched his old mentor race away across the lake and up into the sky. What could possibly be going on in StarClan that made Ashfang rush away in such urgency? Roawnwind remembered the few cats of SpiritClan, DarkClan's version of StarClan, he had met, and how Firestar had told him that StarClan and SpiritClan were fighting in the heavens.
Could StarClan possibly be losing their battle?
"Attack!"
Rowanwind looked up from his morning meal to see Meadowlark rushing into camp. Her yowl made several other cats in the camp jump.
"DarkClan is coming!" Meadowlark yowled.
Rowanwind hurriedly got to his feet and began to call out orders. "Get the queens and kits into the nursery! Quickpelt, go in there with them! Oakpelt and Granitetail, watch the nursery entrance! Cedarspirit and Silvermoon, help the elders get inside and then guard them! Thornfur, Crookedfern, and Reedclaw, guard Frostflower's den! Don't let any DarkClan cats in there! Everyone else, prepare yourselves!"
Rowanwind watched his Clanmates rushing around to follow his orders. It amazed him how completely they respected him. He stationed himself toward the front entrance with Rainfur, Thunderstripe, Wetpelt, Darkeye, Gingerheart, and Stormypelt. The apprentices and Stormypelt's parents were scattered around the rest of the camp.
All of the cats heard the DarkClan battle cries getting closer.
"Those closest behind me, follow me! We need to try and head off as many as we can so they don't all enter the camp!" Rowanwind shouted.
Taking the lead, Rowanwind led Rainfur, Thunderstripe, Wetpelt, Darkeye, Gingerheart, and Stormypelt through the tunnel. They raced into the forest and came upon the DarkClan patrol attacking them.
A quick count and Rowanwind realized that there were at least eighteen DarkClan cats attacking them. He noticed around seven of the cats were smaller and skinnier; they looked like apprentices. Before now, he hadn't seen any of them in any battles that he could remember.
The two groups collided. Rowanwind slammed ino a black tom with dark orange eyes. For a moment, he thought the tom was Sly, but a moment later he realized it wasn't. This tom was much sleaker than Sly.
The two of them rolled across the grassy forest floor, hissing and clawing at each other. He slammed the tom's head on a large rock and the cat became disoriented. Rowanwind leapt away and slammed his paws onto the shoulders of a she-cat who was pinning Wetpelt to the ground. Wetpelt lurched forward and snagged her teeth into the she-cat's leg. Rowanwind listened to the she-cat wail before turning away.
He glanced around, trying to figure out how many of the DarkClan cats had slipped past them. None of the apprentices, or students as DarkClan called them, were around. Three of the larger cats had disappeared as well.
Nearby, Stormypelt was fighting against a tom and a she-cat at the same time. Rowanwind rushed over to help her. He clawed a deep scratch into the flank of the tom, who turned with a hiss to look at Rowanwind. Rowanwind suddenly recognized the cat as the tom who had tried to kill him during a battle on the island where the Clan cats gathered every full moon. This was the tom that had allowed Gore to replace him; Gore had nearly suffocated Rowanwind to death until Gingerheart and Lionstorm had come to his rescue.
"A em e betgoh!" the familiar tom shouted. Rowanwind gasped as the tom began to grow bigger.
Rowanwind understood the strange words as, "I am a badger!"
The tom began to grow even larger. His fur rippled as muscles grew upon muscles. His nose elongated, his ears turned from pointed to rounded, and his long, black fur turned gray with white stripes. His light brown eyes became the beady, black eyes of a full grown, male badger.
Can I do that too? Rowanwind wondered to himself.
He felt the familiar tingling in his paws. Words he barely understood hissed from between his lips, "A em e fex!"
Rowanwind felt his body changing. His nose grew outward to a point; the teeth in his mouth grew larger and more jagged. His body grew larger and more slender. His ginger fur turned slightly darker and his paws became black. His tail fur became bushier and the tip turned white.
The DarkClan cats stopped battling and all turned to stare at Rowanwind, who was now a fox instead of a cat.
"How?" the badger rumbled in the tongue of cats.
Rowanwind gave a fox growl. He rushed at a DarkClan tom and snapped his teeth in front of the tom's face. With a yowl, the tom raced away into the distance. The other DarkClan cats raced away after the first tom, leaving the badger by himself.
The badger reared up and shouted after them, "Cowards!" He glanced at all of the cats and the fox around him and decided he was vastly outnumbered. Within moments, the badger was a cat once more and was racing away.
"Let's get back to camp," Rowanwind said in cat, so the others could understand him.
They all looked at him with fright in their eyes, but they followed his orders just the same. Rowanwind led his group back toward camp. All of them could hear the yowls of battle inside. The tunnel entrance was once again trampled, and Rowanwind heard the sound of another badger roaring. He raced into the camp and looked around for the badger.
The DarkClan badger had cornered Duskpaw and Palepaw near one of the camp's walls. There was no way for the two to escape. Rowanwind rushed toward them, and Palepaw screamed, "A fox!" Duskpaw saw Rowanwind heading for them as well, but there was a knowing look in the tom's mismatched eyes.
" A em e chuw!"
Rowanwind skidded to a stop in surprise.
Duskpaw's face began to protrude and harden into a black beak. His fur stretched out into shiny, black feathers that formed into wings. His back legs and tail morphed into a feathery tail while his front paws and legs became the tough, clawed feet of a crow. Duskpaw's mismatched eyes became beady and black. With a caw, he flapped his newly formed winged and flew into the badger's face.
"Palepaw, run!" Rowanwind shouted.
Palepaw screamed and ran toward the nursery.
Rowanwind stalked forward and leapt onto the badger's shoulders. He sunk his jagged teeth into the badger's shoulder and shook his head roughly. The badger roared in pain and swiped his paws over his shoulder to try and dislodge Rowanwind.
Duskpaw swooped down again and clawed viciously at the badger's eyes. Rowanwind saw blood gush from the badger's face. He let go with his teeth and jumped down to the ground. The badger turned to face him, and Rowanwind saw that one of the badger's eyes was closed shut because of a slash that Duskpaw had inflicted.
The badger became a cat again, but the injury to his eye was still there. The black and brown mottled tom ran away from the battle, leaving behind a trail of blood.
Duskpaw landed and began to transform back into a cat. His eyes were shining with triumph. "Thanks for the help, Rowanwind."
"How did you know it was me?" Rowanwind asked.
"What other ginger tom knows the tongue of magick?" Duskpaw asked in reply. "Look, they're retreating."
Rowanwind turned to see the last few DarkClan cats disappear over the trampled tunnel entrance. The camp was suddenly quiet.
Rowanwind felt himself changing back into a cat. He shook himself as the last fox parts disappeared. He glanced around the camp and worried that someone was badly injured. What if someone had died under his command?
Oakpelt and Granitetail trotted over from the nursery. Granitetail had a patch of bloody fur on his shoulder, which made him limp. One of Oakpelt's ears was torn.
"You two need to see Frostflower," Rowanwind said.
"We will," Granitetail replied. "But we needed to report first. The cats who got into camp never breached any of the dens we were guarding. The queens and kits are a bit frightened, though. The elders and injured are fine, as well."
"Thank you for the report," Rowanwind said with a nod. "You both did wonderfully, I'm sure. Are there any cats badly injured?"
"No," Oakpelt said. "All of Rainfur's kits fought like true warriors, and Purepaw seemed to be everywhere during the fight."
"Did you see the fox that came in?" Granitetail asked. "It headed straight for the badger who had Duskpaw and Palepaw trapped."
Rowanwind sat down and curled his tail around his paws. "That fox was me."
Oakpelt and Granitetail glanced at each other.
"What?" Oakpelt asked.
"I used the same thing that the DarkClan cats use to turn into badgers and crows," Rowanwind explained. "But because my pelt is ginger, I became a fox."
"Wow!" Oakpelt's eyes widened. "How do you know how to do it, Rowanwind?"
"I'm not sure. It's some sort of language, I think. It just comes out," Rowanwind replied. "Now, I think you two should go and have Frostflower look at your wounds. I don't want two of our best warriors to get infections."
The toms nodded in agreement and padded away toward the medicine cat's den.
"Rowanwind!"
He turned to see Thunderstripe and Gingerheart racing toward him. They stopped beside him and stared at him.
"What in the world was that?" Gingerheart demanded. "You turned into a fox!"
"Seeing that tom turn into a badger gave me the idea," Rowanwind said. "But I've been told that I can only turn into things that are similar to me. The DarkClan cats can turn into badgers, crows, and shadows because their pelts are dark. Foxes are ginger, like me, so I thought I should try and turn into one."
"That's brilliant!" Gingerheart purred. "You must teach us how to do it!"
"It's not as easy as it seems."
Duskpaw came padding over to them.
"Why isn't it as easy as it seems?" Gingerheart wondered.
"Rowanwind has an adept gift," Duskpaw said, sitting down. "All cats can say the words, but the words only react to some cats."
"But tons of the cats in DarkClan have turned into badgers and crows! And all of them have turned into shadows!" Thunderstripe pointed out.
Duskpaw shook his head. "Not all you've seen was done individually by each cat. There are a select few in DarkClan who actually have voices that words react to. During a cat's time as a student, he or she is put through many different tests to determine whether his or her voice is one that words react to."
"And you're one of them," Rowanwind said.
Duskpaw nodded. "My gift is not as strong as yours, but I learned of it at a young age. I was made a student before the average time, so I was much younger than my peers. I was put through many vigorous tests to help Sly determine just how strong my gift was."
"That sounds so cruel," Gingerheart mewed.
"Actually, it helped me greatly," Duskpaw said. "Because of all of those tests, and some of my own practice, I've learned how to do just about anything I wish with words."
"You called it the 'tongue of magick' earlier. Is that what it's called? Magick?" Rowanwind asked.
"Yes," Duskpaw said. "It's called magick. But it shouldn't be taken lightly. I've witnessed three students with voices that the words reacted to so strongly that it actually killed them in the end."
Gingerheart shivered. "Really?"
"Sly pushed them too hard. I was too smart for him, however. I knew he would keep pushing and pushing. I finally told him that my strength could go no more. I told him that if I pushed even just a tiny bit further, I would kill myself and the entire Clan. He believed that and left me alone from then on," Duskpaw said.
"Can we at least try and see if we have the voice for it?" Gingerheart pleaded.
Duskpaw looked at Rowanwind. "I was actually going to ask Rowanwind if he'd like lessons on magick from me. It's his decision if he wants the two of you to join."
"Of course I want them to join," Rowanwind said. He looked at Gingerheart and Thunderstripe sternly. "But you have to promise that, if your voices don't get words to react, that you won't continue trying."
"I promise!" Gingerheart said immediately.
Thunderstripe flicked his tail agitatedly. "Alright, I promise."
"Great," Rowanwind said, turning back to Duskpaw. "When's our first lesson?"
End of Chapter Three