Hey people! I'm updating again, and I'll try to do it more often now too! Once I finish this chapter I'll be doing one for Heat of the Blaze, and then I'll go on a rotation.
Reviews
jurobii - Thanks for the advice, and I'm glad you're liking it. I'm also a fan of Talonpaw and Flowerpaw's relationship.
Chapter 3
Talonpaw opened his eyes to find himself standing in the Thunderclan camp.
What happened? Did I… did we ever leave? He looked up to see that the sky was pitch black, but there were no stars shining down, and no moon. The Thunderclan camp was completely empty except for him.
"Flowerpaw?" He called, "Anyone?" He received no answer. Talonpaw sprinted through the various dens,looking around desperately. He found nothing.
He heard a faint voice coming from somewhere around him. "If the Thunder, River, Wind and Shadow are to survive, the Sky must return to house them." It mewed quietly, or at least he thought it mewed. He couldn't tell for sure if the voice was even of a cat.
"Who is it?" He asked as he searched for the one who had spoken. Once again, he received no answer. Frustrated, he pelted out the thorn tunnel, ignoring the brambles scraping his fur. He whipped around, but still no sign off the cat.
The cat spoke again, only louder this time, as if Talonpaw had come closer. "If the Thunder, River, Wind and Shadow are to survive, the Sky must return to house them."
"Who are you? What are you trying to tell me?" Talonpaw called again. As he expected, his words were met with silence. He kept searching, running all around the camp. Now and again the voice would say the same thing, but Talonpaw still had no idea what in Starclan it meant.
The only way to find whoever is saying this stuff is to follow their voice. If it gets louder, I know they're closer. Talonpaw shook his head angrily. Of course they are. I'm no mouse-brain! Doubling back to where he had heard the voice loudest, he stood with his ears perked to hear the next time it spoke.
"The Sky must return." The voice said, closer than ever. The voice was coming from his left. He whirled around and pushed a gorse bush to the side to reveal a gray she-cat. Her face was ridden with scars and it was smushed in like she had been sleeping with it on the ground her whole life. She looked old, but not too old. He guessed cats of Starclan would not age like cats in the living world.
"Who are you and what are you trying to tell me?" He pressed.
"I have come with a message from Starclan." She explained in a deep, raspy voice. "My name is Yellowfang."
"But, why have you come to me?" Talonpaw asked her.
"Well, you have a great destiny." Yellowfang meowed ominously. Her voice suddenly became smoother and smarter, as if many moons of wisdom lay within this cat. "If the Thunder, River, Wind and Shadow are to survive, the Sky must return to house them."
"You've already said that! Now tell me what it means!" Talonpaw protested.
"All in due time, Talonpaw." Yellowfang said, "For now, I must leave you."
She can't leave yet! I have to know what she means! "Don't go yet! I need you to explain it!" Talonpaw called to her. Yellowfang shook her head and slowly disappeared into a cloud of bright mist.
"Yellowfang!" He shouted after the she-cat, but it was no use. She had already vanished completely. Here words still hung in the air like dark clouds threatening to start a storm. 'The Sky must return to house them'. Talonpaw could figure that the Thunder, River, Wind, and Shadow were the four clans, but who was the Sky? Could there be a fifth clan he had never heard of?
"Talonpaw! Wake up you lazy furball!" An impatient voice was meowing at him from somewhere. His eyelids shot open and he saw light streaming down into his eyes. He could see the face of Flowerpaw staring down at him.
He leaped to his feet, "I was sleeping all night?" He gulped, hoping he hadn't missed anything.
"Don't worry, it's just past sunrise." Firestar reassured him. "You have nothing to worry about."
Talonpaw sighed with relief, "Oh yeah," He started, "Firestar, did you find out what you were hoping for?"
"Even if I did, I can't tell anyone but the Medicine Cats until we figure out what to make of it and how we're going to deal with it." Firestar replied simply.
"Oh, right." Talonpaw mewed, slightly embarrassed. The three cats set on their way back to the Thunderclan camp.
"So," Flowerpaw whispered while they were walking, "What did you dream about?"
"Like I'd tell you!" Talonpaw grunted. His expression changed to confusion, "Actually, I couldn't really tell you what I dreamt about if I wanted to. I… I'm not totally sure what I saw." Talonpaw wasn't sure what to make of his dream. It all seemed so fuzzy to him now. He couldn't help thinking that it would end up being very important, but he really didn't want to worry about it.
"Well, I dreamt of this weird cat I had never seen before. They said something about the sky returning, but I don't remember the sky ever being gone." Flowerpaw added.
Talonpaw mrrowed with laughter. Flowerpaw's jokes put him back in a better mood. Looking in front of them, Firestar was walking briskly and not saying anything. Whatever Firestar had seen in his dream, if he even got one, had rattled him. Talonpaw decided not to say anything to his leader. He felt that pressing the subject would only make it worse, and maybe get him in trouble.
By the time they all made it back to camp it was nearly sunhigh. As they made it through the thorn tunnel, Talonpaw was relieved to find that every cat was there, just as they had left them. At least I know that's not what my dream was telling me. He thought.
"Hey guys!" Talonpaw saw his friend Fallowpaw bounding towards them. Fallowpaw was a large gray tom with black markings and bright yellow eyes. He had been an apprentice for a moon longer than Talonpaw and Flowerpaw, but he had been a good friend to them in the nursery. Thornclaw, Fallowpaw's mentor, was padding over to them.
"Come on, Fallowpaw. It's time for battle training with Seedpaw and Poppyfrost." Thornclaw told his apprentice.
"Oh, right." Fallowpaw said, "Uh, bye guys!"
Firestar turned to Talonpaw and Flowerpaw, "You two should get some rest after that, but make sure to be quick about it, we need you for apprentice duties." Firestar went off to speak with Brambleclaw, leaving Talonpaw and Flowerpaw standing in the clearing.
"Did he say if we could get fresh-kill?" Flowerpaw asked.
"I would assume so." Talonpaw confirmed. He walked over to the fresh-kill pile and picked out a plump vole. The prey was running very well this Greenleaf, though Talonpaw was worried his clanmates would become too fat to hunt after enough time. He sat down near the apprentices den next to Flowerpaw.
"Man, even though we slept most of the night, I feel really tired." She yawned.
"Yeah, same here. I guess dreams of Starclan don't actually restore your energy. It's almost like you don't go to sleep at all!" Talonpaw agreed.
"Imagine being Firestar! The elders say Starclan gave him loads of dreams back in the day. I wonder how he got by without falling asleep on patrol?" Flowerpaw mewed.
Talonpaw purred with amusement. He took one last bite of his juicy vole and stood up. He stumbled tiredly into the apprentices den and laid down in his nest to sleep. All he could hear before he went unconscious was the light sound of his breathing.
After what felt like an instant, Talonpaw opened his eyes. He stood up, and to his surprise, Flowerpaw was still asleep! Time for me to finally wake her up! Revenge! He prodded her back with his front paw.
"Hey, Flowerpaw, wake up!" Her eyes slowly stretched open.
"What? already?" She protested tiredly.
"Yes, already." Talonpaw mewed smugly, still prodding her.
"Well then you can at least stop that!" She ordered. She leaped to her feet and sprinted out of the den. Talonpaw followed close behind her. He emerged into the clearing to once again see Flowerpaw standing with both their mentors.
"Late again, I see?" Brambleclaw mewed.
"What?" Talonpaw sputtered, "I woke up before her!"
"Whatever." Berrynose put in, "We're going to tell you two what we're doing for training today."
"That's right." Brambleclaw agreed, "Today you and Flowerpaw are going to spar with each other. After the sparring, you will each receive individual training from your mentor." He flicked his tail towards Berrynose and himself.
"Now then, let's go." Berrynose meowed. The cream colored warrior turned and padded towards the thorn tunnel. Brambleclaw nodded to the apprentices and followed him.
"I am so going to destroy you!" Flowerpaw teased.
"You wish!" Talonpaw retorted. Any worry he had before about his dream had now vanished completely. Now, he had his sights set on becoming a warrior once again.
I won't let anything stop me!
There we go! That's chapter 3! Make sure to give me OC's and your thoughts on the story so far! Remember that now that I've done this chapter I'll post on Heat of the Blaze, then back to this story. I don't think I have the patience to write more than two stories at once, so until I finish these I may not start another. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!