Chapter VIII

Dawn leaked through the brambles surrounding their makeshift den. Icepaw stretched and prodded Stonepaw hard. The grey she-cat sniffed and stirred. "Go away, Icepaw."

"But we have a prophecy to fulfill!"

"No. We don't." Stonepaw pushed her away with a paw. Icepaw squealed. "Liar!"

Stonepaw snored. Cherrypaw padded over. "I hate to agree with her, but she's right. It's time to get up." It had been three sun-highs since the wolves appeared. Cherrypaw, the wolves completely driven out of her mind by her horrific dream, stayed quiet for most of the day. She took advantage of when Icepaw was bugging Stonepaw out of her mind to stray off and contemplate her nightmare. StarClan surely hadn't meant her to witness Lilacleaf and Magmatail's little argument, but never had StarClan been known to make mistakes. Why would the forest be there, the only shelter from the rain, if she wasn't supposed to go there?

Stonepaw was woken up from her completely ignoring everything by being poked hard on the shoulder with her tail. "I don't wanna go yet..." she murmured.

Icepaw charged underneath her, headbutting her to her feet. Stonepaw hissed halfheartedly and grumbled around, a mix of cursing morning and cursing Icepaw. Icepaw beamed.

"Come on, you two. Let's get moving. I think we've got another long day ahead of us."

Icepaw groaned. "My paws are sore. I can't walk now."

Stonepaw flicked her tail, amused. "I thought you wanted to fulfill your prophecy?"

"W-e-ll, prophecies can wait. I need to have another nap."

"No." Stonepaw gripped her scruff with her teeth and dragged her up, but she remained limp. Stonepaw dropped her, started walking off, and said, "W-ell... I guess we'll have to go off and have prophecies and adventures without you..."

Icepaw shot up and zoomed ahead of them.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Stonepaw asked. She was looking around, as if she was looking for a path to spring out of nowhere. Then she looked hopefully back at Cherrypaw.

Cherrypaw just sighed heavily. "Wherever she takes us, I guess."

Stonepaw looked at her with shock. "Heck, we're never gonna get anywhere!"

"Probably not."

Then Icepaw came back over the hill. She looked extremely unhappy and ran over to cry against Stonepaw, who looked horrified down at her. "Icepaw... Touching..."

Icepaw said inbetween sobs, "T-there's a... a... a river!"

Cherrypaw rolled her eyes. "Is that all? StarClan, that'd be easy to get around. You had me worried."

Icepaw jumped back. "I'm hungry."

"Go away, Icepaw. You'd do us all a favor."

Icepaw leaped back over the hill.

"Someplace we're not about to go, too!"

Icepaw could be heard over the hill, laughing at them. They chose not to hear it. They shortly followed her, where a river rolled forcefully. Cherrypaw took a step back. Suspicious looking logs floated every few yards, which changed locations every few seconds. "Okay..." She breathed. "Maybe this will be a little more challenging than I thought."