Sootheart and Twigfall stood in the medicine cat den as Jayfeather thought about the prophecy.
"I agree with what you said about Cloudtail, and I'm pretty certain what you said about Nighthawk 'crushing' Twigfall is correct… We need to keep her away from him so nothing happens." He paced the den nervously.
"What does StarClan mean by 'will rise to power, unless crushed by the love of a hawk'?" Jayfeather stood still for a moment before beginning to pace again.
"It seems there is a fork in the prophecy, meaning there are two outcomes." He stopped and stared in Twigfall's direction for a moment before turning to pace again. "So either the cat belonging to this prophecy will rise to power, or die."
Sootheart and Twigfall exchanged a nervous glance.
"So… What do we do?" Sootheart asked. Jayfeather began to make his way out of the den.
"We need to tell Bramblestar, see what he thinks of it."
The three cats made their way to the leader's den, getting strange looks from the other cats all the while. It must've been because of Twigfall.
"Bramblestar, we need a word with you," Jayfeather said as he peeked his head into the leader's den.
"Oh, Jayfeather, come in." Bramblestar made room for them as they entered and sat down facing him. "What have you come to talk about?"
"A prophecy. 'The cloud will drift away, and night will bar the bramble's path. A twig will rise to power, unless crushed by the love of a hawk'. What's your take on it?"
Bramblestar narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment.
"Well, Cloud could be a cat, right? Cloudtail, perhaps?" Jayfeather nodded and informed him that's what they had thought. "Bramble worries me… Seeing as I'm named Bramblestar."
Twigfall and Sootheart exchanged a look as Jayfeather agreed that bramble may mean him.
"Who dreamt this prophecy?" Jayfeather pointed to Twigfall.
"Cinderheart came to me and told me the prophecy. She told me I had left the Clan in ruins and to escape, or something like that…" Twigfall was staring at the floor of the den as Bramblestar thought for a moment.
"Well… I guess we'll have to wait and see." With that, Bramblestar flicked his tail and sent the three cats out of his den.
As they passed the warriors' den, they heard a bought of heavy, wet coughing. Jayfeather peeked his head in, looking around to spot the source. He pulled his head back out, turning to face Sootheart and Twigfall.
"Cloudtail's ill. You two go on and hunt or something while I tend to Cloudtail." Twigfall and Sootheart nodded and turned to the entrance to camp.
Squeezing through, they headed off toward the ShadowClan border to hunt.
"It's nice being able to hunt with you again," Sootheart said, staring straight ahead.
"Yeah, I missed you," Twigfall purred. "Nice to have you back."
"Then why'd you go?" Sootheart finally looked over at his sister. There was hurt in his eyes that melted Twigfall's heart.
"I told you… I love Nighthawk. I wanted to be with him."
"Wanted?" Sootheart asked suspiciously.
"Want." He looked away. "I know you want me to stay, but…"
"But you love him more than you love me. I get it, I do." Twigfall could tell that her brother didn't get it though. She really did love him, but Nighthawk meant the world to her.
"Congratulations on the kits," Twigfall mewed, trying to be friendly.
"Thanks," Sootheart muttered.
When they finally came within smelling range of the ShadowClan border to hunt, a strange noise began to come from the bushes.
"… Fox dung… Flea-ridden… Mange-pelt…!" Sootheart and Twigfall quickly scaled a tree and watched the bush the noise was coming from.
Before long, a black tom emerged from the bush.
"Nighthawk? What's he doing here?" Twigfall whispered. Sootheart drew his tail across her muzzle, signaling for her to be quiet or he'd hear them.
"She-cat can't be trusted!" He was clearly searching the underbrush, tracking someone's scent.
Twigfall gasped.
"He's looking for my scent! He'll find us!" Sootheart hushed her.
"He'll just assume you chased a squirrel across the border on accident or something and scaled a tree after it. No worries."
"But the scent is fresh!" Sootheart glared her down, telling her better shut up now or both of them would be in trouble.
"Said she was going hunting, ran off to ThunderClan… Well, I won't let her ruin my plans!" Plans?
The siblings watched as Nighthawk padded over to a hillside covered in fern. He prodded around for a second before his paw went straight through. He grinned in triumph.
"Leader of ThunderClan, here I come."