Wind rippled through the field of grass, and a light rain drizzled over it. The water, in small amounts, made the grass grow and twist into the shape of a cat. Then the rain fell into the shape of a cat as well, and they both stood for a moment before trying to touch.
As soon as contact between the two cats was made, they both disappeared. The cat made of grass became grass once more, shriveling and dying and dinking into the ground. The cat made of water dissipated into thousands of tiny dewdrops that fell and clung to the grass. But the grass hissed and curled and died as the dewdrops clung to the blades, as though they were fire instead of water. The dewdrops began to spread, covering and killing the entire field, all because those two cats couldn't stay apart.
Grasspaw had never been good at remembering dreams, and he'd never generally cared to. He thought of them as pointless; after all, he wasn't a Clan leader or a medicine cat or anything, and he had no intention of ever becoming either one. So StarClan would never send him an important vision or anything, meaning all his dreams were just dreams.
But the moment he started awake from that dream, shaken to the core by the image of the water destroying the grass as it touched it, Grasspaw knew exactly what it meant. It would have been obvious to any cat, surely- he needed to tell Waterpaw right now that the two of them had to stay apart! Maybe, Grasspaw thought darkly, it was a good thing I didn't get invited to the Gathering after all.
That's right- the Gathering! Grasspaw didn't how when he'd fallen asleep, or how long he'd been asleep for, but it hadn't felt like long. When he craned his neck to peer past Applepaw, who was sprawled in a very immodest position across her nest and was tossing and turning wildly, it looked like Berrypaw's nets was still empty. The camp was very quiet, too; maybe the Gathering was still on!
It was an insanely risky and rabbit-brained idea, but Grasspaw needed to tell Waterpaw about his dream right away. Otherwise, she might seek him out again at another Gathering, or if they ran into each other when they were both on border patrols, or if one of them chased some prey across the border by accident… Or maybe if they met up by the lake again, in the strip of no-cat's land on the beach, and walked along that in the pale moonlight…
"No, no, no!" Grasspaw cried, not realizing it was out loud until the sound of his own voice made him jump. He glanced down at Applepaw, but she was still sleeping. It figured; his littermates were both heavy sleepers, and they often made a lot of noise while they slept. It had led to Grasspaw- a much lighter sleeper than either of them- being woken up in the middle of the night one too many times by Applepaw's snoring or Berrypaw whimpering in her sleep.
"No," he repeated, still aloud but in a whisper now. "What am I thinking? I can't do that with Waterpaw! We're from different Clans, and even if we weren't, I just had a vision saying I had to stay away from her or she'll kill me!"
And besides that, he thought but didn't say aloud for fear some cat might hear him after all, there's no way a cat so wonderful would ever want to do that stuff with me!
Grasspaw picked his way across the apprentices' den, being careful not to disturb Applepaw, and slunk out of camp. The entry tunnel was being guarded by Barkstripe at the moment, but she had fallen asleep as well, so he didn't even have to make up a story this time. As soon as Grasspaw was far enough away from the WindClan camp to be sure no cat could hear his paws hitting the earth, he broke into a sprint. He was so caught up in his one goal that he didn't notice the brown speckled feather that drifted down from the sky, bearing an unfamiliar scent.
He had to talk to Waterpaw!
"Hunting is going splendidly in ThunderClan," Ringstar boasted from his branch on the tree. "The mice and voles are coming back! Just yesterday Snakepaw caught his first squirrel, and Shadepaw helped bring down a crow the other day!"
Waterpaw rolled her eyes as the ThunderClan leader babbled on about what else his kits had done lately. She was just glad she wasn't the daughter of any cat as important as that. It had been rumoured that her father had been half-Clan, but the rumours were most likely false, and he was dead now anyway, so it didn't count. Minnowleap was just a normal cat, so she always said she'd felt extra-special when she found out StarClan had chosen her to birth the cat who'd save the Clans one day.
Would Waterpaw actually save the Clans, though? That wasn't really what the prophecy Grasspaw had talked about had said, exactly. Maybe the savior that rose from the rain would save a lot, or maybe they'd just save something small, like a sick cat or a patch or territory from being taken over. Of course it was more likely to be something big, though. Why else would StarClan waste time making a whole prophecy about it? Waterpaw had to believe that she was going to do something really big, because without her destiny, who was she?
As for the "vanishing into the waves" part… who was that about? Who was the "other"? It couldn't be her, because she was going to be the saviour, right? Then could it be… Grasspaw? Waterpaw shuddered at the thought of the young WindClan cat slipping into an icy lake; being engulfed by unforgiving waves. But if that was his destiny, and saving the Clans was her destiny, then Waterpaw couldn't change that.
Maybe I should try not to get too attached, she thought. Just in case the prophecy is about him dying, I don't want to be sad when that happens. But Waterpaw knew it was really much too late to prevent herself from getting attached to Grasspaw.
Up on the tree, Ringstar's tangent about his perfect little family was winding down. Waterpaw had tuned most of it out to think about the prophecy, but she caught something near the end about a new warrior and she let out a halfhearted cheer, shouting the name of the warrior ("Heronleg! Heronleg!") a couple times so no cat would think she was being rude by not showing her support.
It took Waterpaw a second to notice that not only was she the only one cheering; the crowd had gone completely silent, and every cat was staring- many of them glaring- at her. Her skin went hot beneath her fur; had she heard Ringstar wrong?!
A black-and white she cat stood up on her hind legs and hissed, "Ringstar, did you see that RiverClan brat cheering about the death of my son?!"
Death?! Waterpaw's heart sank; was that what Ringstar had said? She'd thought for sure he'd said he'd just made a new warrior… but apparently what he'd actually said was that he'd tragically lost a new warrior in some sort of accident. She shrunk back, shame spreading through every fibre of her pelt. "I'm so sorry," she muttered. "I didn't hear Ringstar properly. I thought he said-"
"No excuses," the black-and-white queen snarled. She began to push through the crowd, heading straight toward Waterpaw. "You're glad that we're suffering, aren't you? You just see us as another enemy- gloating over our losses!"
Oh, mouse-dung. Waterpaw cursed herself for not keeping her mouth shut, or at least waiting to make sure other cats were actually cheering. She tried to assure the grieving queen that she hadn't meant anything by it, but clouds were already beginning to float in front of the moon. The peace was about to be disturbed.
Waterpaw jumped back as the ThunderClan queen sprang at her, but her paws skidded on the pine needle-strewn ground and she lost balance. The queen tackled her to the ground and began ruthlessly pummeling her belly. Around them, cats murmured, clearly distressed but none of them offering any help. Waterpaw bit down on the queen's forepaw and she rolled off her, shrieking.
"Everybody, stop this at once!" Ringstar's distressed voice boomed from the tree. "Clouds have blocked out the moon; StarClan is angry with us!"
"Looks like the Gathering is over already," Jadestar muttered, curling her lip contemptuously. "What a pity."
Sandstar's eyes whipped back and forth between the other leaders and Waterpaw. "What's going on?!" he demanded. "Who's that cat?"
"You should know," Miststar gloated. "She's the future saviour of the Clans- Waterpaw. Haven't you heard the prophecy of the water-coloured cat?"
"The deepest waters I've ever seen have been green, not blue," Sandstar wheezed indignantly. "The prophecy is about Grasspaw!"
Several RiverClan voices ran gout in protest, none louder than Minnowleap's. "My daughter is destined for greater things than any cat from your pathetic excuse for a Clan could ever be!" she snarled. "Waterpaw is perfect!"
"Waterpaw is perfect". They were words Waterpaw had been taught to believe her entire life. But in this exact place and time, in the wake of a huge error on her part that had led to her being attacked by a stranger, she wasn't feeling so perfect anymore.
And suddenly, nearly dead-centre in a clearing that had hated her one moment, and now was caught in a battle between hating and loving her, Waterpaw couldn't stand being there any longer. It was as Jadestar had said: the moon being covered meant the Gathering was over. She was no longer obligated to be there. So Waterpaw pushed past a cluster of ShadowClan toms and darted around a small circle of elders from various Clans and ran. She ran out of the clearing and through undergrowth for a few seconds before coming out at the edge of the lake where she hopped over the stepping-stones and ran along the shore. Waterpaw ignored the protests and yowls coming from behind her. They faded into the distance fairly quickly anyway; no cat was bothering to go after her.
Where would she go? The thought didn't cross Waterpaw's mind until she found herself slowing down, out of breath. She couldn't go back and face those cats, and she couldn't run back to the RiverClan camp- not just yet. But she wouldn't just run away, either. This wasn't worth throwing her life away for. There was only one place she felt that she confidently could go to, and that wasn't really a place at all, but a cat.
Waterpaw stayed by the lake, shivering in the cool spring air that froze the moisture on her damp paws, making them numb with cold. She twisted them around on the ground and sheathed and unsheathed her claws to keep the blood circulating, but it didn't do much to warm them up. Waterpaw buried her paws in the sand, which had still been frozen less than a week ago. It was amazing how fast things changed.
Just as Waterpaw had gathered up the courage to go back and face whatever reaction she'd be met with upon walking into camp alone, a wail rang out from the distance. It was coming from the one place Waterpaw had stubbornly refused to look at while padding across the stripe of beach- WindClan territory.
She couldn't do this again. Even with how chillingly familiar that voice sounded, she couldn't do it again. Minnowleap would be angry if she endangered herself again for the sake of one of them. It just wasn't worth it. Nevertheless, Waterpaw headed in the direction of the voice.
Owls were very large and threatening birds. A single apprentice could never hope to take one on and survive. But maybe two would stand half a chance, and half a chance was better than letting any cat die. Especially this cat.
Waterpaw didn't know what Grasspaw was doing so far away from his camp at this time of night, since he hadn't been invited to the Gathering. The explanation wasn't important. All that mattered was what Waterpaw was going to do about it. And she didn't know what she was going to do about it, but she knew she had to do something quick.
"Somebody help me!" Grasspaw wailed as the bird chased him down, gliding silently after him and gaining on him ever so slowly. The owl began to swoop down towards him, extending its talons. "Owlwing? Rabbitleap? Seedpelt? S-somebody help!"
Waterpaw crouched in a strip of long grass at the bottom of a hill. She could tell that Grasspaw wouldn't be able to outrun the owl, but she wasn't sure if she'd have time to run up to Grasspaw to fight it off. The only thing she could think of to do was-
"Hey, you dumb bird," Waterpaw yowled, running up the hill in a zigzag and waving her tail. "I'm over here! Come and get me!"
Grasspaw froze, staring, as Waterpaw prayed the owl closing in on him would chase after her instead. "W-Waterpaw, what are you-?"
Talons were less than a tail-length from Grasspaw, and he stood still, looking at Waterpaw with a strange mix of horror and admiration.
"What are you staring at?" she hissed. "I've got a special destiny, remember? StarClan has to keep me alive." Then stood up on her hind legs and waved her front paws at the owl. "Hey, look at me! Come and get me, you stupid owl!"
Grasspaw ducked, letting out a yelp as the owl's talons grazed the top of his head. With a silent flap of its wings, the owl flew past the trembling green-gray apprentice and began to follow Waterpaw. She ran as fast as she could and tried to make her movements as erratic as possible to throw it off, but she knew that if a WindClan cat couldn't outrun it, she wouldn't be able to either. It was only a matter of time before…
Yep, that's what I thought. The owl was upon Waterpaw in a flash, and she dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. The owl went back up into the air to dive at her again, but this time Waterpaw was ready. She coiled her muscles and leaped up at the owl, taking it by surprise and coming down hard to the ground and taking it with her. She clawed at the owl's wing and then broke away before it could do too much to her in return, but not before it managed to rake a talon down her flank.
Out of the corner of her eye, Waterpaw saw Grasspaw still standing there, terrified. "What are you waiting for?!" she demanded, and paused for a moment, debating what to say next. "Go"? The more noble option, but also meaning certain death. Waterpaw knew deep down she might be special, but even she wasn't entirely perfect. This was a fight she couldn't win. "Help me out here!" was what she decided on instead.
"Help me out here," Waterpaw meowed to Grasspaw, and the words were all it took to send him to her side.
He crept up on the owl from behind; the bird was puffing out its chest and fluffing up its wings to make itself look bigger, while Waterpaw was using a similar strategy by fluffing up her fur and arching her back. Grasspaw kept his belly low to the ground and his tail down, as though he was sneaking up on a mouse rather than a large animal that could easily kill him.
Once he was close enough, Grasspaw struck. He jumped onto the owl's back and began furiously raking his claws down its back. The bird shrieked, and while it was trying to throw Grasspaw off Waterpaw bit down on its right wing- the same wing she'd already nicked. The owl clamped its beak around her ear and Grasspaw let out a furious yowl, wrapping his front legs around its giant head to claw at its neck. He felt a horrible bite on his leg and tried to pull away, but instead the rest of him was swung around to the front of the owl. He pushed at its chest and tried to wrench his front leg from its grip, but it held on tight, and Grasspaw realized that it would tear his leg off sooner than he'd get it to drop him.
Waterpaw clung to the owl's legs, weighing it down as it tied to take to the air. Her hind legs briefly left the ground, but she tugged down, and the owl went back down with her. Grasspaw clawed at the owl's chest and tried to reach its right wing, which was damaged, but apparently not enough to prevent the owl from flying, but he couldn't quite reach it. Instead he pummeled his hind legs against its torso, but it bit down harder on his front leg and he bit back a wail. Waterpaw shifted her weight entirely to the bird's left leg to try to imbalance it, but it lifted its right leg, which was now free, and dug its talons into her back. Waterpaw screeched, flailing around and clawing madly at the giant bird. She accidentally cut Grasspaw's cheek, but he wasn't exactly in the situation to complain about that.
The owl finally let go of his now quite chewed-up front leg, but only to drop him into its talons, which closed around him and reminded him how small he really was. Grasspaw kicked up at the owl's face, but his leg wasn't long enough to reach. Waterpaw scrabbled at the talons that held her, but the owl's grip didn't loosen as it took to the air, its damaged wing making its flight slightly irregular but not hindering it as seriously as Grasspaw had hoped.
The situation was hopeless. Grasspaw relaxed his muscles and let himself hang limply in the owl's grip while Waterpaw kept flailing, giving the owl a few scratches but unable to do any serious damage. She bit down and pulled out a clump of the owl's feathers, to which it responded by digging its talons in more tightly. Grasspaw felt something get punctured and he couldn't bring himself to yowl, instead letting out a faint gasp at the blood that now stained the bird's talon.
"Come on, Grasspaw," Waterpaw panted. "Don't just hand there! We've got to fight back!"
"We can't fight it when it's carrying us," Grasspaw sighed, trying to hide the pain that he felt when he spoke. "We may as well stop wasting our energy and just give up. Maybe when it takes us to its nest and tries to eat us we can take it by surprise and attack it again," he added when he saw the horrified look on Waterpaw's face. He didn't really believe such a thing would work, but it was worth it to give her hope. "We could try pushing it out of its own tree."
"It'd just fly," Waterpaw pointed out. She grinded her fangs a bit- Grasspaw could tell by the way she circled her bottom jaw around- and finally came up with, "I could scratch it really hard and tear its wings off, and then you could push it!"
Tearing an owl's wings off was so ridiculously impossible that Grasspaw couldn't help but let out a faint purr. Did Waterpaw actually think she could do that, or was she just trying to convince him- or herself- that she could do it?
The talons that dug into Grasspaw's fur hurt, but the pain was beginning to dull. It was late at night in the first place, and he was already tired. The blood loss only aided in his exhaustion. Maybe he'd sleep, just for a moment.
"Don't forget to wake me up," he murmured as his eyes fell shut, hoping that Waterpaw would hear him. "I don't want to… oversleep…"