A note from the authoress...

I apologize for this chapter being really rushed and having weak dialogue. NaNoWriMo and my other fanfiction have been keeping me terribly busy, along with schoolwork. I'll try to make the third chapter much better!

Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! C:

Warriors: Seasons of Hope

Chapter Two

Applepaw poked Jayfeather's flank with a forepaw, growing more frustrated with each prod as the gray tabby medicine cat continued sleeping and seemed to make no effort to respond to his apprentice's pestering.

"Jayfeather! Wake up! The others are coming!" She mewed frantically. Finally, Jayfeather blinked his eyes open and sat up. He gave her a cross look and licked his chest fur smooth. The medicine cats had arrived early, since Applepaw was so excited by traveling that she ran everywhere and Jayfeather had to run to keep up with her, and once they'd reached the Moonpool, Jayfeather decided to nap while waiting for the other medicine cats.

Applepaw craned her neck to see a group of cats approaching them. In lead was a brownish-gray tom, whose pelt was covered in little white splotches. Next to him was a pretty golden tabby talking to a dark gray tabby she-cat, and trailing behind was a brown tabby tom. Jayfeather stood and dipped his head in greeting to the cats.

"Hello, Jayfeather!" said the golden tabby, who then looked at Applepaw and purred, "Who's this? Do you have an apprentice now?" Applepaw lifted her chin and puffed out her chest. At least one of them seems to like me already!

"Hi, Mothwing. Yes, this is my new apprentice, who I brought tonight to introduce to StarClan." Jayfeather pointed with his tail to Applepaw. "Everyone, this is Applepaw. She's one of my brother's kits."

Mothwing nodded a greeting. "It's very nice to meet you, Applepaw. I'm Mothwing, and this," she turned to the gray tabby, "is my apprentice, Willowshine." Willowshine looked approvingly at Applepaw, who was very glad that these two she-cats were friendly.

Willowshine meowed, "We're from RiverClan."

The brownish-gray tom said, "I'm Kestrelflight of WindClan."

"And I'm Littlecloud, ShadowClan's medicine cat," added the brown tabby.

Applepaw meowed excitedly, "Hi everyone! It's very nice to meet you!"

"The same to you, Applepaw," said Kestrelflight. To the others, he asked, "How have things been for you all?"

"ThunderClan has been fine," Jayfeather replied.

Mothwing mewed, shuffling her paws. "All is well in RiverClan. We have new kits!"

"Congratulations!" Littlecloud purred.

Willowshine continued, "Minnowtail has a tom and a she-kit, named Heronkit and Shrikekit."

Applepaw meowed, "That's great! Are they cute?"

Mothwing mrrowedin laughter, her tail-tip twitching. "All kits are cute, dear, but I have to admit that these kits are extra-cute."

When the excitement about the new kits died down, Littlecloud meowed, "There's no injuries or sickness in ShadowClan at the moment, for once."

And Kestrelflight finished, "Just after our last meeting, Heathertail kitted one tom named Darkkit." He paused for a moment, then muttered, "Unfortunately, she and Breezepelt aren't mates anymore. They don't speak, and she won't let Breezepelt near the kit. I guess he'll never know his father."

Applepaw felt Jayfeather's fur puffing out against her flank. Was he mad? Her mentor meowed gravely, "When you told me that they were expecting, I had a bad feeling about it."

Kestrelflight nodded. "I don't think they intended to have a kit. They regret it."

Applepaw crouched down, uncomfortable with the sudden change in mood. Luckily, Mothwing chimed in: "Well, if that's all, shall we share dreams with StarClan?"

"I have to become a medicine cat apprentice first!" Applepaw shrieked. The other cats purred in amusement. Jayfeather cuffed her ear with a forepaw, claws sheathed. The medicine cats began padding down a path in the stone, and Applepaw trotted along behind them excitedly.

When they reached the bottom, Applepaw saw a flat stone next to a pool of water that reflected the entire night sky, and she gasped. "It's beautiful..." If she didn't know better, she'd think that a piece of the sky had fallen and was lying on the ground in front of her. Jayfeather lifted his head to the sky, and took a deep breath. Applepaw watched him intently. He looked down at her, and said, "Applepaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"

In a single heartbeat, Applepaw imagined many moons ahead of her. She saw herself tending to wounds and taking herbs to cats who were sick. She saw herself in the forest searching for plants and traveling to the other Clans to help tend to their sick. She even saw herself standing before a whole group of starry cats who spoke all kinds of neat and strange words to her, and she suddenly felt as though she were walking on stars. A strange feeling stirred in her heart, and in that moment, she was more sure of everything than she had ever been in her life.

"It is," she said, making strong eye contact with Jayfeather.

"Then come forward."

Applepaw padded over to where Jayfeather sat beside the starry water, and sat down. Jayfeather continued.

"Warriors of StarClan, I present you with this apprentice. She has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant her your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her Clan in accordance with your will."

Applepaw remembered what Jayfeather told her earlier: to either drink from the Moonpool or touch her nose to it. She was thirsty anyway, so she crouched down and lapped from the pool for a moment, and then lay down. Just before she drifted off to sleep, she felt Jayfeather lying beside her and heard the other medicine cats drinking.

Only a moment later, she opened her eyes and looked around, and saw that she was still in the hollow of the Moonpool, but she was alone. She jumped to her paws and looked around wildly, forgetting temporarily that she was in a dream, but she remembered when she saw a few cats walking down the path towards her. Her jaw gaped when she saw these cats, because starlight sparkled in their fur, and the ground glittered wherever their paws touched it.

The cat in front had a flame-colored ginger pelt, and behind him were two cats – one with a fluffy black pelt, and another with dark gray fur. A breeze blew their scents towards the young apprentice, and she smelled that the ginger cat was a tom and the others were she-cats.

Applepaw looked up at them with big yellow eyes, speechless.

The ginger tom spoke, "Hello, Applepaw."

"H-hi..." She mewed, suddenly feeling as small as a newborn kit.

The tom meowed, "I know this must seem scary, but I assure you, everything will be fine, young one. My name is Firestar, and I was leader of ThunderClan before Bramblestar was."

Applepaw sat up a little bit. "Firestar! I've heard so much about you!" She squeaked. "Bramblestar says you were the best leader the Clans have ever known!"

Firestar chuckled, "Giving me too much credit, as always." He flicked his ears and went on. "You know we're kin, right?"

Applepaw chirped, "Yep! Leafpool is your daughter and she's Lionblaze's mother." Applepaw sat up all the way and wrapped her tail over her paws.

"Correct," said Firestar. Then, he stood aside and nodded his head at his two companions. "I brought two other cats I thought you might like to meet."

Applepaw watched as the black she-cat purred a warm greeting. "Hi, Applepaw. I'm Hollyleaf. I was your father's sister, and your mother's best friend."

Applepaw tilted her head to one side. "Hollyleaf? I think they've mentioned you before. My sister is Hollypaw – maybe she's named after you!"

Hollyleaf curled her tail and said, "Maybe she is!"

The gray she-cat spoke then. "I'm Cinderpelt, and I was the medicine cat before Leafpool." Pride seemed to sparkle in her blue eyes. "I'm happy for you wanting to be a medicine cat. It's not always the easiest path, but it's worth the journey."

Applepaw replied, "I hope so. I look forward to becoming a great medicine cat."

"I'm sure you will," Cinderpelt assured her.

Applepaw asked, "Did you know that my mother is named Cinderheart? She looks a lot like you! Except she's a tabby."

Something came over Cinderpelt's gaze, but it was gone before Applepaw could tell what it was. The gray she-cat replied, "I did know that, little one. Cinderheart's father, Brackenfur, was my brother. Perhaps they named her after me." She shook her head as though shaking water from her ears, and then said, "Applepaw, you have a wonderful mentor in Jayfeather. I know he's difficult and can be really stubborn, but he has wonderful skills. Don't doubt him."

"And whatever you do, don't treat him any differently because he's blind," Hollyleaf cut in. "His hearing and memory make up for it. He probably knows ThunderClan territory better than any other cat." With a hint of amusement in her voice, she meowed, "He was awful when he was a kit and cats commented on his blindness. You'd think he was a hedgehog, as spiky as he got!"

Applepaw purred and said, "I'll treat him with lots of respect and I'll be the best apprentice I can be!"

"Good," Firestar meowed. "Just make sure you remember what you said when hard times come around in the Clan." He looked up at the sky and then said, "It's time to go, Applepaw. StarClan shall light your path, young one."

Cinderpelt said, "We see great things in your future."

Applepaw opened her mouth to thank them, but in an instant, the color from their pelts disappeared, leaving only the stars, and they swirled together and rose back into the sky. Applepaw watched in awe until darkness fell over her vision.

She woke up and opened her eyes.

"Did you see StarClan?" Jayfeather asked. She turned to see him, and the other medicine cats, sitting by the Moonpool.

"I did," Applepaw meowed. "I saw Firestar and Hollyleaf and Cinderpelt."

Jayfeather's eyes widened. "Interesting." He stood up and flicked his tail. "Come on; you can tell me all about it on the way home." The other cats stood and followed Jayfeather out of the hollow.

Applepaw watched as Mothwing walked beside Jayfeather and muttered to him, and Applepaw strained to hear what she was saying. "...They said that they've never been upset with me for not believing all that time. They're just glad that I do now."

"And so am I," Jayfeather replied.

Applepaw's eyed widened. Had Mothwing not always believed in StarClan?

At the top of the hollow, the medicine cats said goodbye and parted ways. As soon as they were a good distance away from the others, Applepaw asked Jayfeather, "Did Mothwing not used to believe in StarClan?"

Applepaw almost said something to Jayfeather about a thorny plant before him, but as he began to speak, he weaved around it as though he could see it. "Leafpool said that Mothwing did believe in them when she was a warrior, but around the time she became a medicine cat apprentice, she decided that they were just tales and legends to entertain the Clans."

Applepaw asked, shocked, "Why? What would make her change her mind?"

"She's always been a strong-willed cat who liked to think for herself," Jayfeather explained. "Most cats just fit right into Clan society and go along with it, but she was never like that. She was born a loner, actually."

"She was?!"

"She was," Jayfeather repeated. "She and her brother. Their mother brought them to RiverClan and wanted them to be raised there, so they were." Answering his apprentice's original question, he meowed, "There were a lot of strange and tragic things happening to the Clans at the time, I've been told, and she thought that if StarClan existed, they'd do something to stop it. She didn't have enough faith, I guess."

Applepaw kept pressing questions. "So how did she start believing again?"

"After the battle against the Dark Forest, I don't think any cat could deny that dead cats aren't just dead," Jayfeather said. "StarClan and Dark Forest cats both seemed to have physical bodies again and they fought with real tooth and claw. It was like we saw the stars fall from the sky, and rise again. Through his whole life, Cloudtail never believed in StarClan because he was born a kittypet, but after the battle, he does now."

"Wow..." Applepaw was speechless again. "I wish I'd seen that battle."

Jayfeather fliched. "No, you don't," he meowed briskly. "That was the worst battle in the history of the Clans, and a lot of cats were badly injured, and worse. My sister Hollyleaf was killed in that battle."

"The Hollyleaf I met?" Applepaw inquired.

"Is there any other Hollyleaf?" Jayfeather snapped. Applepaw drew back, but tried to remain steady. From her young kithood, she'd heard about how Jayfeather was naturally short-tempered. He sighed and explained again, "Yes. Hawkfrost, an evil cat who was Mothwing's brother, came back from the Dark Forest and was attacking Ivypool. Hollyleaf was defending her when she was killed."

"She was brave," Applepaw noted. Jayfeather nodded, and the two cats continued on in silence.

It was still dark when Applepaw and Jayfeather arrived back at camp. Rosepetal was sitting by the camp entrance, keeping guard, and she greeted them quietly as they passed. Once inside the medicine cat's den, Jayfeather went straight to his nest and curled up. Applepaw wanted to run and tell her sisters what she saw, but her paws ached from the journey, so she went into the part of the den where Jayfeather lay in his nest next to a new, empty nest that was meant to be hers. She lay down and fell asleep almost instantly.