Chapter 10

Heya! Here's the next chapter...so sorry for the wait. -_-" I hope you like it, though! It may not be long, but please enjoy it anyway! ^_^

Bubblepaw had a disturbing dream the next night. She and Coyotepaw were playing the leaf-chasing game, when suddenly all the trees and leaves withered and the forest became dark. She looked to Coyotepaw, fear chilling her spine. But Coyotepaw's beautiful pelt had looked almost as if it had rotted right on his body; it had lost its shine, there were patches missing from it, and it had gone from a handsome, silver colour to a dirty, unattractive grey. His face became shadowy and gaunt, and his eyes were evil and hungry, just like his smirk.

He pounced on Bubblepaw, but she escaped his claws in time to dash away, towards camp. But when she reached the camp, it was on fire, with all of her clanmates' bodies strewn across the dead grass. Face-tails stood nibbling at the corpses; one looked up and stalked over to her until her friend and the freakish new creature cornered her. Suddenly, many other shadows and faces of animals she'd never seen nor heard of in her whole life appeared, followed closely by Twolegs. She screamed as her body shook involuntarily.

"Bubblepaw! Bubblepaw!" Mistypaw's alarmed mew sounded in her ear. "Wake up, sister, you're scaring me!"

Bubblepaw's eyes flew open and she saw her friend shaking her with a frightened look. "Mistypaw!" She stood quickly, shaking her coat and washing herself hastily. "I had a horrible dream…"

"You were fidgeting and screaming while you slept; that's happened a lot lately, hasn't it?" the she-cat asked, her features concerned. "What could be causing these things?"

"Maybe the shock that she doesn't belong," meowed Mosspaw, a rather cold apprentice that always spoke her mind. "Not that it was much of a shock to me. Just stop squirming in your sleep; that's a little more normal."

"What isn't normal is you, fox-breath, and that annoying drawl you call a meow. Keep your thoughts to yourself, Mosspaw, especially when no one's talking to you," Nightpaw hissed, baring his teeth. Mosspaw sniffed and recoiled.

Her brother turned to her. "Maybe you should see Honeyclaw to see if something's wrong with you, Bubblepaw?" he suggested, flicking his tail.

Bubblepaw paused for a moment. "Uhh…yeah, sure, maybe…I'm…I'm hungry, I'm gonna go get some fresh-kill…" Bubblepaw walked out of the den.

Nightpaw and Mistypaw exchanged worried glances.

Maybe there is something wrong with me…Bubblepaw thought wearily as she reached the fresh-kill pile. She glanced at it; she definitely was not hungry at the moment. In fact, food was the last thing on her mind.

What were the things in her dream and why were they there? And why had Coyotepaw been chasing her with that evil look? She knew that the dreams she had were probably no coincidence, not after the one with the look-alike cat-which arose another question: did somecat know who she was? Coyotepaw? Cheetahspots?

She shook her head, as if the gesture would shake all the worries and problems from her head. Of course, it failed. She sighed and looked up to the sky. StarClan, if you're listening…please, please lead me to the answer!

Bubblepaw almost jumped out of her fur when she heard Turtlestorm's voice. "BUBBLEPAW!"

"Ah!" She turned around to face the warrior. "What is it, Turtlestorm?"

Turtlestorm gave Bubblepaw a soft smile. "Something's been bothering you…right?"

"Well…sure, there are things that are going over roughly…I mean…" She looked away as she thought-fast. "I mean, like my fake relationship with those mouse-brains, Lionfoot and Goldenclaw."

Turtlestorm hesitated; while she did, she stared at Bubblepaw. It made her fur crawl. "But that's not the only thing, is it?"

Bubblepaw's teeth clenched together. Turtlestorm had the eyes of StarClan; she could see things other could not. The apprentice did not understand exactly what they meant by that, but she did understand that Turtlestorm was special.

Bubblepaw tried to hold to she-cat's gaze, but she was shaking. What if she finds out that I'm going to WindClan…?

"…No," Bubblepaw meowed shakily. "But it's nothing important that's bothering me…"

"Hey, guys," Dreamfur greeted as he sat down with a plump sparrow. "Bubblepaw, Turtlestorm."

Suddenly, Turtlestorm started laughing. She stood, still chuckling. "This is an amusing apprentice, Dreamfur," she meowed, smiling at Bubblepaw with a glint in her eyes. "She will make a good leader of RiverClan agai-Sapphirestar!"

Sapphirestar stood and stared, irritated, at Turtlestorm. "Turtlestorm," she meowed sharply. "How many times must I say that talk of that is forbidden."

Turtlestorm winced. "Yes, Sapphirestar," she meowed, bowing. "Please forgive me; sometimes my memory slips up."

"It won't happen again," meowed Sapphirestar curtly.

"Yes, ma'am." Turtlestorm dipped her head respectfully before turning to leave. But before she was out of sight, she turned around to glance at the curious apprentice once more.

Bubblepaw hesitated before asking her leader about what Turtlestorm had said. Sapphirestar gave Dreamfur a strong look and he nodded curtly, his eyes uncertain. "Umm…Sapphirestar?"

She looked at the apprentice warmly. "Yes?"

"Well…I was wondering if you could tell me what that was about? What was Turtlestorm going to say, and what did it mean? I will make a good leader of RiverClan?"

Sapphirestar frowned, shaking her head. "No," she meowed, slight irritation crawling into her voice. "Perhaps it will be explained to you later, child, but not now. Not for a long time now."

"But why…?" Bubblepaw started, but the leader cut her off with a swish of her tail.

"Please, forget what you heard just now." She looked away. "It is forbidden to talk about it…especially to you." She dipped her head in farewell, and excused herself from the conversation.

The apprentice couldn't help but feel offended. What she mean, 'especially not to you'? Did Sapphirestar not like her?

She looked over at Dreamfur, her tail dragging. "Dreamfur…?"

He didn't meet her gaze. "…Lets go on a hunting patrol. Fisheyes! Evergreenclaw! Get your apprentices, we're going hunting," he called, standing and walking to the camp entrance. He was clearly uncomfortable from the talk with Sapphirestar.

As Bubblepaw pawed miserably after her mentor, she noticed cats were staring. Mostly warriors, and older apprentices. The ones her age didn't take any interest and kept talking amongst themselves. When Bubblepaw looked at the ones watching her, they looked away quickly and licked their chest fur, embarrassed, or tried to make it look like they were talking. But not quick enough; she noticed them all.

What was it that they were hiding? She had a feeling it had something to do with her unknown origin.

So what if I'm adopted? Bubblepaw thought bitterly. So what if I'm not a direct descendant of RiverClan? I was raised here, and I live here now! So stop giving these dirty looks like I'm some kind of rat! she wanted to scream. Instead, she kept walking.

However, this whole chain of events just made her more determined to get into the WindClan camp.

They got back from the patrol with a good stock of prey. Bubblepaw gratefully ate a squirrel and shared tongues with the other apprentices. There were eyes on her occasionally, but not as much as before they'd left. She was comfortable and glad to have a regular evening.

However, she had devised a plan while they had hunted. When most cats were asleep, just before sunhigh, she would sneak out through a back entrance that she had stumbled upon as a kit. It led to a large, beautiful meadow, where Bubblepaw liked to go and think about things. But there would be no time for lazing around and thinking on this mission; she had to get to the forest. There was a trodden path of trampled grass and flowers that led straight to the heart of the forest. If she followed the right trail from there, she would get to the WindClan camp easily. The apprentice would then sneak along the outskirts of the camp, (covered in mud, of course, to hide her scent) until she found Cheetahspots' den. There, she would ask the medicine cat about herself. When she found what she needed, she'd leave the same way she came.

However, she didn't expect things to go wrong.

She snuck out easily enough. However, because it had been so long since she'd been there, she had almost forgotten where the path was. That took more time than expected, even though it was a silly mistake. Very silly.

She lurked quietly through the forest, making sure not to step on any loose twigs or anything and alert some cat. She crept over to the WindClan border, and spotted the perfect patch of muddy ground to roll in.

After she had done so, she padded silently to the border, rubbed a little bit on it, hoping to catch some of its scent, and then continued on.

But, she had barely enough time to dart behind a bush when she saw a patrol a fox-length away-and still approaching! She would surely be caught, and her whole plan would be ruined!

I hope you liked it! ^^ Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes.

PLEASE REVIEW! ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT ANOTHER CHAPTER!