STARCLAN! This will be a pretty sad chappy. And cool. Just read, and don't forget to review! *dances the ReVIEW OR UR DEAD dance* Two deliveries will be made...

Chapter Five

STARCLAN

Two Deliveries

Hollyleaf's POV

I was excited. And sad. Let me begin with the sad bits and end happy. First off, a cat joined us. It was a kit named Larkkit. I heard he was a RiverClan kit, but I felt sad just the same. No kits deserved death, Lionheart told me. He was beside me as the group of StarClan cats watched Silverstream lead the small kit to our hunting grounds. Larkkit was a fluffy silvery tom with light brown paws. His eyes were not open. Fortunately, they would open in StarClan. He was a stillborn of Mintfur and Otterheart. But there was some good in their kitting, for the other three kits survived. Four was a lot of kits! It was sad that Larkkit couldn't become the apprentices his siblings Sagekit, Fawnkit, and Boulderkit would become in six moons. Silverstream gently carried the small kit into the nursery section of StarClan. I hope Larkkit will be fine with StarClan. After all, this was where he'd stay now, forever. This was his new Clan. This was the first delivery made today.

The second delivery was just… thrilling for me! No, there wasn't another dead cat. Would I be happy then? If it were Leafpool or Squirrelflight, I might, but I would think I was unreasonable for them to enter the noble StarClan hunting grounds. But since I was forgiven, maybe they would, too. Okay, anyways, back to topic! I was sent to make a delivery. A delivery of a prophecy! Bluestar gave me permission. I will retell what happened this morning.

"Hollyleaf!" I heard a strong voice call out loudly. Before staggering upward, I let out a big yawn. Who was waking me up so early? I lifted my head to take a look, and spotted a familiar blue-gray shape. It was Bluestar. Crossly, I sprang upward and murmured drowsily, "You better have a reason to wake me up, Bluestar." The blue-eyed she-cat gazed at me and mewed solemnly, "I have a great reason, in fact. You must deliver a prophecy to Jayfeather." My eyes widened. That was a great reason indeed. Quickly, I grinned and replied, "Good reason. What is the prophecy, then?" I couldn't help but stay gleeful. StarClan trusted me with something important.

Bluestar's eyes balanced on me. She meowed, "Speak to Jayfeather, and tell him that danger will be coming. A dark age will arrive, and they must find the third quickly. Then tell him: Dove's wing will swoop above danger; ivy's vine will trap the trouble. Two becomes one, and the three shall arise. I knew exactly what it meant. Dovepaw and Ivypaw were now apprentices, and if they work together, they will become the third. The two of them would become one if they work together. I was going to deliver that prophecy! I got bouncy, and I quickly mewed, "Great! I will go now!"

So now, I am scampering toward the Dream Pond. I arrived swiftly there, and took a sip of the frosty water. It maneuvered into my throat, sending me a shiver into my tail. I yelled silently, Jayfeather! There were three flashes, and soon I was in a dead forest. It was so different from the one I saw last time. I spotted a gray tabby tom glancing around wildly. This was Jayfeather. I heard thunder clap, eagles crowing loudly above, and suddenly, a bloody red streaked across the sky. Jayfeather didn't notice me at all. He was too shocked by the changes of the calm, lovely forest. Turning my head to observe the now-different forest, I identified a sinister hill of bones. It was horrific! But that might've been the special effects for the prophecy. So I spoke.

"Jayfeather," I mewed calmly. I didn't know why, but I spoke so calmly. Maybe StarClan did something weird to me. Maybe it was the water I drank from the Dream Pond this time. It was so icy and cold, and then it suddenly turned warm, then cold. Weird, right? But that was what I felt and tasted. Could it be what made my voice seem so shrill, ominous, and strangely calm? Jayfeather whipped around and stared at me with crazed blue eyes. He was going crazy. He swallowed stiffly and stammered, "H-Hollyleaf?"

I nodded slowly. His eyes darted into different directions as he cried, "What is happening?! Why are you visiting me in such a way?!" I just gazed at him. It was weird that I stayed so calm. I wanted to freak out myself. But I spoke anyways, calmly again. "Jayfeather, danger will be coming," I echoed Bluestar's words. "A dark age shall arrive, and you must find the third quickly." My shocked brother backed away from me.

"W-what are you saying?! Are you sending me a prophecy?" he demanded angrily. I didn't know why. I just kept staring at him like I was lifeless. Then I continued in my shrillest voice: "Dove's wing will swoop above danger; ivy's vine will trap the trouble. Two will become one, and the three shall arise." Quickly I meowed, "Jayfeather, it is your job to unfold the means of the prophecy. Good-bye." Slowly, everything faded black, and…

I woke up finding myself crouched down before the Dream Pond. Was that how Jayfeather felt after receiving a dream from StarClan from the Moonpool? Well, this was definitely different. I was in Jayfeather's dream, and I just delivered a prophecy! I felt my fur bristle in joy. Maybe I am starting to become a big character in StarClan. I don't know, but I was happy. And frightened, of course. StarClan hid my own voice and sort of controlled me when I drank the water from the Dream Pond. I don't know, but it's also cool. Not the menacing voice part, the calm part.

Yellowfang greeted me when I turned my head around to head back to my den in StarClan. She mewed, "Hollyleaf, how was your first experience of delivering a prophecy?" I smiled, and confessed all I felt. "It was a little creepy, but it was very exciting overall. I feel so… important now." The gray she-cat gave me a small grin and replied, "There are much more prophecies to deliver in the future… unfortunately. But they aren't games, I warn you. They might be ultimately solemn news when the medicine cats figure it out. Although, of course, you can't forget the fun experience of delivering a message foretelling sometimes deaths of several cats, eh?" she added sarcastically. I growled playfully in return. It was typical Yellowfang.

"Let's go, now," I mewed, and we both headed back towards the camp of StarClan. I entered the warrior's den and Yellowfang returned into the medicine cat's one. In there I found many StarClan warriors already asleep. I still felt pretty awake, so I padded toward the other dens to secretly observe the sleeping cats. In the medicine cat's den, I found Yellowfang already snoring away. Ha. Typical Yellowfang. Spottedleaf was sleeping quietly (unlike Yellowfang), and I saw the shapes of many more medicine cats such as Brambleberry and Mudfur curled up comfortably. Medicine cat dens are the dens with the fewest cats.

Sadly, that brings me to the fact that the two most crowded dens were the warrior's den and the nursery. I kept padding along, and peeked into the leader's den. Many former leaders were asleep there, snoring softly (again, unlike Yellowfang, who was snoring louder than the thunder). I saw Bluestar there. After a prick of her ears, I quickly walked away. The next den I reached was the apprentice's den. It was pretty crowded, too. Molepaw was fast asleep in there, along with many young cats like Shrewpaw and Swiftpaw. I pitied them, for they never got to become great warriors of ThunderClan.

I snooped into the elder's den, and spotted Frostfur, Rosetail, Patchpelt, and One-eye snuggling together in a corner of the grassy den. Out of all the elders, Halftail was snoring the loudest, and I fleetly exited the den after Tawnyspots shuffled a bit. Then I reached the queen's den. It was the den with fewest cats in it, fortunately. Silverstream was there, and I sniffed a bit. She was a great cat, and she always supported me after I came to StarClan. When a few cats like One-eye complained about how I didn't deserve StarClan, Silverstream protested for me and helped me a lot. She died kitting her kits, Featherkit and Stormkit. Stormfur is now living well with Brook and the Tribe, and Feathertail is now in StarClan, with a paw in the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

Sniffling, I exited the queen's den and finally ended up in the last, crowded den. The nursery. I stared into it, and saw a bunch of sleeping furry bundles inside. I could see Hollykit and Larchkit, the kits of Ferncloud. The two both died to starvation during the Great Journey, according to Bluestar. And Bluestar's kit, Mosskit was here, too. Larkkit couldn't sleep. I saw him exploring the wide nursery. His eyes were now open, and in the dark, I could faintly make out some starry-yellow eyes. Beautiful eyes. Poor, poor Larkkit. My black fur blended into the shadows, but his yellow eyes spotted my bright green ones gleaming in the dark.

"Who are you?" he whispered softly. Slowly, he padded toward me with his fragile paws, and I gave him a small lick. "I'm Hollyleaf," I replied. The rest of the night, we talked together until little Larkkit fell asleep. I showed him the StarClan territories. Larkkit didn't want to join StarClan, and he missed his parents. Poor little Larkkit, dying so young. For once I felt as lucky as ever. When the fluffy kit fell asleep, I carried the silvery furred tom-kit back into the nursery, and returned to the warrior's den. Oh, if only he lived long enough!

I'm sorry I had to end this the sad way.

Yay! This was a pretty long chapter and I worked a long time on it. Aww. Poor Larkkit... He was a stillborn! Yah, I had to flip through the books and search for elders, leaders, warriors, kits, and apprentices that died. Sniffle. I found lots... xO Sadly! REVIEW NOW!!!

Rainy