Author's Note: Hullo, you magnificent people that have actually read this much! 8D At last, we're introduced to the magical third perspective of the story, and with her, the main plot.


Chapter Three


The sunlight, now a good deal stronger, shone down on the deciduous forest of ThunderClan's territory and dappled the soft ground as well as the pelts of the cats below. In the distance, a bird cheerfully twittered, but the ThunderClan dawn patrol stood tall and silent, their expressions hardened with aggression as they studied the WindClan cat before them.

Interestingly enough, as Morningbird couldn't help but notice, the white and black bobtailed tom looked more exasperated than nervous at having been stopped halfway back to WindClan.

The head of the dawn patrol, an odd-eyed tom with a long white pelt, gave a slow blink and spoke in the same manner, "Ospreytail, what are you doing here?"

Morningbird tilted her white and brown patched head to get a better look at the WindClan cat. She was still fairly new to being a warrior, and although she'd caught a glimpse of this unusual bobtailed tom once or twice at the Gatherings, she'd never been so close or had him named. So this was Ospreytail, she thought—WindClan's peculiar deputy.

Ospreytail's ears flicked restlessly, but he answered with ease, "I'm on my way back to WindClan, Whitelion. That is, if you'll let me."

"Of course," Whitelion dipped his large head, clearly acknowledging that Ospreytail was in the safe zone between the lake and ThunderClan land.

Ospreytail dipped his head in return, a gesture of thanks, but before he could carry on, one of the patrol's two apprentices snorted.

"What's WindClan's deputy doing out here to begin with? And reeking of ShadowClan, no less. Excuse me for saying, but this whole thing reeks of trouble."

Morningbird's green eyes shifted towards Sootpaw, a cream colored tom with a very dark brown mask, paws, and tail. He was normally a quiet young cat, but Sootpaw never seemed to miss an opportunity to cast shadows on another's image.

Squirrelpaw, a dark blue-gray she-cat, quickly meowed in agreement, "Yeah!" Her skinny tail fluffed up. "What's WindClan up to now?"

Morningbird gave a low hiss, surprised that the two hinted, even if subtly, at WindClan's past folly.

True, the four cats that sought to overthrow the Warrior Code had all been born in WindClan, but that didn't mean the entire Clan should be looked down upon in the present. Things changed, and Ospreytail wasn't even involved in all that. As Morningbird could see, he was simply too young.

"Sootpaw, Squirrelpaw." The apprentices turned to look at Sootpaw's mentor, a gray she-cat with a white paw. The she-cat meowed, her head lowered to Ospreytail, "Excuse them. They're still young and have yet to look past the elders' stories."

Along with Whitelion, Morningbird nodded in agreement, though a white footed black tom put in, "However, an answer to better explain yourself would be best."

"A loner has entered Clan territory," Ospreytail reported flatly. "I was investigating, and I suggest you keep a lookout."

Whitelion flicked his long tail in dismissal, his meow a gracious one, "Thank you for the warning."

"Of course," Ospreytail mewed hastily, a note of relief in his voice, before he began to pad away.

"Where's his tail?" Squirrelpaw piped up, unquestionably loud enough for the parting tom to hear.

"Squirrelpaw, shush." Whitelion rounded on his apprentice, but his volume kept even. "You've been rude. Both you and Sootpaw, and I'm very disappointed."

The she-cat apprentice's ears fell back at her mentor's harsh tone and regret filled her voice, "I… I'm sorry."

"And what about you, Sootpaw?" Sootpaw's gray furred mentor, Graywing, mewed. She gave her own apprentice a nudge with her single white paw.

Although he refused to meet the questioning stares of the other cats, Sootpaw gave in. "Fine. I'm sorry."

Morningbird sighed quietly, pleased that the two young cats had been easily swayed to repent. Cruel as they could be, Sootpaw and Squirrelpaw weren't horrendous. They were just a bit rebellious was all. Of course, with Sootpaw being her kin, Morningbird could only hope as much.

She looked to Whitelion, the senior warrior that had mentored her not too many moons ago, and wondered how he was handling Squirrelpaw's more brazen behavior, a sharp contrast to her own obedience.

"We should head back to camp," the white footed black tom suggested, his tail entwined with Graywing's.

"You're right, Cloudfall," Whitelion agreed, a lighthearted glimmer entering his blue and yellow eyes. "The patrol's done, and I do believe you and Morningbird have earned your morning meal. However, Graywing and I really should take our apprentices out hunting."

Squirrelpaw let out a yowl of protest, but was quickly silenced by a look from her mentor.

"Thank you, Whitelion," Morningbird purred while Cloudfall quickly brushed cheeks with Graywing.

The two warriors, free from apprentices themselves, then turned to head back to camp.

Padding beneath the greenleaf trees and momentarily free from the buzz of conversation, Morningbird could once again hear the avian twitters. They were pleasing, and not just for the consistent rhythms. They also promised her food, and as she envisioned a fat songbird, her stomach gave a loud growl.

"Well, well." Cloudfall let out a mrrow of laughter. "Looks like we're not a moment too soon in leaving, eh?"

"U-Uhm," Morningbird couldn't meet the older warrior's eyes and felt her fur grow hot with embarrassment. Cloudfall was, after all, the father of her very best friend.

"Don't be shy now," the white footed tom purred. "You're a full-fledged warrior, and have grown up well, especially for a cat without parents. No one in ThunderClan can deny you that." Cloudfall gently nudged Morningbird with his muscled shoulder. "So hold your head high!"

The young warrior found herself purring right back as she forced herself to swallow her more bashful feelings. "I guess that's true." She lifted her head, if only slightly.

"That's it!" Cloudfall meowed with excitement, his brown eyes full of warmth.

Morningbird and Cloudfall soon pushed through the thorny entrance into the stone hollow. By then, Morningbird was standing tall, confident, and with a hunger ten times stronger than when she'd first finished patrolling.

Her small pink nose wiggled as she scented the freshkill at the camp's center. Yet, before she could even take one pawstep towards it, she caught sight of a small flash of gray and white fur and was promptly knocked to the ground.

"Mousepaw, you rat! We were supposed to pounce all together!"

As she was bounced on by the tiny she-cat known as Mousepaw, Morningbird managed to look up and see the cat that had yowled. She wasn't much bigger than an apprentice herself and, in color, was pale gray with black tabby markings. She was, to Morningbird, the most recognizable cat of them all.

Morningbird called joyously, "Tinyfoot!"

"Yes, yes, it's me," Tinyfoot purred, her tail curling behind her as a second apprentice peered from around one of her hindlegs, one with a solid silver pelt.

The young she-cat mewed loudly, "It's also Silverpaw!" She turned to tease her sister, "Mousepaw, you ruined it!"

"But… But I didn't mean to!" Mousepaw insisted, lying atop Morningbird's white stomach.

"Ah, silly she-cats," Cloudfall commented, and all attention flew to the forgotten tom. "Some things never change." His tail flicked affectionately at Tinyfoot, his daughter, before he padded off towards the freshkill pile.

Tinyfoot rolled her large brown eyes, and Morningbird, still lying on her back with Mousepaw on top, surveyed the gray stone camp. Immediately, she noticed that their spectacle had drawn the whole Clan's attention. Even Leafstar had poked his white and ginger colored head out of the leader's den to see what all the noise was about.

"Well, thanks for the warm welcome," Morningbird purred. "Mousepaw's definitely getting stronger. Although—" Morningbird fixed the young she-cat with a look jokingly harsh. "—she may want to learn some patience."

"Of course, of course!" Mousepaw exclaimed before jumping off to join Silverpaw next to Tinyfoot.

Morningbird rolled over and stood up, giving her white and brown tabby coat a quick shake. Though, once again, her attention drifted over to the freshkill pile. Only this time she couldn't help but notice that Cloudfall was digging into a particularly plump squirrel. Her tongue rasped over her white jaws.

"I've really got to eat first, but maybe after that we can all play with the kits?"

In the end, that was normally what the four of them did if there weren't any mentors or deputies breathing down their necks.

"Actually, Morningbird," Tinyfoot began, and instantly had her friend's attention. "Redberry asked to see you."

"Redberry?" Morningbird's ears lifted with interest. What did ThunderClan's medicine cat want with her? It wasn't like she was sick or had even been sick, at least not recently.

"She says it's very, very important," Silverpaw put in, nodding her head once to punctuate the words.

Mousepaw gave a small demonstrative hop. "That's why we were going to jump on you! You know, to get your attention!"

"I see…" Morningbird trailed off, her small white paws shuffling as she was torn between going to see Redberry and feeding her rowdy stomach. However, her decision was soon made for her.

"Morningbird!"

All four she-cats turned their heads to face the reddish brown and white tom that stood just outside the medicine cat's den. Without a doubt, it was Falconpaw, the medicine cat apprentice.

"You'd better go," Tinyfoot mewed quietly. "You can catch up with us later."

"Right," Morningbird agreed with cheer, but one of her ears fell lopsided as she considered the possibility of having to deal with Falconpaw's temper.

"Morningbird!" The yowl came louder. "Redberry wants to speak with you right now!"

"I'll be right there, Falconpaw!" Morningbird meowed back, her tail in the air as she rushed over.

Even so, she couldn't help but overhear Tinyfoot reprimand Silverpaw for speaking about a medicine cat apprentice in such a way, whatever that "way" was.

"Glad you could make it." Falconpaw flicked an ear, and with his tail, pulled back the screen of brambles at the den's entrance.

Morningbird was quiet for a moment, shocked by the tom's unexpectedly more pleasant tone. "Oh… of course." Slowly, the white and brown patched she-cat padded into the den.

The various scents of herbs were all around, and she could see the little caches where the plants were kept. However, the moss beds were vacant, and gave the place an empty, lonely sort of feeling. Expectedly, the consistent gray of the stone walls did little to lighten it up.

Falconpaw padded up beside Morningbird, his attention directed to a few black shadows as he explained, "Redberry's over here."

So far from the entrance? From the rest of the Clan? But it wasn't like she had a choice in the matter.

The stone felt cool beneath Morningbird's paws as she followed behind Falconpaw, if not a bit uncertainly. As her eyes adjusted to the change in light, it was tempting to strike up friendly conversation and ask how the young tom was doing. However, before she could figure out how to phrase one such question, they came to a stop in front of a ginger furred she-cat.

"I've brought Morningbird, Redberry," Falconpaw flicked his tail towards Morningbird, and her own tail drooped.

Confined in a stone den with two cats so close to StarClan, she was rapidly becoming less and less sure what to think.

Falconpaw shut his eyes and added as though to highlight his own competence, "Those she-cats you told to bring her were taking too long."

"That's fine." Redberry settled down onto her slender haunches, and her orange eyes, full of an elder's wisdom, never strayed from Morningbird. "You did good, Falconpaw. Now, I want you to make sure no other cat overhears what I'm going to tell our dear Morningbird."

At those words, Morningbird went rigid. What if she had some horrible, potentially epidemic disease and didn't even know it? What if she'd done something terrible to offend StarClan? Bit by bit, the young warrior's head lowered until she'd scrunched up her narrow brown tabby shoulders.

"No cat will get past the brambles," Falconpaw vowed, then turned and padded back towards the den's opening.

Redberry rested her flame colored tail over her forepaws and spoke brightly, "He's a wonderful apprentice, don't you think?"

Morningbird hesitated, wondering what Falconpaw had to do with the situation, then mewed, "Yes, he most certainly is."

The old medicine cat purred, her voice full of warmth, "He'll make a fine medicine cat one day…" For an instant, Redberry seemed to have entered a doze, but abruptly, she snapped open her eyes. "Now, about why you're here…"

So Falconpaw had nothing to do with it? Morningbird leaned forward, her green eyes wide with expectancy as well as an eagerness to rush back outside and eat.

"Morningbird, last night I received a dream from StarClan." Redberry's unblinking orange gaze became severe. "In that dream, I received a prophecy."

"A prophecy?" Morningbird repeated, her ears high as she then hung on Redberry's every word. She'd never been told a prophecy before.

"Yes." The medicine cat nodded, and her tone transformed into one more somber, "Your mother, Lilyleaf, gave it to me. She said, 'With morning, the shadows rise, and for blood, four will choose between two.'"

The young she-cat warrior stood frozen, a coldness tingling in her paws as she suddenly understood why she'd been called in.

"Morningbird, I'm convinced the prophecy refers to you."

All of a sudden, she wasn't so hungry.


Author's Note: Once again, thanks for reading, and as will always be the case, reviews of all kinds are loved! Seriously. Critique is just as great as encouragement, but the two combined are the best thing ever. 8)