Chapter 19

A quarter moon passed. With everyday I felt more and more at home here. Rainstar never spoke of leaving; he and Heatherstar were great partners in keeping all of us together. Cause really, as the time passed, I felt more and more like we were one clan. And I knew everyone else felt the same; the clans mingled together, sharing tongues, and meals and exchanging all the gossip. I wondered what would happen at the Gathering.

We had all taken on the same scent some days ago. Sort of a mix between rabbit and fish, though the fish scent was rapidly disappearing. I wondered what Rainstar had in plan for us. Windclan was great, but I missed the river and fish, and sleeping in my own den with my own nest. I asked Smallflower if I could go hunting on my own for a while. "Yes, but be back by Sunhigh. Heatherstar and Rainstar have an announcement to make." She said. I nodded and ran out of the camp.

I had definitely gotten faster in the time I had spent here. I had lots of practice and it was easier to run here than in the forest. There weren't any trees to worry about and the ground was compact.

Out away from the camp, I slowed down. Almost automatically, I looked up to Starclan. Ferntail. Mosskit. I hoped they were ok. I hadn't seen either of them in my dreams for a while. Usually I saw them once or twice a moon. I realized that I was closer to the prophecy than ever, spending more time to think about and act upon it than I done lately.

I parted my jaws to tastes the air. Prey was becoming scarce since leaf bare had started a few days ago. How would one territory support two clans? Rainstar would have to move us back to our territory for sure. I detected the scent of mouse, and tried to pinpoint where the smell was coming from. It was behind me, seeming to be hiding in a bush. I silently stalked up to it, more and more sure it was hiding in there. Sure enough, I could hear it scuffling in there. I pounced. The mouse didn't even squeak as I killed it quickly.

I stayed out awhile longer, catching a rabbit before heading back to camp. I caught up with the sunhigh patrol as they were heading back. On it was Wetfoot, Sunspot, Rockshade, and Cinderfur. I tagged along with them, swapping news and gossip. We wondered what the meeting would be for, but we all agreed it was probably Rainstar taking us back home.

The summons were ringing in the air as we returned. Heatherstar spoke first. "Today, Windclan welcomes two new kits to receive their apprentice names." Cheers rose from the crowd.

Rainstar spoke now, "Lightkit!" As the kit raced up to the leader, he meowed, "From this day on, and until you receive your warrior name, you'll be know by the apprentice name of Lightpaw." The clan cheered. We hardly noticed that it was the RiverClan leader that gave the WindClan kit her apprentice name.

Heatherstar continued, "Your mentor will be Bramblestripe. Listen to her well, though she is young, she is a great fighter and has tremendous courage." The pair touched noses.

"Darkit!" Heatherstar meowed. "You will be known as Darkpaw until you earn your Warrior name." More cheers. "Your mentor will be Skyheart." The she-cat padded up to stand beside her new apprentice. "Skyheart, you are intelligent and thoughtful. Pass on these qualities to Darkpaw." He nodded and greeted Darkpaw with a touch of his nose. His new mentor returned the greeting and the pair of cats walked to the edge of the crowd.

"You are dismissed." Rainstar said.

The cats dispersed and I heard the new apprentices bombarding their mentors with questions. I purred. I hoped one day soon, I would have my own apprentice. That would be so cool.

"Quick! Get Leopardshadow!" a wail rose from the nursery. Graymist sprang out of the den and hurled herself into the medicine cats' den. She reappeared with Leopardshadow and Shadepaw. Both of them had bundles of herbs in their jaws.

I waited outside, wondering how Rosewing was getting on. Did Leopardshadow and Shadepaw need help or anything? I decided to find out. Silently I poked through the den entrance. When I saw Rosewing, I had a moment of happiness. There was a little gray kit with a white head lying next to her. "Do you need anything?" I asked. The two medicine cats shook their heads so I turned to Rosewing.

She said, "Could you find Wildheart? He'll want to help me name him." I nodded and left the den.

Wildheart was not in camp, so I had to search the territory for him. Turns out, he was on a hunting patrol with Dewdrop, Flamestripe and Oakstorm. He was gleeful as I passed the news onto him, and didn't wait for me to run back to camp. "Want to join the hunting expedition?" Flamestripe asked. I nodded but couldn't find any enthusiasm for it. My mind was still in camp, wondering about the new arrivals. When we called it quits, I had only a shrew to take back.

I laid my prey on the pile and Oakstorm came up behind me, surprising me. "Sorry to startle you." I just shrugged, unconcerned. "Are you feeling ok?" he asked. He entwined his tail with mine.

I nodded. "I'm just tired. I was up early."

He said, "Why don't you go to your nest early tonight? We can talk tomorrow." I smiled and said a sleepy goodnight. He licked my ear, and said, "Sweet dreams."

The next day was average. I went on a hunting patrol in the morning, and then grabbed a rabbit from the pile when I got back. Shadepaw took a shrew from the pile and settled beside me to eat it. "Will you help me gather herbs after we eat?"

I replied, "Sure. Why do you need a warriors escort though?" she looked at her haft eaten shrew, and I knew there was something she didn't want to tell me.

"I had a dream with Ferntail and Mosskit. There are some things I need to tell you. Watersong and Rainstar are coming. Smallflower too." She meowed reluctantly after hesitating.

We finished eating and met Watersong, Smallflower and Rainstar in a dip in the ground, filled with sand. "I told Heatherstar we would be leaving for our own territory soon. It's only going to get harder to feed us as time goes on." Rainstar meowed.

Then he turned to me and said, "First I would like you to go into our land and make sure it's safe. Report back anything that's suspicious. I plan to leave in a few days." I nodded, but didn't understand how that could make Shadepaw so edgy. I glanced at her, then Watersong and Smalllflower. Surely they would tell me, wouldn't they?

I barely caught Shadepaw's whispered words. They were for her mentor, "She has a right to know. She should know, this prophecy is about her too. Ferntail fulfilled her part, and I need to do my part now. She needs to know this." Watersong nodded, but I started to panic.

"I had a dream with Ferntail and Mosskit. They told me great trouble was coming, trouble for all four clans. They said I had to go over the mountains and discover as much information about our enemy as I could." I just stared at her, shocked into silence. She continued, "I don't know how long I'll be gone. A moon at least. But I will come back. You can count on it." I willed myself to say something. Anything. But no words came out of me. She spoke again, "I told Rockshade and Willowshadow. Silverheart, I have to do this. Our sisters said that it was time for me to complete my part of the prophecy."

"Did they tell you who our enemy was?" I finally asked.

She shook her head saying, "They said I would know once I saw them. I trust them so I will go, even if I don't have all the information."

I nodded. "Can I take Oakstorm with me when I check our territory?"

Smallflower said, "No. it will be easier to focus without the worries of another cat's safety. While you are gone we will tell the clan about Shadepaw, invent an excuse for her so no one knows why, and tell then we are going home where we belong."

I thought of something. "How can we expect the other clans to help us fight this enemy?"

Shadepaw answered, "Starclan sent the fire not to harm us, but to bring us closer to Windclan. They will support us when we announce all of this." That made sense. Ferntail had sacrificed herself so we could have allies to protect the forest.

"I'll go right away." I meowed. I started up the hill toward home.

"Silverheart!" Shadepaw called. I turned to look at her. "I won't leave till you get back." I nodded and continued on, heading for the only land that could ever be my home, no matter how comfortable I was on the moors.

It was an uneventful trip. When I got to where the border should be there was no Riverclan scent on it at all. Just Windclan. I crossed their scent marks and then added mine on Riverclan's side. Once I finished, I turned back to my land, and tasted the air warily. No cat had been here for a quarter moon at least, so I didn't know what kind of dangers maybe lurking around. Rainstar was smart to send a cat in to check things out. I walked along the path keeping my mouth open.

I was surprised at just how much vegetation there was. When we left, everything was black and dead. Now the forest was thriving with life. Plants were abundant, birds were calling, the river was singing. I forgot just how loud the water was. It was hard to believe something terrifying could be hiding here.

I got deeper into our territory, by the river that was the boundary with ThunderClan, when I smelled it. Now it was easier to believe something terrible was hiding here. I couldn't handle this alone, but the clan couldn't come back till the threat was removed.

I ran to Windclan's camp.

A/N: Cliffhangers! Anyway, I am so glad to be back home. I've missed writing so much. Sorry if I kept you waiting in suspense, but now I'm back to my one chapter a day schedule. While I was in California, I got some really great ideas for the story. Please stick with me, 'cause I know you will love them. So leave a review maybe? Thanks!