Chapter 4: Dreams
Mousekit often found herself sneaking through the medicine cat storage space and going through a secret passageway to sit by the edge of the medicine cat pool, just outside of ShadowClan camp. There, she could stay away from the hustle and bustle of the Clan camp, and simply think.
The pool was roughly the size of half the ShadowClan camp. It was frozen solid at this time of leaf-bare, but underneath the icy exterior was clear, uncontaminated water. During greenleaf, the pool sparkled as it reflected the hot sun; unblocked by any trees or overhanging branches. During leaf-bare, it normally had an icy sheen from the weak sun; but the clouds were covering the sun that day, so the lake seemed like a dull, gray surface. It reflected Mousekit's answers to her nagging questions.
Along with worrying about the prophecy and who the "blue-furred one" was, she worried about when her sisters were going to find out about what she really heard that day at the warrior meeting. How would Mousekit's sisters react to finding out that Mousekit was keeping something that happened almost a moon ago from them? Answering a question only brought ten more questions that needed answers.
Mousekit suddenly heard rustling on the other side of the medicine cat pool, behind some brambles and ferns. Mousekit was on the side that was closer to the medicine cat storage space. She remembered what she had heard her father say to Berrystone, who was Berrypaw at the time: Don't go past the far side of the medicine cat pool; that's ThunderClan territory.
Mousekit slowly got up. She was still a kit and hadn't learned how to walk quietly, but she could try. She walked around the edge of the pool, making sure not to walk too carelessly on the frosty, ice-cold grass.
As Mousekit slowly sidled closer, she started to hear voices and a strange stench. Probably ThunderClan, Mousekit thought, Leaving their stink on whatever they happen to pass.
The voices soon became clearer. "Honestly, Bluekit has been causing mischief whenever and wherever. I think you should punish her," a she-cat said. Mousekit hid behind a few frost-covered brambles and looked closer. The speaker was bluish-brackish she-cat.
"Bluekit is only a kit, not even a moon old; she doesn't know how to do everything," another she-cat replied. This one had fluffy white fur. "She's almost never been outside the nursery! You've seen how she's a good kit. She still needs to grow up."
"She left the camp grounds, Willowflight!" the bluish-brackish she-cat growled. "And as her mother, you should punish her and make sure it never happens again!"
Willowflight sounded slightly annoyed. "Frozenleaf! I will decide what to or what not to do when it comes to Bluekit. You don't see me bothering you about your kits. It's you who is deciding to interfere into things that do not concern you!"
"I don't care if Bluekit is "the blue-furred one" or not!" Frozenleaf seemed to have finally lost her temper. "You will punish her for leaving camp, 'not even one moon old' or not! I don't want my kits following your 'precious kit's' example!"
Mousekit accidentally crushed a frozen branch lying on the cold ground. Fortunately, the two queens were too engrossed in their 'conversation' to notice. Personally, Mousekit thought that was a bit careless of them, but was still grateful she wasn't caught.
"You will leave Bluekit alone, or you will pay for it. If you haven't noticed, your kit also joined Bluekit in leaving camp. I don't see you punishing her, except for neglecting her in favor of your other kit! Which is a worse example than Bluekit could ever do, in my opinion, and the rest of ThunderClan's.." Willowflight sounded menacing. It seemed that before this argument, that the two queens had been good friends. "You were never like this until we moved to the nursery and I had my kits!"
Frozenleaf narrowed her eyes slightly, backing away. "It seems that you cannot see sense." She turned and stalked through the icy ferns behind her.
Willowflight murmured, so low Mousekit could barely hear her. "Prove me right, Bluekit!" Willowflight vanished through the wet and frosty undergrowth.
Mousekit suddenly released a breath she didn't know she was holding. As she gulped back in air, Mousekit realized that she had found "the blue-furred one" from the prophecy. Not only that, she now knew that "the blue-furred one", or Bluekit, was not even one moon old yet. Bluekit was ThunderClan, too. Mousekit remembered hearing her father speaking to a few warriors. They spoke about a war between ShadowClan and ThunderClan, and Mousekit had wondered what ThunderClan was. Now she knew, and she couldn't keep her legs from shaking. The war between the two Clans made it impossible to meet Bluekit outside a Gathering. Which meant Bluekit's first Gathering...
Mousekit was going to meet Bluekit for the first time at a Gathering six moons away.
*Page Break*
Mousekit had a hard time trying to sleep. She constantly woke up, after seeing flashes and the faint outlines of three cats. Mousekit wasn't sure what it meant, but with all the questions buzzing around in her head, her flashing dreams seemed unimportant. She pushed the dreams as far away from the front of her mind as she could, and tried to sleep again.
The flashes were fainter, as if they were fading. But one cat outline steadily grew stronger, pushing through her mental dream barriers.
Suddenly, in a streak of light, the stronger outline burst through, and Mousekit saw who it was; she remembered hearing a tale about the heroes of ThunderClan (with a few spiteful comments) and she remembered hearing the descriptions of the cats.
The description of this cat fit Jayfeather from the stories perfectly.
Mousekit's shock and hesitation broke her barrier; everything flowed in, like a stream, first trickling slowly, then growing bigger and more forceful. Mousekit's dream flooded with color.
She was in a lush, grassy plain with wildflowers; Mousekit thought she saw a few medicine cat herbs, but she couldn't be sure. Behind Jayfeather stood two other easily recognizable cats. Lionblaze, his golden pelt glinting in the sunlight, stood at Jayfeather's right; Dovewing stood at Jayfeather's left, her sleek gray pelt shining.
Mousekit wasn't sure exactly what to do; she remained tensed and ready to act, or react.
"About time," Jayfeather grumbled; he flicked his tail and turned slightly away from Mousekit. "We should have chosen one of the other kits, who happen to be less stubborn."
Lionblaze nudged Jayfeather gently. "You know Mousekit is the only one of the four who has any connection to StarClan; let alone us. Besides," Lionblaze narrowed his eyes playfully, "You act the exact same way. Why are you the one complaining?"
Dovewing hissed lightly, "We have to hurry this up, remember? We don't have forever to talk to Mousekit." she gazed at Mousekit gently. "You, too, will have to make choices similar to the ones we have made, Mousekit. I know my decisions were terribly hard ones to make; yours will be too."
Mousekit stayed silent. What do you say to, not one, but to three of the greatest heroes in StarClan?
"There's no time to be nice," Jayfeather said. "We don't have an entire moon to tell her what we have to."
Lionblaze sighed. "What we came to tell you, is that you should stop worrying so much." He lifted his tail for silence before Mousekit could speak. "It does seem so small to come to you in a dream for, but this is not a time for you to make bad decisions based on the tiny amount of information you know, and have all the Clans suffer from those mistakes. You've thought it yourself; all you have to do right now is keep it from your sisters and wait until Bluekit's first Gathering."
Dovewing seemed to anticipate what Mousekit would say next, as she said, "We do believe that your sisters should keep their ignorance for as long as they can. Right now, they consider finding out what you are hiding as a game, and we do not know what they will do with the information if they find out. But we do not believe you should keep it from them after you three become apprentices. As an apprentice, your sisters will have matured slightly, and will not make bad choices with what they are told."
Mousekit challenged Dovewing."What do I do until the Gathering other than that, then? How will I explain anything to Bluekit or my sisters? What - "
"You can plan in the meantime," Jayfeather interrupted. "We can't tell you much more than that. But if I were you, I wouldn't worry. Bluekit already knows more than she should."
Mousekit clamped her open mouth shut. In her head, she thought, Was it worth it to have the ignorance and innocence of a kit, only to have it stolen away from her six moons later?
"Take your time, Mousekit," Dovewing said, her voice fading. She quickly touched noses with Mousekit. "Remember, StarClan is always with you..."
Mousekit's eyes shot open, slightly glassy; still remembering her dream, she blinked hard and squinted into the light filtering from the canopy of the Nursery.