Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short! The next one will be longer!
Chapter 5 | Prophecy
Lightningpaw and Sparrowstar were doing the dawn border patrol when Lightningpaw smelled a whiff of ThornClan scent. Sparrowstar smelled it too. "Let's go investigate," she hissed into Lightningpaw's ear. The two wolves crept up to the scent and saw a whole patrol of ThornClan warriors standing in WaterClan territory. One of them growled, "It's not like those lame WaterClan warriors are going to see us hunt here anyway, so let's get on and hunt!" The other wolves nodded in agreement.
"Wait. I smell fresh WaterClan scent," growled a gray warrior, flicking his tail to the place where Lightningpaw and Sparrowstar were hiding.
"I smell it too," sniffed another warrior. "Let's-"
Lightningpaw and Sparrowstar erupted from the undergrowth and aggressively attacked the ThornClan patrol, howling angrily. They had the element of surprise, but the warriors fought back. "I told you I smelled something strange," growled the gray warrior as he struggled with Sparrowstar.
Lightningpaw was bravely facing three warriors. "Get out of my territory, you thieves," he spat, clawing their tender bellies mercilessly. "Or I'll have to force you." The three warriors fled onto their side of the border, howling in pain.
Pleased, Lightningpaw turned to face a brown apprentice who was attacking him. He shoved her over the border with a powerful swipe of his paw, then leaped onto another warrior, forcing him to the ground. Then, he looked over to see how his mentor was doing- Sparrowstar was bleeding all over, but was bravely fighting two warriors twice her size; however, Lightningpaw could see that she was tiring.
He bounded over to help her, but five enormous warriors tackled him, forcing him to the ground. They started clawing and biting him viciously and without mercy as if they knew nothing of the warrior code. Lightningpaw yelped in pain and tried to fight back but was unable to as the two biggest wolves pinned him down.
One of the warriors laughed menacingly. "No more playing hero," he sneered. "You've got us to get through."
Lightningpaw struggled to escape, but he was only attacked even worse. He howled in agony, while the warriors still clawed at his soft belly; he felt himself start to black out.
Suddenly, he felt a huge weight come off of him. It was Sparrowstar! Wounded though she was, she was bravely protecting her apprentice.
Using his last bit of strength, Lightningpaw hurled himself onto his attackers and drove them out of the territory. Then he collapsed onto the cold, hard ground, and the world went black.
When Lightningpaw came to, he was lying inside the medicine den. He was curled up on a thick, mossy nest while Swiftbreeze prepared herbs for him. Then the pain hit. Oh... It was all he could do to stop himself from groaning. When Lightningpaw felt good enough to speak, he rasped, "Did we stop ThornClan? Is Sparrowstar okay?"
Instantly, Swiftbreeze was at his side. "Shh. Don't exert yourself. Once you blacked out, the ThornClan warriors retreated- you injured them too badly to continue. Sparrowstar told us about you but she was too weak to take you back to camp, so Yellowtail got you. Sparrowstar went back to MoonClan for the medicine wolf there to heal her. She thought I'd have my paws full with you." Swiftbreeze laughed, but suddenly Lightningpaw was painfully aware of the dark circles under her eyes.
"How long was I out?" Lightningpaw asked.
"It's been three days," Swiftbreeze told him.
"Three days?! How badly was I injured?" Lightningpaw gasped, then broke into a fit of coughing.
"Very badly," Swiftbreeze sighed. "I think the scratches are healing okay, though, and the bites seem to be closing. The stomach injury is the one I'm worried about. You've lost a lot of blood. But since you're awake, I think I can take a nap. There's a moss ball soaked in water and a rabbit right here." She prodded a warm rabbit towards him. "Wake me if you need anything." She yawned and curled up in her nest, sinking into sleep immediately.
Lightningpaw eagerly gulped down the rabbit, feeling warmth return to his body. Then, he quickly slurped up the water, and, exhausted just from eating, fell back asleep.
A couple hours later, Yellowtail padded into the medicine lion den. She wasn't injured; she just wanted to check on Lightningpaw. Swiftbreeze had gone to sleep, so Yellowtail was careful not to disturb her.
Lightningpaw looked peaceful, his fluffy chest going up and down rhythmically. Yellowtail turned to leave, when something caught her attention. It was coiled and the end of it seemed glistening...? What? Yellowtail looked closer- and immediately jerked her head back. Snake! She would've yowled, but the snake struck. Not towards Yellowtail, but towards Lightningpaw.
Yellowtail nearly screamed and threw herself in front of Lightningpaw to protect him from the venomous snake. In his weak state, a snake bite could kill him. But the snake struck anyways, and Yellowtail looked down in disbelief at the snake bite on her front paw. She roared in pain, and grabbed a rock and smashed the snake's head, determined to get revenge on the venomous creature.
Woken by Yellowtail's roar, Swiftbreeze shot to her feet. "Great MoonClan! What is it?" she gasped, still sleepy, her eyes not focusing. Lightningpaw opened his eyes sleepily, but was too weak to get up.
"Snakebite!" Yellowtail gasped in pain. "Can you get the poison out?"
Immediately Swiftbreeze dove into her herbs and selected a few that Yellowtail had never even seen before. "Eat these!" She crammed them down Yellowtail's throat desperately and tried to soak her foot in the wet moss to flush the poison out. After a few heartbeats she stopped and sighed in relief. "You'll be okay. That paw might hurt for a few sunrises but the venom hadn't taken hold of your system. I'll deposit this poisoned moss far away from camp and luckily the snake is dead, so we won't have to worry about it anymore." Swiftbreeze dashed outside through the fern tunnel and buried the snake carcass and the moss near the far SnowClan border.
When she got back to camp, she found both Yellowtail and Lightningpaw back to sleep. Overcome with drowsiness, she curled up in her nest and fell fast asleep.
"Swiftbreeze, wake up! Wake up!" Swiftbreeze's eyes shot open when she heard a familiar voice calling her.
"Mother? Mother!" she gasped and she saw her beloved mother, Robin, standing next to her. "Mother! I've missed you so much!" Swiftbreeze nuzzled Robin's soft gray fur. Robin rested her head on Swiftbreeze's head.
"Swiftbreeze," Robin whispered. "I have a message to give you."
Swiftbreeze pulled away. "What is it?" Her voice cracked. "Everyone in WaterClan has had such hardship… snakebite, battles… what is the message?"
"Dear Swiftbreeze," Robin sighed lovingly, "I know things are hard, but they will get harder. I wish I did not have to give you this message, but I must. A hard leaf-bare is coming, colder and harsher than any you've ever experienced before. You must prepare now. Have Yellowtail and Lightningpaw hunt as much as they can and bury it to save. Gather all your herbs. Do not worry about them not growing back; you must survive this leafbare.
"But remember, present a strong front. The other Clans will not be hit so hard, and they might try to invade. I do not know. But there is one last thing. Before the warm season ends, lightning shall scorch, and lightning shall heal. Be strong, Swiftbreeze. My thoughts are with you always." Robin began to fade away.
Swiftbreeze sat shocked. After all their hard work, was it possible that WaterClan could just fade away? Countless generations of wolves and lions, gone? Possible it might be, but it wouldn't happen. Swiftbreeze would protect WaterClan's legacy to the end.
But what disturbed Swiftbreeze most was Robin's prophecy. Swiftbreeze knew that Robin walked with MoonClan now, so the prophecy came from them. But what did it mean? Before the warm season ends, lightning shall scorch, and lightning shall heal. What on earth could that mean? "The warm season" obviously meant greenleaf, but the rest was unclear. Lightning could definitely scorch, but how could it heal?
Swiftbreeze's head spun with ideas, so she decided to go find Yellowtail and Lightningpaw to see what they thought.