Chapter Fifteen

"Destruction of the lake is inevitable… we must prepare for the worst."

"What are we supposed to do? The Great Four have risen over the past moon, and we cannot defeat them with our own claws."

"He is right. They are too powerful, and we are too few. How are we supposed to rise against them?"

"We must trust in StarClan to finish what they started."

"StarClan? That's a load of foxdung! They are the reason behind this mess. I say we turn our backs on them once and for all!"

"Enough! They are always watching…. We must be patient."

Nightpaw woke up with a gasp. He looked around warily and realized that it had all just been a dream. Yet the dream had not shown any faces like they usually did. Instead he just heard voices and was surrounded by darkness.

A shudder ran down his back as he padded out of the cave. He hated these nightmares. They were getting worse and worse. It seemed as if they were trying to warn him of something that was to come. The worst part was he couldn't fight them. There was no way to avoid the horrible dreams that haunted him.

"What's wrong with you?" Nightpaw froze when he heard Fadepaw's voice. He turned to see his sister standing beside him, eyes narrowed with concern. "You look like you've just seen a spirit of StarClan," she added warily.

"I might as well have," he murmured. Fadepaw gave him a gentle lick behind the ear. He was thankful to have his sister there for comfort. But this time he shrugged her off and looked away. "I keep having these awful nightmares…. I can't shake off the feeling that something terrible is about to happen, and it's our fault."

"I'm sorry, that must have been terrifying to watch," Fadepaw mewed sympathetically.

"But the strange thing is, I didn't see anything," he suddenly added with a shrug. "All I could hear were voices, and none of them were familiar."

Fadepaw gave him a strange look before turning her head. He followed her gaze and stared in disbelief.

A cat was watching them from the shadows. It was hard to make out, because they blended in with the boulders surrounding them. But Nightpaw could make out two amber orbs staring down at them. Or he should say glaring at them.

"Intruders!"

The cat let out a screech and launched himself at them. Both Nightpaw and Fadepaw ducked out of the way just in time. Fadepaw suddenly vanished without a trace, leaving Nightpaw vulnerable. He glared at nothing, realizing that the cat was rounding on him again.

Nightpaw whipped around and lashed his claws across the cat's face, swiping them over his muzzle. The cat backed away, spitting in fury as blood now coated his muzzle. Once again he thanked his father silently for teaching fighting moves when they were kits.

Both of them were taken by surprise when the stranger's legs were buckled underneath him. Heartbeats later and Fadepaw appeared from behind, nipping at the stranger's tail when it got in the way. The cat yowled in surprise and pain as Fadepaw leaped away just in time.

"I won't let you hurt my brother!" Fadepaw snarled. Nightpaw watched in amusement, until she continued, "that's my job!" He rolled his eyes at that last remark.

The stranger was ready to attack again when Fadepaw suddenly disappeared right before his eyes. He gaped at where she had been standing heartbeats ago. Nightpaw took the chance to pin the tom down, using all of his strength to ensure he didn't escape.

"You should know better than to take us on," he growled menacingly.

"Let me go!" the cat hissed as he struggled to free himself. But Nightpaw only held on with more strength. He wasn't about to let this cat hurt the other apprentices, not if he could stop the stranger.

"I think he's had enough, you can let him go now," Fadepaw purred in amusement as she reappeared a few mouse-lengths away from them. The tom only gaped at her once more as Nightpaw released his grip.

The cat used his sudden freedom to slip away from the pair, running back towards the higher peak. Nightpaw watched him suspiciously until he disappeared behind a boulder. He then turned to Fadepaw.

"You should've seen the look on his face when you disappeared," he laughed.

"The best part was when you fought back," Fadepaw added. "I don't think he was expecting a couple of apprentices to fight back."

Nightpaw nodded in agreement. He didn't realize until now how much he missed days like this. Where he and his sister would play games on each other or the cats in ShadowClan. He could still remember how shocked he was when Fadepaw vanished right in front of him for the first time. Now that he knew what she could do, it wasn't so much fun.

"We should follow his scent, maybe he knows where the good prey is," Nightpaw suddenly meowed.

Fadepaw flicked her tail in agreement before dashing off in the direction the tom had gone. Nightpaw only rolled his eyes once more and followed. The other apprentices could wait. They knew the siblings were close and would protect each other. At least that was what Nightpaw hoped.

...

The battle against the rogue had left Fadepaw feeling exhilarated. She hadn't realized until now how much she missed those days of shocking everyone. Often times she would find herself just disappearing for the fun of it, just to see their reactions. Now she was actually making use of her ability.

Nightpaw was close behind her as they followed the scent of that rogue. Fadepaw kept opening and closing her mouth so she could pick up a better scent.

She stopped when the reached what looked like the highest peak. Fadepaw looked up in time to see a large waterfall crashing down nearby. Even from here she could tell how powerful the force of the water was. To top things off the tom's scent had suddenly disappeared.

"What now?" Nightpaw asked.

Fadepaw swept her gaze across the rough looking terrain. She spotted what appeared to be a small path leading into the waterfall. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she wondered where that path led.

"Do you trust me?" she suddenly asked. Nightpaw eyed her suspiciously.

"I suppose I do," he replied with a shrug.

She gave her brother a look before bounding ahead. Nightpaw watched her curiously before bounding after her. They continued bounding up the slope until finally they reached what appeared to be the top.

Fadepaw glanced around curiously and saw that the waterfall was actually falling over the cliff's ledge. Her eyes widened in amazement when she saw what looked like a huge cave inside the waterfall.

"What is this place?" She looked around and peered inside.

What she saw amazed her. There really was a large cave in front of them. What really amazed her though was the fact that there were cats inside. These cats seemed unfazed by the fact that she and her brother were there.

She tensed when one of the cats in the cave spotted her. Even with the roaring water they were still able to find and notice strangers among them. Slowly Fadepaw backed away and looked back at her brother.

"Something wrong?" he asked curiously.

"Wait, don't go—" Nightpaw had heard her warning too late. Fadepaw held back a hiss of frustration as he padded inside, only to be pinned to the ground. "In there," she muttered under her breath.

With that being said, she vanished before anyone could see her. Nightpaw was thrashing against the weight of a cat, until suddenly she managed to shove them away. He blinked in confusion for a few seconds until realizing who just saved him.

"What is going on here?" The tussle was short lived.

Fadepaw's shoulders sagged in relief when an elegant looking golden tabby she-cat stepped out of the shadows. Her amber eyes were narrowed with suspicion as she stared at the intruder.

Thank StarClan I can stay invisible, Fadepaw thought. Her brother, on the other paw, wasn't so lucky. Nightpaw kept looking from cat to cat as more joined in. The larger tom that had pinned him down was baring his teeth, until the golden tabby shooed him away.

"This intruder followed me all the way back here," the large tom snarled.

"We were attacked by you first," Nightpaw spat.

"We?" The golden tabby tilted her head in confusion. Fadepaw's eyes narrowed as she glared at Nightpaw.

There goes the element of surprise, mousebrain! She would have said that out loud, but they were already in enough trouble as it was. Fadepaw appeared heartbeats later after glaring at her brother. All the cats in the cave gaped in shock when they noticed her standing next to him.

"We weren't planning on attacking you," she explained, trying to keep her voice from cracking with fear. "However this cat decided to ambush us while we were far enough away from your cave," she added with an accusing glare at the tom.

"Tree, go back into the hunter's den," the golden tabby suddenly growled. The tom known as Tree looked like he was ready to argue when he thought better of it. Instead he shot the two apprentices a cold look before slipping into yet another cave. "I apologize for his rudeness, he isn't always that way," she added with a sigh. "Now, why don't you tell me your names?"

Fadepaw exchanged a wary look with Nightpaw before shrugging. She never imagined cats would live in caves. Then she remembered the stories she was told as a kit. These caves were oddly familiar, and so were the cats talked about in the stories.

"Are you from the Tribe of Rushing Water?" she suddenly asked. The golden tabby blinked in surprise before nodding.

"We are the Tribe of Rushing Water," she corrected the younger apprentice.

"I'm sorry for startling you," Nightpaw apologized with a dip of his head. Fadepaw watched him warily, noticing how he had suddenly taken on a formal appearance.

He's never acted this way in the Clan, she thought. Then she rolled her eyes when she noticed how he was staring at the golden tabby. Only a tom would stare at a she-cat like that. She had only seen this once when he had a crush on Honeypaw.

"You still have not answered my earlier question," the golden tabby cut in, ignoring the stare Nightpaw was giving her. Fadepaw stifled a mrrow of laughter when she noticed how disappointed he looked.

"My name is Fadepaw," she introduced herself. "And the mousebrain gawking at you is Nightpaw." She flicked her tail across Nightpaw's ear as if to prove a point. Nightpaw shot her a glare, and Fadepaw only smirked at him in response.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Fadepaw, and Nightpaw." The golden tabby dipped her head to each apprentice, causing Fadepaw to stiffen and Nightpaw to look away in embarrassment. "How were you able to disappear like that?" She looked at Fadepaw once more.

Fadepaw shifted her paws uncomfortably. She wasn't sure if she should be telling a complete stranger about her powers. What if they decided to attack her? She could easily slip away if they held her prisoner, but Nightpaw was a different story.

"Can you tell us your name?" Nightpaw asked. Fadepaw glanced at him in surprise, and realized all too well that he was trying to change the subject.

"My name is Teller of Pointed Stones, or Stoneteller, for short," she replied. "I am the leader of the Tribe."

Nightpaw stared at the golden tabby a few more heartbeats before realizing what that meant. Fadepaw touched his shoulder with her tail tip sympathetically.

"But you're so young," she murmured.

"The previous Teller of Pointed Stones died very suddenly," she explained with a shrug. "I was forced to take leadership when no one else would step forward."

That's a lot of responsibility for one cat, Fadepaw realized. She couldn't imagine being leader of an entire Tribe, let alone her Clan.

"We shouldn't trust them," growled one cat as they boldly stepped forward. Fadepaw resisted the urge to glare at him. He was a dark gray tabby with piercing yellow eyes, and of course he was glaring at them. "What if they are part of that group of rogues that keep attacking us?"

"What? We wouldn't do that!" Nightpaw spat.

"We were just leaving anyways," Fadepaw added, looking pointedly at Stoneteller.

Stoneteller looked like she was ready to stop them, but fortunately she didn't say anything. Fadepaw had to nudge Nightpaw a few times before he finally understood what she meant. They needed to get as far away from the Tribe as possible. Fadepaw had a bad feeling nothing good would come out of the Tribe finding out about the seven apprentices.

AN: So there's the next chapter :) Hope you all liked it! So... I have some exciting news. I got a job :) Which means updates might be slower than usual now. But I will do my best to update as much as possible! That much is a promise :)

Blue12720000 - You and me both :) I love FF for that reason. There's almost always something different to read about, plus it gives me a whole batch of new ideas I could add into my FF!

Silverbird22 - XD I'm sure Hazelpaw appreciates that ;) And Breezepaw's claws are probably all shiny now after scratching the suit :P