Ochreheart collapsed with exshaustion. The night before and that whole day he had been traveling along the river. All the running and fierce emotion and swimming and a lot more running was weighing down hard. He was laying under a rock formation that formed a makeshift shelter. He took heavy, long breaths, wet and tired and ready for probably the most tiring day of his life to be over. He was sound asleep before he knew it.
...
Ochreheart's eyes opened. He stood up and quickly realized he was having a dream. The rock formation and the river were gone. His paws stood in an endless field of tall grass, and the midnight sky was dotted with a thousand stars.
A strange cat, one Ochreheart had never seen before, was walking toward him. His dark gray and off-white pelt glistened with stars, and his stride was slow and confident. Once the cat got close, he cleared his throat and spoke.
"Hello, Ochreheart. My name is Bristlefrost, and I was a ThunderClan cat, many seasons ago," he said with such clarity that it slowed the storm in Ochreheart's mind to a complete stop.
"Just my time with the clans ended, StarClan showed me a vision. I was standing in a lake of blood. Two clans, ShadowClan and RiverClan, were at war. So many cats were dying, and there was so much blood…" he reminisced, slowing with the last phrase. His gaze trailed off. He must have been remembering the terrible vision.
Ochreheart drew back in fear. ShadowClan and RiverClan? At war?
"There is hope, Ochreheart. When you reach your destination, what you find there will solve everything," he said.
"It's not wrong that I'm going back to the garden?" Ochreheart questioned.
"You simply need some time away from the clans. You will arrive flustered and weak, and you will return strong and determined," Bristlefrost continued. Ochreheart filled with hope.
"You, Jayflight, and Mothwings are the cats destined to stop my vision from coming true," he finished. Then, Bristlefrost slowly walked past Ochreheart. When he turned around, Bristlefrost was gone.
...
Before he knew it, things began to look familiar. The enormous evergreen tree, the little bend in the river, the eye-bleeding hot pink peonies that shriveled up in the winter, the large twoleg nest with the mahogany roof, and finally… there it was.
Behind a short fence, a once beautiful garden with a grand fountain in the middle was directly ahead of Ochreheart. He bristled with anticipation and fear. Would the cats still be there?
Ochreheart cleared the fence with a leap, and he was immediately met with hisses and growls from many cats. They rushed forward from hiding places and bushes but stopped when a young pale yellow she-cat called out.
"Ochre? Is that really you?" She said. Ochreheart almost burst with joy. Daisy, his best friend, remembered him!
"Daisy!" Ochreheart exclaimed. He rushed forward and hugged her with joy. She laughed with surprise and happiness, then the other cats lost their hostility and began crowding around him.
"Ochre! You're back!"
"We've missed you so much!"
"How is Jackdaw?"
"I'm so glad you've come!" Ochreheart turned from Daisy's embrace, then suddenly recognized so many faces.
"Jay… Mouse… Tip… Dot… Robin… you're all here!" He said. He felt like he was going to explode with how happy he was. They were all there, waiting for him all this time!
"But… where's Kingfisher and Shrew?" He asked, worried. He remembered Kingfisher as a very wise old cat, and Shrew as very eccentric and joyful.
The cats dipped their heads, suddenly filled with sadness. Ochreheart realized.
"Oh…" he murmured. He dipped his head as well. After the grieving was over, Daisy piped up.
"So, Ochre! Where did you live all this time? Was it as nice as the garden? Why did you come back?" She asked quickly. More cats began asking questions all at once, and Ochreheart had to stop them before he got too overwhelmed.
"Okay, okay! I'll tell the story to you all, just hold on!" He laughed. Daisy led him to the light grey stone fountain that had been turned off for the winter. He hopped onto it, careful not to fall into the cold water. Once the cats of the garden had settled into a comfortable position, he began.
"Jackdaw was hurt, so we got on a log in the river and waited for the current to carry us somewhere safe. Eventually, it did, and we ended up in RiverClan, a place where everyone was united through a strict system of roles, rules, and patrols. I met the nicest cats, Mothpaw and Jaypaw, and they became my best friends. My name was changed to Ochrepaw, and I became an apprentice of RiverClan."
"Did Jackdaw's name get changed?" Mouse asked, worried.
"No, Jackdaw kept his name," Ochreheart replied.
"Oh, good," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. Ochreheart felt a pang of worry. Would the garden cats be okay with the ways of the clans? He dismissed it and continued with his story.
"I trained with Jaypaw and Mothpaw, learning to hunt and fight, until just a quarter-moon ago, which was when we finished our warrior training and became warriors. Jaypaw's name was changed to Jayflight, Mothpaw's name was changed to Mothwings, and my name was changed to Ochreheart."
"But, on the night of our silent vigil, a cat from an enemy clan came onto RiverClan territory. He said his name was Sleekstep, and he needed to speak with Silverstar, the leader of our clan. Sleekstep asked for an extra medicine cat for the season of leaf-bare, and Silverstar agreed… but he sent Jayflight too. A few sunrises later, I went to ShadowClan to try and see Jayflight… but Sleekstep and Jayflight had fallen in love." Ochreheart's face became sodden at the last sentence.
"Why is that so bad?" Robin inquired.
"Cats from enemy clans cannot become mates. It is against the warrior code," He answered. Robin did not reply, but she seemed ignorant of the warrior code and was still confused about why Jayflight's act was so bad.
"It all became too much, and I ran away. After two sunrises of traveling, I was here," Ochreheart finished. He had decided to leave out the dream with Bristlefrost, as he guessed it wouldn't mean much to the garden cats.
When they knew for sure Ochreheart was done, the cats burst out with more questions than they had to start off with.
"One at a time, please!" He called. The noise quieted, and a cat he didn't recognize raised his paw. Ochreheart pointed to him.
"What's the warrior code?" He asked.
"It's a set of very important rules that all clan cats must follow," Ochreheart replied. Another unfamiliar cat raised her paw, and he pointed to her.
"How many clans are there?" She said in a loud voice.
"Four. ThunderClan, WindClan, ShadowClan, and RiverClan, my clan," he replied. The cat nodded slowly but was still trying to comprehend the names of the clans. Jay, a blue-grey tom a few moons younger than Ochreheart, raised his paw. Ochreheart pointed to him.
"Are Jayflight and Mothwings your best friends?" He asked. The question caught him off guard. He knew his answer, but the pang of worry was growing with every heartbeat.
"Yes, of course! I'd do anything for them," he replied. To his horror, Jay looked a little betrayed. He continued without raising his paw.
"We're still your best friends, though, right? Like, more than them? We're still more important?" Ochreheart's heart stopped. How was he supposed to answer the question without lying about his friends or offending his old ones? More cats began to ask similar questions, also without raising their paws.
"You came to the garden for us, right? Only us?"
"Why didn't you want to leave earlier? That place seems scary." The noise increased, with every cat asking the same questions. Ochreheart met Daisy's eyes, and she could only stare up at him with a worried expression.
Ochreheart stepped down from the fountain and walked away, his brief happiness long gone.