A New Beginning: The Lost Hope

Chapter 8

The moon shone high in the night sky when Windclan and Thunderclan walked in led by Cavestar and Ivyleaf.

Beaststar paced the branch he stood on, careful not to fall off the thin piece of wood. Mistystar looked around the clans slowly, as if she had already sensed that something was off. Cavestar hopped from branch to branch until he got on his tree branch and Ivyleaf sat at the real top.

The half-leader found it hard to stay calm whilst below her was a huge drop that could cause her death. She could see the reason behind the rest of the leaders not being so very scared. They had nine lives and they had done it for countless moons.

Mistystar looked up at Ivyleaf and asked, "why are you here? Who are you?"

Beaststar exclaimed, "aren't you that Thunderclan cat Mapleleaf's apprentice?"

Ivyleaf shook her head and declared, "I'm Ivyleaf and will soon be Ivystar. I may be young to rule a clan but I'm not saying I can't."

Beaststar asked, "have you had an apprentice yet? Which lovely cat was it?"

Ivyleaf just continued staring out at the cats on the ground below them. She just couldn't stop thinking about the fact that she would never get to talk with other warriors, and how she had skipped an entire important part of her life...

But maybe that was why she was special. Maybe she liked the feeling. Maybe, just maybe, she would like leadership.

Beaststar growled, "hello? Are you even listening to me?"

Ivyleaf quickly looked down and saw the Shadowclan cat before responding, "yeah, sorry, I was just thinking."

"So," Beaststar interrogated, "did you ever have an apprentice?"

Ivyleaf shook her head no, causing a big reaction from the other leaders. She suggested, "how about we just begin this gathering and forget the previous Thunderclan leader's insanity?"

Beaststar opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything a different voice spoke up and announced, "there is no need to call a beginning to the gathering."

Every cat stopped their chatter and looked around in fear. The only cat that seemed to look in the right direction was an elder from Windclan named Shorttail. He shouted, "Dandelion! Squirrelstar!"

The cats all looked up at the mentioning of two dead cats' names, and saw that Shorttail was staring straight into the stars. When they looked in the same direction, they could see the miracle as well. A group of Starclan cats were jumping down from the sky, Squirrelstar in the lead.

Squirrelstar jumped onto Ivyleaf's branch first and decided to have a private discussion with her. "I'm sorry, Ivyleaf," Squirrelstar sighed, "but there was no other way. It was written in the stars."

Ivyleaf asked, "what was written in the stars? Your insanity?"

Squirrelstar didn't answer her question. Instead, the dead leader turned towards the clump of cats and she declared, "Starclan has sent us down to give you all a prophecy."

Dandelion looked up at the four leaders and then at the three deputies before adding, "this concerns every cat, but mostly the leaders of the new clans; Cavestar of Caveclan, Mistystar of Mistclan, Beaststar of Beastclan, Ivyleaf of Ivyclan, Mapleleaf of Mapleclan, Puddlefoot of Puddleclan, and Featherstripe of Featherclan."

Then the clans' entire scenery changed from the island to a forest-like place, except it wasn't exactly a forest. It was more lush and green and had larger trees with way more plants and animals. There were even strange fruits growing on each tree. The smell was strange. It smelled of vegetation, decaying plants and woods, the smell of fruit and something sweet. To describe it, it was floral, citrusy, lemony, and tangy. Overall, the smell that would normally make warriors wrinkle their noses in disgust now made them droll with desire.

"Thunder, River, Shadow, and Wind," Basilstar, who was the leader before Squirrelstar started, "it has been as so for moons past, but the future must put a stop to it."

Then the scenery changed to a completely more open forest, with dead leaves left behind on the floor. It smelled of decaying and decomposing plants and fungi. To describe it, it was crisp, smoky, woodsy, and savory.

Dandelion, who was Shorttail's mate, added, "to survive the cold and survive starvation the clans must break the union before reforming it yet again. If not broken and reformed, no cat can survive..."

For the third time, the scenery changed. It was now a place that looked exactly like the moors Windclan lived on now. It smelled airy and earthy, thought he smell wasn't strong.

Foxface exclaimed, "travel to a land not known by our kind. Create the seven clans that shall exist 'til the end of time."

Then the fourth scene came upon the gathered cats. They were in an open place with mud beneath their feet and great willow trees looming over countless small ponds. Mist floated in and out of the place and it smelled moist, sour, fetid, and musty. It looked like a hardcore marsh.

Cloudfur declared, "where the sun rises and the moon falls, find that it's not only your problem we are asking you to resolve."

The fifth scene looked a bit like Windclan's current territory yet again, except they were right next to a body of water that seemed larger than the lake, and seemed to stretch out forever. Next to the lake they noticed a tall tree with brown, round, and hairy fruits growing from them at the top. It smelled fishy and like a wet cat, or worse, a wet dog.

A Riverclan elder, Scarpelt, then announced, "when the turkey calls do not resist. Answer, or none shall live and death will reach Ivy's kits."

The sixth scene showed a dark cave, and it smelled earthy, rancid, putrid, and frowsty.

Squirrelstar exclaimed, "fight the battle against the dark. When your ancestors fought, we hadn't truly hit the mark."

The seventh and final scene showed a large mountain, covered in snow. Some of the older cats found themselves freezing cold. It smelled stale and antiseptic, but if a cat truly strained to smell something, it smelled gamy.

Then, Ivyleaf gasped as the next Starclan cat pranced over towards an invisible circle in the middle of the gathered cats, which the clan cats were clearing out of and the Starclan cats were filling in.

Mossheart announced, "follow this, you have been warned, or death will come to all cats born." The mother than turned to Ivyleaf and cried, "I'm sorry Ivyleaf! I couldn't hold on any longer!"

Squirrelstar then quickly added, "split yourselves up! Make the new clans! You have been warned!"

Just then, the gathering scenery returned to the way it used to be; the island in the middle of the lake, the moon shining brightly down on the cat's pelts, the Starclan cats vanishing slowly into nothingness.

Then one single cat's cry shook the lake and shattered the hearts there to hear it, and it was a heart that looked as if it could never be repaired.

(1183 words)