Warriors: Lilyshine's Destiny (Warriors Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

"The Dark Forest!?" Lilypaw trembled. She heard many stories from the elders about the Dark Forest cats and the Great Battle.

Foxscar circled Lilypaw slowly, his bloodstained claws gleaming under the cold light. "You want to be a warrior eh?" his eye shone with evilness. "We always welcome young cats who need or want help to become a fearsome warrior. Shall I give you a lesson about attacking?" Foxscar leapt to a tree and scored perfect claw marks, ripping away the slimy, damp bark as if it was cat flesh.

Lilypaw's fur brushed out, her blue eyes wide with amazement. "Wow! Will you actually teach me?"

The rust-coloured tom gave the tree one last scratch and bounded back to the apprentice. "Yes! It is never a waste of time to teach a determined apprentice whose dream is to become the clan's most formidable warrior."

Lilypaw started to nod, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, but Violetwing suggested I should become a medicine cat, so did StarClan-" before she could finish, Foxscar snarled.

"Do not talk about those starry fools here, they only focus on what's best for the clans, they don't care about your feelings or you," he growled, suddenly seeming more dangerous and looking like a murderer.

Lilypaw froze, unable to move. "I- I can't, I have to follow my destiny-" her blue eyes widened with alarm as she saw the foul-smelling cat in front of her snarl.

Foxscar lunged at the apprentice with outstretched claws, giving her no time even to lift a paw up. "So foolish, perhaps they were wrong about you. No wonder why those half-witted cats chose you."

Lilypaw shut her eyes tightly, imagining unbearable pain across her pelt when a familiar meow drifted in her ears. "Run straight ahead, don't stop." Lilypaw blinked and gasped as a blur of recognised tortoiseshell fur flew past her, intercepting Foxscar's speedy attack. The dark forest cat let out a squeak of disbelief, quickly masked by hatred. Sorreltail.

* * *

Sorreltail bounded out of the slimy trees that marked the Dark Forest border and stepped gracefully onto the soft lime green grass of StarClan. Her white paws were speckled with nasty-looking gunk and there were a few scratches on her pelt but her amber eyes were lively and alert. Spotting Lilypaw crouched by a shrub, she softened her gaze with a sigh of relief. "Are you alright Lilypaw? Did that fox dung hurt you?"

Lilypaw crawled out shaking her fur. "I'm fine, thank you for saving me! I would've been dead meat if you didn't come."

"No problem!" Sorreltail purred as she stiffly sat down and started to wipe her paws with the soft grass.

"Wait here," Lilypaw raced away in StarClan territory, leaving the StarClan warrior confused, and came back to Sorreltail with golden-yellow flowers. "Those scratches aren't deep, but they could get infected if not treated properly." she chewed the marigold into a thick pulp and smeared it onto the StarClan cat's pelt.

Sorreltail sniffed at her pelt, standing up. "Thank you Lilypaw, it feels much better already!" she dipped her head. "You have certainly learned a lot about herbs Lilypaw."

Lilypaw's blue eyes dimmed slightly. " After I got injured I helped out Violetwing with herbs since I wasn't allowed to leave the den at all!"

Sorreltail nodded. "That may be a good thing," she looked up. "There come the others." A dark tabby tom, a pale grey she-cat, and a jay-eyed tom padded towards Lilypaw and Sorreltail.

As a professionally trained medicine cat, the first thing Jayfeather did was sniff Sorreltail's pelt. "That apprentice did it pretty well."

Lilypaw's blue eyes gleamed as she overheard the older cat's approving comment. "Thank you Jayfeather!"

"You're a natural," Ferncloud meowed, her dark green eyes shining with warmth. "You are valuable to the clans even more if you are a medicine cat."

Bramblestar nodded. "The clans are trailing down a dark path..."

Sorreltail padded forward. "You must hear the whole story." She whisked her tail over her paws as she stared deeply into Lilypaw's azure eyes. "Before you were born, StarClan received a prophecy about a feline saving the clans from something terrible and deadly. None other than you can save the five clans. The time is getting close."

Lilypaw looked horrified as Sorreltail finished her sentence. "That's-" she stammered in shock

Ferncloud stroked the apprentice's flank gently, luring Lilypaw's eyelids to flutter slowly. "You must understand why we are pushing you, it's now or never..."

* * *

Lilypaw jerked up. She sighed in relief as the scent of Violetwing's herbs calmed her down. The sun was barely up but there was a painful wail from the elders' den. Lilypaw stood up carefully, making sure she was strong enough to support herself, and then slowly padded to the elders' den. Violetwing and Volewhisker circled around Bluetail, the grey-blue elder shaking madly.

"Breathe-" Bluetail croaked with difficulty. Her tail brushed out as if facing an enemy and groaned in pain.

Violetwing's ears twitched. "Lilypaw, may as well be useful. Quick, grab some coltsfoot. The dandelion-looking ones!" she urged as she placed a paw onto the elder's chest.

Lilypaw rushed out in panic. Was this the disease Sorreltail and the others were talking about? She thought with fright. She pawed some coltsfoot together and raced back to Violetwing who snatched it out of her jaws and fed it to the sick elder.

Volewhisker stood by, his tail twitching nervously. "Is she going to be alright?" his amber eyes glowed in the dim.

Violetwing stroked Bluetail's flank, calming the old she-cat down. "She should be alright. It's usually because of aging, but I'll take her into my den just to keep an eye on her."

Volewhisker let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank you, I'll visit her when she wakes."

Violetwing stepped out of the elders' den, her violet eyes brimming with worry. Lilypaw nudged her. "Bluetail isn't alright right?"

The medicine cat sighed. "I'm not sure... Elders are likely to experience that, but her reaction and movements were different-" she entered her den. "I need to rest and have a think... Call me if anything is wrong, also you can go back to your apprentice duties now."

Lilypaw shifted her weight. Her dreams with StarClan, her memory of herbs... and the latest, the sick elder made her realise how important the clans needed her. "I want to become a medicine cat." she looked Violetwing straight in the eye without flinching as the healer's eyes widened with surprise. Lilypaw took a deep breath as she pushed herself away from her feelings. "I want to become a medicine cat," she repeated more steadily.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! 

Writing this chapter was way more entertaining than before aha. I am trying to build suspense. Am I succeeding?? no idea-

TYSM for reading this chapter and stay tuned!! 

May StarClan light your path!

~Mochii