The Endless Prophecy - Night

Chapter 9

Rosepaw gawked at Firethorn. "I-do you-how long have you been listening?"

"Long enough to hear that you like me."

"I-," Rosepaw was lost for words. Smirking to herself, Nightpaw silently crept away. Leave them to have their own privacy!

Following a scent trail of mouse, she lowered herself into the familiar hunter's crouch and crept forward. Holding her mouse in her jaws after a successful catch, she buried it and raised her nose to scent more prey. 

Skypaw

"Let's have a battle practice." meowed Palesky.

Skypaw nodded enthusiastically, and crouched, watching Palesky's every move. Slowly, but surely, he inched closer, until he was a tail-length away, and he leapt, landing on Palesky's back, then quickly sprang away before Palesky could roll over and squash him. Sensing his oppurtunity, he leapt again, this time raking his belly with one paw, the other pinning Palesky down. His mentor went limp, but Skypaw was not fooled.  Holding his grip tighter, he used his free paw to deal a blow to Palesky and lowered his head to bite his throat, until Palesky thrust out his hind legs and threw Skypaw away.

"Right," Palesky panted. "You put up a great fight, Skypaw. Let's have a rest for now, then we'll move on to some advanced moves, and how we use our surroundings to our strength."

"But I'm not tired!" Skypaw complained. It was true, that he was now bursting of energy, despite his puny size, but he was eager for another chance to improve his skills.

"We'll rest," said Palesky firmly. Then he tossed a piece of fresh-kill to Skypaw. "Here, have some squirrel." Skypaw pouted, then nibbled a tiny bit of it.

They had been out hunting earlier, much to his disappointment. They had caught quite a lot, and the fresh-kill pile was so full they had to take some of it with them, as a snack for their energy. 

As they shared the squirrel, Stringpaw burst into the clearing, followed by an annoyed-looking Stradpaw.

"Palesky! Skypaw! We've been looking everywhere for you! You weren't in the apprentices' den, not the nursery, or the elders' den, not even at the borders! Wait, we didn't search the borders, you might've been there--"

"Long story short, Hawkstar wants you, he said it's urgent, whatever he wants," Stradpaw cut Stringpaw off.

Palesky looked surprised, but followed the apprentices. When they reached the leader's den, Stringpaw and Stradpaw left Palesky and Skypaw, while they waited outside. A moment later, Hawkstar poked his head outside and gestured for them to go inside.

"Greetings, Palesky, Skypaw, I assume that you do not know why I have summoned you?"

The mentor and apprentice shook their heads.

"Well, this morning, I had a vision. Our ancestors came to me, and told me of an ancient prophecy, one that had occured before. Fidgetflake told me the meaning of it, but he is not available today."

Palesky looked confused, however, Skypaw knew what Hawkstar was talking about.

"There will be Three, who will hold the power of stars in their paws,"  Hawkstar quoted.

"The one that saved the Clans in the Great Battle, if I remember correctly?"

"Exactly. Now, SkyClan was not here before the Great Battle, so we do not know all the details, however, I do know one thing, the Three is being reunited once again, and one of them is one of you two."

Skypaw dipped his head. Hawkstar and Palesky stared at him. 

"You-you're one of the Three?" Palesky meowed weakly. "But I- that explains-- you have the power to fight, isn't it?"

Skypaw nodded. Looking at Hawkstar, he felt both excitement and worry. Would Hawkstar respect him more? Or would he, Skypaw, have the burden of more difficult and challenging tasks?

"Well," Hawkstar began. "Looks like SkyClan has been blessed. No Clan shall stand against us now. Palesky, I trust you to train Skypaw to your fullest and strengthen him as much as you can," he ended with a brisk note.

Palesky nodded eagerly, but half of him still recovering from the shock of this all. Skypaw, on the other paw, shrank beneath his pelt. StarClan didn't give me and Nightpaw--and the One--our powers to fight each other! We were given these abilities to defend our Clans-- all Five Clans!

Hawkstar saw his expression and nodded understandingly. "It's okay to feel worried about your powers. After all, StarClan granted SkyClan the blessing of a great fighter, isn't it?" he reassured him, then dismissed them with his tail. But as Skypaw left the leader's den, he felt even worse than before. How long do we have to wait before we know exactly what we're supposed to do?

Author's Note: Hi, sorry for the short chapter, I'll make it up next time! And remember to vote, I'd really appreciate it!