The Endless Prophecy - Night

Chapter 10

Nightpaw struggled with the weight of two squirrels and three mice as she carried them back to camp. Firethorn, Softsong, and Baypaw sat close together, discussing something. They looked up warily as Nightpaw passed by, and pretended to enjoy a piece of shrew. Retiring to the apprentices' den, Nightpaw angled her ears at them and tried to eavesdrop.

"... if Rosepaw really loves you, then you'll be so lucky!" said Softsong enviously.

"Ivyclaw should be my mate!"

"Really, Firethorn, you know she's after Blazepaw, and now that traitor's gone to WindClan!" whispered Baypaw.

"There might still be a chance..."

"Get out of here! Oh, hi NIghtpaw," meowed Rosepaw dully.

"How did it go?" asked Nightpaw concernedly, even if she knew the answer.

"Terrible," Rosepaw closed her eyes.

"What happened?"

"Firethorn doesn't love me, he likes Ivyclaw," Rosepaw meowed scornfully. "As if there weren't enough traitors in the Clan!"

Nightpaw sat closer to Rosepaw. "Look, I haven't been in love before, so I don't know how it feels. But you have to face the truth, and just get on with life! Nightstar, or even Squirrelstar wouldn't have wanted you to stay here and sulk forever, so do something useful!"

"Like what?"

"Hmm," Nightpaw poked her head out of the den. Finchlight was there, assigning the patrols. "You could ask to go on a patrol!"

"Fine," Rosepaw padded out of the den.

Nightpaw sighed, then closed her eyes and dozed off.

She was in StarClan, in the same clearing, the same forest. She tried closing her eyes, but no use, she was bound here. She groaned frustratedly, she was tired after hunting, and needed rest. The trees swished innocently at her. Her shoulders sagged as she looked at the path she was on. Guess I'll have to just go along and see what happens. Mindlessly letting her paws guide her, she wondered if Skypaw was on the other side, meeting up with Lionblaze.

"Ow, get outta my way!" Nightpaw had crashed into a cat. It was Skypaw. 

"Sorry, wasn't looking," she apologized as Skypaw pushed himself up.

"No harm done," he replied. Then he looked around. "So, same place, eh?"

"But no Dovewing or Lionblaze," murmured Nightpaw. "But why? There must be a reason."

"Yeah, I noticed that. Maybe we should walk around and see what happens?" he suggested.

"Maybe," Nightpaw shrugged. She was doubtful that the it would work, but there was no harm in trying.

The two apprentices padded along the path that lead them to ShadowClan territory. The pine trees cast long shadows on the ground, and soft needles lined the ground. The cats at camp seemed to expect them and meowed greetings as Nightpaw and Skypaw passed by. Nightpaw recognized the second Tigerstar from her first encounter, but he did not notice her. The ShadowClan-StarClan cats didn't stop them from further exploring the StarClan grounds.

Then they passed through Fourtrees, and marvelled at the magnificent oaks. They found the Highrock, and took a moment to experience how grand the view was, and imagined hundreds of cats at a Gathering, the four leaders atop the rock. And they took the path to WindClan, and saw the open moor, with rolling hills in the distance. Skypaw said it looked quite similar to the WindClan by the lake. They saw the old WindClan camp, full of StarClan-WindClan cats. Then finally, they stopped by the RiverClan camp. 

"I can't believe RiverClan can live in this half-flooded place!" exclaimed Nightpaw. RiverClan was unlike any other Clan. Their camp was surrounded by water, the only entrance was by the narrow stepping-stones that rose from the riverbed. Shallow as it seems, to Nightpaw, it was the widest stretch of water she had ever seen, other than the lake she lived by.

"Yeah, how did they learn how to swim in the first place?" agreed Skypaw.

"All thanks to Riverstar," a small pale-gray-and-white she-cat spoke up. She was the size of a new apprentice. Nightpaw wondered where she came from and how she approached them without Nightpaw hearing her.

"Are you from StarClan?" Skypaw sniffed her curiously. "You don't smell like StarClan, and you certainly don't look like one."

The she-cat did not answer, however, she asked them," What about you? You're not from StarClan either, by the looks of it."

"No, we're not. We're apprentices from SkyClan and ThunderClan, and we're part of an ancient prophecy that brought us here."

"And what prophecy is that?"

Nightpaw and Skypaw looked at each other, unsure whether to tell this apprentice what it was, being that it was so important to the Clans.

"Tell us your identity, and we shall tell you the prophecy. You could be a loner, rogue, or even a Dark Forest cat!"

The she-cat considered this for a moment, then meowed, "Very well, my name is Frostpaw, and I am a Clan cat from RiverClan. I am a medicine cat apprentice, and also destined to be in a prophecy, which led me here. Perhaps this is a coincidence, where our prophecies meet, where we are destined to be together."

"Nice to meet you, Frostpaw. We are Nightpaw and Skypaw, and now we'll reveal the prophecy that we promised," said Nightpaw.

"Please continue."

"There will be Three, kin of your kin, who will hold the power of the stars in their paws," Nightpaw recited.

Frostpaw gasped. "Mine is the same too! In fact, StarClan told me I was one of the Three - I mean, the new Three."

"Well, we're the Third and the Second, I assume you're the One?"

"Yes, I am," the apprentices looked at each other in wonder, as a burst of sunlight filled the horizon. Three cats emerged, and said in unison,

"The Three has been united. A new era is born. But beware the darkness: they can take away even the closest of your closest friends."

The apprentices looked at each other and meowed before they faded away completely. "We'll meet again, the same time tomorrow, at Fourtrees, there shall be a meeting."