Warriors - The Leopard's Apprentice

-Epilogue-

         "Panthershadow! Your eyes keep closing how are you supposed to do vigil if you can't even sit straight?" Panthershadow's brother Sprucefeather said with a growl. "Oh leave her alone Spruce, you know she doesn't get enough sleep." Slivermoon put in backing up her friend. "What's going on? Last time I checked vigils were supposed to be silent." Leopardwillow's strict voice said as she padded over to the camp entrance with a frown. "Sprucefeather and Slivermoon were arguing about Panthershadow falling asleep." Rusttail put in before anyone could say anything. Panthershadow sent him a glare which he smugly returned sticking out his tongue in the process. "Okay enough! Your going to wake the whole camp up!" Leopardwillow said with a hiss "What if I stayed out here with you all then would you be quiet?" The five of the new warriors nodded vigorously whilst Leopardwillow rolled her eyes.

"You know Foxbristle won't be very happy you five couldn't even make it past the vigil." Leopardwillow said with a frown. "No, Wolfstorm hasn't said anything yet." Panthershadow said with a snicker flicking her tail against her second brother's back. Wolfstorm looked at her with a growl but didn't say anything determined to make it through his vigil without talking. "When do we get our apprentices?" Sprucefeather asked changing the subject "Spruce, just because your warriors doesn't mean that you'll be getting your apprentices right away." Leopardwillow said "I had to wait moons for my first apprentice." "But Shadowlark and Smokedusk's kits are almost six moons old can't we mentor them?" Slivermoon whined. "I highly doubt Smokedusk and Shadowlark will be too thrilled if I let new warriors mentor their kits." Leopardwillow said with a roll of her eyes.

"Please mom?!" Panthershadow asked "I'm not abusing my power as deputy I'll ask your father but that's as much as I'm doing. Besides you four can't even make it past your vigil if this keeps up then Wolfstorm will be the only one of you with an apprentice." She said sternly. The four warriors didn't pester Leopardwillow after that to her delight. She found herself drifting off to sleep not to much longer although knowing her kits and niece and nephew they would be waking her up with their arguing.

---

"Welcome back Leopardwillow." Leopardwillow turned to see Meadowlark looking at her with a warm smile. "Why am I here, mother?" she asked with a yawn. "I have some news to tell you dear and I thought it would make more sense when you fell asleep you took quite a while." Meadowlark said with an amused purr. "What's wrong?!" Leopardwillow asked with a distressed meow. "Calm yourself, although I don't want you telling this to anyone, Featherclaw is telling Dovesong and Ivyspirit the same thing as we speak." Meadowlark said brushing her tail against Leopardwillow's back in an attempt to calm her down. "So what's wrong?" Leopardwillow asked. "Flamestar and Smokestorm have chosen another pawn we need you to keep an open mind of who it could be and always keep your guard up."

Leopardwillow's fur stood on end, "Another pawn? And the all-mighty-super-powerful Starclan doesn't know who it is?!" she hissed. "I tried to rid myself of Flamestar back then I'm not doing this again!" Leopardwillow snarled "I don't want this, I don't even want my powers anymore! Why can't Starclan just leave me alone!" Meadowlark shifted uncomfortably from where she was sitting. "Leopardwillow you don't understand now but you misunderstand you won't be part of this prophecy but the new leader of Forestclan." Leopardwillow's heart dropped, "You sick little-!" she screeched "I'm sorry but Starclan doesn't make the rules we just know what's going to happen." Meadowlark said taking a decent step back, "Oh so you know what's going to happen but you have no idea who the Dark Duo's pawn is?!" Meadowlark took a deep breath.

"The only reason I'm telling you this is because we have another prophecy and we think it has something to do with Ravenkit or Owlkit." She explained "I heard you talking to your niece, nephew, and kits about mentoring Smokedusk and Shadowlark's kits so I need you to make sure to try and keep an eye on them and let whoever mentors them know." Meadowlark said with a sigh. "So what was the prophecy?" Leopardwillow asked her curiosity getting the best of her. "Cherryblossom can explain the prophecy better than I can." Meadowlark said shifting uncomfortably; she was hiding something it was as clear as day. "Take me to Cherryblossom then." Leopardwillow demanded. Meadowlark paused by nodded, Cherryblossom was sitting on a log washing herself and got up once she heard Leopardwillow. "I take it we have a guest, welcome Leopardwillow."

"How did you know I-" Leopardwillow was cut off by Cherryblossom's laughter "I may not see very well but my ears have always been a big help to me." "So the prophecy?" Leopardwillow asked. Cherryblossom frowned but nodded "I really am sorry about what's going to transpire but I know you will be a great leader." Leopardwillow looked down towards the ground not wanting to believe what she heard. Cherryblossom's eyes and rosette-like spots began to glow a white-pink color.

"While the broken wings of truth amend

The shadow of the panther

Will seek the feathers of the fallen bird

Before the forest and the lake

The sky and the stars are caged

Inside the smoke of the fiery lake"

Leopardwillow took a deep breath and nodded "I guess we're going to need all the luck we can get then." Meadowlark and Cherryblossom nodded their agreement, "Leopardwillow protect my granddaughter." Meadowlark called as Leopardwillow felt herself lift from the dream. "C'mon Slivermoon it's our first day as warriors let's go explore the territory by ourselves." Panthershadow's voice rang through Leopardwillow's head as she got to her feet. "No way you two girls can't possibly have that much energy!" Rusttail said with an exaggerated gasp. Wolfstorm and Sprucefeather sent each other looks of annoyance "I'm sure you just want to brag about your vigil with Thunderblossom!" Wolfstorm said with a laugh as Rusttail mumbled something that made the rest of the new warriors laugh. Leopardwillow looked at all of them and smiled, Another prophecy is no problem, if we could handle Lakeclan we can handle anything that comes our way. She thought with pride as she trotted towards the Leader's Hollow.

-The End-

A/N:

That's the official end of 'The Leopard's Apprentice'! I am excited to say I enjoyed making this story so much! The official page count is approximately 82 pages!!! Thanks so much for reading! I will be doing a poll for who wants to see a prequel to this book or a sequel!

Prequel: 'The Heart of the Forest' (Comment here if you vote for prequel)

    Summary: When Forest, Cherry, Lake and the rest of their rogue 'clan' get kicked out by two-legs, Cherry gets a vision that tells them to move to the lake and the forest to make clans. Lake becomes Lakestar and Forest becomes Foreststar along with the rest of their newfound clans getting warrior names. But is the forest really all it's cut out to be? Can the cats find their new home and will they adapt to living in a place they've never been? Most importantly will they finally find their Heart of the Forest?

Sequel: 'A Panther's Shadow' (Comment here if you vote for sequel)

    Summary: Panthershadow; Leopardwillow's daughter and her friends must figure out who the mole of the clan is before chaos erupts. Leopardwillow meanwhile tries to prevent Timberstar's death despite Starclan's constant disapproval. Will the mole be who they've believed it to be? Will Timberstar's life be spared? And can they finally stop Flamestar and Smokestorm's plans before they take over Starclan and the clans themselves?