**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 1- Daughters and Darkness

Chapter Forty

Four of the ForestClan warriors had been chatting excitedly for what seemed like an eternity until the GroveClan and ConiferClan cats arrived on the island. Twistertail immediately leaped to her paws, searching the new crowd for familiar faces. Sure enough, Lemmingleap and Orioleflight came trotting over, brushing their tails on every other step.

 "You guys, we have excellent news!" Orioleflight practically squealed. "My apprentice became a warrior the other day!"

 "No way, Roseroar and Thrushfall did, too!" Twistertail purred. "You must have trained hard, Orioleflight. Wasn't he your apprentice for, like, three moons?"

 "Of course he passed his assessment beautifully." Lemmingleap said softly, smiling proudly at her mate. "She's got to be one of the best mentors in the Clan."

 "Wait 'till you hear the news in ForestClan!" Pumpkinpelt boasted. "Me and Sparrowspots' kits became apprentices! And Twistertail is a queen now!"

 Orioleflight chirped in approval, while Lemmingleap glanced around at the ForestClan warriors. "That's great new, Pumpkinpelt. And is Finchflame the father?" she asked simply.

 "Of course. Who else?" the cream-and-ginger tom said cheerfully.

 Lemmingleap cast an unreadable glance behind them at the pale tabby tom who hadn't said anything to the other warriors. "I thought you and Mousefall were mates." she recounted. But before Twistertail could comment on the situation, the DeltaClan cats arrived. She pricked her ears at Gillflip, who broke away from their patrol to join the relatively younger warriors under their tree.

 "Hello, all." Gillflip said in his smooth voice. "I'm glad to see my friends strong and healthy before the cold season sets in."

 "You sound like you're a hundred moons old, Gillflip!" Pumpkinpelt wrinkled her nose. "I don't remember you talking like that four moons ago. What's up with that?"

 Gillflip smiled slightly, as if to break his act. "Sorry, all. I'm using my training voice."

 "Training voice?" Finchflame prodded. "Why do you need a training voice?"

 "Me and Finflutter each have apprentices now." the pale gray tom explained. "I use this voice whenever giving important information."

 Orioleflight opened her mouth to give her opinion, but in that moment, Sedgestar let out a loud grumble. "Alright, everyone. Settle down. This gathering has begun." he ordered. As the cats began to take their places, Twistertail inched closer to Gillflip, who was one of her closest friends from outside of ForestClan. Beside her, Finchflame shuffled closer to his mate, mischief gleaming in his eyes.

 "Can you believe that guy's still alive?" he snickered. "He was old when Pigeonwhisker was an apprentice!"

 "Hush, you." Lemmingleap scolded quietly from his other side. "I was talking with a MireClan patrol this morning, and they said he was retiring sometime soon. Don't make fun of a cat because they've served their Clan for moons beyond your lifetime." The young warriors nodded at her wise words before turning back to the bench, where eight leaders were waiting.

 Eight? Twistertail narrowed her eyes at Quartzstar. CliffClan hadn't showed up to a gathering since Brightstar's defeat! She glanced around desperately to locate a familiar cat, and finally her eyes found Glowheart, who was sitting on the edge of the foliage and beckoning with her fluffy tail.

 The black-and-white warrior looked around for a moment. What did the legendary CliffClan cat want with her? Not wanting to draw attention, she slunk off towards the edge of the island while everyone was still focused on Sedgestar's report. Glowheart had disappeared into the leaves, and now was standing on the shore. Even in the middle of the night, her fur seemed to glow. Maybe that was how she got her name.

 "What is it?" Twistertail asked timidly.

 "There are some cats who'd like to see you." Glowheart informed her. The younger cat obediently searched the shore for a moment, then picked out a familiar black pelt in the shadows. Behind her, a somewhat recognizable gray tom was resting in the sand.

 "Onyx-eye?" she wondered. "What are you doing here? And CliffClan doesn't come to a gathering unless it's something important!"

 "We have some news that shouldn't be shared with all cats around the lake. Some good, some bad." her sister said simply. "First of all, I'll be blind in one eye for the rest of my life. But you probably knew that. And second of all, me and Breezerunner are having kits. Third order of business, we've spotted your mentor on the edge of our territory. I think he was looking for that ear I bit off the last time I saw him!"

 "This is... a lot of information." Twistertail said, trying to piece it all together. The gray tom must be her mate. She vaguely remembered her visit to CliffClan, where one of the apprentices was called Breezepaw. One was Pebblepaw, and another was Talonpaw. And the other one? Was there even another? 

 "So Crowpelt has been spotted near CliffClan, and you're having kits." she declared. "Alright, but what was the information only I should hear?"

 "Well..." Glowheart broke in. "That's the bad news. Magpiepelt has received some strange visions. And she's behaving exactly how Shadowsweep did when she was younger, and her visions eventually killed her. This kind of thing runs in your family, right? Wasn't it the healer Flickerfur who first had it?"

 Twistertail blinked rapidly, stunned. "It can't be." she finally managed. "You mean... Magpiepelt's going to... End up like Shadowsweep?"

 Onyx-eye shifted closer, offering a comforting smile that looked as if she was ferociously wielding her freakishly long teeth. "Of course not! But even if she does, just in case..." she paused, seemingly for a dramatic effect. "At least she'll be remembered as the cat who delivered our prophecy."

 The black-and-white cat pulled her head back, narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean, our prophecy? That was Shadowsweep."

 "No, not that." Glowheart said heavily. "There's a new one."

 Twistertail looked desperately to her sister, whose dark green eyes were glittering in the light of the full moon. The black cat shuffled her paws intensely, as if to prepare for a long speech. But instead, it was rather short.

 "Stone will be shattered by poison, and the sky will shatter the spirits."