Warriors | A Prophecy Reborn: Book 2. (A Path Beyond Stars)

~A Path Beyond Stars: Chapter 3~

"Whitestripe," Reedtail whispered as she lurked stealthily toward a fat finch.
"Horizon," Ashpelt muttered from her side.
"Whitestripe," the black she-cat said again, more quietly as she readied herself to pounce.
"Horizon?" Ashpelt said questioningly.
"Be quiet," Reedtail whispered in frustration.
"But it's Horizon," Ashpelt said in an awestruck tone, his tail going stiff.
Reedtail pounced just as the finch hopped away and flew off.
"Ashpelt!" she growled.
"Ashpelt!" exclaimed a happier voice, rushing toward the gray tabby warrior. The she-cat ran into his shoulder, purring, her brown and white fur glittering in the sunlight.
"Horizon?" Reedtail said worriedly. "What are you doing here?"
Horizon flicked her tail and turned to Reedtail. "I can't find Snow."
"So? It hasn't snowed yet, what do you expect?"
The regretful look in Horizon's eyes reminded Reedtail who she meant.
"She's missing?"
Horizon nodded.
"We can help find her," Ashpelt said eagerly. "Right, Reedtail?"
Reedtail resisted the urge to growl as she glared warningly at Ashpelt. "Ashpelt, the mission."
He doesn't care whether we'd be exposed or not during our mission, she thought angrily. As long as he has his precious kittypet, nothing matters to him, and nothing seems to work out in that idiotic brain of his.
"What mission?" Horizon asked curiously, looking at Ashpelt.
He turned to Reedtail, as though asking for permission. Reedtail, knowing Horizon would most likely attempt to join them anyway, nodded reluctantly.
"Our deputy asked us to search for one of our former Clanmates to eliminate him," Ashpelt explained to the kittypet.
"Or just to gather information," Reedtail added.
"What does he have that you'd need?" Horizon asked innocently.
"That former Clanmate murdered an apprentice after killing off our old deputy and Medicine Cat," Reedtail grumbled stiffly.
"Oh."
Horizon and Ashpelt sat in silence while Reedtail slowly edged closer to the tree where the finch sat.
Reedtail stopped herself from scoffing as Horizon and Ashpelt leaned into each other.
"Ashpelt," Reedtail said a minute later, "we need to finish hunting so our Clan can be fed."
Ashpelt was still for a moment, as though registering what she had said, then nodded. "You should go," he said, turning to Horizon.
"But Snow-" the kittypet protested.
"We can look for her," Ashpelt reassured the brown and white she-cat. Horizon rested her head on his shoulder for a moment before running away back in the direction of her Twolegnest.
"Hurry up, they'll be wondering where we've gone!" Reedtail hissed, and Ashpelt ran off to the left to chase a surprisingly quick mouse.
Reedtail waited only a short while, hiding beneath the branch where the finch sat until it hopped down to peck at the ground.
She waited until it seemed to have lowered its guard, and she lunged for the fat little bird, grasping it in her claws before killing it.
She gathered the rest of her prey with the help of Flamepaw and Swiftflight, carrying it back to the fresh-kill pile.
Stripedkit tore through the clearing, bumping right into Reedtail's leg.
Reedtail chuckled as Stripedkit rolled onto her side and sat up again.
"Can I take some prey to the other kits?" she asked.
"Can we eat in the Nursery?" asked another voice from behind, and Reedtail saw that it belonged to Frostkit.
Specklefern came up behind the kits and smiled. "Yes, you may eat in the Nursery, little ones."
"Can you?" Frostkit asked.
The tortoiseshell queen nodded and nudged the small kit back toward the Nursery. "Wait with your mother. I will help Stripedkit."
Frostkit waddled off to play with Coldkit, Brackenkit and Darkkit in the Nursery.
"It's a surprise they know how to talk already, so soon after being kitted," Reedtail remarked.
"It is quite odd, I agree," said Specklefern, picking out two voles for Stripedkit to carry. The small tabby picked up the voles and ran off to the Nursery.
"How is Spiraltail?" Specklefern asked. Swiftflight and Flamepaw had gone off to join Whitestripe and Ashpelt near Crookedfire's den.
"I haven't been to see her today," Reedtail mumbled.
"You still grieve for Grayfur?"
"Yes," said the black she-cat.
"None of us could prevent her death," Specklefern said. "She is with StarClan now, and she will still watch after us all, ThunderClan or not."
Reedtail had heard Specklefern say this many times before now, but this time she felt curious.
As Specklefern turned to leave, Reedtail stopped her. "Specklefern?" she said. The light tortoiseshell faced Reedtail.
"You keep saying 'ThunderClan or not' when mentioning Grayfur," she said. "Are you talking about Grayfur herself, or hinting toward somebody else?"
Specklefern's face went blank as if a mouse had just managed to sprout wings in front of her and fly away.
"That is not my secret to share," she answered.
Reedtail wasn't about to be rejected now. She asked the question that lingered on her mind, "Specklefern, am I of ThunderClan blood?"
Specklefern was hesitant in answering. "Half," was her only answer.
Half ThunderClan. "And the other half?"
Specklefern bowed her head. "You must speak to Stonestar instead. I apologise, but I cannot tell you. It is not my secret to share," she repeated.
Reedtail wasn't satisfied with this answer, but at least she knew now that she was technically of ThunderClan. Specklefern walked off with Stripedkit, who had returned at the end of the conversation, and helped carry some more prey to the Nursery.
Reedtail grabbed a piece of prey for herself and stalked off to eat somewhere in peace.
She passed Spidertail, who glanced sideways at her skeptically, but said nothing.
Bitter fool, she thought, sitting down. She hadn't realised how long they had been hunting until she saw the sun slowly start to sink lower.
She ate the sparrow she had grabbed from the prey pile and sat, cleaning her paws.
She noticed Ashpelt lingering outside the Medicine Den and padded over.
"Shhh," he warned. "Listen."
Reedtail crouched beside Ashpelt and stayed silent. Deep inside the den, she heard Spiraltail muttering something in her sleep. "Grayfur... the prophecy..." A short moment of silence, then she said louder, shakily, "Grayfur, come back."
The two warriors stared at each other, confused. They instinctively ran to the spare den.
"What in StarClan was that about?"
"I don't know," Ashpelt admitted.
They were silent for a few seconds, then Ashpelt said, "Maybe she saw Grayfur?"
"That's obvious," Reedtail remarked.
"No, maybe she really saw Grayfur," Ashpelt insisted. "Snow and Grayfur, they had this kind of... gift."
Reedtail raised her eyebrow disbelievingly.
"Snow called it Memory-Seeing," Ashpelt went on, ignoring Reedtail's look. "Apparently, only she-cats descended from Snow and Grayfur can do it."
"Does that mean Whitestripe would be able to do it?" Reedtail asked.
"Probably," Ashpelt said with a shrug.
"So does that mean Spiraltail was actually just visiting a memory with Grayfur in it?"
"I don't think so. As far as I know, you need to actually remember the scene to visit said memory."
"Hm." This seemed unlikely, but StarClan had odd ways of showing the importance of something that may seem so insignificant to many.
When they had finished discussing the matter of Memory-Seeing, Stonestar's yowl came from the Highledge.
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
Everyone exited their dens, and Reedtail was surprised to see the moon high in the sky. She hadn't realised how fast the day had gone by.
"I, Stonestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn."
His gaze shifted to the small ginger apprentice, sitting next to Swiftflight.
"Flamepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your own life?"
"I do," Flamepaw said.
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Flamepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Flameclaw. StarClan honours your compassion and enthusiasm, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
Flameclaw licked Stonestar's shoulder and the leader returned to the Highledge.
"Tonight, Flameclaw will sit vigil and guard our Clan," Stonestar said.
Without another word, he dismissed his Clan with a flick of his tail and retreated to the Medicine Den.
Flameclaw was escorted to the camp entrance by Swiftflight. He nodded a happy greeting as he passed Reedtail and Ashpelt, which they returned as he continued on his way.
The two warriors were about to walk back to the warriors' den after talking in the spare den, but as they neared the spare den, Reedtail heard someone say, "Ashpelt," from inside.
His eyes brightened, though he tried to hide it.
The two warriors lurked inside to find the brown and white kittypet crouching in one of the darker corners of the spare den.
"What are you doing here?" Reedtail whispered angrily. "You aren't allowed inside our camp!"
"You said you'd help me find Snow," Horizon whispered back.
"Two more days," Ashpelt said quietly. "We will help you find Snow, but we need two more days to prepare."
Reedtail felt enraged at the kittypet's appearance, but Ashpelt wasn't even questioning her being here!
"I'll leave once everyone's asleep and nobody's looking, I promise," Horizon insisted desperately. "I just needed to know if you really would help me look for Snow."
"Where did you see her last?" Ashpelt asked.
Horizon was silent for a short moment before answering. "I don't know," she admitted finally. "I went to sleep and when I woke up again, she had disappeared. That's when Spiraltail and you," she added, flicking her tail at Reedtail, "came over to ask if she was there."
"It wouldn't be safe for you to leave now," Reedtail found herself saying. "One of our new warriors will be standing guard the rest of the night, and if you're seen by him, the first thing he'll do is attack you."
Horizon's voice had a strong hint of determination when she replied. "I know you think other cats like me are just useless and can't lift a claw to save our own lives, but I can and I will if I need to."
Ashpelt flinched at this threat.
"I'll just leave the way I came out," Horizon decided after a long moment of angered silence.
"You better not get caught," Ashpelt muttered.
"I'll be safe and stay out of sight," Horizon promised the gray tabby tom.
Ashpelt nodded hesitantly. They left her and went to the warrior den without discussing who would be their companion on their mission.
As Reedtail was about to sleep, she heard an odd scrabbling from near the spare den and peeked outside to see Horizon climbing quickly out of the camp and darting off.
Ashpelt and Horizon, Reedtail thought. What an odd mix. A ThunderClan warrior with a kittypet. But then, I don't even know my kin, if I have any left alive...
She felt tempted to ask Specklefern again, but knew she would gain the same answer as that of which she was given earlier.
With troubled thoughts, she curled up on her nest and slept, small beams of what was soon to be a half-moon shining at the den entrance.