Warriors: Dissension By The Marsh

Chapter 17

  Hornetclaw waited happily by the edge of the camp as she watched Fernwillow give Ghostglare the supplies he needed. Timberstar said she was being sent on an important mission to protect and escort Ghostglare to Highstones, she was honored he chose her for the job. She had never been to Highstones, ordinarily medicine cats and leaders go to Highstones to speak with StarClan, so it was incredible she was able to get this opportunity. Ghostglare slowly approached her, staring in her direction.

"Ready to get to Highstones?" She smiled.

"Ready as I'll ever be." His tone wasn't as excited as hers, but she didn't blame him. From what Timberstar said, the message he received as an omen.

To two stretched, before heading out of the camp on their adventure. They followed the treeline, Ghostglare lead the way as Hornetclaw protected the rear.

"So, how do we get there? You seem like you know what you're doing." Hornetclaw questioned.

"I have the general direction down to muscle memory, but I'll still need assistance. We'll head to the twoleg trail, and follow it through ShadeClan. When we reach Sunpeaks, we'll leave the trail and head north." He explained.

"The twoleg trail? What if we run into some twolegs?" She raced up next to him.

"That's what you're for apparently."

The two trotted east, until they reached the twoleg trail that left their territory and entered ShadeClan's. Ghostglare followed the trail with confidence, while Hornetclaw kept her senses heightened, waiting for trouble. She rarely crossed this trail, she usually crossed the one west of the clan, she had no idea what to expect.

The light dimmed as the trees grew thicker, towering over them, the sun left small spots on the trail to guide their way. The rank of ShadeClan was pungent, if she thought that calico was bad, this was much stronger. Hornetclaw couldn't stand the silence, and tried to spark a conversation.

"So, what exactly happened in the dream?" Hornetclaw pried.

"Do you know of Heathertail? He was the medicine cat before Fernwillow." He wondered.

She hummed in confirmation.

"He walked to me, talking about a starless leader, being plunged into darkness, a tree falling, and distrust spreading. He told me to not let it consume me, but I don't understand any of it." Ghostglare sighed a bit.

"Well, would the starless leader be Thornstar?"

"That's obvious enough."

"Maybe a tree will fall on someone?"
"I don't know."

"There's already a lot of distrust."

"Mhm."

"We're already in darkness, metaphorically I guess?"

Ghostglare stopped in his tracks, taking a deep breath. "I don't know, I'm not trying to decipher it, that's why we're going to StarClan. I can't answer any of your questions or theories, you know as much as I do."

Hornetclaw's ears pulled back. "Sorry, I'm just nervous."

Ghostglare flicked his tail before continuing down the path. There wasn't much trouble, an owl flew overhead, and they heard a few twolegs wandering about, but nothing stood in their way. As the light started trickling through more, Hornetclaw realized they finally made it to the Sunpeaks.

Gravelpatch had told her moons ago that Sunpeaks was one of the few areas in ShadeClan where light was prevalent and full, they'd warm themselves here and keep track of the days going by.

As the earth beneath them transitioned from hard soil to tall grass, they practically swam through the warm sun rays, it felt amazing on Hornetclaw's coat. Hornetclaw was enjoying herself, until her ears picked up the faint rustling of something nearby.