Warriors AU: Forest of Secrets

Chapter 18

The sun began to set for the third time since Sandstorm had almost drowned. The young warrior was washing himself outside his den, scraping his tongue across his fur. He kept imagining that he could still taste the muddy water. As he twisted his head to wash his back, he heard the pad of approaching paws, and looked up to see Goldenflower looming over him.

"Oakstar wants you to go to the Gathering," the deputy growled. "Meet her outside her den—and bring Fireheart and Silverstream." He stalked away before Sandstorm could reply.

Sandstorm got up and stretched. Glancing around, he spotted Silverstream and Fireheart eating beside the patch of nettles, and hurried over to join them. "Oakstar has chosen us to go to the Gathering," he announced.

Fireheart finished off her blackbird and swiped a pink tongue around her jaws. "But can we get to the Gathering?" she meowed, sounding puzzled. "I thought the stream was impossible to cross."

"Oakstar said Starclan would be angry if we didn't try," Sandstorm mewed. "She wants to talk to us now—maybe she has a plan."

Silverstream spoke through a mouthful of vole. "I just hope she doesn't expect us to swim." In spite of his words, his eyes shone with excitement as he gulped the rest of the fresh-kill and sprain to his paws. Sandstorm knew he must be looking forward to a chance to see Graystripe, and he wondered if they had managed to meet in the time since he and Silverstream had been caught crossing the river after their ill-fated hunting mission for Riverclan.

Sandstorm thought of Graystripe's kits, and he wondered how Silverstream would be able to bear seeing them grow up in another Clan. Would Graystripe ever be able to tell them that Silverstream, the Thunderclan warrior, was their father? Sandstorm tried to put the questions out of his mind as he and his friends crossed the clearing to the Highrock. Oakstar was sitting outside her den, with Brindleface, Mousefur, and Willowpelt already by her side. A moment later Goldenflower and Darkstripe joined them.

"As you know, the moon is full tonight," Oakstar began when all the cats were gathered around her. "It will be hard to get to Fourtrees, but Starclan would expect us to do all we can to find a dry route. So I've chosen warriors only—this will be no journey for elders or apprentices, or queens expecting kits. Darkstripe, you led a patrol to examine the stream this morning. Report what you found."

"The water's going down," meowed Darkstripe. "But not fast enough. We patrolled as far as the Thunderpath, and there's nowhere a cat could cross without swimming."

"The stream's narrow up there," mewed Willowpelt. "Could we jump across?"

"Maybe, if you grew wings," Darkstripe replied. "If all you've got is your own paws..."

"But that has to be the best place to try," insisted Brindleface.

Oakstar nodded. "We'll start there," she decided. "Maybe Starclan will lead us to a safe place." She rose to her paws and led her cats quietly out of the camp.

The sun had gone down, and twilight blurred the shapes of the forest. In the distance an owl hooted, and Sandstorm could hear the rustle of prey in the undergrowth, but the warriors were too intent on their journey to hunt. Oakstar took them straight through the trees to the place where the stream emerged from a hard stone tunnel underneath the Thunderpath. Their usual route to Fourtrees did not pass this close to the Thunderpath, and Sandstorm wondered what his leader was planning to do. When they reached the tunnel, he saw that floodwater spread out on either side, reflecting the pale light of the rising moon. Water covered the Thunderpath as well, and as the cats watched they saw a monster pass by, moving slowly, throwing up a filthy wave from its round black paws.

Once the monster had disappeared into the distance, Oakstar led her cats to the water's edge on the hard surface of the Thunderpath. She sniffed the water, wrinkling her nose at the stench, and cautiously put one paw into the flood. "It's shallow enough here," she meowed. "We can walk up the Thunderpath until we're on the other side of the stream, and get to Fourtrees along the border with Shadowclan."