𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐘, stars and moon 2

『 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟿 』

BLINKING AGAINST THE harsh greenleaf sunlight, Dovepaw opened her eyes. Morning warmth flooded into the den and seeped into her fur. The sunbeams danced on the floor as they showed through the bramble screen of the den. It was the morning after the incident with Spottedsong. Dovepaw lifted her head to look outside the den. Immediately she saw Mousetail and Skystorm grooming each other lovingly, murmuring instinctively as they did. At first, when Mousetail and Skystorm first began to be so close, Dovepaw had been envious. She had wanted to have that same kind of love with Foxclaw, if only destiny and fate hadn't gotten in the way. But now she was happy for them, and every time she saw them together, her heart burst with joy for her sister.

"Good morning." Badgertooth's greeting tugged Dovepaw from her thoughts. "How did you sleep last night?"

"I slept well. The poppy seeds worked well. As they always do," Dovepaw responded tiredly. "How did the Gathering go last night?"

"That's good. It was okay. Lynxstar accused Breezestar of attacking our Clan, and it ended up as an argument with all of the Clans. We had to end it early when the clouds covered the moon," Badgertooth answered. "I couldn't help but think about the prophecy."

The prophecy! I nearly forgot about it, Dovepaw thought, her fur heating up with shame. "What about it?"

"We never knew what it would mean, but now I think that 'storm clouds' refers to evil. MoonClan, for one, but also the other Clans and cats in our Clan. They may be trying to turn our own cats as well as cats from different Clans against us so that they can finally destroy us once and for all," Badgertooth explained.

"What about 'light will shine from the darkest storm clouds'?" Dovepaw asked. "Do you know what that means?"

"Well . . . I would think it means a specific cat, and ever since we discovered your abilities, I thought that maybe it can help us keep our Clan going so that we can defeat MoonClan," Badgertooth explained. "In other words, I think the 'light' that is described is you."

"Me?" Dovepaw's eyes widened in surprise. "That's a load of badger droppings. I would never be a part of a prophecy. What good would I be at it?"

"Maybe you wouldn't be very good at it," Badgertooth admitted honestly. Dovepaw's ear twitched arrogantly. "But with these new abilities, maybe you can be. You definitely can be. You just have to believe in yourself," he explained.

"Then what happened when my special ability didn't work on Frozenfang's wound?" Dovepaw asked. "Is there a limit or something? How would that help anything?"

"I don't know . . . maybe there's some sort of rule that we haven't figured out yet," Badgertooth pointed out.

How is that supposed to help anything? Dovepaw closed her eyes briefly while she took a deep breath and met Badgertooth's gaze again. "And how do you suppose we figure it out?"