Turtleheart's Path

Chapter 11

She stood next to Sparrowfeather at the edge of the thunderpath, her heart racing as monsters passed by several times in a matter of seconds. She felt the sun warming her fur as the wind ruffled it. "Go!" Sparrowfeather leapt onto the black ground and darted across. Turtlepaw hesitated a moment before following quickly, easily catching up. She padded along a path into a trashy twoleg dump. "It smells like the carrion place in shadowclan territory. Their warriors' pelts always smell like it." Sparrowfeather wrinkled his nose.
"It's time to go in." Sparrowfeather got to his paws and led the way. The moon was almost at the top of the sky. The tunnel became dark fast, fear made her stop in her tracks. Her fur bristled. "Sparrowfeather?" She called into the darkness. "I am here. Follow my scent. You have your whiskers and nose but not your eyes. You'll be fine. Let's go, no time to waste." Sparrowfeather continued. Turtlepaw forced herself to walk forwards, her paws trembling. Her eyes narrowed as light began to pour into the tunnel, awe took her face.
"Cats of Starclan, I commend you to look down on this apprentice and approve of her words." Sparrowfeather began, "Turtlepaw, do you wish to become the next medicine cat of Windclan?" Turtlepaw did not hesitate. "I do." Sparrowfeather turned again. "Starclan, watch over Turtlepaw as she learns the ways of being a medicine cat of your clans." Turtlepaw let out a sigh of relief as she heard cats shouting and yowling her name. "Lets head back, Turtlepaw." Sparrowfeather said, sounding a little nervous. They began to trot back down the tunnel again. This time, Turtlepaw felt less afraid of the darkness and more connected to her ancestors.
As she padded into camp her paws felt like they were going to fall off. She curled up happily in her nest and fell asleep almost instantly. She heard the cats yowling her name again but a worried voice speaking to another cat. "She will lose her path! Keep her on it or she'll be lost forever!" Turtlepaw stood on the moor in the dark, the wind had stopped and the shapes of cats running around or wrestling with each other appeared. Was she in Starclan? She looked around, seeing a familiar pelt. "Ivykit?" She yowled but her sister didn't turn. "Ivykit!" She shrieked as she saw her pelt disappear under another cat. Her heart lurched but then she saw her sister rolling out from under them and leaping onto the other. Were Starclan cats trained to fight? She felt a prod at her side and almost staggered, her weight unbalanced. Then she lifted her head.