Warriors: The Lost Prophecy - Book One: Whispers of War

Chapter 1

Lost in a sea of white, Opalpaw finds herself up to her neck in a sudden, very heavy snowfall. She looks around, desperate to find anything that she can climb up onto to keep herself from drowning in this sea of snow. "Mistrunner! Rippleheart! Saltmouth!" she tried calling out, but her voice was drowned in the heavy winds that surrounded her. If any of those cats were around, the likelihood of any of them hearing her was extremely low. She trudged on, snow crunching beneath her paws as she sought any form of shelter from this storm. 'I'm going to be lost in this storm forever at this rate...' she thought to herself, nearly defeated by the weather of all things.

She had her eyes closed, trying to keep the flurry from stinging and worsening her eyesight, which caused her to nearly miss the large stone that sat on the border with FrostClan. Her claws dig into the hard gray stone as she tries to keep herself from sinking any lower, climbing higher and higher until she reaches the top. 'Where is this storm even coming from?' She thought, convinced that leaf-bare had already ended. That's when she realized she was dreaming. StarClan must have sent this storm as an omen.

From her place upon the rock, she looks up, across the border, horrified to see the bodies of cats, dark against the powder white snow. Her heart raced as she looked even further forward, seeing what could only be described as an entire clan of cats standing above them. She can't make out any features, the cats looking just like shadows against the storm. Despite what seemed to be dozens of cats across from them, she swore she made out three others standing against them.

"Opalpaw!" Before she can make out any details of the three cats at the base of the stone, Opalpaw was roused from her sleep by her mentor, Mistrunner. Opalpaw wakes with a jolt, sending pieces of moss flying all around from her bedding. The scent of various herbs surrounded her as she realized she had awoken in the medicine den. She was safe. Her heart began to slow as she took in this realization, slowly standing up and looking around, taking in the warm air of newleaf to fully confirm that it had only been a bad dream. "Is everything alright? You were moving quite a bit in your sleep." She bowed her head to the sleek, gray furred cat in front of her before walking over to a puddle nearby to check her eye. 'Still cloudy... but undamaged' she thought to herself before turning back to her mentor.

"Yes, everything's fine, Mistrunner. It was just a bad dream is all," she replied, trying to keep it brief. She wasn't so sure it was only a dream, based on how vivid it was. Her dreams hardly ever slipped into the waking world, so to hear that she was moving around in her sleep was a shock to her. "What do we need done today? I'd like to get started as soon as I can." It had been a difficult leaf-bare, especially with her mother, Saltmouth, having kitted just as leaf-fall had begun, which meant that they had spent the entire season ensuring their stocks of borage were in the best shape they could be. Thankfully, all three cats survived the cold, and the kits had made it to their apprentice ceremony. Opalpaw followed as Mistrunner walked over to their herb stores, hopping up onto the large, wooden storage space to look through them all.

"Hm... we have enough catmint to get Mottlepelt over the last of his whitecough today, but we should get some more to ensure that if anyone else catches it, we're prepared." he explained, pulling the few stalks they had left out and hopping down onto the ground.

"Would you like me to go and get some more then?" Opalpaw asked, just as the wood behind them creaked. Looking over, the two medicine cats could see Brinefall crouching down to get through the opening into their den, his tangled, sandy brown fur getting caught slightly as he slipped through into the den. Based on the look on the tom's face, Opalpaw could guess it wasn't his choice to be in here. "What's wrong, Brinefall?"

Brinefall's paws worked the old, sea salt infused wood beneath him as he struggled to admit his needs. "I um... Ambergaze told me to come and see you. I think I ate a bad coho or something, my belly is aching," he stated, his eyes struggling to meet the gaze of the medicine cats. Mistrunner shook his head, mostly in frustration from what Opalpaw could tell. Brinefall was always one to push his own needs away for the sake of other cats, especially when it came to his illnesses or injuries. He always stayed towards the back after a battle to ensure that the other cats of TideClan had been taken care of.