Warriors: The Gates of StarClan

Chapter 3

"Ivysplash. Ivysplash. Wake up." Ivysplash felt a soft paw nudging her side rhythmically. When she opened her eyes, a cat with stars in her fur stood before Ivysplash.

"Ivysplash, you know exactly what you must do, and you must do it immediately."

"Willowstorm?" Ivysplash sat up sleepily and stared at the starry gray she-cat.

"Yes. Ivysplash, we both know that you know exactly who Ivy is."

"I'm Ivy, aren't I?" asked Ivysplash quietly.

"Yes. And you must find Raven, Tiger, and Lion. You will journey with them to the gates of StarClan, and you will save the night together." Her mother began to fade. "Promise you won't fail me."

"I won't, Willowstorm," murmured Ivysplash. "I promise."

~~~~~

Ivysplash woke with a start. Something was poking her in the ribs. "Ivysplash! Wake up!" Ivysplash opened her eyes to find Dawnpetal leaning over her. "Amberstar's choosing cats to go to the Gathering tonight."

The two she-cats scrambled out of the den as Amberstar was naming cats to leave. "Lightningfrost, Beechpaw, Graywhisker, Jayheart, Acornpaw, Dawnpetal, Pebbletooth--" she paused and her eyes met Ivysplash's "--and Ivysplash," she finished.

"Great! It'll be our first Gathering as warriors!" mewed Dawnpetal. Ivysplash nodded enthusiastically before changing the subject. "Hey, do you want to do some battle training? Just you and me?"

"Sure," smiled Dawnpetal.

As the pair of she-cats made their way to the training hollow, Ivysplash told Dawnpetal about her dream. "My mother came to visit me from StarClan," she began. "She said that I am Ivy, and that I had to find Raven, Tiger, and Lion. It sounds like they are cats from the other three Clans."

Dawnpetal nodded and meowed, "Have you asked any other warriors?"

"No, I don't want any other cats to know about this. I'll try to find out more at the Gathering."

Dawnpetal stepped into the soft sand of the training hollow and mewed wistfully, "Good luck with finding the others." Hearing the worry in her friend's voice, Ivysplash mewed, "Never mind about that, let's start!"

Before Ivysplash could finish speaking, Dawnpetal was gripping her back with sheathed claws. Ivysplash rolled to one side, flipped Dawnpetal onto her back, and lightly pummeled her belly with her hind paws. Dawnpetal yelped and kicked up on Ivysplash's belly, throwing her backward. Ivysplash landed on the other side of the hollow and paused. She crouched in the sand as Dawnpetal raced towards her. Ivysplash ducked under Dawnpetal at the last moment, throwing her upward. Dawnpetal landed with a thud and Ivysplash leaped on her, pinning her muscular shoulders to the ground. Dawnpetal panted and went limp as Ivysplash took her weight off her friend. The gray and white she-cat thrust herself upward, catching Ivysplash by surprise. Dawnpetal pinned Ivysplash to the ground and placed a paw on her neck.

"I win!" Dawnpetal exclaimed triumphantly.

Ivysplash smiled as her friend helped her up. "Good job! That was fun. We should get back to camp now, though. They'll probably want us for a patrol."

As the friends entered the camp, Splashstripe greeted them. "Where have you two been? We've got to go on a border patrol." With a sigh he added, "After that you can rest."