Warriors: The Gates of StarClan

Chapter 10

That night Ivysplash's dreams were filled with uncertainty and fear. Nameless, faceless cats ran around her, calling out, and disappearing. Suddenly a cat stepped out of the chaos.

"Willowstorm!" Ivysplash rushed forward to find her mother sitting several tail-lengths away. She ran forward again, but each time, Willowstorm was just out of reach.

"Come back! Wait for me!" she cried. Willowstorm disappeared behind a tree, and Ivysplash followed. The sight that met her eyes chilled her to the bone. She stood at the edge of a sheer cliff. A vast stretch of water stood in front of her and sharp stones lay below her on the shore. The cries of cats died away, and Ivysplash felt only her own curiosity and terror.

"You must go now!" Willowstorm's urgent mew broke the silence and jerked Ivysplash out of her reeling thoughts. "There is no time to look for Raven at the next Gathering. This might help," she continued. Her mother pushed a chunk of ice toward her. Ivysplash realized with a jolt that it was jet-black. She stared in surprise, but her mother had disappeared. Only her voice sounded. "If you do not leave within two sunrises with three other cats, you will not return in time."

~~~~~

Ivysplash woke with a start. She knew she had to leave immediately. She quickly padded to Amberstar's den and poked her head through the thin lichen. "Amberstar? Are you awake?"

"I am now," the golden she-cat mewed sleepily. "What is it?"

"I've had another dream. My mother returned and said I had to find the other cats at once. If we don't leave in two sunrises, we won't return in time." A stray thought crossed Ivysplash's mind. Return in time for what?

Amberstar broke through her thoughts. "I suppose you'd better get going. Go alone to the other camps and say Amberstar sent you. Ask to talk to the cats you met earlier. I'll bet they'll let you," she mewed.

"I will. And could you ask Lightningfrost to mentor Fernpaw until I return?" Amberstar nodded. "Thank you. Goodbye, Amberstar," Ivysplash meowed.

"Goodbye, and may StarClan light your path."

vysplash backed out of her leader's den and padded silently across the clearing to the warriors' den. "Dawnpetal," she mewed softly. Her friend's head appeared from the entrance. "Ivysplash?"

"I'm leaving now," she said. "I have to go. My mother told me in a dream." She stepped forward and licked her friend's cheek affectionately.

"Oh..." Dawnpetal trailed off sadly.

"I'll be back soon," Ivysplash mewed. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"See you later," Dawnpetal murmured. "And may StarClan follow you always."