Book 1 - Warriors: The Shadow Outcast

Chapter Thirteen

Rainpaw lay comfortably in the middle of the apprentices' den with Bluepaw, Lionpaw, and Frostpaw sleeping around him. He was the oldest apprentice now, with both Robinwing and Shadowflame Warriors, and this made him proud. Sweetpaw always seemed to look up to him, and both Bluepaw and Lionpaw always asked him to help them with battle training, mostly because they remember the night he made the rogues scatter.

The rogues scent had disappeared, which was odd to Rainpaw. He knew that Shadow was still out there, but they seemed to be hiding. Why? Rainpaw had no idea.

Rainpaw then realised one of his wounds was stinging, and though he would have loved to ignore it, he just couldn't. So, he stood up and carefully slipped through the apprentices' den. He then padded quietly through camp before walking into the medicine den, sighing as he realised how many times he'd been in the den.

As Rainpaw walked in, he realised that both Frostpaw and Snowdrift were already awake. It seemed odd to be at this time of night, but then Rainpaw realised that they had come back from the Moonpool only a short time ago, so they had a reason to be awake.

The two medicine cats looked up at Rainpaw as he entered, both looking quite stressed as they did. Curiously, Rainpaw looked harder for the reason why, hoping to get something through their eyes. However, that's not what he got.

Rainpaw was given a memory instead. He was then in Frostpaw's body as he stood in a grass field that seemed to stretch for miles. In front of him was Cheetahfur, Thunderstar, Riverstar Windstar, and Shadowstar. All of them looked odd, and they were all saying the same thing. Rainpaw then tried harder to listen.

"Blood will be shed as the ashes fall, with memories lost and some forgotten, evil shall over-power even the strongest of the Clans. We wait for the Saviour, and pray that we will be saved." Cheetahfur recited, her voice strong and mighty. "These are words you must remember, young Frostpaw, for they will help you when you become a full medicine cat."

"But I don't understand!" Frostpaw protested. "The Clans will. . .die?"

"No," said Cheetahfur firmly. "They will always be here in this forest. However, some leaders aren't as good as others." Frostpaw was frantic, he had no idea what was going on.

"There is another thing you should remember, Frostpaw," the she-cat warned. "Something that even I don't the outcome of. The monster that is living within the Clans shall be tamed, but only enough to listen. With a name and a purpose, what this monster will be able to do is unknowable. You must be careful."

"Monster?" asked Frostpaw. "You mean those nasty smelling things that go across the Thunderpath?" Cheetahfur shook her head before fading away, the others following her lead.

"Remember the prophecy, Frostpaw," Cheetahfur reminded him. "Let it guide you through many more seasons of life." Then the world around Rainpaw changed, and soon he was in his real body. He'd been holding his breath, and when he let it go, Snowdrift seemed a little curious. Frostpaw was shocked, but Rainpaw was not. He was too busy adding the piece to the puzzle.

Rainpaw then ran off, his mind too occupied to explain himself to the medicine cats at the moment. He slipped back into the apprentices' den, panting heavily as he lied down.

What has StarClan come to? Rainpaw thought. How could they let danger just take over like that? And whose memory will be lost? Who will be forgotten? This makes no sense! Rainpaw thought about it more carefully, but not once did he know just who was going to take over. Whoever it was, they were probably plotting to kill Sharpfang at any moment, and then Ravenstar. The 'some leaders aren't as good as others' part was obvious. Someone was going to try and take over ThunderClan by becoming its leader.