Warriors Super Edition: Mudfoot's Battle

Chapter 15

    Mudfoot was organising herbs in the back of the den when Smudgeface casually strolled in like she never had ever before.

        "'Sup." she said, sitting down hext to Mudfoot.

     "Hi...?" he replied.

     "So... you're a medicine cat." Smudgeface said, glancing around the den.

      "Yeah..." this was more than usual Smudgeface weird.

             "Is this all you cats do all day?" she asked.

        "No, I get visited by strange cats sometimes." He joked, slowly moving toward the den exit.

    Once had slipped away, Mudfoot found himself walking along the creekbed for no apparent reason. He found that his paws somehow carried him to the home of the StarStone.

     Mudfoot decided that he would go in to look at it, he had never seen it during the daytime.

       To his surprise, he found Dirtpaw in the leafy cave.

     "-don't understand." she meeed as she jerked awake.

       "Dirtpaw, what are you doing here?" Mudfoot hissed, startling her.

     "I-I-I needed to ask StarClan something." she explained.

      "Did you get an answer?" Mudfoot questioned.

           "No," Dirtpaw grumbled, "they told me I needed to wake up to get what I needed. I have to go back!"

         "Woah, woah, woah." Mudfoot thrust his paw in front of the StarStone, "If StarClan says that the answers are here, then they are." he told her, "What did you ask them about?"

      "Um, well I- uh..." Dirtpaw's blue eyes darted all over, as if looking for somewhere to run, "I was acctually gonna ask them abou you, but I-"

      Mudfoot's green eyes widened, "Why did you need to ask StarClan about me?" he inquired, "What did Yellowpetal say?"

      Dirtpaw nervously scuffled a black  paw in the dirt, "She didn't say anything, StarClan did." she mewed, "At least I think they did... I had these dreams..."

        An ethereal, yet familiar, voice swept through the undergrowth, "The time has come for the truth."

      Dirtpaw's eyes expanded in confusion, "What? Who? Huh?"

     "StarClan." Mudfoot said, waving a paw as to dismiss the situation, "Just, tell me about your dream."

     Dirtpaw hesitated and looked down at her black-tipped tail as it twitched at her paws, "Well, I was walking through the woods with Father when he stepped on some sort of gem, and then there was a burst of light, and the gem had expanded so that he was trapped inside of it, like ice. I ran back to camp to get help, and I found Mother in the medicine den. I rushed in and told her what had happened, but just as we tried to leave, the den collapsed with Mother inside of it! As you could probably guess, I was very upset, but then, Aunt Yellowpetal and you came to comfort me!"

     "Hmm..." Mudfoot said, "I know exactly what your dream means." Hey, the ghost voice said it was confession time.

     "Really?" Dirtpaw jumped up eagerly, "Tell me, tell me, tell me!" He could tell that deciphering this dream had been tormenting her for some time.

        "Alright," Mudfoot sighed, "but you have to promise not to be mad at Ivywhisker and Lightningpelt."

       "Of course," Dirtpaw said, "they're my parents."

      "No, they're not."

       "WHAT?" Dirtpaw yowled, she shook her head, "No, Lightningpelt is my father, and Ivywhisker is my mother."

       "No, Dirtpaw," Mudfoot mumbed, "I am your father."

     "W h a t?" she looked as if she was about to pass out, "But, if you're my father than who's..."

     "Don't freak out here, okay, but your mother is..." Mudfoot was hesitent to reveal Yellowpetal's end of the secret, but said, "Yellowpetal."

       Dirtpaw sat there, twitching silently for a long time, until she croaked out a response, "I'm the daughter... of two medicine cats from different clans?"

     Mudfoot shook his head, "I'm not proud of it, but-"

      As he was broken off by his daughter's yowling as she ran away, all Mudfoot could think was, What have I done?