Harekit's Prophecy

Chapter 4

Harepaw padded around camp, looking from one cat to the other. It had been a quarter moon since he had visited the nursery, and he had been thinking of when they were six moons. I'll be forced to fight them... If I don't, I'd die... Harepaw thought. Harepaw looked at his clanmates, seeing them talking in the meeting hollow as the leader told them what patrols they'd be in. Most we excited to go on patrols and thanked Echostar for letting them go out. He had learned how to tell when a cat is loyal to Echostar or when a cat fears her. the Senior warriors despise her, and they fear her. They listen only so they don't die. Most are too old to be warriors, but they know that they would be treated poorly as warriors. Echostar let queens be treated with respect, for they are bringing more 'loyal' warriors to the Clan. Many of the young warriors are loyal, or they are loyal yet fear her at the same time. Harepaw caught sight of his mother and padded towards her. "Sandberry!" he said as he reached her. She looked at him, confused.
"What?" She asked, sitting down and cleaning her paw.
"How... how did Echostar become the leader?" Harepaw asked.
"Oh! I'm glad you want to know. But you must ask the senior warriors." Sandberry purred, smiling at him. "But I hope you know she is the best leader that WindClan has ever had!" Sandberry purred.
"Yeah, I-I do." Harepaw said, trying to hide the nervousness that edged his mew. Sandberry licked the top of his head before standing up, and padding to the nursery. Harepaw looked around the camp and caught sight of the oldest senior warrior, Lionspirit, was lying at the entrance of the warriors' den. Her muzzle tinged with grey, showing signs of age, but her golden pelt made her still look young. Harepaw padded towards the she-cat, padding lightly. Lionspirit looked at him.
"What do ya want, youngun'?" She growled.
"I wanted to ask about how Echostar became the leader." Harepaw asked. Lionspirit sat up, yawning.
"Alright, I have nothing better to do." She said, before beckoning him closer with her tail. Harepaw sat a tail length in front of her, his ears pricked. "Well, when Echostar was a warrior," Lionspirit began, "She was Echosong. She was strong and beautiful, always eager for patrol. Yet, she wasn't always good about our code. She would disrespect the elders and kits. She became the deputy after a battle that killed the one before her. She was so proud, her chest stuck out like she ruled the entire forest! The leader, Dapplestar, trusted her, but I don't think it was because of her personality, no. He had always been in love with her when she became a warrior, blinded by it so that he could not see her bad deeds. He hoped that if she were the deputy, he would be able to win her love. She knew this and when he asked her to be his mate, she said yes, only to gain his trust more. Echosong was expecting his kits not too long after and she had three kits. But due to a very strong leaf-bare, none of them survived."Lionspirit paused for a second and shifted on her paws. She inhaled, before continuing. "They were heartbroken, but after the death of the kits, Dapplestar was still deep in love. So much, that he hadn't realized that he was losing lives rapidly. No cat knew why, but there were rumors that it was Echosong. We had no proof, and in his last life, Echosong was attacked in battle, a fatal blow would have killed her, but Dapplestar jumped in front of the blow and died saving her life. She became leader after, and instead of following the rules, like Dapplestar did, she made her own." Lionspirit dipped her head as a sign that the story was done.
"I understand," Harepaw mewed. "Thank you for telling me this."
"Anytime," Lionspirit replied.

The sun was slowly getting swallowed by the moor, that seemed endless. Another blow hit Harepaw in his face. "You should react faster!" Sparkcloud hissed. Harepaw was too tired to reply. Not long after Lionspirit's story, Sparkcloud had told him that they were going to train. And as Harepaw as expected, it was rough. With unsheathed claws, Sparkcloud had been aiming for his already scarred face. When he had asked if he could take a short break, she had snarled something back. Harepaw dodged a powerful blow from his mentor, by leaping to the side. Sparkcloud bared her teeth again and leaped towards her apprentice. This time, Harepaw wasn't able to dodge, and the sharp claws of the she-cat dug through his cream-colored pelt. Blood gushed out of his shoulder. Sparkcloud didn't stop there and continued to claw at the apprentice's fur. More wounds appeared on his already scarred pelt, and more blood dripped down, making his white paws red with blood. "Can we s-stop?" he stuttered, while he was trying to balance on his shaking paws. Sparkcloud stood back and sheathed her bloody claws. "Sure, rabbit-hearted coward," she hissed. As fast as his weak paws could, he stumbled back to the camp. Somewhere inside he was hoping that his mentor would let him lean on her, but of course, she didn't. She ran in front of him and soon disappeared out of sight. Luckily, the WindClan camp wasn't that far away, and when he padded over hill, the entrance was only a tail length ahead. He padded into camp, making a bee-line towards the medicine den to get his wounds checked.
"Sparkcloud was extra rough this time, wasn't she?" Buzzardfur asked as he put the already made poultice on Harepaws scratches. Buzzardfur always had it on hand, due to fights between clanmates and Harepaws training sessions. The poultice felt normal, the sting barely felt as the poultice was applied. Harepaw had grown used to it and was used to the smell of the medicine den. It wasn't long before Buzzardfur had finished, and Harepaw went back to his den to rest. He knew that he wouldn't be allowed to have prey from the prey pile, even though it was full for once. He lay on his nest, looking into the camp through the entrance. There wasn't much going on, Echostar was in her den, like usual. No cat was allowed in unless called for and being called into her den was scary for all the Clan cats. Harepaw drifted into a dreamless sleep not much after.