Sky of Thunder

Chapter 1

Fernwhisper stared in horror at her leader's body. After the Starclan cats had dissappeared, the gathering had gone on. Bramblestar, the dark brown tabby tom, had offered Fernwhisper the chance to speak for her clan. She had refused. She was too grief stricken to even think properly, let alone speak.

Instead, the gathering had ended. The clans left to each of their territories with a plan for the leaders to meet at the island after two sunrises to decide where Skyclan's territory will be. This gave Fernwhisper enough time to go to the moonpool for her nine lives and organize her clan.

With help from Amberleaf and Sagenose, Fernwhisper dragged Cherrystar across the tree bridge. They padded slowly up to the top of the rise where they had first seen the lake. Sagenose, Meadowlark, and Fernwhisper dug a hole big enough for a cat and stepped back. Amberleaf gently pushed the Tortoiseshell-and-White leader into the ground. Fernwhisper piled the dirt on top.

Fernwhisper turned to the rest of the clan, "We will make camp here for the time being." She announced, "Amberleaf and I will set off at dawn to the moonpool. But first, I must appoint a new deputy." She waited as the cats gathered closely around her. "I say these words before Starclan, that they may hear and approve of my choice. Dewfrost will be the new deputy of Skyclan!"

"Dewfrost, Dewfrost!"

Fernwhisper touched her nose to her father's ear. "Thank you for always being there for me."

Since it wasn't really a camp, there were no dens. Fernwhisper had all the cats just lay on the grass, curled up together for warmth. She settled beside her mate, Reedthicket, and shared tongues with him until she was too tired and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Pale dawn light filtered through Fernwhisper's eyelid's as she groggily blinked them open. She heaved herself up and stumbled over to Amberleaf. She bent down and licked her sister's shoulder to wake her up.

"What?" Amberleaf complained.

"We've got to travel to the Moonpool, remember?"

"Oh, right." Amberleaf scrambled up and ambled over to a pile of leaves that she had collected the night before. "No, no, no, no! I need Daisy and Sorrel!" After rummaging through the herbs, she plodded back over to Fernwhisper, empty-pawed. "Sorry, Fernwhisper, I don't have any Traveling Herbs yet."

Fernwhisper rested her tail on her sister's back, "It's okay. Let's hurry though, the sun is rising." Amberleaf set off while Fernwhisper nudged her father awake, telling him he was in charge and then followed Amberleaf, who was already halfway down the slope.

They set off toward what the clans had called "Horseplace" and went up to the fence. The sisters stared in awe at the clumsy animals as they stumbled around in circles by the fence. What strange creatures, Fernwhisper thought.

"We better keep going." Mewed Amberleaf after a few moments. "Let's stop by Windclan's camp to ask exactly where the Moonpool is."

Fernwhisper nodded in agreement and raced away toward the moor. She could feel a difference in the grass here from where they made their makeshift camp. It was springy and short with gorse bushes dotted here and there. There was hardly any trees at all, except in one place. In the center of one of the smallest hills, there was a clump of trees and bushes. Fernwhisper slid to a halt and pointed to it with her tail. "I'll bet that's where Windclan makes their home." She yowled to Amberleaf.

They burst up the hill and dashed on. Suddenly, Amberleaf skidded to a halt, causing Fernwhisper to bump into her. "What's wrong?"

"I found the camp!" Amberleaf mewed without looking at her.

Fernwhisper stepped around Amberleaf and gasped. If Amberleaf hadn't stopped, they both would've fallen. The two she-cats were standing at the edge of a cliff that dipped into a hollow filled with cats. There were tunnels dug into the hill on every side. One Boulder stood in the middle with a tunnel-like cave underneath it.

Fernwhisper looked around for the entrance to the hollow. After a moment, she spotted a clump of trees and bushed with a small dip that led to the hollow. She led her Medicine Cat over to the trees. As they grew closer, she noticed the outline of a cat sitting erect with his ears pricked and his head high as he gazed out toward the lake.

The cat was a handsome gray tom with dark gray paws. When they were close enough, he whipped his head around and eyed them closely, his amber eyes hard. "Ah, Skyclan!" He mewed. "What do you want?"

"Well, we were just wondering which way the Moonpool was." Fernwhisper responded politely.

The tom pointed his tail in the direction of a slow rushing stream, "Walk upstream until you reach a small hollow."

"Thank you, uh.." Amberleaf mewed, trying to catch his name.

"Emberfoot." Mewed the tom.

"Thank you Emberfoot." Amberleaf dipped her head before plodding off in the direction of the stream.

Fernwhisper caught up and rolled her eyes at the way Amberleaf seemed dazed. "You have a mate for Starclan's sake!" She retorted, "And anyway, he's Windclan. We're Skyclan."

Amberleaf snapped up and glared at her sister, "I know that!" She relaxed and nudged Fernhwisper. "But Emberfoot was handsome wasn't he?"

Fernwhisper felt her pelt grow hot. "No..." She ducked her head, giving herself away.

Amberleaf purred, "Yes he was and you know it!" She danced around her leader like an excited kit while purring and shouting: "You liked him! You liked him!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"Fine." Fernwhisper finally gave in, "But so did you!"

"Well, yeah! Who wouldn't?"

Fernwhisper rolled her eyes. "Let's just keep going and please stop acting like a kit. Oh, and I won't tell Parsleyseed about this if you don't tell Reedthicket." She added.

Amberleaf purred. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it." She ran ahead and plodded beside the stream.

Fernwhisper sighed and glanced at the sky. "Hurry, we've only just gotten to the stream and it's way past sunhigh!" She gasped.

They sprinted up the slope until they were blocked by a pile of boulders and rocks. "We'll have to climb over these." Fernwhisper huffed thinking: How in all of Starclan does a blind Medicine Cat do this?