Harekit's Prophecy

Chapter 7

Harepaw and his clanmates sat in silence, glancing at each other, uncertain of what to do. Echostar looked down at them, her pale blue eyes cold. Harepaw couldn't stop himself but stare at the poultice of golden flowers that was applied on her neck, cobwebs wrapped around them. Buzzardfur had insisted she had to stay inside if she wanted her injury to heal completely, but she had ignored her medicine cat. It had only been a few sunrises ago that Birdpaw, Sparrowpaw, and Honeypaw came down to attack their leader, and it had left the whole Clan shocked. Echostar had just called for a meeting, and instead of beginning with a fierce command, like normally, she remained silent. After a long silence, that felt like an eternity, she began speaking.

"StarClan hasn't spoken to me, or Buzzardfur since the fight with those cats!" she announced. "This means that they're turning their back on WindClan. They don't think we're worthy of being part of the four Clans!" Among him, cats let out startled gasps. Harepaw could only roll his eyes. How dare she say that about StarClan! This is what she deserves. StarClan's regretting giving her those lives, and think you're not worthy of being leader. That's why they're not speaking to you! Harepaw kept his gaze fixed on the pale leader, who continued to ramble on about her hatred for the Clan's ancestors. He noticed from the corner of his eye Buzzardfur fidgeting nervously. He must hate to see Echostar disobeying his orders, and now being disrespectful towards StarClan. "Clan dismissed!" she eventually mewed. The cats mumbled some things to one another before leaving the center of the camp. Echostar leaped down from her rock and met Buzzardfur's gaze angrily, twitching her ears before continuing to walk in the opposite direction. Buzzardfur shook his head disappointedly before looking at Harepaw.

"Harepaw, could you gather some herbs for me, please? I'll need them for Echostar's and Goldenwing's treatment." Harepaw nodded as the medicine cat walked closer and described the herbs he needed. "... and I'll also need some marigold, an orange, or golden-colored flower with a green stem, that usually grows in patches." Harepaw nodded, going over the herbs and their descriptions in his head before leaving the camp to look for them. His gaze moved around the moor. The wind ruffled his cream pelt and a purr escaped his throat. He loved the moor. He couldn't understand how ThunderClan, RiverClan or ShadowClan would be able to survive. They could barely see the sun, the sky, the moon or the stars. Harepaw thought that he'd be lost without the wind moving through his fur. His green eyes finally focused on something in the distance. Golden flowers! Harepaw moved towards it as he remembered Buzzardfur's description. He bowed down and cut the stem with his claws and continued to look for the herbs Buzzardfur needed with his treatment.

Harepaw found the remaining herbs pretty quickly. He padded back to camp, passing the elders den to get to the medicine den, but stopped when he heard muffled voices.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to tell me?"
"I trust you, and you won't be able to leave the elders den, and Echostar won't bother to come in."
Harepaw set the herb down and shuffled closer to the wall of the den.
"But if Echostar finds out a cat other than you knows about this, you said that she'd kill you." Harepaw could just barely make out what Goldenwing was saying.
"I don't care. Some cat needs to know." Harepaw heard Buzzardfur say.
"Well then, I'm all ears."
"When I was had just became a full medicine cat," Buzzardfur started, "When Birdpaw, Honeypaw, and Sparrowpaw came around. I was able to help their mother give birth."
"Buzzardfur, I know you were close to them, but how does Echostar fit into this?" Goldenwing asked, sounding somewhat annoyed.
"It's because," Buzzardfur paused, and lowered his voice, making Harepaw have to strain his ears to make out what he was saying, "Echostar was their mother."

Harepaw felt sick at those words. At first he couldn't believe what he had just heard. I must be mistaken, I am too far away to hear, he told himself. He could hear the disbelief in Goldenwing's voice. "Really? Those three were fine cats, but Echostar? I don't understand..."

"It's true," Buzzardfur mewed, nodding. "I know because not long after they were born, I saw Echostar leave the camp at night with her kits. I was about to head inside of my den, as I had finished gathering my herbs. I followed her and saw how she dumped them near the forest. She told everyone they died in the cold and they sat vigil for them, but what they didn't know was that I kept them alive, with Sandberry. Every day we gave them prey in tiny pieces since we couldn't give them milk. We took them to the Clan one day and told everyone that they weren't Clanborn, and just wanted to join. The leader at that time had agreed, but we all know how their story ended..." Buzzardfur stopped. The two cats remained silent and the only thing Harepaw could hear was his own breathing. His ear flattened. My mother raised Sparrowpaw, Honeypaw, and Birdpaw? And their mother is really Echostar? He couldn't believe it. Even though he was still dazed and confused because of what he had heard, he stepped inside, to deliver the herbs. 

"A-am I interrupting?" he asked softly. Buzzardfur shook his head. 

"Did you listen in on our conversation?" Buzzardfur asked, his eyes narrowing.  

"N-no, I didn't. I just arrived." Harepaw dropped the herbs in front of the medicine cat. "I'll leave you two alone." Harepaw didn't know how fast he had to get away from them. He needed to be alone. Of all the she-cats, he would have never suggested that it had been Echostar that had given birth to them. He sprinted out of the camp, even though he had only just arrived. He past Sandberry on his way out, that opened her jaws to speak with him, but he brushed past her. Why would you keep this secret from me?  He felt betrayed. The few cats that actually cared about him had either died or kept secrets from him. He needed to clear his head. Had everything been a lie from the start? Did Honeypaw, Sparrowpaw, and Birdpaw even know? They're plotting against their own mother, for StarClan's sake! He ignored his mother's distant yowl and pushed himself to run faster. There has to be more to discover. Who knows what else they have been hiding from me.