Shining of the Four

Chapter 48

            Lifesnow, sleeping soundly, found herself in the nursery of SnowClan, a familiar place that she had once grown in. But in this nursery slept older cats, some she had never met before. The atmosphere smelled different, like a rainy leaf-fall.

            Lifesnow herself felt different in this strange place. She felt tinier, looking up to nearly every cat. It reminded her of being a kit in the nursery.

            "Settle down now," she heard Mousestripe murmur from the corner of the den. Lifesnow looked up, surprised to see a younger Mousestripe standing in front of Stormnight and Graytail, though this Stormnight and Graytail were young kits, still displaying their scars though. She wondered how they'd gotten them at such a young age.

            "Mommy," Lifesnow mewed, the words sliding out of her mouth without any thought. "What did Stormkit and Graykit do?"

            "Go back to playing, Shinykit," Mousestripe purred. "I'm just having a chat with your brothers."

            "But what did they do?" she asked.

            Mousestripe bit her lip nervously. "They weren't...playing fairly," she explained.

            "That's not true," Stormkit muttered.

            "Hush!" Mousestripe snapped.

            "Can they play now?" Lifesnow asked.

            "I'm afraid they'll be in timeout for a little while," Mousestripe explained. "Go run and play with Patchkit, Shinykit. Your brothers will join your shortly."

            Lifesnow, or rather, Shinykit, frowned at her brothers, their green eyes gleaming with sadness. Lifesnow felt her thoughts slipping, Shinykit's thoughts replacing hers. In Shinykit's mind, she wondered why only she had gotten her mother's gleaming blue eyes. Had her deceased father had green eyes as well?

            Lifesnow took one last look at her brothers and ran off towards a white and gray tom in the distance, the nursery slowly fading from view.

            Lifesnow burst upright, finding that the warriors den was nearly empty with a new day. She breathed heavily, trying to shake off the dream. It had not been her first.

            She did not know why she kept dreaming of her mother. Lifesnow never longed for Shinypelt anymore. She'd thought the dreams were only because Lifesnow missed her mother, but Lifesnow definitely could not miss a she-cat she'd never met, and the dreams were persistent. But the thing that frightened her was that the dreams felt so real, like Shinypelt's actual memories.

            The only dreams she'd had were of Shinypelt's kithood, but she was beginning to get nervous. Was this what Thornstar meant with the prophecy? Was she receiving dreams because of the cursed prophecy?

            Thornstar's words rang through her head: Maybe it's time you speak to your father.

            And what would her father even help her with? He wouldn't know why she was having these dreams. He barely spoke to her! How could chatting with him help Lifesnow in any way?

            Lifesnow shook these thoughts away, suddenly aware of what day it was. How could she forget?! Marshpaw had tackled her the day before in excitement. Today was Goosepaw and Marshpaw's warrior ceremony!

            Lifesnow burst out of the den, already finding cats rushing around camp. Thornstar already stood near the top of the rock, ready to begin the ceremony. Lifesnow turned, noticing Ripplepaw watching from the medicine cat den. Unfortunately, she wouldn't become a full medicine cat for another few moons, but she seemed happy to watch her brothers receive their warrior names.