Stormtail's Secret

Chapter 6

"Blizzardheart? Oh no that's bad! But why did you send me in?" I asked confused.

"Think Stormtail! Remember your dream? It said that a terrible sickness would come. Maybe this is the terrible sickness that it was talking about. What do you think?" I thought this through cautiously.

"I thought that the sickness would be..." I searched for the right word. "Different. Something that we have not encountered yet. But I honestly don't know at the moment. I'm tired, but I can investigate more if you would like." I would actually like nothing more than to flop down on my soft moss-lined nest. But if I had duties to do, I had to do them.

"No, no, you go and rest. I'll see if Whitewhisker has any catmint for Blizzardheart." The leader seemed distracted, as if he were looking into a dream. I walked out of my den and to my nest. Blackness overcame me instantly.

I woke to a paw prodding me. "Wake up, Stormtail! I've been waiting forever! Let's go and see the territory!" Paws thumped away as I got up groggily. When I got to the thorn barrier, Finchpaw was waiting for me. "Okay, just give me a second for me to get something to eat." I was starving I had just realized.

I padded over to the fresh-kill pile and took a vole for myself and sat down. I gulped the creature down hungrily and meowed to Finchpaw, "Let's go!" Finchpaw and I ran out the entrance to the camp. The small cat was surprisingly fast for a cat of his size.

"Where are we going first?" Finchpaw panted.

"The lake!" I answered. At this, the apprentice's eyes lit up. We got to the lake as the sun was rising towards sunhigh. The sandy shore was soft and squishy as we neared the edge of the lake. But just then, I realized Finchpaw wasn't with me. I looked behind me and sure enough, the sandy colored tom was a few fox lengths behind me.

"Woah..." The apprentice breathed. He probably has never seen a river before, let alone a huge lake, I thought.

"Isn't it big?" I asked him. He didn't answer. Finchpaw's eyes were scanning the land surrounding the lake, and I realized this was the perfect time to tell him about the other Clans' territory. "Over in that pine forest is where ShadowClan lives. Cats say that the North Winds blow straight into their territory making their hearts cold," I say as I wave my tail in the direction of the pines.

I begin again. "Do you see the moor over there?"

"I think so," answers Finchpaw.

"That's WindClan territory. They're skinny because the only prey they have is rabbits. But they can outrun any of the Clans, because the rabbits are really fast," I tell him.

"Last is RiverClan. They just love they're water. Can you believe they swim for fun?" Finchpaw's eyes stretch wide.

"Wow, weird!"

That's all the Clans, except our clan, which is the best!"

Yea, ThunderClan!" Finchpaw yowls into the sky.

"Let's go mark our borders and make sure none of the clans have crossed into our territory." But as we approach one of the borders, I smell something funny. Hollypool, I thought. I recognized the scent instantly, but something is wrong about it. "Stay here Finchpaw. I need to check something out." The creamy tom nods. I push through some bracken and I'm in a clearing. In the middle is a black and white furry she-cat. She is lying still, with no signs of breathing. Her eyes are glazed open staring into nothingness.

Hollypool is dead.