The chosen ones

Chapter 5

As he opened his eyes again, Grayleg was standing at a little brook that came from the mountains. He stepped closer and leaf fell on the clear surface. As Grayleg was close enough to the edge of the stream to see his reflection, the water suddenly turned blood red. And the stink of a battle filled the air.

To find out where the blood comes from he followed the brook upstream to the mountains. As the gray tom reached the top of a hill he saw, at the other bank of the now much wider brook, the shining white cat that told him about the prophecy. He just wanted to yell, as he heard an animal jumping out of the trees. A heartbeat later he was pinned down by a shimmering black cat. The cat made several well-aimed strokes and bites. As Grayleg laid on the hard ground, unable to move, the shimmering cat jumped away. He looked pleadingly at the white cat from his dream, who was still sitting at the bank of the other side of the red stream. But the StarClan cat looked However, only looked indifferent to the bleeding warrior.

"For StarClan's sake, Grayleg, what is up with you?" these words from Iceclaw pulled him back into the real world. "I just dreamed bad, that's all!" he replied panting. Dawnsun, who was laying at the other side, mingled in: "You're bleeding! You've got to see Blackwing!" Amazed Grayleg turned around, indeed out of a deep wound at his belly blood welled out. He got up to see the medicine cat, and felt the burning pain for the first time. He imminently fell back on the ground. "Come on, I am helping you!" Iceclaw mewed from the nest next to Grayleg's.

With the help of the black warrior, he made it to the nursery, were he couldn't hold himself on his legs anymore. Iceclaw woke Blackwing up. The amber eyes of the medicine cat widened as he saw Graylegs wounds. Without any words the young tom toke as many cobwebs as he could to stop the bleeding. After he provisionally bandaged the wound, he gathered some herbs chewed them and rubbed them around it.

Iceclaw was already gone to tell Meadowstar about the incident. Only a few heartbeats later the clanleader stood in the entrance to the nursery. With a serous voice he asked: "What had happened? Was it the StormClan?" Grayleg couldn't tell that he got this injury from a ghost cat from a dream. That's why he improvised: "The wound came from a bird yesterday, while I was sleeping something must have torn it up again, like a thorn or something like that!" Meadowstar seemed to believe what his warrior said, he nodded and left the nursery again.

Now Grayleg and Blackwing were alone in the den of the medicine cat. The dark brown tom asked so quietly that only Grayleg could hear him: "Torn wound? Tell me what really happen, I wont tell anyone, I promise!" Grayleg really tried, but he couldn't see any emotions in the amber eyes of Blackwing. He sighed mewed after all: "It haven't been an animal neither a thing. I have dreamed, and woke up at the river that comes from the mountains. There was... a cat, it looked like a shadow. And it attacked me, and them left me there at the bank back. The young medicine cat listened intently. After he though long, he mewed: "I have never heard something like that, not even from the other medicine cats. At the gathering I will look around, if any cat has ever had a case like that. But don't worry, I wont tell any one about... that."

Blackwing checked all the wounds again, but let Grayleg go after the normal duties after that. Slowly the sunset came near, so all the warriors who wear allowed to go gathered at the entrance of the camp. Meadowstar beckoned Grayleg to come to him. Just as he arrived at the den of the leader he started talking: "Do you think you'll make the way with all those wounds?" Surprised he answered: "Yes of course. Why shouldn't I?" The ice blue eyes of the gray furred leader narrowed, and he mewed: "I prefer to be careful, you never know what the other clans are planning. I don't wanna risk the life of one of my cats." With a respectful nod Grayleg he said goodbye, and went back to the other cats. The patrol set off to the promontory. On the way Grayleg though about how Meadowstar behaved. So carefully he never saw he his leader. It was like he was ready that the other clans are about to ignore code, and the cease-fire in this night.

As they arrived at the gathering place Meadowstar signalized his warriors to wait in the bushes. Everyone spayed carefully through the thorny bushes, only the MountainClan has arrived already. After short hesitation Meadowstar leaded his patrol onto the clearing. The leader joined Slatestar, the leader of the MountainClan, behind a big fir. Grayleg looked for Sprucefur in the crowd. He spotted his tortoiseshell fur, the tom sat next to some of his clanmates. Just as Grayleg wanted to walk over to the group of cats he heard another patrol arriving.

Lead by Limestar, the leader of the BrookClan, her patrol broke through the bushes. The white she-cat also joined the other leaders behind the tree. Slowly the groups of cats mixed, and Grayleg felt a familiar pelt at his flank. Riverpaw was standing next to him. For a short moment both just looked at each other, before Riverpaw went to the apprentices. Whispering was heard everywhere, where the StormClan might be.

But after a long time of waiting, the StormClan finally arrived and Redstar jumped to the other leaders while his warriors spread around the clearing. A short time later they jumped onto the fir, the branches were so high that every cat could see them without problems.

As first Slatestar was allowed to talk. In the moonshine his gray fur seemed to shine in combination with his green eyes. But in the MountainClan nothing, really, interesting had happened. They just got two new apprentices and they scared away a fox from there territory, As next Limestar talked to the other clans. But like the MountainClan, nothing important happened in there clan in the past moon. The leader just warned that twolegs were spotted in there territory, like usual in the territory full of lakes. As the white she-cat sat down back on the branch, Redstar imminently stood up so Meadowstar hadn't even the chance of talking.

The amber eyes of the red and brown cat were glowing, out of narrow slits. He raised his voice louder then any other cat: "Cats of all clans, I need to warn you! Warn you against the FlameClan. A few sunrises ago we tried to make peace, and this useless battle. But because of Meadowstar's stubbornness, it came to a fight. We tragically had lost the life of a brave and loyal warrior." As he said that the StormClan warriors bawled loud in approval, but all the other clans kept silence.

While Redstar was talking he glared at Meadowstar continuously. Slatestar's fur ruffled up and he unsheathed his claws. But Meadowstar didn't interrupted Redstar. After all he raised himself up and started talking: "I don't think I have to tell anyone that this is absolute mousebrained! Its clear that we need to end this war, if we continue like this there will be much more deaths in the future." Meadowstar was interrupted by Redstar: "May I understand that as a threat?" Meadowstar countered: "If you continue to trespass the border without any logical reason, and then make us wrong promises, of course!" Now the two leaders were standing right in front of each other, so close there whiskers almost touched.

There was absolute silence in the crowd, so the air almost crackled. "Think about the cease-fire, I can understand that you two are angry but braking the code is definitely the wrong way!" Slatestar mewed while he pressed himself between the two cats. Limestar interfered as well: "Id say if everything is said that had to be said. It would be smarter if we end the gathering at this point. Meadowstar nodded, but Redstar snorted contemptuously, and then jumped down the branch without looking at the other leaders.