Warriors || Rose's Path

Chapter 20

       Roseblossom jerked awake, blinking her eyes frantically. She was breathing hard, as though she had been running over the moorland. Her fur started to smooth as she realized she was safe in the WindClan camp. It was just a dream.
       But not any old dream. The vivid dream of slashing claws and dark fast-moving shadows had come back to her. She shook her pelt out, shivering, not from the leaf-bare cold, but from the terrible night.
      She studied her surroundings. Dawn light crested  over the horizon. Ambernight had left her side, probably on patrol. A white she-cat with bright yellow eyes padded towards the rock cleft where Firepool had her den. Roseblossom studied the small she-cat, blinking in surprise at her round belly. It's leaf-bare! How could she be so plump?
       Had the newly made warrior been eating extra prey in secret? Surely not. The once lively young apprentice had grown into an excited adventurous warrior, and regarded the warrior code with respect. Roseblossom needed to visit the medicine cat anyways, so she followed the white she-cat into the den.
        As she slid through the shadowed cleft, she perked her ears as voices drifted to her senses. Firepool faced the white cat, amber eyes alight.
       The ginger she-cat grumbled. "Three sunrises into your warrior duties and you're already expecting kits!" Firepool lashed her tail. "You couldn't wait any longer, Zoomaster?"
Roseblossom pulled her ears back in guilt. Of course Zoomaster wouldn't feed herself before the Clan. Roseblossom padded into view, just as Zoomaster started to reply.
"Flamepath and I both agreed as soon as I became a warrior we wanted to start a family," Zoomaster gave an excited bounce. "We just couldn't wait!"
Firepool rolled her eyes, giving a huff. "Well, they're due anytime now, and you seem perfectly healthy; so if that's all you can leave now."
Zoomaster turned toward the entrance waving her tail at Roseblossom on her way out. Roseblossom could see how happy the young warrior was to be a mother. Every cat has different dreams and goals.
Roseblossom was startled out of her thoughts at Firepool's sharp retort. "Are you just going to stand their like a star struck rabbit?"
Roseblossom almost started to regret her decision of coming here. Firepool has never been understanding or cooperative. But the vision of shadows and claws came back, and she willed herself to tell her medicine cat her troubles.
She gazed at her white paws. "I've been having these dreams," she stated softly, glancing up to see her reply.
Firepool flicked an ear slightly. "And?"
"Well I thought you might be able to tell me what it all means..."
Firepool rolled her sharp amber eyes. "Well tell me what happened, then."
Roseblossom flinched at her harsh tone, but homed in on the memory of her dream. "There was a lingering mist, in a dark forest with tall black trees. Shadows lurked around me, following, and watching my every movement. They pursed me, and when they caught up to me..." Roseblossom shivered, But continued. "Their claws were sharp and wild with ferocity. Their teeth glinted in the moonlight with the stain of blood. Clan blood." Roseblossom realized that as she spoke, she discovered things about her dreams she had barely paid attention to before.
Firepool was gazing so intently at her, that she wanted to flee the den. But she finally spoke, amber eyes glazed.
"It wasn't a dream," she started. "It was a vision."
Roseblossom remembered her visits with Driftfrost and Aspenrose, but this seemed different. "From StarClan?"
Firepool shook her head. "I don't know."
*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*
A full moon shone brightly overhead, almost white against the clear black sky. The four leaders sat on the branches of the Great Oak. Roseblossom sat beside Ambernight and Pebblejump. She studied the cats around her, sub-conscious that they might be looking at her.
She caught the eye of her brother, Puddlestone. His copper gaze was hard with anger as he glanced from Ambernight to her. She shivered beneath her pelt, fixing her gaze on another cat.
Brackencatch sat with Oliveclaw, his head held high. The black tabby rubbed her head on his neck, but Brackencatch didn't nuzzle her back. Oliveclaw looked slightly annoyed.
A slight hostility hung in the crisp air, as if to shatter any moment. The Clans sat in separate groups instead of mingling and sharing tongues with each other.
Roseblossom glanced up at the leaders. Ryestar stood first, ginger fur sleek. "We have two new warriors: Lemonwhisper, named after her mentor Muffinwhisper, and Duskoat." He glanced around, hostility lighting his silvery gaze. "There has been trouble on the WindClan border, but it's nothing RiverClan can't handle." He waved his tail dismissively at the yowls of protest from WindClan warriors.
       Roseblossom caught Oliveclaw and Puddlestone yowling loudest. She couldn't help but agree with her Clanmates. Ryestar had made it seem like WindClan was weak.
       Rainstar went next, the gray and white tom reporting nothing more than good prey in ShadowClan despite the leaf-bare cold.
       Sandstar stood next, yellow eyes calm. "Zoomaster was made a warrior, and is now a queen, expecting Flamepath's kits. The RiverClan border tensions are high, I admit," he glanced pointedly at Ryestar. "But WindClan thrives."
       Only WindClan cats seemed to cheer for Zoomaster, who glanced around disappointedly. Flamepath stroked his tail over her back reassuringly.
       Doestar went next, finishing her report with the usual 'prey is running well'. The cats broke apart almost immediately after ThunderClan's report, in haste to return to their homes. Or perhaps get away from each other.
       Roseblossom had noticed it hadn't been an ordinary Gathering. Fur had been on end and every cat seemed tense. Roseblossom remembered her nagging vision. It bothered her even more that Firepool didn't have an explanation. And if tension continue to rise as they do, then there'll be no truce left at all between the Clans around the lake.