Warriors: Divided Loyalty

Chapter Ten

Nightpaw opened her eyes, expecting to be in Mottlesong's den but instead, much to her surprise, she was in a starry field with gorgeous willow trees littered with leaves and endless life.

Beautiful views surrounded the apprentice, making her gawk like a kit. Not only was there an abundance of life, but so many cats scattered around the large area took Nightpaw's breath right from her lungs.

So many cats in such a large stretch of land made Nightpaw nervous. How many cats were here? How did they get here? The black-furred she-cat looked around, padding in a random direction to explore the new land.

Kits, apprentices, warriors, queens, and elders were all over the place. Some laughing, some playing in the bright sunshine, and some lounging about sharing tongues with particularly plump prey being eaten as they shared their stories.

A squeal from a pawful of kits caught Nightpaw's attention, bringing a smile to her face as she saw six or seven kits chasing each other while some cats watched on and laughed.

This place is perfect! Nightpaw thought as she headed for the kits, making note of how she didn't feel any pain or exhaustion anymore. Maybe this is where every cat wants to go.

The largest of the kits, a dark brown tabby tom with bright yellow eyes spotted Nightpaw and charged over, his friends following in suit. "Hi, newcomer!" He squeaked.

Nightpaw couldn't hold back a grin. "Hi, kit," she purred. "Who are all of you?" She asked, looking at each kit with a sudden warmth in her chest.

The brown tabby kit stuck out his tongue. "I'm Stripedkit!" He meowed, turning to the other kits. Stripedkit pointed at a tabby calico she-cat with green eyes. "That's Spotkit," he meowed and looked at the tom next to her. They looked the exact same, Nightpaw noticed. "That's her brother, his name is Sunkit because of his eyes."

"They look like the sun," Nightpaw guessed and Sunkit nodded. She turned her attention back to Stripedkit, who was scratching his ear with a small hind paw.

"These three are my siblings," the tabby kit squeaked, nodding to a yellow tabby she-cat with blue eyes, a dark gray swirled tabby tom with orange eyes and a dusty brown tabby she-cat with bright green eyes. "The yellow tabby is Risingkit, the gray tabby is Darkkit, and the brown tabby is Dustkit."

"And the last one?" Questioned Nightpaw, nodding to a white tom with the brightest of blue eyes.

"Oh, that's Whitekit," Stripedkit meowed. "He's the youngest out of all of us."

"Hi, Whitekit," purred the apprentice. "You have beautiful eyes, little one." Nightpaw heard a small laugh and she looked at Dustkit, confused.

The dusty tabby she-cat was looking at Nightpaw in amusement. "He's deaf, you know." She pointed out, looking at the white tom. "That's how he died."

Nightpaw stared at the she-kit in awe and slight horror. "D-died?" She choked out, eyes wide.

"Yeah!" Chirped Stripedkit from next to Sunkit. "We're all dead! That's why we have stars in our fur."

Nightpaw never noticed the small stars gleaming in the pelts of all the kits. She gulped, feeling sick. "H-how did you die?" She asked nervously.

Stripedkit didn't look affected by her rude question. "I was stillborn, like my siblings." He meowed, flicking his tiny tail.

Nightpaw looked at the kits, feeling sad and hollow. "W-where is your leader, Stripedkit?" She whispered.

"Leader?" Meowed a new voice and Nightpaw spun around, eyes wide and claws unsheathed. "No cat is the leader of StarClan, apprentice."

"StarClan?" Nightpaw repeated, choking on her words. "Am I dead?" She asked the new cat, in horror.

The cat in front of her shook his broad head, blue eyes glinting with amusement. "Certainly not, Nightpaw." He purred and looked at the kits. "Run along now, kits, go play."

Stripedkit smiled up at the tom, as did the other kits. "Goodbye, Nightpaw! Bye Aquastar!" He chirped and proceeded to chase Sunkit and Spotkit.

"Aquastar?" Nightpaw echoed, looking at the tom with confusion in her eyes. "Are you the leader around here?" She asked.

Aquastar shook his head once more, tail flicking. "As I've said, Nightpaw, no cat is the leader of StarClan." He meowed.

"Oh," she meowed awkwardly, shifting her paws. "Why am I here...?" Nightpaw looked around the fields of StarClan, noticing how perfect the territory was all of a sudden.

"I have a prophecy for you, Nightpaw." The leader answered, staring at Nightpaw with his blue eyes glimmering. "The one born from the darkness will divide and taint the Clans. The half-throated deceiver will rip one away and the Clans will never see the light of day."

Nightpaw blinked in surprise, looking at Aquastar. "W-why tell me?" She asked shakily. "I'm only an apprentice. Why not tell Applestar or one of the medicine cats?"

Aquastar studied her, the starry plains around her starting to blur. "Because," he spoke softly. "You are the part of the prophecy."