Dark Skies- Book #2 in Sunrise

                                                                                                       Chapter 6
Jadepaw was dreaming, and she knew it. She was in a perfect forest filled with moss on every tree stump and prey running around every corner. Jadepaw looked at a very plump mouse which was sniffing some moss on a tree root. She knelt down, her tail lazily swooshing on the grass. Why catch a mouse in a dream when I can't catch one in real life? The moss made a soft bed when it wasn't dry and crinkly. The mouse turned to her with its black beady eyes and blinked questioningly at her. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I can't even dream hunt." She muttered at the mouse. The mouse twitched its nose and skittered a step forward.

"Thanks for not eating me," It squeaked. Jadepaw jumped back in surprise and blinked her eyes slowly. "I mean, I'm not the only food in the forest. There's  bugs, and caterpillars, and birds..." The mouse trailed off and yawned. "Sorry, I didn't get any sleep last night. Because cats were chasing me!" The mouse glared at her. "But you're good." Because I can't catch anything? The mouse straightened. "Oh, sorry, Jadepaw, I'm Sam." Sam gestured to the tree. "I'll help you out, since you helped me out. What do you want most?" He asked.

Jadepaw shifted her weight as she sat up. "Um....my mom." She said almost immediately. Sam's eyes softened. "I'm sorry, I can't do that, but I can show you her." Jadepaw nodded eagerly at him. "Follow me." Sam said as he walked into the hollow of a tree trunk. She reluctantly followed him, and the world turned pitch black in the trunk. Jadepaw continued to pad through the never ending trunk. She felt like she was flying, but she kept moving her paws. Her stomach seemed to be flying around in the air, leaving her behind. Just ahead, a spot of light appeared, growing larger and brighter as she went.

All at once, Jadepaw was on solid ground, and she was looking at a starry forest. Sam was running through the forest. "Come on!" Jadepaw passed a few cats as she ran through the forest, but they didn't seem to notice her. Sam and her slowed as they approached a white she-cat with brown ears. "That's Dewstorm." Sam squeaked. Jadepaw felt excited to see her mother, but she hung back, skeptical. Starlight said Dewstorm looked completely different. Like me. Or maybe she meant them... Drizzlepaw was brown, and Cloudpaw was white. No, he said me. And I don't look like this cat.

"Jadepaw!" Jadepaw rolled away from the cat waking her up, just wanting to stay in her dream "No, no, no, noooo!" She murmured. "Go away." She opened her bleary eyes to see Flipnose. She sat up groggily in her nest and took a deep breath. "Ravenstar is being....questioned, so I'll mentor you for today." Jadepaw shook out her fur. None of the other apprentices wee left in the den. "It's okay, it's your first day in the den." Jadepaw looked at Flipnose, who didn't seem to be in a hurry. "What are we going to be doing?" She asked, the remains of her dream leaving her. "Hunting." Flipnose replied. Jadepaw shrunk into her pelt. She didn't think she could hunt a mouse.

Jadepaw walked across camp with Flipnose, and stopped outside of the medicine cat den for a moment. "I'm demanding you to let me go! I have an apprentice to mentor, and a Clan to lead." His tone lowered into a growl, and Jadepaw left with Flipnose in a hurry. "So, what did my mom look like? Dewstorm?" Flipnose thought for a moment before pulling the memory out of is head. "Oh, she was very pretty, and she looked a lot like you. She had a gray pelt, just like yours, with white spots. And green eyes. She was a very good cat, and I hope you can be, too, despite all of the evil around you...." He trailed off, thinking of something Jadepaw no longer was interested in.

"Oh, was she smart?" Jadepaw dragged him back into the subject. "Yes,f very smart and thoughtful." Flipnose meowed, his thoughts far away. "Was she loving?" Flipnose turned to her, his eyes glittering. "Yes, very."
                                                                                          .  .  .
Drizzlepaw was eating a piece of prey when Jadepaw returned, carrying a mouse that looked disturbingly a lot like Sam. Jadepaw approached him after she dropped the mouse in the fresh-kill pile. She sat down next to Drizzlepaw and sighed loudly. "Flipnose is exhausting." She breathed. Drizzlepaw rubbed his nose over his paw and sniffed. "Goldenpaw is so....horrible. We did battle training together today and she was acting like she wanted to kill me. I mean, she doesn't even know battle moves and she almost killed me!"