Chapter 7

It was cold where Leafpool woke up. The tabby she-cat was confused at first. She wasn't on the soft moss that she had fallen asleep on, nor were her companions laying around her. She couldn't see anything around her. It was as if the only light that existed was on her, and was incapable of straying anywhere else. Leafpool was left in complete darkness.

It suddenly struck her that she was probably dreaming, but about what, she didn't know. Not a sound could be heard by the veil of black that lurked around her. At least, not until the whispers began.

It was small, almost unnoticeable at first. Simply could have been the soft breeze flowing through tall grass. But it grew louder, and soon was so loud that Leafpool couldn't bear it. She tried to block it out by covering her ears with her paws, but it was too loud.

The whispering wasn't of a single cat. It was of many, perhaps even hundreds. They all spoke out the past prophecies that had been fulfilled.

Fire alone will save the Clan

Leafpool knew this age old prophecy. It was interpreted by Spottedleaf when she was still alive. It was first meant to be about Firestar, and in fact, many cats still believed it was about Firestar. But Leafpool knew that it was Bluestar who was the fire of the forest. At least, that's what she liked to think.

Four will become two, Lion and Tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest

Three, kin of your kin, hold the power of the stars in their paws

Like fire, you will blaze through the forest…

A thistle as thorns as sharp as claws

That kit should have never survived

Beware a warrior you cannot trust

StarClan is calling you, Do not be afraid.

Bweare an enemy who seems to sleep

Darkness, Air, Water, and Sky will come together and shake the forest to it's roots

Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.

After the sharp-eyed jay and the roaring lion, peace will come on dove's gentle wing

Beware, Jay's Wing. Storm clouds are gathering on a dark breeze

The end of the stars draws near. Three must become four, to battle the darkness that lasts forever

All of these were ones that Leafpool had either heard stories of, or lived through herself. But then there were a few prophecies she had no recollection of.

Greenleaf will come, but it will bring even greater storms than these. SkyClan will need deeper roots to survive…

The fallen stars will burn bright once more

The first one, of course, could have only been about the SkyClan that these cats were trekking to visit. But the other one?

A fallen star? Where? Leafpool would have noticed if a star was plummeting towards earth. Maybe that's where SkyClan lived.

In her head, it made sense. Where sky meets land? A star is part of the sky. If it fell, it would have reached the land.

Leafpool's heart swelled with a sense of accomplishment. It had been many moons since she felt important to the Clan. She seemingly lost all contact with StarClan once she had stepped down from her position as medicine cat. This was the first dream since than that seemed like it meant something.

Just as Leafpool came to the conclusion that somehow a star had literally fallen to earth, and that's what they must find, she was prodded awake by a very tiny paw.

"Leafpool, it's time to go." It was Lilypaw. The other cats had obviously been awake for some time now. The moss they slept on was now stuffed into a ball and hidden away under the roots of a tree. Leafpool's pelt burned with embarrassment. She could have been up, helping the others hunt and get ready to leave, but she had been lazy and slept until sunrise.

Sandstorm had taken the lead again, weaving them around trees and straight out of ThunderClan territory. The mountains still seemed so far away, even though Sandstorm promised they would be there by Sunhigh that day.

Being well passed the moonpool, and any other Clan territory for that matter, Sandstorm began to get confused. She paced in circles around a tree, trying to think where she was going. Their general direction was towards the mountains, but it was impossible to tell where to go from there.

Jayfeather offered to take the lead, and that alone snapped Sandstorm out of confusion.

"No, I've got it." The sandy she-cat meowed, pushing to the front of the patrol and walking straight towards the vast chuck of rock that stood pointing at the sky.

The others followed quickly and quietly. Sandstorm had seemingly decided to change her direction and was now turning almost completely around. Their current course made more sense to Leafpool. Heading in a straight line as they were before was heading towards the mountains, yes, but it would also be a longer route. The only downside to the more efficient way was that they had to travel on the outskirts of WindClan's territory, which was almost at the base of the mountain. The Tribe of Rushing Water resided above that area, living in the caves that had formed eons ago.

The cats of the Clans had nothing but fond memories of the cats from the tribe. They sheltered the cats when they went on the great Journey, and have come to their aide several times before.

Stormfur, a cat from RiverClan, as well as Greystripe's eldest son, had fallen in love with a female from the tribe, and was currently living in the mountains. The cats who were on their way towards them were anxious. How was the Clan cat fareing up there in the jagged rocks?

Back at the ThunderClan Camp, not much had changed. Lionblaze was coming back from a hunting patrol with Mousewhisker and Cinderheart, each of them carrying at least one piece of fresh kill. They were greeted by Purdy, who hurridly snatched up the vole that was hanging limp from Lionblaze's jaw and dashed off to the Elders den.

"What in StarClan's name…" Lionblaze asked outloud, looking around to his mate and friend. The two shrugged and began on their own way to the Fresh-Kill pile to drop their offerings in. The golden tom shook his head. The old tomcat was beginning to grow senile, and tended to forget things and snap at other cats. Lionblaze knew, that in all his glory, he hadn't much longer left. May as well let him enjoy his time with the Clan.

The camp was bustling with activity. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight were both near the leaders den, conversing with Brightheart and Briarlight, who seemed to have dragged herself across the clearing from the Medicine den. Lionblaze knew he should tell her to go back and do her exercises, but because Jayfeather was gone for StarClan knows how long, he figured it would be alright to let her have a little fun.

Cherrypaw and Molepaw were no-where to be seen, and the tom's heart lurched. Their assessments. While it was good for the Clan to have this many warriors, there just wasn't room in the den anymore. And no more apprentices until either Seedkit gets better, or until Brighthearts kits become apprentices, and that isn't for another few moons. Lionblaze shook his head once more and padded over to the Medicine den, peeking his head inside just to cringe and back out slowly. The smell of sick was too strong for him, and his belly clenched. The den was stuffy and hot and rancid, he had no idea how Briarlight could stand sleeping in there.

A loud yowl caused him to whip his head around. He knew that sound. It wasn't a yowl of warning. Somecat was hurt.

Lionblaze could see Thornclaw and Hazeltail standing on either side of Spiderleg, whose eyes were swollen and bloody, and his muzzle was sliced up in several different places, and the tom was quite sure he could see deep slashes in Spiderlegs throat and flank.

Brightheart and Briarlight were on the scene as fast as they could be, the two of them having as much experience in medicinal herbs as Jayfeather. Lionblaze shot over there as fast as he could.

"Give him some room, all of you!" The crippled Briarlight shouted, shoving everyone away. The other four cats stood in a protective circle around Spiderleg and Briarlight. The black tom was breathing erratically, with blood burbling from his mouth. Briarlight poked and prodded at him, licking blood from his muzzle and whispering encouraging words into his ears.

"Lionblaze, I need Lots of cobweb, and marigold. Hurry!" She snapped, turning her attention back to Spiderleg. He had begun to spasm, his long legs twitching and flailing, his moans of pain becoming more shrill and desperate.

"Whats going on, is somecat hurt?" The soft voice of Daisy caused several of the on looking cats to jump to their paws, ready to lead her away from the scene, but Briarlight gave them all a sharp glare. "No." She hissed, gazing to the crème colored she-cat. "She needs to see this."

Hazeltail escorted his mother to the body of Spiderleg, who was still spasming on the ground. Daisy looked on in horror, too shocked to speak, as Lionblaze came up behind her and pushed her gently out of the way. His tail and back were covered in the cobwebs he had collected for the former medicine cat, and his claws hooked with Marigold. Briarlight didn't say another word as she worked on the long-legged tomcat. She busied herself with chewing the leaves into a poultice and applying them to all of his wounds, wrapping him up in cobwebs and licking the rest of the dried blood away from his pelt.

She quickly whipped around and confronted Thornclaw and Hazeltail, who were now on either side of an awestruck Daisy. The rest of the cats looked on as the cats exchanged words.

"How did this happen to him? Those wounds are not from cats, or dogs, or foxes. Is there a badger in the territory?" Briarlight asked, shoving her face into the toms', wanting answers. They shook their heads synonymously.

"Then what in StarClans name did this to my poor mate?!" Daisy, clearly recovering from the ordeal she had just witnessed, yowled out-loud, dramatically throwing herself to the ground beside her mate.

"Shut up, you stupid mouse brain!" The exasperated yell came from Brightheart, who had not yet forgiven the former horseplace cat for almost stealing away her own mate, Cloudtail.

"I… I don't know!" Hazeltail whimpered like a terrified kit and curled his tail up between his legs. He cast a glance to Thornclaw, who was beginning to look around anxiously.

"If someone doesn't tell me in five seconds…"

"Okay!" Thorclaw yelped anxiously. His fur was beginning to stand on end and his pelt quivered under the gaze of the other cats. Briarlight looked at him. Her eyes softened as she spoke.

"What is it, Thornclaw?"

The golden brown tabby glanced around with wide eyes. His gaze crept to Spiderleg, whose spasms were slowing and his breathing was beginning to regulate itself.

"There was this… thing. I don't know what to call it, Briarlight." He mewed softly. Thornclaw was shrunk back to the ground in a defensive stance, and looked like a feeble kit. "It was the size of a fox. Looked like a dog, though. And it spoke cat." Thornclaw whimpered and hid his face under his paw.

Briarlight licked his forehead gently and nudged him and Hazeltail to the medicine den. They would need to be treated for shock. She turned back to face the others with a solomn look.

"Lionblaze, please go tell Bramblestar about this strange creature. Brightheart, help me carry Spiderleg to the den, please."

The two she-cats hoisted the limp tom onto their backs, Brightheart gathering more of his weight to help the cripple she-cat walk. Once they reached the den, Spiderleg was in a deep sleep, his breathing steady. But when Briarlight went to check his wounds, she could see that the blood was beginning to well up and seep through the cobweb wrap. She hissed under her breath as she gathered a few herbs to stop infection. She would need one of the apprentices to go out and gather more cobwebs. If only Jayfeather were here, he would know what to do…

((EDIT: I have finished Chapter 7, and will upload it along with 8, 9 and 10 once I am finished with the last three. BUT. This work is hard to do when it's only one pony! If anypony, anypony at all would like to collab with me on this, and help me through the process with ideas and tidbits to add into the story, please please please please please message me!))