Warrior Cats: The Winding Path (Book 1)

Chapter 18 (Timberpaw)

Timberpaw curled up in nest beside his medicine cat. They had been taking care of the patrol who returned from patrol earlier that day and now he was exhausted. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The roar of thunder bellowed around him and lightning struck the ground and sent it ablaze around him. Suddenly, a starry cat came down from the brand of stars in the sky. It was Frostfire.

"Frostfire!" Timberpaw mewed and he rushed toward her. The flames continued to lap up the grassy clearing but he ignored it, knowing he was only dreaming.

The look on Frostfire's face made Timberpaw's blood run cold. "Beware, Timberpaw," the former medicine cat hissed.

"Beware what?" Timberpaw mewed. Anxiety started to rise in him, he felt like he needed to run, to run away from the burning clearing.

"Beware the cat who trains in the shadows! He is looking for those of the prophecy and he shall persuade. You must be cautious, Timberpaw, for StarClan can interfere no further than this," Frostfire bellowed. "Fire will blaze through the sky and frost will melt under the paws of ragged claws," she reminded him.

"What does that mean?" Timberpaw wailed. The fire had grown closer to them, making his body hot and sticky.

"StarClan cannot tell you, for knowledge is power. The knownledge of your future gives you the power to change it but then, what would become of your future then?" Frostfire meowed. She then stiffened as another lightning bolt pierced through the sky, "I must go." The starry image faded, leaving him in the center of a fiery ring.

Suddenly, silhouetted shapes against the fire caught Timberpaw's eye. He saw the silhouettes fighting and training for battle. He saw a flash of cold amber eyes and a dark tabby pelt. Then, an image of a ginger tom with a white blotched muzzle appeared before him. But this time it didn't disappear. The fire had died down and the sky had darkened into a swath of blackness.

"Hello there," the ginger tom meowed coolly. "I'd like you to meet my friend, Darkfur." A black-and-white tom stepped out of the shadows and greeted Timberpaw with a flick of his long tail.

"Who are you two?" Timberpaw inquired.

"My name is Leafclaw," the ginger tom meowed, "this is our home."

"Home? Why am I here?" Timberpaw shook his head, confused.

"Darkfur wants to train you," Leafclaw's words came out smooth like ice. His words made Timberpaw shudder each time he spoke.

Timberpaw glared at him suspiciously, "Train me how?"

"To become the greatest medicine cat and while learning the ways of becoming as strong as a warrior," Darkfur rasped.

"I don't need your help becoming a medicine cat, Sweetscent has shown me so much already," Timberpaw protested.

"But she'll never teach you how to correctly become a warrior. Just think of it, you could be the strongest cat of all the four Clans! You'd know every herb and every battle move. You'd be able to treat your own wounds while fighting for your Clan," it was Leafclaw who spoke this time. The mysterious warrior's words grabbed Timberpaw's attention. "You also have great potential, isn't this what you've always wanted? " Leafclaw's last two words seemed to wrap around Timberpaw's head, engulfing it with lies he never recognized not to be true. I do want this, right? Timberpaw thought. Of course you do! You'll become the strongest and smartest cat in the forest! Another voice nagged at his doubtful thoughts.

"I'll let Darkfur train me," he meowed finally.

Something flickered in Leafclaw's green eyes but he quickly hid it with a sly grin. "Good, I'm glad you have seen truth in our words," the ginger warrior purred. Timberpaw shuddered again, no matter how many times he heard Leafclaw speak, he couldn't shake the dread and cold wonder behind the tom's even voice. "I must be going, I'll leave Timberpaw to you, Darkfur." Leafclaw turned away from the two cats and bounded swiftly into the shadows.

"I've never heard your names in any of the elder's stories," Timberpaw meowed as he padded toward Darkfur.

"Maybe that is for the best," the black-and-white tom meowed grimly.

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Nightpaw's P.O.V

Nightpaw lay in the mossy nest of the apprentices' den. She could see her brother twitching in his sleep in the dim lighting of the den. Finally, she was able to close her eyes and sleep.

She stood in the middle of a shadowed clearing with a long stretch of woodland surrounding her. The ferns rustled around her as if unseen prey were scurrying about. The sky was dark and no stars dotted the night sky. Nightpaw was confused, was she dreaming?

Suddenly, a ginger tom leapt down from a low branch of the tree. She leapt back, her fur bristling as she didn't recognize his scent. He had a white muzzle with green eyes that gleamed with unreadable emotion.

"Who are you?" Nightpaw hissed at the strange cat.

The ginger tom stepped toward her and brushed his ginger tail along her flank, "The name's Leafclaw." Nightpaw reared away from the cat, she didn't know him and she also didn't like how he was acting. Leafclaw seemed to realize this for he let his tail drop away from her. "My apologies," he meowed. Nightpaw couldn't help but be entranced by his words, each meow came rolling off his tongue like water flowing down a smooth pebble.

"What do you want?" Nightpaw couldn't mask the suspicion in her voice as she spat the words at him.

"Oh my dear Nightpaw, I want you to meet a good friend of mine," Leafclaw whispered into her ear. Nightpaw's body shuddered and her ear tips grew red hot from blushing. This cat was so smooth as he talked, even his movements were graceful and mesmerizing.

"What friend?" Nightpaw mewed. She felt small standing next to the ginger warrior and she didn't pull away this time as he touched his tail tip to her shoulder and led her across the clearing. Nightpaw felt a bit of hollowness as Leafclaw pulled his tail away.

"Come on out," Leafclaw meowed into the shadows. A brief moment later a light brown tabby tom stepped out from the cover of the dull undergrowth. He had bright blue eyes and large white paws. His lower jaw was shifted to the side as he held his mouth closed. A single tooth jutted out from his jaw that glinted white. "This is Brokenjaw," Leafclaw purred into her ear.

"Greetings," the tabby warrior dipped his dark head toward Nightpaw. Nightpaw's whiskers twitched in hello, not knowing if she should be acting formal back or not.

"Brokenjaw has requested to train you," Leafclaw meowed.

"Train me? Train me how?" Nightpaw snapped at of her daze and looked over at Leafclaw suspiciously.

"To be the greatest warrior in all the Clans. And maybe, if you do good in training we can... get to know each other a little bit more," Leafclaw's words flowed into Nightpaw's ears like a melody.

Nightpaw was instantly entranced, "Okay," she purred.

"Good, good, well get to it then," Leafclaw turned away and bounded off into the stretching shadows.