Jayflight's Vision (UNDER EDITING)

Chapter 12 (Edited)

Ravenpaw stood, nervous now. What was he supposed to say? He was still hurt at the fact that Jaypaw had pushed him away before- despite her being scared, they were still siblings. 

"How do you know?" Jaypaw interrupted his thoughts, her sky blue eyes shining with curiosity. It gave him a little relief that she was not still upset with him. 

"Echosplash told me." Ravenpaw mumbled. 

"You know what this means, right Ravenpaw?" Jaypaw asked. When Ravenpaw was silent, Jaypaw said, "We're half Clan! We might be able to swim!" Instead of being worried, Jaypaw looked adventurous, curious. Of course, she didn't understand the dangers of being half-clan. 

"Oh, don't look so grouchy, Ravenpaw", Jaypaw said, bumping him playfully. She seemed to be willing to let their troubles go. Maybe I should let it go too. She's my sister after all. 

I wouldn't do that if I were you, young one. 

A voice rang in Ravenpaw's mind. Ravenpaw shook his dark furred head. Those weren't his thoughts. Why was he hearing things? 

Don't be scared, the voice continued. I'm here to help.

"Ravenpaw?" are you okay?" Jaypaw said. 

Ravenpaw shook his head again. "I'm...fine. I need to get some rest. I'll see you later, Jaypaw." He left her looking slightly confused, and he felt a little guilty for leaving her like that, with his mood changing so fast.

Ravenpaw climbed into his nest and closed his eyes, tired from the gathering. He also wanted to see if he could get the voice to come back, so he could make sure he wasn't imagining it. And so he could figure out what it meant.

But, a few moments later, he heard the squealing of young apprentices. Great.

"How was the gathering, Ravenpaw? We barely saw you come in, you're so shadowy and sneaky!" Frostpaw exclaimed. Ravenpaw ignored her.

Ravenpaw noticed Alderpaw curled up in his nest asleep. At least one cat is sane in here. 

He was distracted from his attempt to sleep yet again with the loud voice of another apprentice. "Did anything exciting happen?" Hazelpaw's mew said.

"Were there any big, scary cats?" tiny Robinpaw asked, her amber eyes wide.

Sudden annoyance bubbled up in Ravenpaw's chest. "Go away!" he hissed. "Let me get some rest for StarClan's sake! Go bother Jaypaw instead!" 

The apprentices scrambled out of the den, frightened by Ravenpaw's anger. He felt the usual guilt that hit him after he lashed out at someone. He wanted to tell the apprentices he didn't mean it, he was just tired.

He heard them pad up to Jaypaw, who had just entered the camp. Ravenpaw scented wet fur. Do not tell me Jaypaw tried to swim.

Robinpaw said, "Hey, Jaypaw! Why are you all wet? How was the gathering? You're brother's a meanie, he won't tell us anything!" 

Ravenpaw shook his head, his cheeks brushing the moss. She really had tried to swim. It didn't suprise him. She'd probably tried to catch a fish, too. 

"Well I'm wet because...I slipped into a puddle. I can tell you guys about the gathering tomorrow, I need some sleep right now. But first-" Jaypaw shook out her fur, showering the young apprentices with droplets.

"Ack! Now we're all wet, Jaypaw!" Hazelpaw exclaimed, her fur on end.

"Well now I'm all dry. You guys should go get some sleep too- especially you, Frostpaw! You looks dead on your feet!" Frostpaw indeed had her eyes half closed and looked as if she needed a nice long nap. The way that she dealt with the kits easily without making them upset made Ravenpaw itch with jealousy. Why couldn't he have just asked nicely? 

The three apprentices padded into the den, thankfully not disturbing Ravenpaw, as he fell into a deep, dark sleep.

When Ravenpaw woke up, he had to do a double take at his surroundings. This was not  the ShadeClan camp- it didn't look or smell anything like it. He was on the edge of an ocean, but the water was almost black. The sand was deep gray, and the scent of rot wreathed around the whole place, and it made Ravenpaw gag. Where am I?

Ravenpaw turned around to see the trees, which were blackened and slimy with rot. A caw sounded from up above, and Ravenpaw looked up to see a huge vulture circling over the place.

The sandy area was wide, and for the first time Ravenpaw began to notice the shadows creeping across the beach...the shadows of cats. One particularly large shadow was coming closer to Ravenpaw, and as he watched the dark creature seemed to come from the sand. Before he knew it, a cat was standing in front of him.

It was a tom, and he was enormous. His muscles rippled under his pelt, and he was black with white paws, a white underbelly, and tailtip. He also had white markings on his broad face, and he had several long scars on his body. The scariest part of him was his amber eyes, piercing Ravenpaw's thoughts.

"Hello, Ravenpaw." The tom said. "Welcome to the Shadow Sea." as Ravenpaw watched, more cats crept out of the sand and formed a cluster behind this tom. "This is where warriors come to become the most cunning and skilled fighters in all of the Clans." his amber eyes flickered like flame as he went on. 

His voice sounded familiar. As Ravenpaw listened to him talk, he realized- this was the cat who's voice he'd heard in his head!

"We have noticed that you have the abilities to fight well, even to exceed the teachings of your training. We think that you deserve to channel that power for the good of your Clan." the tom swept his tail towards the shadows swirling behind him. 

"Aren't I asleep? Who even are you? What's wrong with this place?" Ravenpaw asked, all his questions falling out of his mouth.

"Where are my manners!" The tom suddenly smirked and shook his head. "I never introduced myself. My name is Darkspirit." He looked at Ravenpaw, making deadly eye contact with him. "We could give you everything you ever wanted. Excellent fighting skills, extra knowledge. We are spirits, here to guide you in the ways of fighting for your clan. And there's nothing wrong with this place, StarClan just- doesn't approve of us."

As Darkspirit said these things, another figure came out from the sand. A tortoiseshell she-cat,  with a cruel smile and the same amber eyes as Darkspirit. She had much rougher scars, though- her face was covered in them, and her ears were almost clawed off. They could have been brother and sister.

"What do you say, Ravenpaw?" Darkspirit said. "Will you join us? You won't regret it."

Ravenpaw took a minute to process what he had just heard. Wasn't he only dreaming, though? Suddenly, these random spirits could teach him all he wanted to know? But, he did want to prove that he was just as good as Jaypaw. And StarClan cats came to the others in dreams- why couldn't spirit cats come to him?

"I...I'll have to think about it." Ravenpaw said. 

"Of course," Darkspirit purred. "Take all the time you need." 

The last things Ravenpaw saw before waking up were Darkspirit's amber eyes.