Odd Eye

Chapter Nine - Flickerpaw

"Are you excited for the Gathering?" Crescentpaw asked, skipping alongside Flickerpaw.

"I'm nervous," Flickerpaw admitted. "Did you hear about Emberleaf, Streamheart, Bloomwing and Saplight's sign from StarClan?"

Crescentpaw frowned. "To be honest, I'm still not sure they interpreted it correctly. How can it be StarClan's will to completely cut off one Clan?"

Flickerpaw shared her worries.

A few nights ago, the medicine cats from ThunderClan, SkyClan, ShadowClan and RiverClan met to share tongues with StarClan. They had then each received a dream.

Emberleaf had told him about it later, out of earshot of the other cats. He had always been good friends with his mother's sister, since she had saved his life as a newborn kit.

"We were standing in a forest, me and all the other medicine cats," she had said. "Standing in front of a grove of five trees. Each tree was different and odd - one's leaves were crackling with thunder, another's was dripping with water. One tree with wind rippling through the branches suddenly grew taller than the rest, then twisted itself around to choke them - until slowly, all the other trees withered and died. After that, we dreamt of a single, rabid fox trying to strike at four other foxes as if to kill them; but it couldn't reach, being trapped inside a wall of thorns. It only survived gnawing on rabbit bones. One of the foxes stole the rabbit bones, then the rabid fox returned to normal."

"What does that last part mean?" Flickerpaw had asked.

Emberleaf's face creased with more worry.

"We're still figuring that out," she admitted. "Our best guess is that we have to take something important from WindClan, so that they may return to rational thought. What that is? We don't know yet."

Today, Flickerpaw supposed as he crossed the fallen tree, he was going to find out.

The WindClan warriors were noticeably sitting apart, though a few looked to the other Clans with barely-concealed longing.

"Silence!" Talonstar said, springing up to the tree. "I come to this Gathering with an offer - unless RiverClan willingly gives up their territory, I will invade all of yours."

"You can't!" Swoopstar burst out. "You're far too outnumbered. It would be a suicide mission."

"Or not," Talonstar said, his eyes gleaming. "As you all know, my deputy Frostclaw can take on five seasoned warriors at once - and has been training all cats of WindClan to do so. You may outnumber us, but we will far outskill you."

Beneath the tree, Frostclaw bowed her slender white head while the other deputies moved further away.

"You say your warrior can take five cats at once," Nettlestar challenged.

"That's right," Talonstar nodded smugly.

"Well," Nettlestar said calmly. "Can she take twelve?"

For a moment, Talonstar just looked shocked. Frostclaw raised her head, confused.

There was a note of silence - then three cats from each of the other Clans exploded from the undergrowth.

Each of them were seasoned warriors - Flickerpaw spotted Reedfire, from RiverClan, Witherdawn and Gracefeather from SkyClan, and many other cats that apprentices from every Clan admired. Frostclaw widened her jaws in a yowl of rage, lashing out as each of them attacked her.

Flickerpaw admired her skilful movement, the way her claws flashed quickly in the air before plunging into enemy flesh. Her tail seemed just as powerful as her haunches, pushing the other cats away. She truly was an excellent warrior.