Blizzard [Warriors Fanfiction]

Chapter Four

      Moonlight gleamed from a gap through the fluffy clouds above as Frostpaw entered a small grassy clearing. Her head tilted upward to admire the twinkling stars that littered the dark sky overhead. She wondered how she had gotten there, it seemed as though she had been moved through space from her comfortable nest to this newleaf wonderland.

      The apprentice blinked her bright blue eyes several times at her surroundings, making out the shadowed silhouettes of oak and maple trees that stretched around the clearing. Her jaws opened to call out a wary, "hello?"

      Faster than a cat could say "mouse" the scenery changed. It was the same place, but a different time filled with bloodstained grass and a writhing mass of fighting cats. Frostpaw's feet seemed to be uprooted from the ground as her body froze in a mixture of fear and shock. Screeched and pained cries split through the air as the sparring cats clawed at one another viciously.

      The scene in front of her was finally processed and she leaped high in the air to avoid a large tom that seemed to blindly barrel towards her. She regained control of her muscles and fled, swerving around trees and jumping clumsily over fallen logs in a panicked nature.

      The next opening in the trees that she encountered was no better. More cats were at war, snapping at each other's necks. Frostpaw ran again, in the first direction she saw that led away from the fight. Her body ached as she continued to sprint, then stopped short when she found yet another space brimming with battling cats. This time, before she could bring her legs into motion, a deep, eerie voice sounded in her ear.

      "Beware, young Frostpaw," the mysterious cat whispered, "for blood must flood the Clans during the tragedy of war to stop inevitable destruction."

      A bolt of lightning flashed in the air, followed by the loud crash of thunder. At the incredible loud sound, the fighting cats before the white she-cat fell to the ground, dead.

      Frostpaw's eyes shot open as she glanced wildly at her surroundings. Instead of seeing the gory and traumatizing battle scene, there was stillness in the air and she recognized the apprentices' den. Scraps of moss from her nest were scattered across the ground and Frostpaw realized the ominous words whispered in her ear were all part of dream.

       Amberpaw, a ginger she-cat with golden stripes and hazel eyes raised her head and glanced at Frostpaw with a questioning and tired expression. "Are you okay? You were thrashing around in your sleep."

      The white apprentice nodded, "yes, I'm fine. It was only a dream."

      Her denmate blinked in understanding before curling up to sleep again. Frostpaw tried to do so as well, but couldn't get the prophecy out of her head. Blood must flood the Clans during the tragedy of war to stop inevitable destruction. Her mind raced. What does that mean?

      Unable to deal with the restlessness any longer, she stood and gave her pelt a shake, then walked slowly and unsurely to the medicine cat's den. If anyone in the Clan could decipher a message, it would be Stormtail or his apprentice Lakepaw.

      When she arrived, the she-cat pondered for a few moments about who to wake up. Stormtail would be ideal, but he was old and extremely grumpy. Lakepaw was friendlier, but only had three moons of medicine cat training. Shaking her head and bracing herself, Frostpaw raised a paw and shook Stormtail awake.

      The smoky-grey tom's snoring came to a halt and his head shot up while he yowled, "But Daisybreeze can't have aching joints again! I tended to that yesterday!"

      Choking back a mrrow of laughter, Frostpaw asked in a hushed voice, "Stormtail, I'm sorry to wake you, but I just received a message from StarClan."

      The old cat snapped from his haze and yawned crankily. "It better be good."

      "It is, and it was a prophecy." The apprentice explained quietly, "It said blood must flood the Clans during the tragedy of war to stop inevitable destruction."

      Stormtail's drowsy demeanor disappeared when she spoke the words. He coughed, trying to cover the sentence that Frostpaw still heard. "I never assumed StarClan would give that message to one of the four littermates."

      Stormtail continued to mull over the prophecy as Frostpaw slowly exited the den, wishing she never asked him about anything. She had littermates? Who were they? She managed to slip back into the apprentices' den unnoticed and fall into a dreamless sleep.

------

      Frostpaw still felt exhausted when Amberpaw shook her awake the next morning. She opened her sky blue eyes groggily and stretched. "Dawn patrol?"

      Her denmate purred in amusement. "No, mouse-brain. It's the sunhigh hunting party."

      This made Frostpaw stand up immediately. She'd never slept in before. "Already? Then let's get going!"

      Shadewhisper, her mentor, was standing in the center of the camp grooming his dark tabby pelt. When he saw Frostpaw and Amberpaw approaching, he stood and called over Honeypool, whose apprentice was Amberpaw.

      "We're going to hunt in the stream near the border with FoxClan." Shadewhisper grunted to the two cats before turning and padding through the camp entrance.

      Frostpaw heaved a sigh as she followed the warrior. Shadewhisper was an experienced cat with much to teach her, but was never very kind or enthusiastic. His comments were always brief and he hardly ever praised her for doing anything right. The white she-cat always secretly envied Amberpaw for having a more enthusiastic mentor.

      The apprentice's thoughts were interrupted when Honeypool cheerily announced their arrival at the hunting grounds. Frostpaw opened her jaws to taste the air, and scented several water voles scurrying around in the reeds.

      "I smell some prey." She murmured to Shadewhisper. "Can I try to catch it?"

      "Yes." The dark grey tom replied bluntly and turned his back to crouch over the stream in search of fish.

      Frostpaw ignored his usual gruff attitude and dropped into a low stance, preparing to strike. Each muscle tensed as she perked her ears to her slight rustling directly in front of her. Knowing the time was right, she leaped forward and trapped the water vole under her claws, ending it's life quickly.

      But before she could pick it up and bring back to the patrol, a flash of white shot through the grass in pursuit of a rabbit. The cat smelled strongly of the nearby border, and Frostpaw concluded that the newcomer was from FoxClan.

      The rabbit disappeared over a rise and the cat stopped, golden eyes flashing in search of where he was. Frostpaw crept forward slowly and cautiously, despite the fact that there were tensions between FoxClan and ThornClan, not FoxClan and DewClan. "Why are you on our territory?" She called out tentatively.

      The tom stopped abruptly and stared at Frostpaw, realization that he crossed the border dawning to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I crossed the territory line. I'll leave right away."

      Frostpaw was about to call over Shadewhisper or Honeypool when a memory resurfaced in the depths of her mind. Everything was dark and cold with only the pitiful sound of crying kits and the thundering noise of howling wind. One of the kits had a similar voice to the cat in front of her, although his was much deeper.

      "Wait," she mewed as the white apprentice tom turned to leave, "what's your name?"

      "I'm Frozenpaw."