Warriors: Black Rain

Chapter 19

      The boulders grew larger as the two apprentices climbed, sometimes causing them to find an alternative route around. Scarpaw leapt onto the stone above her, looking ahead to see that the rocky slope smoothed out, returning again to soft grass and fern. The trees parted around them, exposing the vast night sky. A soft breeze ruffled her fur, causing waves in the grass at her paws. Sparkpaw climbed up beside her, following her gaze to see the moon, crawling slowly towards the center of the sky. He let out a deep breath, settling himself in the grass by her paws.

      "You know, it's strange," he mewed after a period of silence, "When Pepperpelt took me around the forest on my first outing as an apprentice, she told me about all the clans and territory's; but I never imagined them quite like this." 

      Scarpaw tilted her head slightly, settling herself down next to him. "What do you mean?"

      "Well, I had only ever seen the pines from a distance, at the lake's edge. And I haven't been to a gathering yet, so the most I knew about ThornClan territory was from the dry undergrowth at our border; and the stench that comes with it." Scarpaw laughed, gazing back up at the starry sky.

      "I know what you mean. When I went to Sky-rocks for the gathering, everything seemed so strange. And here, too; even though we share a forest, all the clans feel a world away."
Sparkpaw nodded, following her gaze to silently admire the stars.

      His voice came as merely a whisper, "Snowstar said that StarClan rules in these woods. Do you think Pepperpelt is here?"

      Scarpaw looked to him, trying to hide her pity. Memories from the she-cat's death and the events surrounding it flooded her heart with grief, causing her tail to twitch. Not only that, but she felt the exact same way about her father. Of course she was a loyal RainClan cat, but the possibility that he was here now, watching over her from the starry ranks, filled her with emotion.
      Then there was the fear that maybe, because of her choice to leave her birth clan behind, her father's spirit chose not to watch over her at all. Did her loyalty to the clan mean more to him than their blood? Scarpaw had never experienced a sign from StarClan; did Hawkheart have a stronger connection to their father than she did? The thought sent a wave of envy through the apprentice.

      Blinking away her own thoughts, Scarpaw turned back to the tom and whispered, "Yes. And I bet she's very proud of you, Sparkpaw."

      The tom shut his eyes for a moment, opening them again to smile at her. "Thank you, Scarpaw. I think you're right."

      The two sat close together in silence, watching the sky, until the moon climbed to the center above. Scarpaw stood first, shaking the chill out of her pelt.

      "We should go back down now, and quickly. The others have waited a long time." Nodding, Sparkpaw followed her back down the rocky slope, both carefully leaping downward onto the stones below. They reached the spot where they had left the patrol, and all the other cats stood at the sight of the two apprentices. Maskpaw mumbled something under his breath to Leopardpaw, who rolled her eyes, and Snowstar stepped forward.

      "Well? Is it time?"

       "Yes, Snowstar. The moon has risen to the center of the sky; we can enter," Scarpaw mewed, bowing her head. Snowstar nodded, thanking both cats, then turned towards the bramble wall hiding the Stone-hollow. Anticipation ran through the air, and Scarpaw padded over towards Leopardpaw, who smiled at her with a twinkle in her eye. No cat spoke as Snowstar turned around, facing the apprentices.

       "You four will follow me inside, and no one will speak. This is a place for silence." He flicked his tail towards Owltail and Toadface and added, "you two will stand guard outside. I will be sharing tongues with StarClan tonight." The two warriors bowed their heads, already walking towards the entrance and settling themselves on either side. Snowstar nodded, turning back towards the entrance. Slowly, he pushed his way through the greenery, waving his tail for the rest to follow. The apprentices looked at eachother, wide-eyed, then back at the bramble. Sparkpaw was the first to follow, and Toadface licked his head as he pushed inside. Maskpaw went next, then Leopardpaw. Scarpaw gulped, hesitating, before following her friend into the mysterious hollow. A small breeze flowed around her, tugging at her pelt and encouraging her forward.

      The thick bramble went on longer than Scarpaw expected, and she could feel the sharp branches tugging at her fur and ears as she padded on. It was dark, and she had a hard time seeing Leopardpaw's familiar form in front of her. The grass under-paw was soft and pressed by many moons of paw steps, and Scarpaw stared in awe at how her own paws fit snug into an older imprint- other apprentices had made this journey in the past, the last step before obtaining their warrior name. She suddenly felt a strong surge of pride, the clan rivalries fading in her mind, mingling with the spirits of many cats, all here for the same reason; no matter their clan or their past, each cat had padded along this path, adding their prints to the grass below. After tonight, Scarpaw would be one of them.

      Scarpaw almost let out a hiss as she bumped hard into Leopardpaw, who had stopped in front of her. Not daring to break the silence, she waited until her friend made her way into the hollow before slowly following; the bramble disappeared, widening out to surround the hollow with strong protection. A canopy of trees covered the sky with the exception of a small opening near the center, casting moonlight into the hollow, turning everything silver. Scarpaw shivered at the sight of her friends, who did the same- it looked as if her friends had appeared in the form of StarClan warriors, light glittering in their eyes and their pelts shining like they belonged in the noble ranks of StarClan. Praying what she saw wasn't some kind of prophecy, Scarpaw quickly shifted her attention back towards the hollow. Many sleek stones jutted out from the soft mossy ground, sticking up towards the canopy of trees like the jaws of a cat, yowling towards the sky. A single stone sat larger than the others, directly beneath the hole in the trees, shining with moonlight and reflecting the light all around them. Snowstar made his way towards it, almost entranced. He settled himself down, touching his nose to the surface, and Scarpaw watched his thick pelt bristle as his head slowly dropped to his paws.

      He must be speaking with StarClan, she thought with awe, I wonder what it's like, meeting the ancient warriors? If it were me, would I have the courage to touch that stone?

     The apprentices sat on the edge of the hollow in silence. The moon had long since passed over the hole in the trees, and the hollow was no longer engulfed in moonlight. Scarpaw glanced over the other apprentices. Their fur was matted and unkept, heads lowered from fatigue, but there was a gleaming emotion in their eyes. It made Scarpaw's tail curl up just thinking about what could possibly happen when they returned to camp. These cats had trained with her, worked as hard as anyone to get this far. Despite her disputes with Maskpaw, she felt a strong surge of pride for all of them.

      The emotion faded quickly however when she thought of Woodpaw. Snowstar had decided not to bring him with them, because he thought the younger tom wasn't yet ready. Scarpaw felt a mixture of pity and guilt; secretly, she had to agree with Snowstar. While Woodpaw tries as hard as any of them to please his vicious mentor, he never could quite catch up with the others. He was younger, and only started his training a few moons after Scarpaw; he had instantly clung close to Maskpaw's side, following his every step. The two seemed inseparable- but now, as Maskpaw sat silently staring at their leader, Scarpaw wondered if he missed the smaller tom at all. And what about Venomsight? The older warrior sent chills through Scarpaw's pelt. Poor Woodpaw got the short end of the stick, receiving him as a mentor. Venomsight trained him rigorously since that day, taking any anger out on the tom. It wasn't just his temper that made Scarpaw nervous, however; there was something off putting about the warrior, especially lately, and Woodpaw's incident with sneaking out of camp only added to her suspicions. What could the dark warrior possibly be up to? Whatever it is, is Woodpaw stuck in the middle of it? Is that the true reason Snowstar didn't want Woodpaw to come, because he doesn't trust his mentor?

      Scarpaw's thoughts were interrupted by Snowstar's sleeping form, now hissing and twitching restlessly. His claws were unsheathed, and with a shaky gasp, his icy eyes flashed open. He jumped to his paws, gasping, and locked eyes with Scarpaw from across the clearing. Something wasn't right, and the way Snowstar studied her face like he was trying to decipher a message sent chills through her spine.

      "Come," he rasped, "we have to get back to camp. Now." Looking to eachother with worry, the apprentices got up, quickly following their anxious leader out of the hollow. It no longer felt safe and secure, and the frozen teeth-like stones seemed to scream go, go, go.