The New Prophecy

Chapter 3

When the half moon came around again Jayfeather met up with the other medicine cats as they walked to the moonpool, he listened as the others shared tongues about how things were at their camp until they reached the tunnel that lead to where they’d speak with their ancestors. After lying down by the pool’s edge they lapped at the water and fell into their dreams.

            Jayfeather woke up in the forest and was greeted by Yellowfang, Hollyleaf, and Firestar. They stood up when they saw him but didn’t speak; he followed them as they headed towards the streams where they found Willowshine speaking with Mudfur .

            “Follow us, we need to meet with the other clan’s medicine cats!” Firestar called out.

            They followed them as they ran towards the moors, they found Kestrelflight walking through the long grass with Barkface, and they looked up like they’d been expecting them.

            “Where are you guys going?” Kestrelflight asked.

            “To find Littlecloud and Flametail.” Mudfur answered.

            They started running once again and found Flametail sitting beside Littlecloud waiting for them. They stood up and went to the center of Starclan’s territory.

            “We don’t have much time before the sun rises…” Hollyleaf said.

            “What do you all have to tell us?” Willowshine asked.

            “There is a new dawn coming for the clans, but before things can get better, they must get worse.” Flametail said.

            “Four will be born in their respected elements and shall be named after them.” Yellowfang continued.

            “They will rise to greatness, and tear down the world as we know it.” Mudfur warned.

            “And turn our lives into something new.” Barkface finished.

            “Wait we don’t understand!” Littlecloud cried out as the star furred cats faded from view.

            Jayfeather woke up and saw darkness, but realized it wasn’t the eternal darkness of being blind but the cold creeping darkness of evil. He turned in a circle and tried to make out the faint outline of darker shadows that flittered in and out of sight. Then there was a rasping voice behind him and he turned to see Thistleclaw emerge from the darkness.

            “Stay back!” Jayfeather spat.

            “Relax you pathetic fleabag, I just came to give you a message.” Thistleclaw purred, “Breezepelt might’ve been exiled but you’ll see him again. And this time will make sure to kill you.”

            “Why would you tell me this?”

            “Because, I want to see him dead for being too dumb to know how to kill. We taught him everything and he still managed to mess up!”

            “But he was still loyal to you.”

            “He will become stronger when Lionblaze kills him to protect his kits.” Thistleclaw faded back into the gloom his last words ringing in Jayfeather’s ears.

            He woke up with the other medicine cats surrounding him and he could sense their worry. He quickly stood up and shook out his fur before leading them back up to the entrance.

            “Jayfeather is everything okay? You didn’t wake up for awhile.” Kestrelflight said.

            “Everything’s fine, let’s just go home.” Jayfeather mumbled.

            They separated and walked back to their camps to tell their leaders about the prophecy they’d heard. Jayfeather slowly trudged home though since Bramblestar had received the prophecy already, instead he tried to focus on what Thistleclaw had told him about Breezepelt, of course he didn’t know how much to trust a Dark Forest cat but he had sounded truthful. A warrior running towards him disrupted his thoughts and he breathed in his brother’s scent.

            “Jayfeather, I have something to tell you!” Lionblaze yowled.

            “Can it wait? I’m exhausted.”

            “Cinderheart’s expecting my kits!” He burst out anyway.

            “Congratulations.”

            “Did you know Squirrelflight is too?”

            “What? She just became deputy!” Jayfeather said in outrage. “And it’s leaf bare, Brightheart already has kits and now Cinderheart and Squirrelflight are! We need healthy cats to fix the camp and hunt.”

            “I know that but aren’t you happy?” Lionblaze rounded on him and Jayfeather almost ran into him.

            “Of course… I’m sorry… I just haven’t had much time to sleep lately…”

            They walked back to camp in silence, the cold air signaled snow was on the way, when they got to camp Lionblaze watched his brother walk over to his den to rest before walking over to Cinderheart. She purred and licked his head and he purred back.

            “So what did your brother say?” She asked.

            “He’s happy for us of course! But he was a little worried since it’s leaf bare.”

            “I’m sure we’ll be fine, a lot of cats have kits in leaf bare.”

            “And the whole clan is here to help care for them.”

            “Lionblaze, you can talk later! Now come join our hunting patrol!”  Spiderleg called from the camp entrance.

            “Coming, I guess I’ll see you later.” He flicked his mate’s ear with his tail before running over join the patrol.