(Outdated) Warriors: Clouded Skies #1 - The First Storm

Chapter Twenty-One

Ravenpaw couldn't stay still. The cold still air told him it was night, along with the peaceful breathing from Mossrain that was occasionally broken by snores. His mind was whirling from the story of Firebreeze, a cat who promised to heal and protect his Clanmates but ended up killing them in cold blood.

Even though they weren't connected even the slightest bit, Ravenpaw's young mind was trying to convince him he wouldn't feel this way if not for his abilities, making him want to rid himself of the ability to see the future even more. But he knew he would end up regretting it if he was even able to. He knew that Mossrain would never allow him to rid himself of it. If he did it, he would have to do it without his mentor knowing.

But will I regret it? He would never get it back, he would never get to see the future of a cat's life, never get to see if Stormkit would be okay when she was older. If he hadn't been given this power, Stormkit would've died, and they wouldn't be ready to expect Goldenpool's strange injury. It was scary and scarring, but it was useful to the Clan—and that's what he wanted to do. He wanted to be useful to his Clan, to make a difference.

But he also wanted Blossompaw.

She wanted him to be normal, and she didn't even know about his power. She just meant him being a medicine cat. As they got older, she would realize her mistake, especially with Maskdapple training her, and maybe she would get over him being a medicine cat, but would she get over his ability? Did he want to help his Clan in a special way nobody else could while possibly seeing death, or did he want to be close to his littermate?

I want to help any cat any way I can, but I want Blossompaw again. He couldn't—or maybe wouldn't—decide what he wanted. He wanted to see his power more, to find out what he would see more, death, injuries, or life. And he knew how he would decide whether he would keep his power or whether he wouldn't.

Quietly getting to his paws, Ravenpaw stretched out his back then padded from the den, his pads scraping against the stone floor. When he ventured into the clearing in a crouch, the moonlight reflected down onto his sleep-ruffled coat. He spied closely at both camp entrances and saw the lithe shining outline of his kin Silverstrike at the far moor entrance, while Russetdawn's scent came strongly from the closer forest entrance.

Licking his lips to wet his throat, the young apprentice slunk silently across the clearing, shooting quick glances at both camp entrances, and he managed to slip inside the apprentices' den unseen, as far as he knew. It was quite likely one of the guarding warriors had scented him, but they wouldn't see any harm of a familiar scent moving in the clearing. Unless they thought he was doing something bad, then one or maybe both of them would come to investigate. What if they came and accidentally woke the other apprentices? His plan would be ruined! His heart sped in fear, but he forced it to calm as he approached his sleeping littermates.

When he entered, he was immediately met with his littermates' nest to his left, while Featherpaw and her littermates slept in their own nest against the far wall, with Petalpaw and Brightpaw on the opposite back side. They all slept soundly, Firepaw's ragged breathing breaking the silence; he was most likely having a bad dream, with his legs twitching and his tail thrashing around. Flamepaw, still sleeping, sub-consciously rolled closer to his littermate, curling around his back and tucking his muzzle into Firepaw's neck fur. This seemed to calm the tom, for he slowly fell still.

Ravenpaw felt a pang of sadness, knowing he would never have that chance, to curl up and sleep with a littermate. If he really wanted to, he could ask Mossrain to sleep in the apprentices' den, but he still remembered on the first few nights of his apprenticeship, he had slept in this same den, but it was strange. There was no milky scent like that of the nursery, just the thick air from being underground and the stuffy scents of all the apprentices. He liked the smells from the herbs in the medicine cat's den, they gave him comfort.