Looming Darkness

Chapter 9

Echoheart stared at the full moon straight above her head.

The last few days had drug past at a snail's pace, and Whispersong still hadn't emerged from the nursery. Bumblefrost was still leaving the camp regularly, though Echoheart didn't know why, and no one seemed to notice or care. Echoheart didn't question him; she guessed he was probably trying to avoid scornful comments from the DawnClan cats and get his mind off of things away from the camp, and Echoheart couldn't blame him.

Echoheart sighed and pulled her gaze from the moon above. The Gathering was tonight, and it was going to start very soon. Eveningstar had already taken the DawnClan Gathering patrol, and they were probably at the Pointed Mountain by now. Star had been chosen; she had looked really nervous, but Eveningstar had encouraged her, and eventually she was walking proudly beside her new Clanmates to her first Gathering. Cherrypaw had been disappointed that she and Lilacpaw couldn't go, but Echoheart had assured her that one moon soon she'd be going too. Lilacpaw had been relieved, saying that if they had been chosen, they'd have to see the very DayClan cats who'd kidnapped them and imprisoned them in their camp, and she was glad she wasn't going.

Echoheart sighed. I should get to bed, she thought, glancing up again at the star- splotched sky. She got to her paws, shivered in the cold breeze, then padded to the warriors' den.

Echoheart paused as she passed by the nursery, realizing that she should visit Whispersong. She hadn't seen her sister the past few days; Echoheart had been on many, many patrols and rarely had time to visit her anymore. She was starting to suspect that Eveningstar and her parents were trying to keep her away from Whispersong.

Like that'll do anything! Echoheart scoffed. I'll see my sister when I want to see her, and they can't stop me!

Echoheart poked her head inside the nursery. "Whispersong?"

No answer.

"Whispersong?"

"Shush!" hissed a voice. It was Meadowheart. "Kits are trying to sleep!"

"Sorry," Echoheart whispered, sighing. She turned away toward the warriors' den, deciding that she'd try to talk to her sister in the morning.

"Wait! Echoheart!"

Echoheart turned.

Whispersong was hobbling from the nursery, silver tabby pelt glistening in the moonlight. "Did you call me?"

"Yeah, but if you were sleeping, you could have just stayed there. I'd have just seen you in the morning," Echoheart murmured quietly. She knew her sister wasn't getting much sleep these days.

"You might not see me in the morning," Whispersong yawned. "Sunfur might put you on another patrol to get you away from me."

"You see it too? That they're trying to keep us apart?"

"Yeah." Whispersong snorted, then her eyes sunk with sadness, and Echoheart knew what she was thinking.

"It's their fault for not accepting what has happened," Echoheart meowed in her sister's defense. "They're the ones making you feel awful! This is your Clan as much as it is theirs! True, you broke the warrior code like, three or so times—"

"—Oh, more than that!"

"But you're still one of us, Whispersong. You need to stick up for yourself and your own decisions!"

"But my kits... they'll be half-Clan; their father is from DayClan! And I'm slowly being outcasted from DawnClan... not to even mention that the prophecy is going to unfold soon! We're supposed to save all four Clans! How in the name of StarClan are we supposed to do that if we can't even get our own Clan to trust us? They definitely won't trust me!"