Warriors #4: Darkness Awakens

Chapter 25

Lilypetal's POV

I was taking a huge bite out of a vole as loud purrs of amusement burst around me. I lifted my head back up as I chewed, continuing to listen to Squirrelflight, who had been sharing a story of how when she was a kit, she once shoved fire ants in Leafpool's nest for her to find when she woke up.

I gulped down my bite of vole and shook my slowly as she closed off her anecdote. Brambleclaw, who was sitting beside Squirrelflight, nudged her with his shoulder and let out another purr. "Great StarClan! And all Leafpool did was be herself!" he joked. "I can't imagine what you would've done if she'd actually done something to make you angry!"

I turned to Thornclaw, who was sitting next to me. I nudged him as Brambleclaw had done to Squirrelflight. "Good thing Goldenshine never did that to Snowflight," I commented. "She'd never hear the end of it!"

Thornclaw narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Hey! Who said that Goldenshine would be the culprit?" he meowed, a purr of laughter emerging as he spoke. "Snowflight would have been capable of such things if Goldenshine rubbed her fur the wrong way!"

I purred as I bent my head down to take another bite of my vole. As I savored the sweet taste, I thought about happy and relaxed I felt at the moment.

Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Thornclaw and I had just returned from a hunting patrol, and now we were treating ourselves to a little break and a nice meal. I loved every moment of it. It was nothing but spending time with friends and serving our Clan, and ourselves just a tad bit.

Luckily, Thornclaw had had no problems keeping up with us on the patrol. By now, he was fully recovered from his injuries. After he had awoken he had spent just about another quarter moon in the medicine den before being told he could return to his normal duties. Now, he was as strong as ever, serving his Clan in any way he could.

Brambleclaw had just started telling us one of his silly apprentice stories when I noticed Firestar approaching the four of us out of the corner of my eye.

I nodded my head to signal to the others that Firestar was coming, and they immediately turned their heads to face him as he sat down. Before any of us could greet the ThunderClan leader, he spoke first. I immediately became uneasy as I noticed the worried and agitated gleam that seemed to be glittering in his emerald eyes.

Firestar worried? I thought. That can't be good.

"Do you all have a moment to come and gather in my den?" he began. He didn't wait for our answer, immediately turning around and then muttering, "We have a very important matter to discuss."

Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Thornclaw and I all exchanged worried glances before standing up and following Firestar up onto the Highledge and into his den.

By the way Firestar was acting, I knew that whatever he wanted to discuss was incredibly serious. I rarely saw Firestar act this way, so tense and closed off. He clearly had something heavy on his mind.

Just behind Thornclaw, I crawled into Firestar's cozy den, and to my surprise, found many other cats there with him. Graystripe, Dustpelt, Sandstorm, Brightheart, Cloudtail, Jayfeather and Ivypaw were already there waiting for us as we all entered.

What in the name of StarClan is an apprentice doing here, when Firestar had "an important matter to discuss"?

I took a deep breath and shook it off. I told myself that I would find out why soon enough.

Once Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Thornclaw and I had settled in, Firestar began to speak. "Thank you all for coming here. I have gathered you all to tell you about something that has been brought to my attention that needs to be discussed."