Darkstorm's Code✔️

Chapter Eight

Darkpaw gasped. "What does it mean? 'The lake will die'? Huh? 'Only shadows can save you now'? It can't mean ShadowClan... Just look at us!" Shadepaw sighed, his deep eyes shutting in confusion.

"I don't know. But Half Moon also  said that nobody could change our destinies, and that we shouldn't tell this to Fernstar, or the other medicine cats. I did tell Tallmeadow, though. She said I should tell you." Darkpaw bit her lip. She needed an answer.

"But wha-"

"Do you know?" Tallmeadow asked, coming in the den. Darkpaw nodded slightly. "Good. I have a feeling it has to do with you." Darkpaw's eyes widened.

"Me?"

"Yes, you," The medicine cat looked amused at her question.

"But... Why me?" Darkpaw had to ask. "What's so... special... about me?"

Shadepaw shifted his paws.

"Well," he began, "the first thing is that StarClan sent the prophecy to me, and not an older, more experienced cat. They must trust young cats more right now. Maybe it's because we aren't as rooted to the lake- the prophecy makes it seem like we'll have to leave." Darkpaw stepped back. Leave the lake? she thought in anguish. No, he's wrong- it's the most mouse-brained thing I've ever heard of! Shadepaw continued, his tail tip twitching. "Then there's the fact that they sent it to a ShadowClan cat."

"Which means that it must be about some cat in ShadowClan," Darkpaw finished. Tallmeadow nodded.

"Most likely."

"But there are other young cats- Orangepaw, you!" Darkpaw hesitated. "And there's nothing special about me."

"But there is," Tallmeadow jumped in. Darkpaw blinked, listening closely. "You don't know who your mother is." She looked apologetic as Darkpaw recoiled. "As far as we know, you could be half-clan. But it seems that StarClan doesn't trust deeply rooted cats right now. Maybe they want the Clans to change; I don't know. But it increases the chances of you being the apprentice."

"But what about Shadepaw?" Darkpaw asked. It was Shadepaw who answered.

"I almost died, just before I got the prophecy. And StarClan could have easily sent me the prophecy earlier, so that I could become a medicine cat apprentice- Half Moon said herself that she was glad I was a medicine cat apprentice now, and that all of StarClan was- but then it could have easily been me. I don't know about you, but I think that my almost dying was a sign from StarClan that I'm not the apprentice from the prophecy."

Darkpaw's brow furrowed.

"You make good points, both of you," she admitted, "but I don't think it's me. It could be almost any cat. So I'm not going to jump to conclusions." 

She wasn't going to. But inside, she was brimming with excitement. Shadepaw was really an official medicine cat apprentice now- he had recieved a prophecy from StarClan!

...

"I want to go to the gathering," Darkpaw told her mentor. "Can I?" Fernstar thought for a moment.

"Fine." She leaped onto the Hanging Branch. "Let all cats gather at the Hanging Branch!" Now every cat is old enough to catch their own prey, Darkpaw thought. But Badgerleap... She's getting old... Maybe she'll be an elder soon. As ShadowClan gathered, Tallmeadow padded over her.

"Have you thought about the prophecy at all? Do you think you know what it means?" she whispered. Darkpaw guiltily murmured, "No." Is that wrong? 

"Oh. Just... wondering." Fernstar coughed loudly and Tallmeadow quietly told Darkpaw, "Her whitecough is getting worse..." Darkpaw swept her tail across the forest floor worriedly, mixed with the odd satisfaction that the prophecy meant older cats trusting her enough to tell her things.

"Tallmeadow, Darkpaw, Orangepaw and Shadepaw will go."

"No warriors?" Thinfur asked her. As deputy, he should've been beside her on the branch, but no one wanted to catch the ShadowClan leader's worsening whitecough. "And I'm not sure if you should go," he added. "Your whiteco-" Fernstar gave him a withering glare, her teal-and-green eyes holding a thin note of terror. She might die from this, Darkpaw realized.

"SkyClan is our enemy now, and we must guard the camp. And if I don't go, we will look weak." Thinfur recoiled, shocked.

"You have whitecough; you could pass it on to the other Clans!"

"I haven't passed it on to anyone in ShadowClan. If I do, I might worry." Fernstar snapped. Her paws trembled slightly, as if she was scared. "Come." The walk to the island was not nearly as pleasant as Darkpaw's first. The cats were completely silent, and Darkpaw wondered what Fernstar would say about Shadepaw. She was glad to see Arrowpaw's face as they arrived, and she ran over to him.

"Hi!" she yowled.

"Hi," he repeated. "It's a weird word, isn't it? Hi. Hi. Hi hi hi hi hi hi. Doesn't it sound weird?" he asked. Darkpaw shrugged, surprised at his sudden chattiness. Maybe it's because we know each other more now, she decided, then nodded to herself. Yeah, that must be it.

"It's pretty random. I don't really think about it," she replied.

"Huh. It is. Are they going to start?" 

"The leaders? I guess..." It was hard for Darkpaw to focus while staring into Arrowpaw's meaningful dark eyes. She barely heard when RiverClan announced a kit being born. She snapped into focus when she heard Shadepaw's name.

"...Shadepaw has decided to be a medicine cat apprentice," Fernstar was mewing, breaking down for a cough. The Clan cats shifted uneasily. "That is all."

"Wait!" Tallmeadow snarled, lifting her head and stepping forward. "That's not all! Tell them about your mouse-brained requirement!" Fernstar hissed.

"Be quiet!" 

"Silencing your medicine cat?" a raspy voice spat. "Not smart." Darkpaw turned to see a young tabby tom glaring at something. He looked quite handsome, with broad shoulders, but his eyes ruined his image. They were looking in opposite directions.

"Snarlfang!" Strikestar snapped, the great ginger tom narrowing his eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know what has gotten into him."

"I do!" Snarlfang shouted. "A fellow medicine cat being ignored! StarClan save us! StarClan save us all!" His wild eyes drooped to look at the ground. "Strikestar! You cannot silence me!" Darkpaw cocked her head. Gasps filled the air as the ThunderClan medicine cat continued. "StarClan is against us!"