Warriors: The Prophecy of Fire

Chapter Nineteen

Hawthornepaw stretched out in her nest, slowly blinking her eyes open. It was a half-moon so that meant she would be up late at Moonpool with the other medicine cats. She unsheathed and sheathed her claws, digging them into her nest. Letting out a wide yawn she quickly groomed herself and made her way out of the den. It was almost sun-high and the whole Clan was up, the fresh-kill pile full of fish. She grabbed one but almost jumped out of her fur when she heard a voice behind her.

"Glad your finally up, dormouse." Hawthornepaw turns and sees Brushbranch behind her, his eyes teasing.

"Hi, Brushbranch. What is it?"

"What, can't I just want to say hi to my littermate, my favorite medicine cat?"

Hawthornepaw purrs in laughter, "First of all, don't let Mosstail hear you say that, and secondly nope, something's always up. What's going on?"

He takes a deep breath, his blue eyes glowing. "Doveleaf's expecting my kits!" Her heart almost leaps out of her chest as she purrs again, but this time from pure joy.

"Great StarClan! That's wonderful! Has she talked with Mosstail yet?"

"Yep, first thing this morning." 

She steps up to her brother and rubs against him, a continuous purr rumbling from her throat. "I'm so happy for you, you'll be a great dad!"

"Thanks, Hawthornepaw," he purred. She nuzzled him and then reached down to grab the fish she had earlier, quickly downing it. With one last swoop of her tail she stood up and padded into the woods to find Mosstail and help him with the herbs. When she finds him she sees him crouching down and pulling some marigold flowers out of the ground and placing them in a in a pile next to him. She crouches down next to the black tom and starts picking some marigold with him. After a little bit longer with the marigold they move on and start collecting some more herbs and then head back to the den where they sort them with the rest of the stocks. By the time they're done it's well after sun-high, time to leave for the half-moon meeting. Mosstail gets together the traveling herbs and they quickly chew them before heading out of the den and to the edge of the territory. They walk through WindClan territory and meet up with Fawnwhisker and chat on their way to ThunderClan territory.

"Did you get the catmint for your Clan?" she asked, her amber eyes glistening in concern. 

Mosstail looks meaningfully at Hawthornepaw before replying to the brown she-cat. "Yes, and almost every cat made it except for Ravenwing, he passed away a sunrise ago." 

Fawnwhisker dips her head, her eyes full of sorrow. "I'm so sorry." They continue through the rest of WindClan territory in silence and then step into ThunderClan. They continue the rest of the way, running into Thorntail on the way, the light-grey she-cat asking the same question and getting the same response. When they get to Moonpool they see ShadowClan's Oatfur waiting, his tail curled around his feet. Mosstail clears his throat before turning to face the other four medicine cats.

"Hawthornepaw has been a medicine cat for many moons now, she has been through the death of a leader, an outbreak of whitecough turned greencough, the birthing of kits, the death of kits, and the death of an elder. I think that it is time enough that she become a medicine cat." Hawthornepaw's eyes widened in shock before she quickly dipped her head and licked her fur smooth, untangling it before looking back up at the black tom, his tail swishing anxiously. He sighed in relief when he saw her sit back up. "I, Mosstail, medicine cat of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help she will serve her Clan for many moons. Hawthornepaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"

Hawthornepaw's tail flicked in excitement, it was finally happening! "I do," she mewed, her voice clear as the night.

"Then by the powers of I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Hawthornepaw, from this moment you will be known as Hawthorneclaw. StarClan honors your ferocity and wisdom, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of RiverClan."

Her eyes shined in joy as she walked towards her former mentor and he rests his head on hers as she licks his  shoulder. Purring happily, she hears the medicine cats call out her new name, "Hawthorneclaw! Hawthorneclaw!" She follows the rest of the medicine cats and crouches down with them, lapping up the cool, clear water of the Moonpool.

She's in the forest once again. The trees burning, the ground burning, everything burning, even the lake. She sees the two cats walk towards her, the fire dimming around them but never stopping burning. She sees one open its jaws again, but this time she could actually hear it speak.

"The one from the time when Silverpelt shines bright, and the one who descends from the time of the light, will have to mix to make things right."

The other cat steps forwards, finishing the prophecy. "Only then will the fires perish or else you'll lose all whom you cherish." The fires around them burned just as fierce as before, the smoke stinging her eyes. The forest slowly faded and she felt a cool breeze blow over her, calming her agitated pelt.

She opened her eyes and she saw a familiar den over her, the half-moon reflecting into the Moonpool as she peered into it. Stepping back, she sees the other cats slowly backing away from the water. They pad out of the den and Oatfur is the first to leave, heading back to his territory. Walking in a comfortable silence, the group of medicine cats slowly dwindles until it's just Hawthorneclaw and Mosstail walking side by side. They reach camp and they head to the medicine cat den, curling up in their nests. She hears Mosstail's gentle snores but she's restless, trying to figure out the prophecy. 'The time of the Silverpelt', that would be night. Nightsky she realizes with a start. What about 'the time of the light', that's day, there's nobody named day though. She thinks through the Clan and realizes Sunpelt, the sun is out during the day so they must be talking about him. She and her littermates were his only living descendants, so that means one of them must 'mix' with Nightsky. Her brother is mates with Doveleaf, but what about Silverfeather? She seems to be getting pretty close to being Twigheart's mate, but it can't be her, can it? With a sigh she closes her eyes and falls into a restless sleep, trying to understand which of her and her littermates they were talking about. 

A/N: I was going to make a sequel after this, but decided that I should put it into just this one book. Thank you so much for reading!