Chapter 17
Owlpaw walked into the clearing, her eyes excited as she announced her presence. She sat down by the the cats, looking around, "So, what's this thing about?"
Deerpaw answered, "The prophecy is as follows: The 5 clawed paws will journey far and wide. There will be one last battle before peace is fully restored." He looked at Owlpaw. Lionpaw mewed,
"Deerpaw said that we will go over the mountains behind his territory to start the journey." Owlpaw nodded, looking beyond Blizzardclan territory at the large mountain that dwarfed the valley the cats lived in. She licked her paw and swiped it over her ear, "So, do you know where we are going? Or what we are looking for?" She asked. Deerpaw shook his head, "I know we have to find something specific, I think a new territory. I don't know what we will fight, or when. But all I know, is that we are going over that there mountain, we will fight something, and we will find a new territory for our clans."
"Ok." Foxpaw and Owlpaw said at the same time. A pitter patter of tiny feet made Owlpaw stand up. The others obviously haven't heard it, and looked at her. Owlpaw walked slowly across the ground, until she was almost on Meadowclan territory.
"Hey!" Cheetahpaw snarled, "Don't you dare step on our turf!" Owlpaw ignored her, and crouched. Behind her, Cheetahpaw crouched, getting ready to run down the feathered apprentice if needed. But Owlpaw slammed her paws into the ground. It collapsed and a squeal was heard in the night. The apprentices gasped, and Owlpaw emerged from the hole with a rabbit. Lionpaw's eyes went wide, Foxpaw gasped, and Deerpaw mewed, "Woah.."
"Welp," Owlpaw mewed, setting the rabbit down, "I guess we will take this prey with us when we leave!"
Chapter 18
Deerpaw stared at Owlpaw's catch.
"So when we leave, we will have a heavier load, but we won't get hungry on our first rest stop." Foxpaw chirped
Cheetahpaw nodded, "Ok then. When do we leave?" She asked Deerpaw. Deerpaw thought for a bit. He leapt onto the rock, "Every cat, I don't know what this prophecy is supposed to mean, and I have no idea where we are supposed to go. But we will leave at sunhigh tomorrow. Meet here, and we will leave for the mountains." The other cats nodded. Deerpaw leapt down, and the other cats looked at each other, then began to leave. Lionpaw winked at Foxpaw, who rolled her eyes, and walked back to Meadowclan territory. Evantually, only Lionpaw and Deerpaw were left. Lionpaw glared at Deerpaw.
"Don't think just because you are smarter than all of us, it doesn't mean you can act like you own us."
"What?" Deerpaw looked at the golden and black tom with confusion. Lionpaw growled, "You're not our boss!" He turned and ran back to his territory. Deerpaw stood staring after him. The brown tom sighed, and turned to walk back towards his territory. He washed the scent of the other clan cats off his pelt in a stream. Deerpaw dried himself off and sniffed the air. A rabbit was behind a tree, nibbling a few blades of grass, oblivious to the danger only tail lengths away. Deerpaw crouched, and moved in close. Suddenly he burst cover, pursuing the hare. It looked up and ran. But Deerpaw was too close, and he caught it and killed it. He marked a few trees and returned. The camp was still awake.
"Where were you?!" His mentor, Tornadostorm, walked over, sniffing the rabbit. "Patrolling and Hunting. With Snowflakestar's wounds, and with our cats injured from the recent battle, we need the food." Tornadostorm thought then took the rabbit and put it on the fresh kill pile. The ferns to the medicine cat den rustled, and the medicine cat emerged, his face hopeful, yet with a slight trace of grimness.
"Everycat!" He jumped onto the announcing rock, "Snowflakestar will live!" The cats cheered, suddenly hopeful. "But," everyone silenced, "he has lost a ton of blood. Snowflakestar will not be going on patrols or hunts until the next half moon." The cats were silent, then nodded and murmured among themselves. Deerpaw thought for a bit. Hope for Snowflakestar was rising, but what will happen tomorrow at sunhigh?
Chapter 19
Cheetahpaw was having a fitful sleep. She couldn't rest, and everytime she went to sleep, she woke up minutes later from nightmares. Foxpaw was sleeping soundly beside her, her flank rising and falling with every breath. Cheetahpaw stood, and walked outside, laying down. A voice made her jump, "Can't sleep?" It was the medicine cat. He sat beside her. "Nightmares of the prophecy are keeping me awake." She said to him.
"You know what? Come with me." Cheetahpaw followed the tom into his den. Herbs greeted her. He grabbed a bunch of herbs and sat infront of them, "I will give you a basic lesson on the art of herbs, for your trip."
"Really?" Cheetahpaw was surprised.
"Yes. You will need a healer on your trip, and in case someone gets hurt, you will have a healer." He held up a web.
"This is Cobweb. It is used to stop bleeding." He got a huge leaf and placed it on it.
"This plant is Marigold, it stops infections." He placed it on the leaf.
"Juniper berries are used to stop stomach aches." He looked at her, "You got those three?" Cheetahpaw nodded, and placed the berries in the leaf. "This is Feverfew. Hence the name, it stops fevers and colds."
"Coltsfoot is used for cracked pads, which I know will be useful." He placed five of the flowers into the leaf, and held up a tiny seed, "Poppy seeds help distressed or stressed cats. They also help seed."
"I need one of those.." Cheetahpaw mewed. The medicine cat placed them in the leaf wrap, and wrapped up the leaf, "Take this with you on the journey. Trust me. You'll need it." He handed her a poppy seed, "Now go get some sleep."
