The Secret Clan - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Greetings, Fallenstar.” Vinepaw mewed hesitantly. Duskflower and Tuifeather stood expectantly behind her, peering in at the crouched shape of the faded tortoiseshell leader. He twisted his head around and narrowed his eyes at the three she-cats.

“Oh…yes, yes come in.” Fallenstar seemed to have forgotten he had invited them. Duskflower rather brusquely shoved her way to the front of the cave entrance. “Fallenstar, we would like to talk to you about today’s mission.” The grey deputy waved her tail in gesture, and Tuifeather and Vinepaw sat down on the cave floor.

“Go ahead, Duskflower.” Fallenstar mewed tersely.

Vinepaw listened half-heartedly as Duskflower recounted the trip down to the blockage, the encounter with the rubbish heap and the fire. The tabby apprentice sighed quietly and zoned out, gazing across the camp. He rain looked like a cat was shaking it’s whiskers in front of the cave. The reeds shushed the camp, filling the night with its whispering. Vinepaw shuddered, fluffing up her fur to the passing wind. The medicine cat apprentice tried to shove the prophecy to the back of her mind, but it was resilient, fluttering past her vision like a persistent butterfly. She didn’t want to think of what the ominous words meant. The look Tuifeather had…she thought she could see the whole of StarClan in her mentor’s eyes. What if that meant –

“Vinepaw!” A sharp prod in her ribs roused Vinepaw. Duskflower and Tuifeather were watching her. The startled she-cat glanced at Tuifeather, whose eyes held nothing of their past fright, but a particularly annoyed stare.

“Fallenstar asked you a question,” Duskflower hissed.

“How do you interpret this, Vinepaw?” Fallenstar growled impatiently. Vinepaw thought for a moment.

“Fallenstar, I can fully assure you, this is not a positive sign. Darkness, in prophecies, sometimes signifies a rogue, or a badger or fox. Something that lives and breathes, and has a want to hurt the Clan. But this…this darkness is not our friend, nor is it our enemy. It…it just is.” Vinepaw mewed ruefully. She knew her explanation was less than self-explanatory, and she wanted to make herself sound wise to Fallenstar. Thankfully, Tuifeather caught Vinepaw with the corner of her eye and intercepted.

“Earlier today, before the prophecy came, Keapaw took a drink from the river up that side of the meadow. He nearly choked on it. There was a black liquid in the river. Keapaw took a drink from the river, and the poor kit nearly choked. I think the black liquid from the container is tainting our water supply.” Tuifeather finished hesitantly. Fallenstar did not reply immediately. He tensed, gazing at his paws. His vision seemed to focus, then blur, and then repeat again. Still not looking at the MeadowClan warriors, he mewed, “So, our water is not pure? We... we cannot drink it?” The three cats shook their heads in unison. Fallenstar got to his paws.

“Outrage!” he growled, lashing his tail. Before Vinepaw could speak, he continued sharply.

“StarClan! It’s all StarClan! They are trying to destroy us, to crush our strength! Crowstar, yes, Crowstar is behind it all! He never wanted me to be leader, no, and now he resents me! But I will show him. I will show him that he cannot out-fox me. That he cannot out-fox MeadowClan!” His snap progressed into an insane yowl, filling the whole camp with its disillusion of StarClan. Fallenstar’s eyes flickered with grey flames.

“Fallenstar?” Vinepaw dared to ask. The tortoiseshell leader’s eyes turned to their usual soot colour. His lips quivered, as if he couldn’t quite remember what he’d just done. He looked down and narrowed his eyes.

“Thank you. You…you may all go.” He whispered.

All Fallenstar could see were the tips of tails when he looked back up.

Vinepaw breathed deeply. Without bodies to warm it, the medicine cat den was ice-cold, and Vinepaw could see her breath coming in cloudy billows. Tuifeather was muttering again – she could see from the small gusts coming from her mouth. The black and white medicine cat pawed at the supply of catmint. Growth had been good this leafbare, and the only thing that the medicine cats lacked was the elusive yarrow. Though the bitter-tasting herb wasn’t a crowd favourite, in certain situations it was vital to have. Tuifeather crouched on her nest of reeds and goose down. “Sleep now, Vinepaw.” She murmured, eyes closing with each word. Vinepaw cast one last look at the twice-organised piles of herbs before curling up next to her mentor, letting sleep wash over her…

“Vinepaw,” a ragged voice hissed. “You’re not a bear, you don’t hibernate! Now open your eyes.”

Vinepaw’s eyes flipped open. She was nearly nauseous by what she saw. She was in a huge, buzzing, whirring forest. Rain dripped from stratospheric oaks, though no water seemed to touch Vinepaw. There was cat-scent all around her, turning her nostrils inside out with so many names and smells. And before her stood a stocky, grey she-cat whose eyes betrayed nothing but the annoyance of waking an apprentice.

“Are you Mintfur?” Vinepaw squeaked in surprise. Mintfur was the medicine cat before Tuifeather, and Vinepaw had only met her once, as a kit, before she was killed by a rogue. This is a dream from StarClan! Vinepaw thought excitedly.

“No, I’m a squirrel,” Mintfur mewed sarcastically. “Of course it’s me!” Vinepaw had learned from being with the elders not to fear sharp-tongues, so she stretched in the evening sun and sat up. Mintfur cocked her head to the side, deciding whether to chide the young apprentice or speak kindly. She purred.

“Hello, young one. How is Tuifeather?” Mintfur meowed. Vinepaw stopped mid-lick. “Shouldn’t you know? You could just visit her, too.” Mintfur gave an indifferent sniff.

“She has other dreams occupying her mind, at the moment.” Vinepaw wondered what the old medicine cat meant, when a large mottled tom trotted out of a bush. He skirted the pair, and then approached them slowly.

“Greetings, Vinepaw.” The grey tom spoke in a wise, low voice. “My name is Stonestar,” he said, before Vinepaw could ask his identity. “I was leader of MeadowClan before Crowstar.” Stonestar spat the name of the murderous leader. Crowstar had been father of Starlingflight and Tuifeather. When the infamous leader had died, the two cats, then apprentices were not immediately welcomed into the Clan. But Mintfur and Fallenstar, despite how mournful he was about Crowstar killing his mate, accepted them. Now Starlingflight was a warrior to be proud of, and Tuifeather was a great medicine cat, and a great mentor to Vinepaw.

“Is this about the omen?” Vinepaw asked tentatively.

“Yes,” Stonestar said sadly. “We have come to warn you.”

“Warn us?” Vinepaw gasped.

“Stop asking questions, and let us inform you!” Mintfur growled.

“The black liquid is tainting your water,” Stonestar continued. “If any cat drinks it, they will become sick beyond healing, and die. You must find another home.” Vinepaw felt hollow. She shrank into the grass, trying to run away from the whole ordeal. Leave the meadow? But MeadowClan have been here for generations…

“What if we can’t find a place? The meadow is perfect for us; there aren’t many like it.” Vinepaw whimpered. “Prey is bountiful, not many rogues bother us, and there is – or at least used to be – a full supply of water. There aren’t very many places below Silverpelt that have that.” She ended sorrowfully.

Stonestar’s voice rumbled in his throat.

“There may not be many, but there are some. And we will lead you to one; the rest you will have to figure out for yourself.”

Mintfur placed her tail tip on Stonestar’s shoulder, implying for him to stop. “You will also have to convince Fallenstar, and that is a task within itself.”

Vinepaw felt like yowling to the skies. Where will we go? What must I do?

“How will I do it?” she mewed aloud.

“We will always be with you,” Mintfur purred, her eyes boring holes in Vinepaw’s. “Now go,” she continued. “You have a great destiny, you and Tuifeather.”

Dewfrost felt like a fox-heart. Badger dung, a complete and utter mouse-brain. Apprentices – all of them – were supposed to be brought up with confidence and nurturing. And she had just turned down a cat that was barely a kit. One day she would become a MeadowClan warrior, probably one to be proud of, and maybe one day even Clan leader! And she had just turned down a cat that was barely a kit, made them feel lower than a worm. Dewfrost knew in her head and heart that it would only make it worse to talk to Hollypaw. So she would just hold in her shame until sunrise, when she and Hollypaw would go out for the first time as mentor and apprentice. Dewfrost’s heart lifted a little when she thought of how she would redeem herself, and how she would make little Hollypaw proud to be her apprentice. She kept this in her mind as she collapsed into her nest. Most of her denmates had shifted their nests to the back of the bracken den. Dewfrost could see the eerie moonlight reflected on the staring eyes of fellow cats, some of them her friends. But were they still her friends? She tucked her grey tail over her nose, gazing out into the rainy night. Hailcloud and Lightfoot would stick by her, she was sure of that since they were kin. But her friends? Starlingflight and Treeleaf had always cheered her up. Casting a quick look at the glowing eyes behind her, she was sure she could see the green, disappointed eyes of Treeleaf. Dewfrost sighed and settled into a patchy sleep.

A hiss woke Dewfrost. Her eyes were blurred with rest, and flashes of nightmare-ish images still haunted behind her eyelids. But she was sure she could see a figure at the mouth of her den, sitting with a tight expression on her face.

“I need to talk to you, Dewfrost.” The cat growled. Dewfrost gathered her paws together and crouched in her nest, not willing to stand.

“Get up,” the stranger said. Dewfrost scurried out of the den, staying two tail-lengths from the cat at all times. The cat – now distinguishable as white – lead her to a patch of sheltered reeds, not far from camp. They padded there in silence, the white she-cat’s tail twitching with irritation. Dewfrost shrank under a large bush of blackberry, waiting for the cat to say something, but it didn’t. It sat there; pelt soaking with rain, back to her.

“Who…who are you?” Dewfrost whispered.

“Who do you think, Dewfrost?” the white cat faced her sharply with her gold eyes flashing with rage. Dewfrost gasped to see Tansypetal: beloved queen, mate to Riverfur, and mother of Hollypaw.

“You know what you’ve done. You know that it was wrong. So what am I doing here, you ask?” Tansypetal’s white fur was in wet clumps and her breath was ragged and tired. Dewfrost just stared.

“I’m here to ask you to keep quiet.” Tansypetal whimpered. Her face suddenly a lot less ferocious than it had been before.

Dewfrost quivered, recoiling. Does Tansypetal want to kill me? “Hollypaw wanted you as a mentor,” Tansypetal wailed.

“I should’ve told you! That’s why Fallenstar was so adamant. He says that Hollypaw has a lot of talent, and when she asked for you, he couldn’t refuse.” Tansypetal shuffled her feet and winced, suddenly feeling the rain. Dewfrost moved from under her shelter so that Tansypetal could be protected, too. The two shared tongues for a while, with Dewfrost licking Tansypetal dry. The night poured on, and so did the rain.

“Why did Fallenstar let Hollypaw choose a mentor?” Dewfrost mumbled.

“There was something,” Tansypetal whispered, half asleep. “Fallenstar swore me to secrecy – not even Hollypaw’s littermates know. I cannot tell you. I’m sorry,”

Dewfrost’s eyelids felt heavy with sleep, and both the yearning to know about her apprentice’s secret. She nudged the sleeping queen. “We best get back to camp, or we’ll be missed.”