Shadowed Dawn - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Aspenpaw blinked her eyes open slowly. The world was spinning. As she inhaled, water filled her nose, and she recoiled backwards, gasping.

It was dark out, a starry night casting long shadows on the clearing. As the young she-cat glanced around warily, she once more recalled where she was, and what had just happened.

Her vision at the sunpool sent a thrill racing through her from ears to tail tip. She had seen her mother. Aspenpaw tried to memorise Lightsong's features, her light russet pelt, her fluffy tail, the soft curve of her ears. The memory of Lightsong, her sweet scent, her warm amber eyes, was slowly fading in Aspenpaw's memory like the sun setting, giving way once more to the darkness of night.

What did it mean? Aspenpaw glanced around, desperately, but the only noise was the faint lapping of the sunpool's water on the stone. Resolve strengthened in Aspenpaw the more she reflected on the dream; it was her destiny to find and save Lightsong.

And to destroy whatever monsters had taken DawnClan's strongest warrior.

Aspenpaw glanced up at the ridge which would lead back towards her clanmates. Then, she glanced back once more at the sunpool, the stars glistening faintly on its surface.

She wasn't going back to DawnClan the same naive apprentice she had been when she had arrived on this sacred ground. Receiving these memories, this mission, StarClan's light, it was like a right of passage. Aspenpaw had to be a warrior.

The Light!

Aspenpaw couldn't help but feel a tingle of eagerness spread throughout her as she recalled the new power she would surely now have. Having the Light made her a true member of DawnClan.

She felt a glimour of pity right then for the former kittypet, Chestnutsplash, who had never had DawnClan blood, and thus had never truly gotten the Light, which truly made a cat one of them. There was also poor Sunpaw, whose half-Clan blood might tamper with the Light's full abilities.

But my mother is Lightsong, the purest and most DawnClan warrior a cat could ever be!

Aspenpaw stared down at her paws, and a sudden thought struck her. Surely Sparrowtalon and the rest of the patrol could wait a few more moments? She wanted to summon StarClan's Light right now. Right in front of the Sunpool, so she could be sure all her ancestors- maybe even my father- could watch.

Anticipation thrummed in Aspenpaw's chest as she imagined all the glorious power she was about to feel. She closed her eyes as she had seen all DawnClan's warriors do, and focussed on the pounding of her heart.

"The Light comes from your spirit," Ebonywing had once told her. "I often like to think about my heart while summoning. It helps me centre my thoughts."

Aspenpaw had never been particularly good at controlling her thoughts. They just sort of happened. It was easier to just let them sprint off in thousands of different directions rather than try to control them. She sometimes envied how centred and tranquil cats like Ravenflutter could be.

Right. My heart. I can do this for Lightsong. Maybe the Light will show me more about how to find her.

Aspenpaw found her heartbeat. It was thumping madly like a beast waiting to be released. With all the restraint she had, the young she-cat began to inhale and exhale slowly. Gradually, she felt her mind stop spinning, and her heart begin to slow to match her breathing.

As Aspenpaw listened, she could sense a certain aura deep inside her, yearning to be let out. She reached forward, desperation making her heart pound faster, she was almost there, she had almost reached Lightsong-