Bloodflower

Chapter 14

Dawnpaw padded quietly alongside Grayleaf through MoonClan territory, her eyes fixed on her paws. Tonight was the medicine cats' half-moon meeting, and the night Dawnpaw would be officially welcomed into the ranks of the medicine cats by StarClan.

"Are you sure you want to come tonight?" Grayleaf had asked her earlier that day. The gray she-cat knew about Dawnpaw's horrifying dream, and also understood how worried she was about her sister's injuries. "You can stay here and watch over Rosepaw."

"No," Dawnpaw had answered firmly, although the memory of her dream was still fresh in her mind. "I have to come tonight. StarClan is going to accept me as a medicine cat. And you told me yourself that Rosepaw's injuries aren't fatal; she only passed out from shock and exhaustion."

"Very well," Grayleaf had murmured.

Dawnpaw knew that her mentor believed she was too young to have received such a brutal message from StarClan. And as they trekked through MoonClan territory on their way to the Starfalls—the sacred place where medicine cats shared tongues with their ancestors—she wondered fearfully what the message had meant.

Only a bloodstained flower can save the sun.

Dawnpaw wondered if it was Violetsky who had brought her the message. The starry cat had visited her before, and had even given her a warning regarding Rainfoot's kits. A warning that Dawnpaw had still not shared with anyone.

She recalled that the voice from her dream had been unrecognizable; it didn't even register as a tom or she-cat. I hope I meet Violetsky at the Starfalls, she thought. Then I can ask her if she sent me the dream too.

"Leafstripe! It's good to see you." Grayleaf's call broke into Dawnpaw's thoughts. She looked up to see the MoonClan medicine cat bounding towards them.

"Hello, Grayleaf!" Leafstripe mewed. She turned her warm gaze to Dawnpaw. "You must be excited for tonight. StarClan will be pleased to meet you!"

Dawnpaw forced herself to sound cheerful. "Yes, I'm very excited. I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Grayleaf murmured something inaudible in Leafstripe's ear. The tabby she-cat's eyes widened sympathetically, and she nodded with a quick glance at Dawnpaw.

Grayleaf told her that I've had a nightmare, she guessed.

Louder Grayleaf meowed, "Let's get a move on. Palefeather and Pineshadow will find us along the way."

As the three cats padded along, Leafstripe prompted, "Has Rainfoot given birth to her kits yet?"

"Yes, she has two tom-kits and two she-kits," Grayleaf reported. "They're all healthy."

"Four kits!" Leafstripe purred. "Sounds like quite the pawful, especially with Rainfoot being the only queen in the nursery."

"I expect Shinefur and Patchflower will help her on occasion," Grayleaf responded. "And the elders can keep them entertained with their endless stories!"

"Mallowkit, Icekit, and Yellowkit—the three kits that I told you about at the last Gathering—can hardly sit still. The sooner they're six moons old, the better!"

As the two medicine cats chatted, Dawnpaw's thoughts wandered back to her dream. Only a bloodstained flower can save the sun.

Dawnpaw had not the slightest idea what the message meant, and neither had Grayleaf when she had told her about the dream. Perhaps the "sun" was SunClan. But what did a "bloodstained flower" have to do with that? What was the bloodstained flower? And the most foreboding question: what was the terrible tragedy that was coming? Maybe it has something to do with Rainfoot's kits, and Violetsky's message?