Bloodflower

Chapter 34

"Dawnpaw, I can't sort all these bundles by myself. Stop staring at the sky and help me out."

Dawnpaw blinked, broken out of the thoughtful trance she had been in. She sighed, tearing her eyes away from the pale gray sky, and turned around, heading back into the medicine den.

Grayleaf looked sympathetic. "If you keep on worrying yourself away every time your sister goes off to fight, then we'll never get much done," she gently scolded her.

"It's not Rosethorn I'm thinking about," Dawnpaw confessed. "I mean, it kind of is, but..."

"Spit it out."

Dawnpaw sighed again. "I think this battle has something to do with the prophecy."

She peered up at Grayleaf. Her mentor looked rather surprised, as if this was the last thing she had expected to hear.

"I mean, the StarClan cat told me that dark times were coming soon," Dawnpaw went on anxiously. "What if this battle sets that into motion?" She shuffled her paws in the soft earth. "It's not just Rosethorn I'm worried about. It's the whole patrol. If the prophecy concerns this battle, I have no idea what might happen to them."

"I thought you supported the idea of the battle," Grayleaf meowed. "Now you're saying that you think it's a bad idea."

"I don't think it's a bad idea," Dawnpaw objected. "We had to do it, or else the rogues would never leave us in peace. But it feels like one of those things that's destined to happen, but not in a good way..." she trailed off helplessly. "It's all so confusing!"

To her surprise, Grayleaf left her sorting work and padded up to her. She licked each of her ears comfortingly. "I know you're scared. Of many things. You're scared of what the prophecy means, of losing your sister, of failing your Clan. You might feel like you're all alone in your fears. But you're not. I'm just as scared as you are."

Dawnpaw shook her head. "No, you're not. You aren't phased by any of this, because you know what you're doing. I have no idea what I'm doing! I don't know why I can't put the rest of my Clan before my sister, I don't know why Violetsky chose me of all cats to hear the prophecy—"

Grayleaf raised a paw to silence her suddenly. Dawnpaw looked up again, and realized her mentor had tensed up, her eyes narrowed and unreadable.

"Did you say Violetsky?" she said slowly.

"Er...yes," Dawnpaw replied, bewildered. "It's the name of the StarClan cat that keeps visiting me in my dreams and visions." Why was Grayleaf so surprised? Was there something wrong?

Her mentor was silent for several heartbeats. She was staring hard at Dawnpaw, as if trying to solve some huge mystery that involved her. When she finally spoke, she asked, "Dawnpaw, be honest with me. Are you...seeing a cat from another Clan?"

"What? Of course not!" Dawnpaw was shocked. Where in the name of StarClan had that question come from? And how did it have anything to do with Violetsky?

Grayleaf didn't take her eyes off of her apprentice. "If you're lying to me..."

"For StarClan's sake, I'm not lying. You could ask them yourselves if you really don't believe me. What does this have to do with Violetsky?"

"Violetsky used to visit me, too," Grayleaf mewed, "back when I was still a young apprentice."

"Really?" Dawnpaw gasped. "She never told me that!"

"Did she tell you that she used to be SunClan's medicine cat?"

"Yeah."

"Good. That will make this easier to understand." Grayleaf's pale blue eyes looked misty with memories. "Violetsky was a very gifted medicine cat. A fast learner and naturally sensitive, always putting her Clan's needs before her own. She was respected by all four Clans. At least she was until...until she fell in love with a cat from another Clan."