The first book of arc one of New Dawn
Started on February 8th 2020
Finished on August 12th 2020
All even chapters are written by my friend
All odd chapters are written by me
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Act 1 - Strange Sights, Stolen Souls
Sunset was edging closer, RatPaw didn't stop thinking about his dream about the prophecy. He wanted to tell DeerPaw tonight, before he changed his mind. BrokenWing had noticed his lack of focus when training, and was starting to worry about him. He sat underneath some birch trees and waited for a DeerPaw to come back from a hunting patrol.
What am I going to tell her? Will she even believe me when I say I've received a prophecy?
He thought. Just then the cats from the hunting patrol started to come through the entrance of the camp. OtterPelt, Smokeswirl, SpruceFur, MousePaw and DeerPaw. He stood up and dashed over to them.
"Hey guys!" he said, trying to sound calm. "Hey, we caught plenty of food so we can have one piece each!" MousePaw meowed softly, his brother was a complicated cat, he was always nice to him, but not so much other cats, he had a hard time trusting other cats.
"Hey DeerPaw, I need to tell you something..." he beckoned with his paw for her to follow, she picked up two pieces of prey and followed him, "MousePaw, I'll see you in the apprentices den!"He meowed. MousePaws tail drooped as he walked towards the den. They both sat down and she pushed a large vole towards him, "Thanks." he hadn't realised how hungry he was until he smelled the fresh scent.
DeerPaw took a reasonably sized bite and then looked at him, "So....... what did you wanna tell me?" she asked, her mouth full of prey. "Oh, uh, yea.... well it's been on my mind for awhile now and I dont know who else to talk to it about...." He paused in uncertainty. "I uhh.... I had a dream, about a moon ago, there was nothing but darkness, and then I heard a cats voice, it was the old medicine cat, SpiritSky, and she said 'Three will become four, six will disappear and the forest will become prey'". He stopped and looked at her. She gulped down her prey and her eyes widened in surprise and shock.
"I - I had the same dream... I had it the night you and MousePaw became apprentices!"
RatPaw gasped, "Really? I don't know exactly what it means, but maybe we should go to SilverLeaf? I mean, it's the place where Medicine Cats contact EclipseClan, maybe we could get some more information on what we should do there?".
DeerPaw froze in thought. Finally, she nodded, then she quickly looked in front of her to see the Deputy and DeerPaws mentor OtterPelt, "Shouldn't you two be going to your den instead of gossiping all night?" She scolded. "S-sorry OtterPelt, we're going now, I'll see you at dawn for battle training!" they walked until OtterPelt was talking to SpeckleStar.
"Ok we'll leave at midnight, meet me outside the camp next to the fallen birch tree, the one struck by thunder."
Deerpaw nodded and they went into the apprentices den. RatPaw collapsed on his moss and soon sleepiness swallowed him and he dozed off.
RatPaw didn't sleep long, he was up fantasising what the dream meant, and why him and DeerPaw had the same dream. He got to his paws and stalked out of the apprentices den, he almost immediately recognised the blue and yellow eyes next to the entrance of the camp.
"Hey, are you ready to go?" He whispered, Deerpaw nodded, and the two bounced out of the camp to SilverLeaf.
They walked for awhile in silence, he always liked DeerPaw's company, every time he smelled her fur, it filled him with warmness, her speckled fur was glistening it the moonlight.
Together, they descended the cliffs leading to SilverLeaf. "Be careful." Ratpaw whispered. "We are in MountainClan territory from here to SilverLeaf.". DeerPaw nodded in understanding and looked around.
Suddenly, she shouldered Ratpaw into a bush. When he opened his mouth to argue, she hushed him and flicked her ear toward a silvery she-cat, followed eagerly by a similarly coloured Tom. The former stopped to sniff the air, and Ratpaw crouched lower into the dirt. "BirchClan cats." She hissed. The other looked around wildly and then remarked "It could've been the cats at the gathering. They were around here only yesterday, Whitepaw."
Whitepaw stood stick still for a moment, taking in his words. "Alright, it could've been them, but keep an eye out ok, Silverpaw?". With that they moved on, and once they were out of sight, the two BirchClan apprentices snuck out of the bush. "So we're near the gathering spot." Ratpaw said quietly. "Yeah, and from what Otterpelt tells me, that's near SilverLeaf.". They walked for another hour, then Deerpaw let out a small squeal of excitement.
"There it is!" She squeaked and ran over to the large tree, unlike the other trees its leaves were silvery and glistening. Suddenly his fur shot up, and a scent filled his nostrils.
"Clan cats! Those two apprentices must've followed us!"
