Facing A Forest of Shadows

Chapter Three {Edited}

Frostfeather had just started to drift into sleep. She had hunted all day with Hailstorm and Appleleaf, but hadn't managed to catch even a single scrap of prey. Now, she just wanted to get a good night's rest. As she felt her senses gently tug into unconscious, she could hear a faint rustle at the edge of the den. She grumbled softly and flicked her tail tip. "Do you really have to come to bed so late, Pineheart...?"

She opened her eyes and was surprised to find it was not her brother. The cozy warmth of her mossy nest had also dissapeared. She now lay in a field of soft grasses and flowers. Before her stood a calico she-cat with a star studded pelt. Her eyes sparkled with wisdom as she gazed down at Frostfeather.

"My sweet daughter, it is an honor to finally be able to come face to face with you," the calico purred. Her voice was soft and silky, like the freshest honey. Frostfeather stretched her eyes wide. She could hardly believe this could be possible.

"She seems a little shocked," a different female voice meowed from further into the tall grasses. Another she-cat stepped forward to confront Frostfeather, her fur dappled with orange and brown splotches.

Frostfeather opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out, she wasn't sure if this was real or just a really cruel dream. "Are you... are you Spottedrose?" she stammered, her heart hammered in her chest. She already knew the answer, it was quite easy to discern that this beautiful cat was her mother.

"Yes, my sweet kit. I have come to bring you a message, the first omen from our ancestors," she meowed seriously.

The other she-cat nodded, her voice grave as she continued, "troubling times are coming for all of IceClan."

The warmth that Frostfeather had felt as she first saw her mother had quickly faded to be replaced with dread. There was a dozen questions she wanted to ask, but all she could muster was three, short words. "But why me?"

Spottedrose leaned forward to push her nose in to Frostfeather's delicate shoulder fur. She felt her pelt tingle at her mother's touch, but the dread still clung hard to her limbs. "Your hard headed temperament may be the only hope for our Clanmates," the brown and orange she-cat mewed.

Spottedrose took a pawstep back and touched her tail to her companion's flank. "Not just her stubbornness, Lilybloom. I know you have felt the tug in your paws, to travel beyond the borders of our territory. In order for IceClan to survive, you must convince our Clanmates to leave the forest."

Leave the forest? Why would we need to leave the forest, Frostfeather thought in a panic. "But things have been so calm and peaceful in the forest," she began to object. But Spottedrose lifted her tail for silence.

"Yes there has been immeasurable peace for the forest and the animals that inhabit it. But nature is mighty and powerful. Its roots have run dry from the blood of our kin, and now it had begun to thirst." Such chilling words, but vague enough that Frostfeather wondered what they really meant.

While her mother spoke, Frostfeather saw a vivid vision flash before her eyes. She sat in the snow covered pine forest once more. The bushes rustled with prey all around her.

The longer she sat, unusual shadowed shapes flitted from the bushes to rush towards her. She could see flashes of red, bloodshot eyes; flecks of spit and foam spattered her legs as the figures nipped at her paws. She tried to pull away, to break away from the tiny creatures that bit and gnawed at her fur.

"It is not longer safe to stay," Spottedrose's voice echoed in her ears. It helped her snap out of the spooky vision. She quickly looked down at her paws, but there were no bite marks or drops of blood in sight.

"What were those things?" Frostfeather gasped as her fur started to bush up all along her spine. She just couldn't understand why this would happen, why they needed to tell this to her and not to someone important like Blizzardstar. What could she even begin to do to convince her Clanmates?