Warriors: The Trail of Centuries

Chapter 12

     "Why can't you explain it now?" Spottedpaw demanded and started to chase after them. She was too late, though—the two leaders had vanished from her sight. The apprentice blinked in confusion and found herself just outside a new, empty clearing. She padded forward and almost emerged from the undergrowth, though a frighteningly familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

     "Please!" the voice wailed desperately. "Please, I've been trying to speak to you for so many seasons. I need your guidance." Spottedpaw immediately ducked in the bushes and peered cautiously into the clearing. When she discovered the source of the voice, her breath hitched in her throat. There was no mistaking the snowy-white build in the clearing; it was Frozenleaf.

     Spottedpaw briefly wondered where the StarClan cats had vanished to, but quickly banished it from her mind. Right now, she needed to figure out why Frozenleaf appeared in the clearing—and why she was seeing the healer.

     "Have you chosen somebody else to communicate with? Do you no longer trust me? Is it that apprentice, Spottedpaw?" Frozenleaf demanded, sounding nearly angry. Spottedpaw's eyes widened as the healer continued shouting into nothingness. "She's been suffering from these nightmares but will only tell me that there's death in them—I can't get her to open up. I know you've been sending her visions—why won't you speak to me? Why can't she see that I'm on her side? That I'm on your side? I've only done what I've had to in order to survive . . . ." Spottedpaw felt a tug at her heart when the healer broke off in a sob. Has she really been begging for a message from StarClan for so long? she wondered sympathetically. Why won't they just talk to her? She recalled the time when she'd eavesdropped on Frozenleaf and Deadeye, and how Frozenleaf had blamed their silence on his rejection of a leader's name.

     Spottedpaw looked around and saw that a dense fog surrounded the clearing. She padded towards it carefully, making sure that every pawstep landed on a leafless ground. When she reached a paw out to touch the fog, she found that it was impenetrable—a literal wall of fog, as one would say. She turned back to the clearing when Frozenleaf spoke again, her voice now shaky.

     "I-I'm at a loss. So much is happening . . . it's not going well anymore, and I'm sure you're well aware. Deadeye's kits have grown so sick, and so fast, but he won't listen. He's slipping. He's not the strong warrior I once knew, and I fear it will only harm us. Please, I need to hear from you again." Her voice cracked, and she dipped her head, looking utterly defeated. Spottedpaw took a step forward and stopped dead in her tracks when a twig snapped underneath her. Within an instant, Frozenleaf fixed her gaze on the bushes where Spottedpaw hid. 

     Spottedpaw hid away from the healer's line of sight. She briefly met her icy gaze and nearly froze up under it. Frozenleaf padded slowly into the undergrowth and, as she drew nearer, Spottedpaw screwed her eyes shut in an attempt to wake herself up. The ferns around her quivered as the healer grew even closer to where she hid.

     "Who's there? Reveal yourself." Her voice held a tone of desperation unlike anything Spottedpaw had ever heard before. The golden-furred apprentice pressed herself against the leafy floor in one final attempt to hide herself from the healer. Suddenly, the surrounding undergrowth stilled, and the forest fell silent.

     When she opened her eyes again, the clearing—and Frozenleaf—had vanished, along with the fog surrounding it. Spottedpaw scanned the forest around her and found that it was even more unfamiliar than the previous two areas she'd found herself in. Sunlight still twinkled down at her, though it felt much weaker than before.

     An ear-splitting screech nearly scared Spottedpaw out of her fur. She searched wildly for the source and saw a hawk perched on a nearby branch. It locked its sights on her and gave another ear-splitting screech; as it did so, the sunlight faded and storm clouds appeared in the distance. Spottedpaw felt her fur ruffle as the wind picked up, swaying the trees of the forest.