Warriors: Rise of the Shadows (Book 1)

Chapter Ten

Sweetscent opened her eyes, rose to her paws, shook out her fur, and padded out of the den. Her eyes stung at the early leafbare snow that blanketed the ground. She looked towards the elders' den and, on cold paws and ground, made her way over.

Snowberry was on her side and scarcely breathing by the time the young warrior arrived at the den. Sweetscent's eyes widened at the sight of the frail and sickly elder and she wailed. "Emberstripe!" She cried, racing for the medicine cat's den. The tabby she-cat was sound asleep in her nest. Sweetscent grasped the she-cat by the scruff and shook her awake. "Wake up! Snowberry's barely breathing!"

"What?!" Emberstripe shot awake, pelt ruffled as she shot to her herb stores and made a run for the elder's den with Sweetscent at her heels.

The snow-white elder was clawing at her moss bed with her fierce red eyes rolled in the back of her head. Sweetscent stared the the elderly she-cat in terror as Emberstripe panicked.

"There's nothing I can do!" The medicine cat wailed, despair and desperation clinging to her tone. "StarClan why?"

Snowberry twitched her paws before falling limp, the air releasing from her mouth as her flanks fell one last time. Sweetscent cried out in grief and buried her nose into the dead elders' fur, sobbing.

Emberstripe hung her head and pushed out of the den, where the Clan watched with anxiety. "Snowberry has joined StarClan," the young she-cat meowed.

Poppystar padded into the den, her gaze sad and grief-filled as she crouched beside the grieving warrior, pressing her nose to Snowberry's fur. Sweetscent opened an eye and her gaze met her leader's.

"How is she close to you?" The Clan leader murmured, tail tip twitching. Her paws shifted underneath her and she lowered herself to the ground and sighed.

Sweetscent opened her mouth to reply but her mew caught in her throat. "She was Sheepcloud's mother, my grandmother." She meowed after clearing her throat.

Poppystar nodded and gave her a sympathetic flick of her ear before closing her eyes, giving into sleep as she awaited the vigil.

"Sweetscent," a soft voice woke Sweetscent from her stiff sleep. Opening her eyes, Sweetscent saw Snowberry's cold, limp body in her face. Fresh grief crashed into her like a rock and she sighed in sadness before looking up at the voice.

To her surprise and slight horror, Snowberry was standing over her. The she-cat that once was frail and racked with hunger, was now plump and strong muscled. "Come on, dear." The StarClan spirit purred. "Stand up and follow me. We must talk."

"What if the others wake up?" Sweetscent whispered, angling her ears to the other sleeping cats.

Snowberry laughed softly and shook her head. "You're asleep, dear. Come, we don't have a lot of time." She meowed and bounded away, stars chasing after her.

Standing on weightless paws, Sweetscent raced after her kin, struggling to catch up with surprise. At last she stood beside the dead elder and glanced at her questioningly. "What is it you need, Snowberry?" She questioned, wondering why the StarClan elder wanted to see her other than Poppystar or Emberstripe.

The elder turned to the she-cat, her intense red gaze serious. "A great evil is rising in FireClan, Sweetscent." She warned, tail lashing in warning. "Remember the prophecy: Rain will shadow the Clans with its cold, spring will bring new life to the forest, buds of clover will grow but the sweetest scent will heal the Clans. But beware! For an owl's sharp talons will lead the way to bloodshed."

Sweetscent tilted her head in confusion but the she-cat was beginning to fade away. "Wait!" She called, tail flicking with nervousness. "Who is the rising evil?"

Snowberry gave her a knowing look and disappeared. "Remember the prophecy, Sweetscent." She meowed into the wind before evaporating into thin air.

Suddenly everything clicked, the fur on Sweetscent's spine rising with fear. "An owl's sharp talons will lead the way to bloodshed..."