Waging War: Book 1: Beyond the Mountains {COMPLETE}

Chapter 13

Owlpaw regretfully walked into the cavern after leaving the cliff. She couldn't see Sheer Mountain, so she just made a beeline for the den. I'll give Sheer Mountain some time to calm down, then I'll apologize. Maybe I can still salvage this. Her travel mates had already began settling down in their nests for the night, Earthpelt lifted her head as Owlpaw entered the den.

"How did your talk with Sheer Mountain go?" Earthpelt questioned as Owlpaw sat down in her nest.

"Not great." Owlpaw replied with a heavy sigh. "I learned that her mother talked a lot of cats in the stars, but Sheer Mountain thought she was crazy. I told her about StarClan but it just made her mad, she stormed off."

"So you've angered our only lead." Slatepaw mewed with a slight growl from his nest. "Remind me again why StarClan sent you the dream?"

Owlpaw winced slightly, but did her best to ignore the AshClan apprentice. "I'm going to bed, tomorrow I'll go apologize to Sheer Mountain and try and make this right." Her companions began muttering quietly, but Owlpaw just ignored them as she closed her eyes. I will make this right. I can't accept failure, not yet.

*****

Owlpaw's eyes fluttered open, but she wasn't in her nest. She back on the cliff where she had spoken with Sheer Mountain. The stars shimmered overhead, it was as beautiful as she pictured when first seeing the cliff. However, Owlpaw couldn't really take a moment to take in the scene as she quickly realized she wasn't alone. The other seven Clan cats sat with here, looking around in confusion.

Leafdawn sat up, her eyes confused. "What is going on? Where are we?"

"We're above the cave," Owlpaw explained. "This is where Sheer Mountain and I spoke earlier."

"Why are we all here though?" Seedclaw questioned, his green eyes scanning the cliff.

"Because it's time you learned about what you've been searching for." A voice spoke and all heads turned towards the edge of the cliff. Owlpaw gasped as the same tortoiseshell from her past two dreams formed before them.

"It's you again! Owlpaw exclaimed, confusing the others even further. "Who are you? Why do I keep seeing you?"

The tortoiseshell dipped her head. "My name is Mosscloud, I am a former MoonClan medicine cat."

"I think I've heard your name before. When I first joined MoonClan I was told many stories about the past" Berryheart spoke up. "But why are you out here?"

"And why is a MoonClan cat guiding us when all the Clans are involved?" Fennelpaw added.

"Because I am the only StarClan cat who can venture this far beyond your territories, but that is a story for another time." Mosscloud explained softly.

"So you're going to tell us what we're on this journey for? What we're supposed to find?" Seedclaw asked hopefully.

Mosscloud nodded. "But first, I have to tell you a story."

"Seriously?" Slatepaw spoke up, twitching his ears. "Why do we need to listen to some story?"

"Patience, Slatepaw." Mosscloud bowed her head, Slatepaw rolled his eyes. "You'll see why in time" Mosscloud sat down and looked across the group of Clan cats. "Are you all familiar with the story of how the four Clans came to be?"

"Sunstar, Ashstar, Moonstar and Lichenstar all formed their own Clans and with the guidance of StarClan, the four Clans were built." Earthpelt answered. Owlpaw had heard the story before when she was younger.

Mosscloud nodded. "That's correct, but that is far from the beginning of the story." Owlpaw blinked. What more is there? "Before LichenClan, MoonClan, SunClan and AshClan, there were five different Clans." The Clan cats were all taken aback. Five different Clans?