Echokit was dreaming; she was sure of it. Even though the grass smelled real and felt real beneath her paws, she knew she was dreaming. How else could she get this far away from the camp? After all, she'd never been anywhere outside the camp, so how would she have gotten here?
Echokit turned around, wondering when she was going to wake up. It was probably the most boring dream she'd ever had.
Then a strange scent filled her nose. She turned around and found a silver she-cat with blue eyes sitting before her. She shook her head to try and clear away the dream.
"That won't work," meowed the she-cat quietly.
"Why not?" demanded Echokit, now a little scared, "I've never seen you before, so why would I have a dream about you? And besides, when I wake up, I'll be back in the nursery to look forward to another peaceful day at camp." She turned away and started padding into the forest, not knowing which way to go.
"I'm afraid that's not true."
"What do you mean?" Echokit exclaimed, turning around abruptly, "I am going back, aren't I? I haven't done anything to you, so why should you keep me hostage?" Echokit was now becoming really terrified and even more confused.
"Calm down. Yes, you are going back. I meant that you won't be able to go back and have another peaceful day at camp for a long time," she said, looking at Echokit sadly.
"Wh-what d-do you mean?" stuttered Echokit, "I'm not going to die, am I?"
"No, not for a quite a while."
"So what do you mean? And who are you? Why are you here?"
"It is a very long story. But I will tell you, don't worry. Okay, so who am I? I'm Whirlheart, one of your warrior ancestors."
"You're from StarClan then, aren't you?" Echokit asked, astonished.
Whirlheart nodded, then continued, "Now, for why I am here. Well, first, let's start with this: in the old Clans that patrolled a far away territory, something StarClan couldn't even predict happened: the earth started to shake. It was so bad that old, strong trees were uprooted, and fell onto many cats, instantly killing them. Then, the shaking brought water from under the ground up onto the forest, and it all flooded downhill taking huge rocks, trees, and even cats with it. It gathered speed as it headed downhill, and killed everything in its path. Every single kit and elder was killed, and the queens died trying to save their kits. After it had gone, the land was no longer suitable for life." Whirlheart shuddered.
"Nine warriors, two apprentices, and one medicine cat survived from all the Clans combined. They got together and immediately headed toward the mountains in search for a new home and food, despair and grief filling their hearts at their lost Clanmates. Four of the cats died from weakness, including both apprentices. And, unfortunately, disease swept through the remaining cats on their long, hard journey, and, without the proper herbs he was used to, the medicine cat couldn't save them and one more of the cats died. But, eventually the remaining seven reached a large group of loners in a Twoleg den, in a new peaceful forest on the other side of the mountains, where they treated the Clan cats and fed them, making them stronger again. The Clan cats realized that the loners behaved sort of like a Clan; more like a Clan than any other loners they'd come across, only they lived in a Twoleg den and had no StarClan or warrior code.
"One night, while he was sleeping, the medicine cat had a dream from StarClan, telling him that four of the loners would be the future of the new Clans: DawnClan, DuskClan, DayClan, and NightClan. He was told to separate the loners into these Clans based on their skill and where they hunted best. When he woke, he told the other Clan cats and said they would each take some cats into different parts of the land and divide up territories like they did in their old home. They all nodded and went to speak with the loners. The loners liked the idea of a Clan because all cats with similar skills would stick together, and be stronger together.
"So Dawn, Dusk, Day, and Night were to be the new leaders, with help from the old Clan cats, who would take on the role of mentors because they were getting too old and weathered to lead a new Clan. The one medicine cat would train promising kits from each Clan, visiting each every half moon. Then they went their own separate ways, and eventually they became the new Clans, the ones here today.
"All has been peaceful since the new Clans were formed. But now a terrible danger looms over every cat, and the Clans are all in jeopardy of being destroyed; StarClan can sense it," Whirlheart finished, shaking her head with sorrow in her eyes.
Echokit stared blankly at Whirlheart, not knowing what to make of her speech.
"Why have you told me this?" Echokit asked, shock filling her voice.
Whirlheart didn't answer her question, she just stared ahead and meowed, "I'm here to show you a vision, a vision only you and your sister will share. That's why I came, not to talk about Clan history."
"Then why'd you tell me about Clan history?" Echokit asked.
"It is essential information, knowing the ways the Clans have worked in the past, and how they are working now. This is the first step for resolving arguments, reducing tensions, and creating peace: understanding your differences. And you, young one, will be needing those skills one day."
Echokit was more confused than ever.
Then Whirlheart started to fade, the starlight in her fur becoming less and less easy to notice. Then, suddenly, she was gone, and wind ripped at Echokit's pelt, threatening to blow her off her paws. The forest around her also started to fade, until all she could see was the grass a tail-length in every direction around her. Echokit nearly fell over as the ground beneath her started moving. Echokit became really dizzy and closed her eyes. Then all was still again.
Echokit opened her eyes and saw the DawnClan camp, but it looked all dark and gray, and it was deserted. There was no sun, no scuttling prey, no birds singing in the trees, not even the usual sound or sight of cats. The whole forest seemed dead. Echokit looked at the clearing and saw that thick layers of leaves and dirt were all over the place. Only one small puddle of water lay in the dirt, but it looked dirty and gray too. Echokit realized that no cat, or any other animal, had been here for many seasons. Echokit became confused and looked around, searching for her Clanmates.
"Hello?" she called, but only her echo bouncing off of the cliff in the camp answered her.
"Hello?" she tried again, but there was still no answer. "Where are you all?"
She scanned the camp again, but still saw no signs of life or movement. Echokit sniffed the air and scented her Clanmates, but their scents were very stale.
"Where are you?" Echokit tried again, and the dust blew around her from her breath as she called out, but that was the only thing that moved.
"Someone answer me!" she called desperately. Then an icy stone dropped into her stomach as a horrible feeling sunk into her mind.
Have they all abandoned me?
Then Echokit felt it. The ground was vibrating beneath her. A cold claw raked down her back and a feeling of dread filled her whole body as her neck fur started to rise with fear. She looked around and saw the small, gray puddle of water. Every time the ground trembled, the shaking would send ripples across its surface. She frantically tried looking for the source of the shaking, but found none. Then she realized that the shaking must be coming from footsteps: footsteps of a very, very large animal.
"Help!" wailed Echokit. She tried to run, but her paws were rooted to the ground, "Help! Someone help me!" she yowled, but all was silent except for the steady thudding of the ground.
The trees and bushes around the entrance to the camp started trembling and Echokit realized that whatever was causing the shaking was getting very close very fast.
Then it stepped through the barrier. She tried to make out what it was, but shadows covered up most of its body. What she did see was two pitch black beady eyes, speaking of evil, staring at her, making her shiver and causing her fur to stand on end.
She looked down at its feet and shrieked in surprise. Attached to its jet black paws were the longest claws any cat had ever seen. They were nearly as long as her tail, and they looked sharper than all the claws of all the cats in all the Clans put together. Then she saw it's mouth and shrieked again. The teeth were nearly as long as it's claws and looked even sharper. A picture suddenly formed in her mind of a cat being killed in a single and effortless clamp of its jaws. She closed her eyes and tried to get rid of the image.
Then the creature yowled, louder than any thunder, stronger than any current in the river, and scarier than any tale she'd ever heard from the elders.
But as soon as it had started, the yowling stopped and was replaced by a voice, a whisper compared to the creature's yowl. Echokit realized it was a cat, and a cat she had recently met: Whirlheart! But this time, when she spoke, it wasn't in the soft voice she had heard when she first met her, but a hollow, emotionless voice that spoke ominous words of a terrible prophecy. "Darkness will veil the sky, but with the whispering voice of two, the forest, as one, will echo with light."
Echokit shuddered and everything went black.
* * *
Echokit opened her eyes, sunlight streaming through the gaps of the nursery wall. She yawned and looked outside. Whisperkit was eating fresh-kill with Yellowkit and Cloverkit, laughing. The dawn patrol was just returning and reporting to Eveningstar. Creekfall and Copperleaf were sharing a sparrow by the warriors' den. Beside them, Sparrowtail was with her brother, Eaglefeather. Then Echokit saw her own mother and father sitting together by the sunning-stones. Everything was so peaceful and quiet, an ordinary new-leaf day.
Then she remembered her dream and her whole body shook. Whirlheart had said Whisperkit was getting the same vision, but it didn't look like she had had a terrible dream. She was happy as a fat mouse in green-leaf. Echokit became confused.
Was Whirlheart lying? Was it all really just a dream, a terrible nightmare? she thought. It must have been. But then how would I have a vision about a cat I had never heard of or seen in my life? Why had it seemed so real? I'll just have to ask Whisperkit and find out, she concluded.
She padded over to Whisperkit, Yellowkit, and Cloverkit and sat down beside them.
"Hey, Whisperkit, do you want to go play with Raykit?" Echokit asked her sister, trying to get her sister alone so she could ask her.
"Oh can we come too?" asked Cloverkit.
"Uh..." Echokit didn't know what to say.
"Of course they can," replied Whisperkit, giving Echokit a stern look.
"Are you sure?" asked Yellowkit, looking at Echokit.
"Oh yes, Echokit's just being an annoying furball," meowed Whisperkit, pretending to laugh.
All four kits got up and padded over to the nursery and kept glancing at Echokit.
When they got there, Echokit didn't even look at Raykit, let alone play with him. She was busy thinking of a way to get her sister away from Cloverkit and Yellowkit. Echokit went over possibilities that didn't arouse suspicion, but couldn't think of any. Then she had it.
"Whisperkit, I'm not feeling too well, could you help me over to Goldheart's den?"
"What's wrong?" asked Whisperkit, sounding concerned.
"I think it was the mouse I ate," she lied, "I have a bellyache."
"Oh, okay. Let's go."
When they were out of earshot from the nursery, Echokit seized her chance.
"Whisperkit, I don't really have a bellyache. I just needed to ask you something."
"Alright," sighed Whisperkit, not at all sounding surprised. "Let's go to the dirtplace tunnel. No one usually goes in there."
Echokit followed Whisperkit to the dirtplace tunnel beside the elders' den.
"Okay, what is it?" asked Whisperkit, turning to face Echokit.
Echokit shuffled her paws nervously and began, "I had a dream last night. A StarClan warrior named Whirlheart came and told me that the Clans are in terrible danger. She showed me a vision and told me a prophecy. She also said you'd have the same dream. Did you?"
Whisperkit sighed, "Yes, I did. I was determined to believe it wasn't real. But when you said you wanted to ask me something, I had a feeling it was about that dream."
"So what could be the terrible danger? And why did we, out of all other cats, see it?" asked Echokit in a hushed whisper.
"I don't know. But whatever it is, we know what it was about; we were given the dream. I say we wait to see if StarClan sends any signs or dreams to Goldheart or Eveningstar. StarClan's bound to send signs of danger to the medicine cats," Whisperkit suggested.
"Yeah." replied Echokit distractedly, now becoming really worried that she knew the dream was real, not just a nightmare.
"Just try and push it from your mind, Echokit."
Echokit snorted nervously.
"Come on, let's go," Whisperkit urged. "Cloverkit and Yellowkit are probably wondering where we've gone by now."
"Alright," She sighed and followed her sister back into the camp.
* * *
It had been two sunrises now since Echokit told Whisperkit about the dream. She had tried pushing it from her mind, like her sister had suggested, but always failed. Whenever she was going to sleep or when she saw Whisperkit, the dream always managed to squeeze in and disturb her thoughts.
Sparktail was beginning to spend more and more time away from the camp on patrols and doing warrior duties, as queens did when their kits were apprenticed. But Echokit wanted the comfort of her mother, even though it was acting like a newborn kit to think so. She wanted the carefree days she had when she was younger, without a worry in the world, with the sweet scent of her mother beside her. She wanted to go back in time, to the days when she didn't have to worry about a prophecy or a danger to the Clans.
Every night as Echokit lay in her nest, she heard Whirlheart's ominous voice, always saying the same thing: 'With the whispering voice of two, the forest, as one, will echo with light'. Whatever Echokit tried, it was always there; she could never get rid of it. Her parents were concerned about her, and Whisperkit had told her to not betray her fear, or else the whole Clan would know something was up, and they didn't want to worry the Clan with the knowledge that they, two kits, had.
Easier said than done, Echokit had thought when Whisperkit told her this. It seemed to Echokit that Whisperkit was having a better time hiding her fear than she was. Her sister never looked miserable; she always seemed happy. Echokit wished she could do the same.
Echokit shook her head and focused her thoughts on eating her meal in silence. Yellowkit, Cloverkit, Hailkit, and Whisperkit were talking beside her, but Echokit didn't seem to hear them.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High-stone for a Clan meeting!" yowled Eveningstar.
Echokit jerked her head up in surprise. She quickly finished her meal, licked her lips, and padded over to sit beneath the High-stone. Cloverkit, Hailkit, Yellowkit, and Whisperkit followed.
Echokit saw Eveningstar sitting patiently on the High-stone, his tail wrapped neatly around his paws. When every cat was gathered, Eveningstar yowled, "Cats of DawnClan, I know I never mentioned this before, but with all the problems with DayClan, I think you can understand why I never arranged a ceremony properly. But the Clan needs more warriors, and more apprentices to begin with, so Echokit, Whisperkit, come forward. I think it's time you were apprenticed."
Whisperkit stared at Echokit, surprise and excitement shining in her wide, brown eyes. Echokit felt her heart jump. All memories of the prophecy slipped away as Echokit registered what Eveningstar meant. She gazed up at him, and he beckoned them forward with a flick of his tail. As Echokit trotted up to the High-stone, she saw Hailkit, with his jaw dropped in surprise. Echokit passed him and, holding her head and tail high, leapt up onto the High-stone to join Eveningstar, Whisperkit right beside her.
"Whisperkit," the DawnClan leader began, facing Whisperkit, "you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Whisperpaw, and your mentor will be Gravelpelt." Whisperpaw looked shocked, as if she'd just seen all of DayClan, DuskClan, and NightClan coming to attack her.
Eveningstar turned to Gravelpelt as the gray warrior leapt up to join them. "Gravelpelt, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You received excellent training from Spruceclaw, and you have shown yourself to be loyal and brave. You will be the mentor of Whisperpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."
Gravelpelt stepped forward and bent down to touch noses with Whisperpaw.
"Whisperpaw! Whisperpaw!" The Clan greeted Whisperpaw by her new name, and Echokit saw Sparktail and Rustypelt bursting with pride.
Eveningstar now turned to Echokit. "Echokit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed."
Echokit beamed; she felt happier than she had ever felt before, more excited than she had ever been, and more ready than she had ever imagined.
"From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Echopaw. Your mentor will be Bronzepelt." Bronzepelt leapt up onto the boulder and faced his leader. "Bronzepelt, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Ferrettail, and you have shown yourself to be enthusiastic and honest. I expect you to pass on all you know to Echopaw."
Echopaw trotted toward Bronzepelt and eagerly touched noses with him, his eyes gleaming and reflecting her own pride and determination. Echopaw turned to face her Clan, which she was going to protect with her life. She was going to train as a warrior apprentice!
"Echopaw! Echopaw!" the Clan welcomed her. Echopaw gazed down and saw every cat's face, welcoming her as a new apprentice. She looked back up at Bronzepelt, her mentor, who was going to train her as she became the bravest, most loyal warrior there ever was!
Echopaw began to see her life in a whole new way, a life where she found peace and love, not omens and death. A life full of nothing but happiness, and Echopaw was going to train hard to make sure she had that life, as well as every cat in DawnClan, too.