Two and a half moons had passed since Echopaw's and Whisperpaw's first tour of the territory, and the two of them were coming along well as apprentices; they had just finished a hunting lesson with their mentors and were on their way back to the camp.
Green-leaf had officially arrived, bringing the daily warmth with it. Hunting patrols seemed to be bringing back more and more prey each day, and there seemed to be no more trouble from DayClan, not since the day Aspenleaf had been wounded. The young warrior was still in Goldheart's den; she would have been out a moon ago, but her wound had started to become infected, so Goldheart had ordered her to stay with him for a while longer until he was absolutely sure that she was healed.
Yellowkit had finally become apprenticed yesterday, even though she wasn't six moons old yet; Goldheart had wanted to start her training early, and having Aspenleaf in the medicine cats' den would give Yellowpaw some good practice and help her learn faster.
Echopaw shook her head to clear her thoughts and followed Gravelpelt, Bronzepelt, and Whisperpaw into the camp.
Bronzepelt turned to the apprentices. "You two, go fetch the elders some fresh-kill, then you can get some rest. It looks like we won't we doing much more today; the clouds are coming in, and they may be bringing a storm with them."
Echopaw and Whisperpaw dipped their head to the red-furred warrior and trotted across the clearing to the fresh-kill pile. Echopaw grabbed a blue jay and a vole, and Whisperpaw picked out two mice. The two sisters pushed their way through the pine branches of the elders' den and found Spruceclaw and Ferrettail sharing tongues, while Fogtail slept in the corner.
Ferrettail looked up at the two apprentices. "Oh, is all that for us?" he asked.
Echopaw dipped her head and set the vole and blue jay down. Whisperpaw dropped the two mice she was carrying beside the prey Echopaw had brought.
"Did you two catch any of those?" asked Spruceclaw.
Echopaw shook her head slowly, staring at her paws. "No... We haven't actually caught our first prey yet."
"Don't worry; you'll get there soon enough," Spruceclaw meowed gently, his brown eyes encouraging.
Echopaw smiled and nodded. Whisperpaw dipped her head to the two elders, then lead the way out of the den, and Echopaw followed.
As soon as they crossed the clearing, Echopaw noticed the clouds Bronzepelt had been talking about. They were giant, puffy, and gray, and they were climbing higher and higher into the sky, while creeping closer and closer to the forest. A shadow swept across the camp as the clouds blotted out the sun, and a cool breeze began to stir the bushes around the camp. The grasses of the clearing bent over, and the trees began to sway as the strength of the breeze heightened.
Echopaw shivered and stared around the camp. Eveningstar, Twigfoot, Sunfur, Copperleaf, and Sparktail were deep in conversation, but when the wind buffeted their pelts, they all gazed up the graying sky and broke apart, each heading to different parts of the camp.
Sparktail padded towards Echopaw and Whisperpaw, lashing her tail and flattening her ears. "Eveningstar has just told us that a big storm is on its way, so finish up your apprentice duties, then get into your den as soon as you can."
Echopaw nodded and stared up at the clouds again.
"Those clouds signal a coming thunderstorm, with pouring rain, cold winds, and sometimes even hail. It's dangerous for a cat to be out in a thunderstorm, especially if it's hailing, so there's not going to be an evening patrol; Eveningstar doesn't want to risk cats getting hurt." Sparktail sighed. "You'd better get to your dens."
Echopaw and Whisperpaw nodded, exchanging a glance, then they turned to stare at the expanding clouds again.
Sparktail nodded and meowed, "Well, I'd better help tell the elders."
Echopaw watched her mother go, then turned to Whisperpaw. "We should get some fresh-kill, then head to the den."
Whisperpaw nodded.
As they crossed the clearing, a darker shadow engulfed the camp, and Echopaw looked up. The clouds were nearly upon them, and they had blotted out almost the entire sky. Then, out of nowhere, a huge gust of wind ripped through the camp, and Echopaw let out a hiss of surprise.
Whisperpaw dashed to the fresh-kill pile, grabbed two birds, then raced to the apprentices' den, Echopaw on her tail.
The wind lulled for a few heartbeats, and Echopaw glanced around to see Creekfall helping Aspenleaf into the medicine cats' den, while Goldheart followed them. Rustypelt and Sparktail meowed something to Whisperpaw, who nodded and raced off to help Raykit, who was struggling to move in the gusting wind. Sagetail was helping Eveningstar get the elders into the den and then ran to help Whisperpaw get Raykit into the nursery. Meadowheart, Eaglefeather, and Sparrowtail had just finished dividing up the fresh-kill they had caught, and they raced into the warriors' den.
Echopaw turned and saw Whisperpaw calling to her from inside the apprentices' den. Echopaw couldn't hear what she was saying; the wind carried her sister's voice away. But Echopaw guessed Whisperpaw was telling her to hurry up and get inside, so Echopaw ran toward her, fighting the raging wind.
"Some storm!" called Whisperpaw, her voice sounding like a whisper compared to the howling of the wind.
"I know!" yowled Echopaw over the gusts. "And it came out of nowhere! It was nice and warm earlier when we were training!"
"Yeah, it's weird," replied Whisperpaw, turning around to their nests.
Once deeper into the den, it became warmer and wasn't as loud. Echopaw shook off to try and rid her pelt of the cold and dust. She could still hear the howling of the wind above her and the creaking of the trees swaying.
Then suddenly the den lit up and blinded Echopaw. Then it was dark again. Echopaw was about to ask what it was, when her voice was drowned out by a deafening roar that shook the whole forest and echoed off the trees, chilling Echopaw to the bone. She cowered against the side of the den. Then as soon as it had started, the rumbling stopped.
"That m-must have been lightning and thunder," Echopaw stuttered, feeling her bristling fur quiver as she looked at Whisperpaw.
Whisperpaw nodded stiffly, then she pricked up her ears as a pounding filled the air, loud in the lull of the thunder.
Echopaw peered through the growing darkness outside and saw streaks fly past. "Rain?" Echopaw asked, squinting.
"No... it's too loud to be rain," Whisperpaw murmured.
Echopaw padded cautiously to the entrance of the den. Something bounced inside, landing by her paws. Echopaw sniffed. Ice? Ice falling from the sky? "This must be the hail Sparktail mentioned. It's falling ice!" Echopaw exclaimed.
The hail looked about as big as a ladybug, and sounded peaceful. Echopaw turned back toward Whisperpaw and saw that she was looking up at the roof of the den, because every now and then, a tiny piece of hail would fall right through the top of the bush.
Then the sound started getting louder. Echopaw turned back to the entrance of the den and peered outside. The hail was getting bigger, and bigger. It was now almost as big as a snail shell. There were so much falling from the sky and it became nearly deafening. Echopaw prayed to StarClan that, with hail this big, the dens wouldn't collapse and that every cat would be safe.
There was another flash of lightning outside. Echopaw was prepared this time when the thunder crackled and boomed overhead, but it was still just as loud and bone-chilling as the first. Only a second later, another flash of lightning lit up the sky, a jagged line that seemed to be right in front of her. It split the sky and was so bright that Echopaw had to close her eyes. Then the clap of thunder ripped open the silence and overpowered the pounding of the rain and hail, so loud that Echopaw thought the whole world was about to explode and burn up from this one bolt of lightning. Then, as soon as it had started, the thunder had stopped.
All Echopaw could hear was the steady pounding of the rain and hail, and the howling of the wind in the trees.
Whisperpaw pressed up against her, gazing at the storm with wonder and fear.
No more lightning and thunder hit the forest, and the hail began to let up. The worst of the storm must have passed.
"Let's get to bed," Whisperpaw yawned.
Echopaw followed her sister to their nests and curled up beside her sister, closing her eyes.
Echopaw lay awake for a while, thinking about the storm and the danger it had possessed. Echopaw's heart skipped a beat as she thought of danger. The prophecy had spoken of some danger; could the darkness it would bring be worse than a thunderstorm?