The New Group (By Otterpaw)

The New Group
By Otterpaw

Allegiances
Loner Group-

Ruler: Raven- jet black tom with white paws and blue eyes

Second in Comand: Fern: solid pale gray she-cat with green eyes

Healer(s): Echo- light gray she-cat with a white belly with sky blue eyes

Members: Hurricane: dark brown tabby tom with a lighter chest and stormy green eyes (Name Credit to Wrenpaw) Pale: light ginger she-cat with white paws and blue eyes (Name Credit to Wrenpaw) Web: long furred silver tom with amber eyes (Name Credit to Wrenpaw) Pool: blue-grey tabby she-cat with yellow eyes (Name Credit to Wrenpaw) Dusk – Pale brown tom with white flecks and blue eyes (Name Credit to Lionfire) Fish – Silver tabby she-cat with white paws and blue eyes (Name Credit to Lionfire) Maple: ginger tabby she cat with green eyes and a white chest (Name Credit to Aquapaw) Gorse: black tom with amber eyes (Name Credit to Aquapaw) Blossom: tortoiseshell she cat with blue eyes (Name Credit to Aquapaw) Shrew: light brown tabby tom with yellow eyes and darker brown paws (Name Credit to Aquapaw) Irelia-silver and white she-cat with bright green eyes (Name Credit to Dawnbringer) Azir-pale yellow tom with white flecks and amber eyes (Name Credit to Dawnbringer) Riven-dark grey she-cat with lighter grey flecks with a slash on one eye and blue eyes (Name Credit to Dawnbringer) Slate – a dark slate-grey she-cat with grey eyes and a stumpy tail (Name Credit to Bluefire) Smoke – a grey tom who’s fur looks like smoke with blue eyes (Name Credit to Bluefire) Dawn – a pale grey she-cat with violet eyes (Name Credit to Bluefire) Bright Fox: Stocky, dark ginger she-cat with vibrant leaf-green eyes (Name Credit to Fallenpaw) Tall Grass: Tall, lithe light brown tom with broken-up stripes and amber eyes (Name Credit to Fallenpaw) Bird – mottled tabby she-cat with white paws and green eyes (Name Credit to Brightwing) Coal – long-furred black tom with large paws and yellow eyes (Name Credit to Brightwing) Pond – tall sleek-furred blue-grey tom with bright green eyes and long whiskers (Name Credit to Brightwing) Thorn – small sandy-colored tom with a long tail and unusual blue eyes (Name Credit to Brightwing)

Learners: Riley: dappled tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes Rory- dark brown tabby tom with warm amber eyes Lucky- ginger tabby tom with green eyes Marigold- bright ginger she-cat with stripes and green eyes

Queens and Kits- N/A

Elder: Zilean-old, wise grey and white tom with a cut ear and yellow eyes

Prologue
The light gray she-cat was in a dream. She was sure of it.

The dream was an odd dream, with a bunch of cats whispering in her ears.

she will save the group… the group’s fate lies in her paws…

Echo turned around, seeing no cat, just a bunch of trees, surrounding her. She heard the echo of the cats bounce around her.

“Who is the she?” The light gray she-cat called out. “I must know!”

The whispering disappeared. The she-cat jerked right up from her nest, seeing a black tom before her. “Echo!” The black tom mewed. “Are you alright?”

“She’ll save the clan.” Echo repeated. “The group’s fate lies in her paws!”

The black tom hushed her. “You might wake the kits. Echo, you’re my healer, do you know what this means? Who is the she?”

Echo stared at him. “Raven, I don’t know. There’s going to be trouble for our group. She must save it.”

“This is just a nightmare.” Raven said, letting out a sigh. “It’s nothing. You can go back to sleep, there’s nothing to worry about, I got this clan under control.”

Raven left the healer’s den. Echo glanced after him. She tried to go back to sleep, wanting to see more of her dream.

Nothing.

She laid in her nest, paws in front of her. She can save our group, Echo thought. ''But what is the trouble coming our way? Who is the she?''

Chapter One
Little paws hit against the dappled tortoiseshell kit’s chest. “Riley! Riley!” A tom-kit’s voice called. “Wake up!”

Riley’s eyes fluttered open to see a tom-kit’s dark brown tabby face and his amber eyes staring into hers. “Rory, stop it. I’m trying to get some rest! Everyday, you’ve woken me up!” Rory frowned. “Riley! You’re no fun. Don’t you know what day it is today?”

Riley liked her paw. “The day you finally stop bothering me?”

Their mother, Blossom let out a purr of amusement. “Rory, what is it?”

“Don’t you know that today is the day that we’re going to be turned into Learners?” Rory said, jumping up and down.

“We’re going to be learners?” Riley said, suddenly interested. “It’s been six moons already?”

Rory nodded. “Yep! It’s going to be so much fun! I’m going to learn how to hunt, how to fight…”

“How to get ticks off of Zilean’s pelt.” Blossom meowed.

Riley and Rory scrunched their nose. “Eww!”

Rory pretended to gag. “Any way, I’m going to be the best member! Maybe I’ll even be leader!”

“Leaders have lots of responsibility.” Blossom pointed out. “But Raven is doing a very good job so far.”

Riley’s eyes strayed outside of the den, not looking at her mother anymore. She saw the other kits, Lucky and Marigold playing outside, chasing a butterfly.

“Can we go outside?” Riley asked. “Lucky and Marigold are outside!”

Blossom gave a brisk nod. “I guess so… the other queens and I must talk.”

Riley scrambled outside, Rory tumbling after her. Rory went over to the other kits.

“Aren’t you too old to be playing with a butterfly?” Rory said to the other kits. “We’re becoming apprentices today!”

Lucky looked up. “Oh we know. We have to savor our moments as kits first though. I heard that when you’re an apprentice, you don’t even have any time to play!”

“You don’t need to play when you’re going to learn how to fight and hunt!” Riley replied.

Marigold stopped and went back on her four paws. “I guess so.”

Before Riley could reply, Raven’s voice cut her off. “May all cats come together for a clan meeting!”

All the kits looked at each other excitedly. They were becoming learners!

---==+==---

“Riley! Rory! Lucky! Marigold! Riley! Rory! Lucky! Marigold!” The group’s voice echoed along the clearing. Riley puffed out her chest proudly.

Raven called the meeting over and beckoned the new learners over. They paddled over.

“Congrats on becoming learners!” Raven exclaimed. “Your mentors will teach you very well…”

Riley gazed behind Raven to the medicine cats den, where Echo sat, staring at Riley and Marigold. Her eyes were clouded and she looked like she barely had any sleep.

Riley nudged Marigold and used her tail to point to Echo.

“Look!” She whispered to Marigold. Marigold looked up.

“Huh.” Marigold whispered back. Why is Echo looking at us so weirdly? Riley thought in her head.

Raven caught on of what Riley and Marigold was looking at and looked behind him, glaring at Echo. “Oh, um err… that’s just Echo, the medicine cat.”

“We know.” Lucky said.

“Can we go to our mentors to see what we are doing for the first day?” Rory asked.

Raven nodded. “Sure. Go to your mentors.”

Lucky went over Smoke, his mentor. Rory bounced over to Gorse. Riley and Marigold’s mentors, Bird and Bright Fox were sharing tongues.

Riley glanced over at Raven, who came over to Echo, with a little anger in the way he walked.

“Why is Raven so angry at Echo?” Marigold wondered. “She was just looking at us.”

Riley remembered the clouded gaze in Echo’s eyes at she stared at the new apprentices. “I think it’s more than that.” Without saying another word, Riley and Marigold went over to their mentors.

Chapter Two
Riley walked over to Bright Fox. “So what will we do today?”

Bright Fox stood up. “I think I’m going to show you around.” The dark ginger beckoned over Irelia and Web. “We’ll need company, just in case rouges show up or something else.” Riley nodded. She followed Bright Fox out of the camp. “Woah! This is so cool!”

Irelia let out a mrrow of amusement. “Just wait til you see our first stop.”

Eagerness pouncing in her head, her heart thumping, she walked faster. Hiding behind blades of grass, they looked at a huge clearing of a thunderpath, and there was a bunch of large yellow monsters.

Riley gasped. “What is that?”

“Those are what we call leader monsters.” Web replied. “They are bigger then the others, and they carry more twolegs.”

“Twoleg kits.” Bright Fox corrected. “You better stay away from them, Riley. The can spot you.”

Riley peered out of the grass, and saw a bunch of twoleg kits run out from the big monster. “There are so many! They are about learner aged, are they being trained too?”

Bright Fox purred. “Learn about what? How to catch us and make us into kittypets? I doubt that. Let’s go, we have more destinations to go.”

Riley looked out the blades of grass at the twolegs. Bright Fox wasn’t watching, nor was Irelia or Web. Crouching, Riley went past the blades of grass.

“Riley!” A voice called, sounding like it was from Bright Fox.

Looking back, a yowl from a twoleg kit pierced Riley’s ears. She jerked her head and watched in horror as the twoleg kit ran towards her. Unsheathing her claws, Riley closed her eyes.

Irelia leaped in front of Riley and hissed. The twoleg kit ran away. Bright Fox and Web went over to Irelia and Riley.

“Thanks, Irelia.” Bright Fox meowed. “Riley, you can’t go running off like that. The twoleg kit got dangerously close. You should be more careful.”

Riley hung her head. “Sorry Bright Fox. I promise it won’t happen again.”

Bright Fox waved her tail. “It’s alright. You’re just a new learner. You’ll learn.”

Uncertain, RIley followed Bright Fox. Before Riley could ask a question, Bright Fox answer. “We’ll go to the edge of the forest. It’s good to know where it is, but we never go out of the forest.”

“Rarely.” Web said. “Sometimes we leave, but we haven’t left in moons.”

As the patrol went towards the forest, a strange scent touched their noses. “Odd.” Irelia said, sniffing the air. “I have no idea what it is.”

“Nor do I.” Bright Fox said. “Web?”

Web shook his silver head. “Never smelled it before.”

Riley tilted her head. “Rouges?”

Bright Fox gave a brisk nod. “Possibly. But it just seems…. odd. Why in Leaf-bare? Let’s go hunting, I’ll teach you the basics.”

Riley sniffed the air once more. The scent was strong, it wasn’t faint at all.

“Riley!” Irelia called. “Coming!” Riley mewed back, chasing after the other members of the group.

Chapter Three
Rory limped into camp, remembering his time before when he was chasing that mouse. That stupid mouse.

''I got it! I got it!'' Rory had thought eagerly as he chased. Well. He didn’t got it.

Was he too excited? Yes. Did he hear his mentor call out to him, “Rory! Watch out!”? No. More importantly, did he see the mud and wet, slippery leaves in the way of his path?

A big, fat no.

Stupid. Rory thought miserably. ''Mouse-brained. Just so dumb!''

Gorse, his mentor, went over to his apprentice. “Are you okay? Do you need to see Echo?”

Rory glanced over to the healer’s den. Echo was outside of the den, murmuring to her self. It kind of sounded like: ''Riley or Marigold? Riley or Marigold? ''

Rory shook the thoughts out of his head. No. That would be stupid. He stared up at Gorse. “No, I’m fine. A little slip up won’t hurt me.”

Gorse purred. “Good. Go ahead and do… well whatever you want.”

Sighing, Rory limped over to the learners den. Lucky came out, and Rory noticed the ginger tom wince as he came over. “Ouch. Are you okay?”

Rory nodded. “I’m good. It’s no biggie.”

Lucky looked uncertain for a moment. He sighed. “Just stay safe, alright? I don’t want to become a member of the clan while you are stuck with Echo in the healers den!”

Rory didn’t reply, he just let out a mrrow of amusement. He jerked his head to look at the entrance of camp. Riley came in, with a thrush between her jaws. A pang of envy went through Rory. He watched as Riley dropped the thrush into the fresh-kill pile and padded over to Rory. The dark brown tom forced out a purr. “Did Bright Fox let you take her prey into camp?”

Riley puffed out her chest. “No, I actually caught it myself.” Her eyes strayed off to Rory’s leg. “Oh my, are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Rory snapped, getting frustrated. Seeing the hurt look on Riley’s tortoiseshell face, he let out a sigh. “I’m fine, it’s no big deal.” He repeated in a calmer tone.

Riley looked up at the sky. “The sun’s going down. Our first day as learners. Wasn’t it fun?”

''Fun? More like terrible,'' Rory wanted to say. “Yeah. I’m going to go to sleep.”

Rory opened her mouth to reply, but she changed her mind last second. “Sure. It’s been a day.”

Shrugging, Rory went into the learners den and went off to his nest. He curled in his nest. The other apprentices were outside, eating prey and sharing tongues.

“I got the see leader monsters today!” Riley’s voice said.

“I got to cross the river!” That was Marigold’s voice. “I almost fell in!”

Frustration went through Rory like a wave. Shame flooded his brain. He just wanted to go to sleep! And soon, he did….

He woke up. Well, he didn’t exactly. Rory didn’t know where he was. A clearing with trees hovering over him, casting a shadow over him. The dark sky made Rory not able to see anything, only the full moon made him be able to see anything.

“Where am I?” Rory asked.

“Why do you want to know?” A deep voice growled. A white pelt came out of the darkness. “Stand up, learner.”

Rory stared at the stranger. “My name is Rory.”

“Fine.” The white tom growled. “Stand up, Rory.”

Rory shook his head. “I hurt my leg during training, today. Gorse told me not to put pressure-”

“Stand up!” The white tom repeated. Frighted, Rory quickly stood up. “Good. When you’re here, you listen to what I say. Am I clear?”

“Yes. What is your name?” Rory asked.

The white tom stared at Rory. “My name is Strike. I will teach you here. Better then your mentor, Gorse or something. You will become the best member of the clan. Do you want that?”

Rory remembered the feeling when he watched Riley come in from camp, her eyes bright, carrying the thrush between her teeth. “Better than Riley?”

“Yes. Better than anybody.” Strike answered.

A gleam appeared in Rory’s eyes. “Then yes. I agree to train with you.”

“Good. Training will start tomorrow. I’ll see you in your dream.” Strike meowed.

Excitement fizzed through Rory. “Better than Riley.” He murmured to himself. Fading away, he went back to his nest.

Chapter Four
“Raven sent us to investigate the weird smell again.” Bright Fox explained to Riley.

Raven’s second-in-command, Fern went along with them. “I have to this. Raven is very strict against invaders. This can be dangerous, rouges might be here!” Riley, on the other hand, was excited. A real adventure. What if they actually ran into rouges?

Bright Fox went towards the edge of the territory. “This is where the scent was. It’s faint now.”

Fern sniffed the air. “There’s a new smell. It’s strong. Let’s follow it.”

Breaking into a run, Fern followed the scent. Bright Fox chased after her, with Riley following. Fern stopped abruptly. “The river.”

Bright Fox looked at Riley. “Try to find the smell. Do you remember what it smelled like?”

“A weird, musky, salty smell.” Riley replied. “I got it.”

Bright Fox purred and went off. Riley walked along the river. Kicking at the pebbles. She played with the water. Riley hopped on a stone and stared at the trees across the river. The shadows filled in the gaps of the trees.

Sniffing the air, Riley found the weird smell again. It wasn’t faint at all, it was strong. Staring at the trees again, a pair of bright blue eyes stared back at Riley.

“Bright Fox! There’s something-” Riley was about to say, but the owner of the blue eyes came at her. Black and white patched fur knocked her onto the grass. Riley clawed back.

The cat’s weight crushed Riley. Meowing in frustration, Riley used her legs to kick at the cat’s belly and turned him onto his back. Riley pinned the cat to the ground. “Who are you?”

The cat was a tom. He was about Riley’s age. He had black and white patched fur and blue eyes. He stared up at Riley, not saying anything.

“Who are you?” Riley repeated.

“Skip.” The tom answered. “Who are you?”

Before Riley could answer, Bright Fox and Fern came running toward Riley. “What happened?”

On the other side of the river, two other cats- a white she-cat and a brown tom. Skip knocked Riley off and ran toward the white she-cat. “Lacey!”

The white she-cat- Lacey was her name- glared at Fern and Bright Fox. Lacey turned to the brown tom.”Nuts, go tell Rosemary that we found the smell on our-”

“Yours?” Fern meowed in disbelief, curling her lip. “This is our territory! We don’t need you rouges coming here and invading us!”

Lacey shook her head. “We aren’t invading you. We’re looking for a home. How about you stay on your side of the river and we stay on ours? There’s plenty of room for us.”

Bright Fox gave a look to Fern. “What do you think Raven would do?”

Fern looked at Lacey and Skip for a second then looked back at Riley’s teacher. “I think that I would go talk to Raven about it.”

“You’re not going to kick us out, are you?” Skip asked, getting closer to Lacey.

“We’re protecting our territory,” Riley replied, standing up straighter, “we’re not cruel.”

Fern gave an approving look at the young learner. “We’ll let you stay, but if Raven doesn’t want you to stay in this forest, you’ll have to go.”

“We’ll talk to Rosemary.” Lacey replied. “Nuts. Skip. Let’s go back to camp.”

Skip looked at Riley. “Lacey’s my older sister.”

Riley didn’t reply, though. She just stared as the black and white tom bounced off after the group. “Are they actually going to stay on our territory?”

“We don’t know.” Bright Fox answered. “It’s Raven’s decision, he’s the ruler.”

“Let’s get back to camp.” Fern decided. “Bright Fox, you and I will talk to Raven. Riley, you can go have some prey.”

Nodding, Riley followed Fern and Bright Fox back to camp.

—==+==—

Back at camp, Riley watched as Bright Fox talked with Fern and Raven about the other loners. Rouges.

Marigold noticed Riley’s tail twitch. “Are they talking about the other cats on our territory? What are their names?”

Riley looked up at the golden she-cat. “Skip and Lacey.” Riley stopped to take a bite out of her mouse. “Nuts and Rosemary. I’m thinking Rosemary is their leader.”

Marigold nodded, but didn’t reply, just ate her thrush in front of her. Riley looked down at her half-eaten mouse. She didn’t feel hungry at all anymore.

The dappled tortoiseshell she-cat nosed the mouse away. “Give it to Rory.” He have been acting kind of… weird lately, Riley wanted to add, but she changed her mind last second.

Riley turned her head and looked at Bright Fix, who was walking with Raven towards the healers den. Bright Fox noticed Riley looking at them and beckoned her over.

“We are going to ask for Echo’s opinion on the loners.” Bright Fox explained as her trainee came toward her. “I think that since you found the smell, you should come to see what we decide to do.”

Riley nodded and walked faster. Echo blinked when the cats came over.

“A few days ago, Bright Fox and Riley found an odd scent.” Raven explained. “They found what the scent came from- other cats. They want to live on our territory.”

Once again, Echo blinked. After a few seconds, her blue eyes widened. “These new cats will be trouble. The fall of our group. The end. I’m trying to tell you, the she-cat will save us. All of us, I hope.”

Raven looked at Bright Fox with worried eyes. “Trouble? Does that mean we shouldn’t let them stay?”

Bright Fox pondered that. “They seem homeless.” And harmless. I don’t think they are a threat. They could be good allies, maybe we should go talk to their leader- Rosemary, isn’t it?- and decide if they should stay or not.”

Raven turned back to Echo. “We’ll think your idea, but first we’re going to talk to Rosemary.”

Echo didn’t say anything, her whiskers twitched. Raven and Bright Fox walked away, talking to each other in hushed tones. Riley quickly turned back to look at Echo, who was murmuring to herself. The learner turned back.

Why is Echo acting so weird?

Chapter Five
Rory faced Strike in his dream. Strike came at his legs, Rory tried clawing at him but Strike was way to fast and Rory fell. Rory hit the ground with his back on the ground.

“What are we practicing, again?” Strike demanded, hovering over the young dark brown tabby.

Rory stared up at him, nervous. “Umm… fighting?”

Strike cuffed Rory’s ear. “Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong!” Strike snapped. “Get up! We’re practicing reactions, I’ve been training with you for about a moon now, you should know what we are supposed to be doing!”

Rory looked at his paws. “Sorry.”

Strike snarled. “‘Sorry’ won’t cut it. Reaction drills are important. Do you know why?”

Rory opened his mouth to speak, but Strike cut him off. “In battles, you need them. You never know when they can strike!”

Strike lashed his paw out at Rory. The young learner managed to dodge the last second. Strike let out a sound that seemed like it was meant to be a purr, but it sounded like a growl. “Well done. Reaction is an important part of fighting. And fighting is the most important part of being a good member off your little group or whatever you call it.”

“Why do we always practice fighting?” Rory asked. “Isn’t hunting and patrols also an important part of being a good member?”

Strike growled. “Hunting is meant for others. Patrols are unnecessary. Fighting is the best part. So, are you going to question me again or-”

“No.” Rory said quickly. “Let’s practice more.”

Strike smirked. “Okay, first let’s-”

—==+==—

A paw jabbed Rory in the stomach, making him come back to his nest. “Rory! Wake up.”

Rory looked up, yawning. He turned to the owner of the voice who woke him up, who was Lucky. “What?”

“I woke up to go on dawn patrol, but Fern told me that I didn’t have too.” Lucky explained. “She also told me to go hunting. So? Do you want to come?”

Rory looked past Lucky and checked the sky. At the bottom of the sky, orange and yellow clashed together, while at the top, a pretty indigo-purple was washed out. Sunrise, dawn. He could go back to sleep and train with Strike some more.

“Sure.” Rory decided. “I can come with you.”

Lucky purred. “Cool. I think we should go hunt at the Hanging Willows first.”

“Okay.” Rory agreed.

“Then after that we can go-” Lucky wheezed. Rory hadn’t noticed before, but Lucky had mucus coming from his eyes and nose. He coughed. Once. Twice. Three times.

“Are you alright?” Rory asked, worried for his friend.

Lucky took a deep breath and used his paw to touch his nose. “I’m okay.” He replied, sniffling. “Let’s go tell Fern that we’re hunting then we can leave.”

Uncertain that his friend was alright, Rory followed Lucky outside. The dark brown tabby fluffed out his fur as the cold breeze struck him. Leaf-bare, Rory remembered, shivering from the cold.

Lucky wheezed and coughed as the breeze touch him. He sneezed and went over to Fern, who was sending out patrols.

“We’re going hunting.” Lucky said with taking a deep breath like he was gasping for air after he have been underwater for a long time.

Fern frowned. “Not with that fever! Sorry Lucky, but you can’t go hunting. You can go to Echo’s den to see if there’s anything wrong with you.”

Lucky cleared his throat. “But I’m just fine-”

Lucky vomited. He hung his head down as it came from his mouth as Fern crouched over him. The pale gray she-cat looked at him sternly. “Healer’s den. Now. Echo can help you. Rory, you come with him.”

Lucky groaned. Rory helped him to the healer’s den. As they went in, Rory looked at Echo’s nest. Echo was sound asleep, her eyes shut closed and her long, fluffy, light gray tail curled around her body.

Rory silently and slowly approached her. “Umm… Echo? Sorry to disturb you, but Lucky isn’t feeling good.”

Echo’s sky blue eyes fluttered open. She got up and arched her back in a stretch. “Wow. That was the most sleep I got since…” She froze. “Since… never mind. So, what’s the problem?”

“Lucky hasn’t been feeling good.” Rory mewed. “He was wheezing, his nose was running, and he just vomited earlier.”

Echo nodded and went over to a neat pile of leaves. She picked up a long leaf and put it in front of Lucky. “Here. Eat this, it’s Willow Leaves. It’ll help stop your vomiting.”

Lucky crouched down to eat the leaves. “Vomiting and wheezing. Is there anything-” he wheezed, taking a deep breath for air, “-wrong with me?”

The light gray she-cat sat down, pondering. “It’s Leaf-bare… vomiting and wheezing… sounds like greencough to me.”

Lucky’s eyes widened. “Greencough?”

Echo nodded her light gray head. “Yes. I need to check the others to see if they have greencough- or even whitecough. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Wait! Is there anything to cure greencough?” Lucky asked.

Echo’s eyes gleamed. “Back when I was in the clans- when I was an medicine cat apprentice, Echopaw- the first thing my mentor taught me is that catmint cures greencough.” Echo said. “But we’ve ran out, and I’ve been too tired to find any.”

“That’s right, Echopaw.” Fern said, coming into the den. “Don’t you ever regret leaving WindClan and coming here?”

Echo shook her head. “No, Fernpaw. I don’t regret a thing.” Echo teased, using Fern’s old name. “I’m just glad your came along with me, and believed my dream that told me I should leave. I wonder how mother is?”

Fern purred. “She’s fine. She still has Oatpaw and Reedstalk, doesn’t she? Anyways, is Lucky alright?”

“He has Greencough.” Rory answered before Echo could say anything. Lucky nodded, trying to hold in a wheeze, taking a bunch of deep breaths.

“I’m going to hold off telling his mother, Pale. Mothers are over-protective. Like the time where Riley got a thorn stuck in her pad, it looked like Blossom was going to faint!” Fern exclaimed, purring. “I hope… I won’t be like that.” Fern stared shyly down at her swollen belly.

Echo used her tail to stroke her sister’s back. “You’ll be a great mother. Raven will be a good father.”

“Not if I catch greencough.” Fern said. “I’ll have to go.”

Fern disappeared through the vines that covered the den. Rory looked back at Echo. “Catmint cures greencough? Is there anything else I can do?”

Echo thought for a moment. “Well, you can’t go to get catmint, since you would have to cross the thunderpath to get to a twolegs nest, and that’s dangerous. And you shouldn’t get catmint this early in the day, since it’ll rot in the store because of the dew. I guess you can get some moss. Also, you have to stay away from Lucky, greencough is contagious.”

Rory nodded. “I’ll do that.” Rory got some moss and went over to the river, the sun was shining brightly, but the air was cold. Rory bent down to dip the moss in the water.

“You rather dip moss in water then train with me?” A voice growled. Rory turned around to see Strike’s snarling face.

“No,” Rory answered, shaking his head, “I’m just getting some wet moss. Lucky has greencough.”

Strike shook his head. “You’re not a healer! You shouldn’t be doing healer duties!”

“But-” Rory started to say. Pawsteps sounded from away.

“See? Didn’t you hear that, too?” Slate, his group mate said.

A growl came from another tom. “It better not be those rouges.” That was Thorn.

Strike closed his eyes shut and disappeared. Rory looked as Riven lead Thorn and Slate. “Oh, it’s just you, Rory.” Slate let out a sigh of relief. “We thought you were a rouge! What are you doing?”

“Getting some wet moss.” Rory explained. “Lucky has greencough, and others might have it, too.”

Riven frowned. “I’ve had heard Hurricane, Pool and Shrew wheezing last night.”

“Pond and Azir has, too.” Thorn added. “And others, too.”

“Greencough is very contagious.” Rory mewed, remembering Echo telling him about it. “So, stay away from any cats that you think has greencough.”

Riven nodded. “Thank you, Rory. Keep on doing what you are… well doing.”

Riven lead the patrol away. Rory could feel Strike’s warm breath on his neck.

You are not a healer. Strike whispered, his muzzle close to Rory’s ear. Rory tried to ignore it as he dipped the moss into the water, but he just couldn’t. ''You are a member, a fighter. And you can’t do anything to change that. I’ll see you tonight…''

Chapter Six
“May all cats old enough to catch their own prey come to the clearing for a meeting!” Raven’s yowl stuck the air. “Well, except for the sick cats.”

Riley walked with Marigold over to the front of the crowd. Other cats gathered around while Raven and Fern sat near a big tree. Echo usually was there with them, but this time she sat nearby the healer’s den.

“We have a lot of things to discuss.” Raven explained. “First, Fern is expecting my kits.”

Excitement came over the cats like a wave.

“That’s great!”

“Congratulations!”

“They’ll become great warriors one day!”

Raven flicked his tail- signal for silence. As the excitement faded down, Raven continued. “As you can see, some of the members of our clan have left the den. They’re in the healer’s den. They have greencough or whitecough, and they are not to be visited.”

Rory leaned over to Riley. “Echo tells me it’s because it’s contagious.” He whispered. Riley nodded.

“And last thing is,” Raven said, “that most of you know that there are other… cats on the other side of the river.”

No gasps of shock appeared. “Rouges!” One cat called out.

“I don’t know if they are rouges.” Fern replied. “But, Raven needs to go on.”

Raven nodded at Fern. “Thank you, Fern. I see that all of you know about that. We’ve seen these cats, and had a couple of meetings with them, but we haven’t decided if they should stay on our territory, yet.”

No cat replied.

“So, their leader, Rosemary and I agreed that we will meet today, to decide if they should stay or not. Tonight is the full moon.” Raven went on. “Fern and Echo will stay, and I will choose six cats to accompany me.”

Marigold fidgeted beside Riley. Rory held his breath. Riley just stared at Raven, wanting to know who was going with him.

“The cats that I choose to come with me are Bright Fox, Irelia, and Gorse,” Raven said, pausing. “Marigold, Riley and Rory.”

Groans came from some of the cats. “Why do the learners get to go and not the more experienced members?”

Raven gave a stern look to the cats that groaned. “I chose them for a reason. Going to see how we settle arguments will help with their training. I choose Irelia, Bright Fox, and Riley because they are some of the ones that found the weird smell. Web is sick with greencough. Gorse and Rory are trainer and trainee, so I thought they should come. Marigold should come, but Bird can’t come because she has whitecough, which is hopefully able to heal. Is there any disagreements?”

No cat spoke. Raven nodded as sanctification. “Very well. Cats who I chose, meet with me later. Meeting dismissed.”

The cats shuffled off. Marigold looked at Riley, excitedly. “Did I hear that correctly, or are we actually going to the meeting with Rosemary?”

Rory jumped. “You heard it! We leave at dusk, right?”

“Yes, but we’ll miss some of our sleep.” Riley pointed out.

Rory froze. Riley stared at him, confused. There he is, being weird again. “Uh, Rory? Earth to Rory!”

Rory snapped back into reality. “What? Oh, nothing. Missing a little sleep wouldn’t hurt.”

Marigold shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. Poor Lucky, he doesn’t get to go.”

“Bird doesn’t either.” Rory said. “At least she has whitecough, when I was with Lucky… his greencough was… bad.” He shivered.

Riley touched her brother’s shoulder with her tail. “Lucky will be fine.”

“I hope so.” Marigold sighed, staring at the healer’s den. “Pale told us that our other sibling, Charlie died, I can’t bare to lose another sibling.”

“Echo won’t let him die.” Riley reassured Marigold.

Marigold nodded, looking at her paws. Everything was awkward for a moment, but Irelia called over to them. “Marigold! Riley! Rory! Raven and Fern said they will meet us in their den right now, aren’t you coming?”

Riley nodded. The learned bounded over to Raven and Fern’s den, which was at the front. Fern nodded at the learners as the came closer. “Come in.”

Riley’s eyes trailed to Fern’s stomach. Her belly was swollen with Raven’s kits. Rory used his foot to kick Riley in the leg. “Stop staring.” Her muttered. “That’s rude.”

Fern didn’t notice, and if she did, she showed no reaction to it. The pale-gray she-cat followed the young cats into Raven’s den. Raven sat down in his nest, which was kind of messy, which bothered Riley.

“Thank you for coming,” said Raven, nodding his head.

“Thank you for inviting us.” Gorse replied. “So, what are we going to discuss?”

Raven looked outside, the sun was at the highest point in the sky. “It’s mid-day, so we leave at dusk.”

“Where do we meet with Rosemary?” Bright Fox asked.

“We agreed that we meet at the river.” Raven explained. “Rosemary and I will go on the rocks, and you stand behind me.”

Fern nodded and looked at the young learners, who was listening obediently as the older cats talked. “This is a peace meeting. There shouldn’t be any blood-shed, and we expect no fighting, am I clear?”

The learners nodded. Fern gave a nod of approval. “Good. You three can go eat, since it is almost time to leave.”

“We leave at dusk- no sooner or no later.” Raven meowed.

—==+==—

To Riley, Rory and Marigold, it seemed forever til the sun went down. They tried to interest them of a game of moss ball, but it didn’t work. Whatever they tried, they couldn’t get their mind off meeting with Rosemary.

After what felt like moons, the sun finally made it’s way down from the sky and the sky started to darken. The members crowded around the entrance, where the cats where about to leave.

“Good luck!”

“May our ancestors light your path!”

“Give a cat a cuff it the ear for me!”

“Oh, be quiet, Dusk. Hope you have a safe time!”

Raven beckoned the cats over. “Let’s go.”

The cats followed Raven through the forest. Gorse stayed close to Raven, talking to him in quiet voices. Bright Fox and Irelia stayed behind with the learners.

“Pale told me if I didn’t keep Marigold safe, she’ll be super angry with me.” Irelia mewed, letting out a purr of amusement.

Marigold flinched. Riley laughed and nudged Marigold. “She’s just being an over protective mother.”

Bright Fox nodded. “Blossom told me that I wouldn’t see the light of day again if I didn’t keep Riley and Rory out of trouble.”

Marigold laughed. “Ha! I’m not the only one with an over protective mother!”

Riley let out a play growl to Marigold and turned over to Rory. He was staring at the ground. “Is there anything wrong? Are you tired?”

Rory shook his head. “I could be… I could be train- no! Never mind. It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

Riley frowned at her brother, unsure. But ahead of them, Raven and Gorse stopped. “We’re here.”

The learners watched as Raven leaped onto a rock, the biggest rock closest to his members. On the other side, a light ginger tabby she-cat with rose-red stripes stood on a rock- must be Rosemary. Four cats stood behind her- Lacey, Skip, and two other cats Riley didn’t know. Rosemary’s bright green eyes shined in the dark as she dipped her head respectfully at the other leader. “Hello, Raven.”

“Hello, Rosemary.” Raven replied. “I see that you brought some of your warriors.”

“I see that you brought six.” Rosemary replied, looking at the cats behind the black tom.

“Half of them are learners.” A gray tom with white specks behind Rosemary snarled.

Rosemary gave a look to the tom. “Hush, Stone. It’s the night of the full moon, I assume that it means we decide if my group stays or not?”

Raven nodded. “That is correct. Do you have any good reasons why you should stay?”

“We need a home.” Rosemary sighed. “At our old home, it just wasn’t safe anymore. We also have this weird sickness running around in our camp, we don’t know what it is.”

“My healer, Echo says it is greencough.”

The she-cat leader tilted her head in confusion. “Greencough? Healer?”

“My healer, Echo, comes from a group of cats that have healers that helps their group.” Raven answered. “Maybe you should get one.”

“Maybe I will.” Rosemary responded. She turned to the other cat that Riley didn’t know. “Honeysuckle can be my healer, perhaps your healer can teach Honeysuckle how to learn the ways of healing.”

Raven nodded. “We’ll do just that. And also, we have cats that train each other so they fully learn to ways of being a member.”

Rory looked at Riley, wide eyed. “He’s telling all our secrets!” He hissed.

The dappled she-cat shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, it won’t do any harm.”

The dark tabby tom gave a worried glance at his sister, then turned back to the meeting. Rosemary gave a grateful look at Raven. “Thank you for telling us that, too. See? We can share ideas with one another, we could be good allies.”

Raven played with his paws. “I don’t know. Echo told me you guys could be trouble.”

Rosemary rolled her eyes. “What harm could we be?”

The jet black tom looked back at his members. Irelia nodded. “No harm at all.”

He turned back at Rosemary. “We’ll take a vote. My members, I choose you also because you are the wisest. Do you think we should let them stay?”

Marigold leaned over to Riley. “Why do they get to vote and not us?”

Riley gave a stern look at her friend. “Shh… they’re voting.”

Raven repeated the question. Irelia nodded right away. Bright Fox and Gorse hesitantly nodded.

“It’s unanimous.” Raven declared. “My group agrees you can stay.”

Rosemary gave another grateful look at Raven. “Thank you. I promise that you won’t regret it.”

“We’ll see about that.” Raven meowed. “Meeting over.”

“Have a good trip.” Rosemary said.

“Hope your learners and healer does good.” Raven replied.

Honeysuckle nodded. “I’ll meet with Echo tomorrow.”

Raven hopped off of the stone and walked away. “Follow me.”

The learners trailed after Raven. Marigold looked fearfully at Riley. “Does that mean they’re going to stay?”

Riley nodded. “It seems so.”

Rory shrugged. “C’mon, Marigold. They can’t be that bad, can they?”

Marigold shivered. “I just have this weird… feeling about them. Riley, do you think they are bad?”

Riley remembered Echo when they asked for her opinion. “They will cause trouble. But, someone will save us from them.” But who?

Chapter Seven
Riley glanced at the rising sun. Inside of the learners den, the air was cool. Outside, the air was cold.

Next to her, Marigold fluffed out her fur. “Why did Fern choose the have her kits during leaf-bare?” Riley flicked her tail. “They’ll be strong kits, they come from the two most important cats in the group.”

Marigold sighed. “I guess so. I’m going to sleep, I don’t want to be up this early.”

“Alright.” Riley answered. She went over in the clearing and went over to Fern.

The pale-gray blinked at the young learner. “Why, hello Riley. Why are you up so early?”

“Hi Fern. Once I get up, I have trouble getting back to sleep.” Riley replied. She looked around the camp for Bright Fox. “Uh, where’s Bright Fox?”

Fern glanced at the members’ den, where Bright Fox was outside stretching. “There she is.”

Bright Fox noticed Fern and Riley looking at her, and walked over to them. “Oh, I thought you would sleep more, Riley!”

Riley shook her head. “The early bird gets the worm.”

Bright Fox purred. “Fern, we have nothing to do.”

“Maybe she can go train with Gorse and Rory.” Fern offered, turning her head at Gorse, who was talking to Rory. “Hey Gorse! Come over here.”

Gorse nodded and lead Rory over to the she-cats. “Okay, what do you need?”

“Do you mind if Riley and Bright Fox train with you?” Fern asked.

Gorse shook his head. “No! Not at all, we’re going to practice fighting.”

From behind Gorse, Rory’s eyes gleamed. An excited gleam. Riley didn’t know why, but for the last moon or so, Rory has been very excited to fight or learn battle moves.

“Thank you, Gorse.” Bright Fox mewed. “So are we going to go to Training Hollow, first?”

Gorse nodded. “Of course! Let’s go.”

Riley and Rory followed their mentors through the forest. Riley stayed close to her brother. “Isn’t it exciting?”

Rory yawned. “Waking up this early just to train?”

“No, silly.” Riley purred, nudging the dark brown tabby. “I mean, like showing you my battle moves.”

“What’s so exciting about that?” Rory asked.

“So I can show you how much Bright Fox taught me.” Riley bragged. “She taught me so much. And if I was going to face you in battle, I would scare you so much that you would run away!”

Rory purred. “Sure you would. Let me just remind you, I was born first.”

Riley rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Being born first doesn’t matter!”

“I’ve experienced more than you.” Rory mewed, puffing out his chest and lifting his head up high.

“Not true!” Riley argued.

Bright Fox gave the litter mates a hard look. “Stop bickering, or when we get back, I’ll make you pick ticks off of Zilean’s pelt!”

Riley and Rory stopped arguing and walked quietly.

“That’s better.” Bright Fox sighed and turned back.

Riley gave a playful glare at Rory. “I will you impress you so much,” she whispered.

Rory’s eyes gleamed again. “We’ll see about that.”

Confused, Riley looked away from Rory. It was that weird… gleam again.

“We’re here, now.” Bright Fox called.

Riley peeked past Bright Fox to see a sandy clearing with trees scattered around it.

“So, what are we going to do first?” Rory asked.

“You two are going to fight each other.” Gorse explained. “We are going to see how much you two learned about fighting.”

Riley smiled. “Oh, I’m going to beat you!”

Rory snarled, not quite a fake snarl but not quite a real one. “We’ll see about that.”

“Rule number 1: No real fighting!” Bright Fox mewed. “Rule 2: Keep your claws sheathed. I don’t want any real injuries, we have enough problems already.”

Riley let out a mrrow of amusement. Basic rules! Who would keep their claws unsheathed?

Rory slid in his claws. Why would he open his claws during training? Riley thought.

“Anyways,” Gorse continued, “Go! Fight!”

Riley started out from keeping her distance from far away, she slashed at Rory, her claws sheathed.

“Is that all you got?” Rory hissed.

“We’re fighting with our body!” Bright Fox called out. “Not with our words!”

Rory got up on his hind legs and jumped over to Riley, clawing at her ears. Frustrated that her brother was beating her, Riley rolled away, sand covering her fur and making herself cough and sneeze.

“Good reaction, Riley!” Bright Fox praised.

“Great pounce!” Gorse yowled at Rory.

Riley got up quickly from the ground and used her whole entire body to knock Rory to the ground. Rory fell to the ground, dust and sand flying around him as dust held onto his fur.

“All you need to do is pin him onto the ground!” Bright Fox called. “Then you’ll win!”

Excitement burst through Riley. She got ready to pounce-

Riley… Riley…

Riley turned around, wanting to hear who it came from. It wasn’t from Bright Fox, nor Gorse, but it was kind of like an eerie, soft, whispering voice.

Riley… you’ll save your group… they need you… the voice whispered again.

Completely forgetting about beating Rory, she looked around for the odd voice. Looking at the shadows, she saw two silver- starry cat figures that glowed against the dark shadows. The sight took the breath away from Riley.

“Riley! What are you doing?”

Riley looked at Bright Fox, her amber eyes glowing. “I see… I see our ancestors! They are talking to me! They know me! I’m telling you-”

A bunch of dark brown tabby fur ran into Riley, knocking her off her paws. She stumbled from the impact, but still kept her balance. Rory came at her legs, using her hind legs to swipe at her front paws. The dappled tortoiseshell tripped over Rory’s legs and with a big ‘oof!’ she feel on the ground. Rory climbed over his sister and pinned her to the ground. Struggling once, Riley soon gave up.

“Well done, Rory!” Gorse exclaimed. “See, Bright Fox? I told you I taught him a lot!”

Bright Fox nodded her head. “I’m impressed. I thought Raven told us all the learners go at the same pace, but Rory seems more advanced than Riley!”

Riley sighed. She didn’t care that much, though. Rory was really good at fighting!

Gorse nodded. “I’m also impressed, I’ve never taught him that last move. I never even thought of teaching him that! How did you learn that move, Rory?”

Rory froze. “Uh…”

“Did you make it up yourself?” Bright Fox asked.

“Uhh… Yes!” Rory exclaimed. “I err just made it up a while ago!”

Gorse used his tail to touch his trainee’s shoulder. “Well, that was really impressive! Do you mind if I tell Raven about it? It would become very handy if a battle!”

“Sure?” Rory mewed.

“Great.” Gorse replied.

Bright Fox turned to Riley. “Riley, what happened? You were in the lead!”

“I saw… our ancestors!” Riley exclaimed. “I swear, I saw them! They were sparkly, silver, starry figures that looked like cats! I saw them! They called my name! They told me that I will-”

Bright Fox flicked her tail. “That’s enough. You must of just gotten distracted. You can’t get distracted by little things in the future, especially in real battles! Must have just been your imagination, it’s fake.”

“No, this is not fake!” Riley insisted. “I saw them! They were important! I swear they were our ancestors!”

Bright Fox shook her head. “That’s enough. Just promise me you won’t get distracted ever again?”

“But-” Riley started to say. Bright Fox gave her a stern, hard look. Riley sighed. “I promise that I won’t get distracted again.”

“Good.” Bright Fox mewed. “Besides that, you did well. But, you have a lot more to learn.”

Riley nodded. Bright Fox turned at Gorse and Rory, who was waiting for them. “Okay Riley, time to go back to camp.”

Riley hung her tortoiseshell head. How could she be so stupid? Mouse brained! How could she be so-

Riley… we need to talk…

“I promise I’ll talk to you.” Riley whispered.

You will save your group… Riley…

“I promise that I will save our group. I won’t let anything happen.” Riley whispered once again.

“Riley! Let’s go.” Bright Fox yowled.

“Coming!” Riley called. She turned to the spot where the silver figures where. Now, they disappeared. “I’ll come back.”

“Riley?” Bright Fox repeated.

Riley turned to run after them. “I’m coming!”

Chapter Eight
A half moon later, the sickness came through the came. Cats died, like Pond, Maple, Azir, Hurricane, Shrew, and a few others. Lucky was still sick, but was still hanging on. Rory went over to do his chore- clean ticks off of Zilean’s pelt.

With some mouse bile, he went over to the elder’s den. Zilean let out a purr of amusement as Rory came over.

“Took ya long enough!” Zilean purred. “These ticks have been botherin’ me for the longest time!”

“Sorry, Zilean.” Rory murmured as he got the ticks off.

Zilean shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine, young ‘un. Just a little bit of teasing. How’s your training doing?”

“Pretty good. I beat Riley while fighting!” Rory bragged.

“Riley?” Zilean asked. “Oh, yes, your litter mate. How’s the greencough going?”

Rory sighed. “Many cats have died. And we can’t find any catmint.”

Zilean smiled. “I’m just glad I didn’t catch that ol’ fever! I’m old enough!”

“You’re not old!” Rory exclaimed.

“Yep, I am.” Zilean replied. “Ahh, that’s better. Go on, now, I’m good.”

Rory let out a sigh of relief. He gathered up the mouse bile and went to the dirt-place to wash dump it out. He went back to camp to see Lucky.

Echo stood outside, looking at Rory. “What are you doing here?”

“I just want to visit Lucky.” Rory replied.

Echo sighed. “I don’t want you to be getting greencough. Sure, go ahead.”

Rory followed Echo into the den. Lucky was near the back.

“Lucky!” Rory exclaimed. “It’s me, Rory.”

Lucky looked up to glare at Rory. “I know who-” he started to wheeze, “who you are, Rory. I might be sick, but I haven’t lost my memories!”

Rory looked down. “Sorry.”

Before Lucky could reply, Fern came dashing in. “Echo! Come quick! Raven isn’t feeling good!”

Echo had a panicked look on her face. Rory looked at the healer, confused. “Wait, Raven has greencough?”

“Whitecough, but it probably turned into greencough!” Echo mewed. “Fern! I’m coming!”

Rory watched as Echo gathered some herbs. Echo turned back to glare at Rory. “Are you going to help or not?” she hissed.

Rory dashed after the healer into the leader’s den, where Fern hovered over her mate. “You can’t let him die!”

“I’ll try not to!” Echo snapped.

Raven took deep breaths. Rory came close to Fern. “Fern, what’s happening!”

“I- I don’t know.” Fern stumbled, her voice tinged with fear.

Echo looked at her sister. “Fern, I’m sorry. I can’t save him. He’s dying.”

Raven struggled. Echo nodded. “He’ll be okay.”

Fern glared at her sister. “He’ll be okay? Nonsense! Can you not see that he is dying? Echopaw! Look with your eyes! Can you not see what is happening! My kits can’t not have a father!”

“My name isn’t Echopaw anymore, it’s Echo. He won’t die.” Echo said.

Fern stopped talking for a second. Raven stopped struggling. “He’s dead! Look!”

Rory stared at his leader. Echo shook her head. “Remember Thrushstar?”

Fern looked at Echo. “The leader of WindClan?”

Echo nodded. “He had nine lives.”

“But that’s the clans!” Fern lashed her tail. “Our ancestors won’t grant Raven nine lives!”

“Yes, they will.” Echo’s eyes gleamed.

Raven took a deep breath. “What-what happened?”

Fern ran toward her mate. “Raven! You’re alive!”

Rory let out a sigh of relief. Echo stared at Fern. “Eight lives left.”

“I saw our ancestors!” Raven exclaimed. “They talked to me.”

“You’re alive.” Fern said, licking his ear. “That’s all that matters.”

Echo beckoned for Rory to come over. “Why don’t you go get some moss? Also get some wet moss so they can drink water.”

“How about-”

“I don’t think you have anything today.” Echo answered. “Unless you want to help Zilean with-”

“You know what? I’ll go help with the moss-thingy.” Rory decided.

Echo purred. “I thought so.”

Rory sighed and walked out of camp. He went to the dirt-place and gathered some moss there. He went to the river to dip the moss in, hoping that Strike won’t be there to mock him.

A black and white patched tom about the same age as Rory was at the other side, watching Rory. The dark brown tabby looked up at the cat. “Uh, can I help you?”

The black and white tom purred. “Hi! I’m Skip, what are you doing over there?”

“Gathering moss for the sick cats.” Rory snapped. “Why do you care?”

“Salty, aren’t you?” Skip mewed with a snicker. Rory didn’t notice before, but Skip held leafy plant in his mouth, that smelled delicious.

Trying to remember what Echo told him ago, about a leafy plant that smelled good. It was called catmint. That was definitely catmint. And catmint cures… greencough!

“Uhh… hi?” Skip said, staring at Rory. “I still didn’t get your name, yet.”

“Rory,” he answered. “Never-mind that, do you know the plant that you are holding?”

Skip looked at the catmint in his jaws. “Oh this? My sister, who is called Lacey, and my friend, Bryce, found this. It smells good. I was going to throw it in the river, though it smells good, I think it’s pretty useless.”

“Let me ask, do you have a weird sickness running around in your camp?” Rory asked, keeping his eye on the catmint.

Skip nodded. “Yes!”

A mischievous plan grew in Rory’s mind. “You know, the ca- err…. plant in your jaws really do smell good! Since they are useless, how about I take it back to my camp?”

“Do you know what this is?” Skip asked.

“Just a fern,” Rory lied. “Now can I take it?”

Skip bounced onto a rock and handed the catmint to Rory. “Here. It’s useless, right?”

“Has no use.” Rory mewed. “Thank you.”

“Your welcome!” Skip exclaimed. “I need to go now, Lacey will be looking for me!”

Rory let out a fake purr. “Bye!”

Rory grabbed the catmint, a sweet taste came in his mouth. “No use. No use at all.” Excitedly, Rory broke into a sprint and ran back to camp.

Chapter Nine
“Catmint!” Rory’s voice yowled as he came running toward camp. “I got catmint!”

Riley looked up from talking with Marigold. Her friend gave a confused look at the tortoiseshell. “Catmint?” “It heals greencough!” Riley exclaimed, getting up to her paws. “Marigold! Let’s go!”

The two she-cats ran toward Echo’s den. “Echo! Rory has catmint!”

Echo looked up. “Catmint? I don’t believe it til I see it.”

“Then come see it!” Marigold mewed.

Rory ran into the healer’s den. “See? Catmint!”

The dark brown tabby dropped the leafy herb down on the moss. A sweet, delicious smell came from the herb.

“I don’t believe it!” Echo exclaimed, looking down at the herb. “It is! Catmint!”

“Is there enough?” Marigold asked, looking at her brother fearfully, who was sleeping.

Echo nodded. “Yes! I’m amazed, Rory, how did you find all of this?”

“Oh, just a friend.” Rory mewed.

Riley purred. “Who?”

“Uh, Skip I think his name was.” Rory replied.

Him, Riley thought, distastefully. Skip doesn’t seem like the type to hand something over. The tortoiseshell narrowed her eyes. “Uh, Rory. How exactly did you get him to give the catmint?”

Rory’s tail started to twitch slowly. “I just asked him.”

Before Riley could reply, Marigold nudged her. “Be quiet, it’s nothing really on how he got it.”

Echo looked up at Rory. “Thank you! You saved us all!”

“Should we be going to sleep now?” Marigold asked, looking at the sunrise.

“You can.” Echo replied, not taking her eyes off of the catmint. “But I’m going to stay up!”

The learners walked out of the medicine cat’s den. Riley smiled at Rory. “First you beat me during battle training, and now you got catmint? You’re doing a lot for our group!”

Rory snarled. “Like you care.” He spat.

Waiting for an apology, Riley stared at her brother. Rory rolled his amber eyes. “What are you looking at?” He got into the learners den and curled up in his nest.

“He’s probably just tired.” Marigold mewed.

“Sure.” Riley sighed, she closed her eyes while laying in her nest. That night, her nest felt uncomfortable to her, like thorns were poking at the pelt and flesh. Soon, tiredness filled her eyes and the soft sound of the waving branches soothed her to sleep…

—==+==—

''Riley…. you told us you’ll talk to us…''

Blinking, Riley opened her eyes. A clearing close to a lake, with trees that cast little shadows, and the sun making everything glow and look golden. Turning around, the sight took her breath away. Two silver, starry cats, one a she-cat, the other was a tom.

“Are you- are you my ancestors?” Riley asked, nervously.

The tom cat nodded. “Yes.”

Knew it! Riley thought. “Really?”

“Yes, we just said that.” The she-cat said. “Do you want to know who he is?”

Riley nodded, a little too quickly.

“I know your father.” The tom circled around the learner, making her dizzy.

“I don’t know my father.” Riley sighed.

“Because I am your father.” The tom said. Focusing, Riley could see his large body, with brown tabby fur and amber eyes- like Rory. “I’m Toby.”

“You’re my father?” Riley repeated.

Toby nodded. “Yes.”

“It might be rude, but how do I make sure? How am I sure you are not lying? How did you die?” Riley snarled.

“When you and your brother, Rory, were kits, Rory was born first.” Toby answered. Riley gasped. “You never want to admit it.”

“I can’t believe it.” Riley breathed. She turned to the other cat. “Who are you?”

The she-cat stood next to Toby. The cat had silver tabby fur and bright blue eyes that sparkled. “I’m a friend of Raven. I died actually saving him.”

Riley stared at the she-cat, her eyes wide. “You did?”

“Yes.” he she-cat nodded. “I’m Marbles. On the journey here, Raven and our group had to cross a river. Raven insisted that he should go first, and I let him. That clumpy friend of mine fell into the river. I dived in to save him.”

Toby nodded. “You and your brother have became really good learners. But we told Echo that some one will save our group. It must be you.”

In horror, Riley shook her head. “No, no! It can’t be me, it must be Rory! Rory’s a better fighter, and he’s clever! He got the catmint! He saved many cats from the greencough!”

Toby didn’t look at his daughter. “Did you know how he got the catmint?”

“He said Skip gave it to him.”

Marbles shook her head. “That’s what he said. Rory has went to the wrong side. He might be stronger, but you have a bigger heart. Echo was told a she-cat will save the group, not a tom.”

“Then it must be Marigold!” Riley blurt out.

“It’s not, Riley.” Toby shook his head. “It’s you. You are the chosen one.”

“I can’t! It’s not me!” The young learner shook her head. “I’m not ready!”

Marbles sighed at Toby. “She too young.”

Toby shook his head. “It is her! Things are happening, bad things are coming! She’s the chosen one.”

“It’s not me!” Riley yowled. “It must be Rory!”

Marbles gave a look to the dappled tortoiseshell. “It’s not. He took the dark path.”

Riley pointed her head up. “I don’t believe it til I see it.”

Toby nodded. “Fine, very well. Do you want to see were your brother is? I knew it was coming. I saw it when he was born.”

“What is it?” Riley yowled. “Let me see!”

Toby and Marbles went over to the lake. Riley followed the spirits. She stared into the silver pool, her reflection staring back right at her.

“What is this supposed to do?” Riley asked, turning back to the dead cats.

Marbles used her tail tip to cause ripples in the lake. The ripples turned a rainbow color. “Look again.”

Riley forced her eyes to look back at the rippling lake. The ripples started to fade away, causing a scene to show. The sight took her breath away. Rory and a huge, white tom battled each other.

“Rory,” whispered Riley, staring at the two cats fight. Rory’s claws were unsheathed, and scars were on his pelt. That was why he always woke up with scars! The sight took Riley back to when Rory woke up with scars.

“Why do you have scars on your pelt?” Riley had asked.

''“It’s none of your business!” Rory had snapped. “Stop snooping around in my business! Leave me alone!”''

''“I care for you! I want you to be okay! Go to the healer’s den!”''

''“Again! Leave me alone! I don’t need you!” Rory had yowled.''

''Before Riley could of said anything, Rory stormed out of the den. “It’s only because I care for you!” Riley tried to tell him, but Rory wouldn’t listen.''

Everything pieced together now. Riley stared at Rory fighting with the other cat in awe. Toby curled his tail around his daughter. “He went to the dark side, Riley. You are the-”

“I am not the chosen one!” Riley screamed. “I am not helping! It is not me! No one listens to me!”

Marbles glared at Toby. “She too young! She won’t understand!”

“It’s now or never, Marbles!” Toby yowled. “She needs to know now!”

Watching the spirits fight made her head hurt. “I- I can’t do this! It’s not me!”

Before Toby or Marbles could reply, Riley quickly shut her eyes. It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream.

“She doesn’t understand!” Marbles exclaimed. “Riley, listen to me, this is not a threat! This is an honor!” Riley didn’t listen. Shutting her eyes, she repeated, This is just a dream, this is just a dream, take me back to the real world. The world turned dark again, and it feel like she was getting sucked in by a current, she disappeared back into the real world.

Chapter Ten
Coming Soon