Chapter 8

"We're here," Streamfang yowled, lashing her thin tail. Briarpatch looked up to see a series of pools before her. Streamfang stood nearest to the largest pool. Seeing water, Briarpatch stumbled forward then fell back in shock. The pools had a red glow in the setting sun. It looked eerie and unnatural.

"Is it safe?" Eagletalon asked, looked at the water curiously.

"Yes," Streamfang growled, lapping from the pool she stood next to. "The water glows the way it does because of stones."

"Not any stones I have ever seen," Briarpatch muttered, slowly stretching out her neck and lapping up some water. It tasted fine.

"The stones are called rubies." A grating voice said. Briarpatch whipped her head around to see the oldest tom she had ever seen. He was a brown tabby, or was. Much of it was so thin you could see his skin through it. Some patches had no fur at all. "So you came, I see, but where it Bengalclaw, I wonder?" The tom mused, studying Streamfang. "Do not tell me, let me guess. She was killed," He continued slowly, his milky yellow eyes never leaving Streamfang. "No, perhaps she was injured. She was attacked, maybe challenged for her position. And she lost. I'm correct, am I not?" Streamfang hesitated then dipped her head in agreement. This was the longest Briarpatch had seen Streamfang not growling and hissing in a conversation.

"So they came," Another voice purred and an equally old she-cat stood next to the tom. She, however, didn't look so ancient. Her amber eyes sparkled with the light of a younger cat and her tortoiseshell fur was dull but much thicker then the toms.

"Who are you?" Mallowbelly ventured, watching the two strangers with huge eyes.

"Who are you?" The tom asked and then shook his head. The she-cat sighed and sat down to groom herself. "No, let me figure it out. You are not of the Fireclaw Nation…" The tom trailed off and let out a long, loud hiss. "No, not them." He whispered so low that Briarpatch was sure she had imagined it.

"I am Dot and this is my brother, Shadows." The she-cat spoke. "Streamfang, in the morning they may start."

"No, they will start tonight!" Streamfang protested.

"Silence you bird-brain or we will be forced to reconsider our deal. You have already disappointed us by bringing outsiders, do not ask any more favors or we shall send you away." Dot growled, glaring at Streamfang. Streamfang could have easily swatted Dot aside but even Streamfang seemed cowed by the old she-cat. "As I said, they shall start in the morning after a refreshing sleep. I shall show them where they will sleep; you already know where you will be sleeping."

"We are going to put a guard—never mind." Streamfang lashed her tail at a sharp look from Dot.

[x]

"How far are we?" Lionblaze asked Talon. Talon met his eyes and then looked around.

"We are close. If we kept one traveling tonight we could make it by moon-high. If we start in the morning we would get there by sun-high."

"Which would be wiser?" Lionblaze asked, studying each of the Clan-cats and the two Nation cats. They were still moving but all were tired. Only the Tribe cats looked strong enough to keep going all night.

"We don't want to waste any time but we will be in better shape if we rest the night and get started again early." Talon meowed without hesitation.

"Very well. We'll stop for night," Lionblaze said, raising his voice. "Sleep and we will hunt in the morning." Hopefully there would be more prey out in the morning.

Before long, Lionblaze was curled up on the cold ground next to Wolfpaw. Around him, all the cats were sleeping except for him and Screech, the guard. He felt that no matter how hard he tried and no matter how exhausted he felt he would never be able to sleep. Somehow, though, he gradually drifted into fitful dreams.

When he woke, the moon was shining overhead. He hadn't slept for long. He didn't even remember falling asleep. Screech was still sitting, a bit apart from the sleeping cats. His ears twitched occasionally at a sound. Lionblaze carefully picked himself up and waited until he was away from the sleeping cats until he stretched. Then he padded over to Screech.

"I'll take over the guard so you can sleep," Lionblaze whispered to the black tom. Screech nodded, looking relieved and trotted over to lay down next to Splash. Lionblaze sat where Screech had sat, looking up at the starry sky. StarClan, can you see us here? Lionblaze wondered silently. If you can, please keep us safe tomorrow.

The first hints of dawn had come by the time Lionblaze heard the sound. He hadn't woken up Talon for his watch; he knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep anyways. The sound jerked Lionblaze from his thoughts and caused him to jump up, his hackles raising. The sound was the steady thrum of paws on stone but he saw no one. He scented the air but the gentle wind was blowing all scents away from him. A deep growled rumbled in his chest as he fixed his amber eyes on the curve in the rocky trail, where the sound was coming from.

[x]

"Wake up," A voice growled and a paw shook Briarpatch awake. Dot stood over her. Dot had yet to wake up any other cats and when Briarpatch turned to prod Mallowbelly, Dot rose a paw. "Wait, I want to speak with you first."

"Yes?" Briarpatch asked suspiciously, turning to fully face Dot.

"Who is your mother?" The question surprised Briarpatch but she answered anyways. Dot looked surprised by the answer. "This…isn't good." Dot muttered, unsheathing her frayed claws and running them over the stone. "So…you aren't Firestar's kin?" Again this surprised Briarpatch and she shook her head.

"Dot…what isn't good?"

"You…aren't supposed to be here. None of you are, especially these other cats. You, at least, are of the right Clan. Have you heard of…the prophesy?" Dot asked yet another question. When Briarpatch said no, Dot sighed. "Actually, there are two prophesies. The first is from the ancient cats that lived where your families—uh, Clans now live." Dot hesitated then continued on, closing her eyes.

"There will be three, kin of the cat with fire in his pelt, who hold the power of the stars in their paws. There will be a fourth with the power of earth and sky, water and fire, and the deadly power deep within, who has the ability to silence all forever."

Everything was silent for a moment, Briarpatch was stunned. Kin of the cat with fire in his pelt…Dot had asked if she was Firestar's kin…Firestar's kin was…Squirrelflight, Leafpool, Lionblaze, Hollystar, and Jayfeather. Oh, and Lionblaze's kits and Hollystar's kits.

"Who are the Three, Dot?" Briarpatch asked, feeling coldness steel over her body.

"I do not know their names but I do know two things. One, two of the three are siblings, I do not know who the third is. Two, at least one of them is the…counterpart of a cat that lived at the lake when the ancient cats did."

Briarpatch nodded, narrowing her eyes. The two siblings had to be either Lionblaze, Jayfeather, or Hollystar. The third was also Firestar's kin but…Firestar had a large amount of kin in ThunderClan.

"What does it mean that the fourth…has 'the power of earth and sky, water and fire, and the deadly power deep within, who has the ability to silence all forever'?"

"Good, you are thinking of that. My brother and I have considered many possibilities. This cat could have actual power over the elements but we consider this highly unlikely. A cat that could do that would have to be an extremely powerful cat. Had we not grown up around this prophesy we would not have even believed it possible. Are you ready for the second prophesy?" Briarpatch nodded after a brief hesitation.

"Let the path of ivy guide your way. Let the song of the dove encourage your heart. But beware the howl of the wolf for only misfortune follows. Hearts to broken, rushing water that must be yielded. The One with a pure heart will return while the rest shall surely perish. No more than the Three may go or else greater disaster is sure to follow."

"What does this prophesy mean to you? Do you know anyone that could be referred to in this prophesy?"

"Yes...Ivyfang…Doveleaf…maybe Wolfpaw? And the Tribe of Rushing Water." Dot snorted at the mention of the Tribe of Rushing Water.

"They are a pathetic excuse for cats," Dot declared, lashing her tail. "Tell me about the three you mentioned, are they siblings?"

"Yes—I mean, no. Ivyfang and Doveleaf are but Wolfpaw isn't."

"Of course…Has…either Ivyfang or Doveleaf ever shown signs of any sort of power?" Briarpatch's eyes widened as she ran thought back. There had been that time, when Brambleclaw was killed. Briarpatch quickly told Dot what had happened.

"So no one believed she had actually dreamed it ahead of time? That would make sense. She would have kept any future dreams to herself…What about Ivyfang?"

"The only time I can think of was when we were returning from a gathering. Ivyfang was mad at Doveleaf and then a horrible storm started. Of course, that's just a coincidence, right? You just had me thinking about that with your speak of the elements."

"Of course…" Dot muttered unconvincingly.

"Dot, tell me why Streamfang is sending us into the cave," Briarpatch pleaded, getting annoyed with this continuous talk of prophesies.

"So you haven't been told?" Dot asked, surprised. "Very well. In places there is a story of the Ruby Pools. I must tell you the story for you to understand.

"Two-legs went high into the mountains, much further then any cat was said to ever have traveled. These rumors were wrong, however, because the two-legs found a small family of cats living at the pools. The two-legs were fascinated by the pools and the cats were fascinated by the two-legs, they had never seen them before. The cats did not understand the two-leg' odd obsession with the pools that glowed red but decided not to question it. Not like they would have gotten answers anyways. The two-legs began to build two nests and then they began digging into the wall of the mountains. One she-cat observed the two-legs especially closely. She began getting more and more courageous, getting closer to the two-legs then any other cat. She was a young cat and her parents reprimanded her for being irresponsible.

"No matter what her parents did, though, the she-cat felt an irresistible pull to the two-legs. One freezing leaf-bare morning she was sitting on the porch of the two-leg nest. Oh, the porch is a flat ledge outside the nest entrance. Sometimes the two-legs would sit there and talk and other times they would just put things there. Anyways, a two-leg came out of the nest and, seeing a skinny shivering cat, went back into the nest and came out with meat. It tasted a bit off but wasn't dangerous. Before long, the cat lived with the two-legs and her brother soon joined her. Her parents, however, refused to get close to them.

"The siblings often mused as to why the two-legs traveled deep into the mountain, often coming out with a glittery rock. The brother decided that they must be tunneling to find a secret place. A wonderful place. A place where the weather was always perfect and the prey always leapt into your paws. They never ventured into the tunnel, though. They were terrified of it. One day the two-legs went into the tunnel and never came back out. The two cats figured that they had found their perfect home at last. Then, driven by curiosity, they traveled into the tunnel."

Briarpatch waited but Dot didn't continue. "What happened next?"

"The story ends there," Dot said, shrugging. "But that is why Streamfang wants to go into the tunnels. She believes that she can find this perfect territory and drive out any two-legs and cats already there. She has you cats to lead the way with one of her cats. After a day she will come after you with her cats, provided you didn't come out and tell her that the tunnel leads to nothing."

"She actually…believes that story?" Briarpatch couldn't resist a purr of amusement.

"You mean you don't?" Dot asked, her eyes widening. "What other logical conclusion can there be? The two-legs went in there and never came back out, cats too."

"Of course I don't believe it. That may be the only logical decision but…two-legs are hardly considered logical. They could have died or just…disappeared." Briarpatch declared, raising her chin. Dot studied her, the elderly she-cats whiskers twitching.

"Well said, Briarpatch. It is time to go now. May your ancestors protect you in the tunnels."