The prophecy - Oceanpaw, Bearpaw and Sandpaw

Leader: Bramblestar – brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Thornclaw – golden brown tabby tom

Medicine cat: Leafpool – light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Apprentice: Jayfeather

Warriors

Squirrelflight – dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom

Cloudtail –long-haired white tom with blue eyes

Brightheart – whit she-cat with ginger patches

Apprentice: Snowpaw

Sorreltail – tortoiseshell she-cat

Birchfall – light brown tabby tom

Apprentice: Mousepaw

Whitewing – white she-cat with green eyes

Poppyfrost – tortoiseshell she-cat

Hazeltail – small grey and white she-cat

Apprentice: Thistlepaw

Berrynose – cream-coloured tom

Cinderheart – grey tabby she-cat

Lionblaze – golden tabby tom with amber eyes

Apprentice: Bearpaw

Hollyleaf – black she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice: Larchpaw

Foxlaw – reddish tabby tom

Rosepetal – dark cream-coloured she-cat

Briarpelt – dark brown she-cat

Blossomcloud – pale brown she-cat with dark stripe along spine

Apprentices:

Snowpaw – white she-cat with green eyes

Larchpaw – brown and white tabby tom

= Oceanpaw – grey and white she-cat with blue eyes

=

Bearpaw – reddish brown tom with amber eyes

Sandpaw– black she-cat with green eyes

Elders:

Firestar – ginger tom with a flame coloured pelt

Sandstorm – pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

Greystripe – long-haired grey tom

Ferncloud – pale grey (with darker flecks) she-cat and green eyes

Queens:

Iceheart – white she-cat, mother of Lionblaze’s kits: Moonkit (very pale golden she-cat), Heatherkit (dark ginger she-cat)

Honeyfern – light brown tabby she-cat, mother of Berrynose’s kits: Seakit (very pale she-cat), Maplekit (golden brown she-cat), Bluekit (grey tom), Tortoisekit (tortoiseshell tom)

(PS: I wrote short chapters ‘cos I didn’t’ want to bore you)

Chapter one

Oceanpaw sat beside her mentor, Jayfeather. It was a dull day and there were many clouds in the sky. A cold wind whispered around the medicine cat den, making her shiver. There had been an outbreak of greencough a few weeks ago. Larchpaw and Bluekit were still recovering. The rest were fine now, except for poor Tortoisekit. He had died the other day. Jayfeather padded over to the herb store.

“We’re low on catmint,” he meowed. “Will you and some other warrior collect some from the abandon twoleg nest?”

“I’ll go and get Blossomcloud,” Oceanpaw replied, although she didn’t feel like going outside at all. It was too cold and windy and all she wanted to do was sit in her nice warm nest and chat to her brother, Bearpaw and sister, Sandpaw. Reluctantly, she padded across the stone hollow to the warrior’s den were she found Blossomcloud. Greystripe’s youngest daughter greeted her cheerfully. She had only been a warrior for a few days.

“Hi Oceanpaw!” she mewed. Oceanpaw smiled at the friendly she-cat.

“Will you help me collect catmint for Jayfeather?” she asked. Blossomcloud raced over to the camp entrance.

“Let’s go!”

Chapter two

Bearpaw pounced and killed the mouse with one swift bite.

“Good job Bearpaw!” called Bearpaw’s mentor Lionblaze. Bearpaw smiled to himself. That was the first piece of prey he had caught by himself. He picked the mouse up and flung it into the bushes. Lionblaze bounded over to his apprentice.

“We’ve caught quite a lot now,” he meowed. “I think it’s time we should be heading back to camp.” Bearpaw’s mood changed instantly. You mean you’ve caught a lot, he thought. And we’ve only been out for a few minutes. But he collected his mouse from the bushes and followed the golden tom back to the stone hollow.

Bearpaw gulped down the rest of his vole. Snowpaw came to sit beside him. Her pelt was streaked with mud and blood oozed out from between one of her claws.

“What happened to you?” he asked the snow-white apprentice.

“I fell out of a tree,” she answered, bending over to lick the mud from her fur. “And I tore my claw.”

Chapter three

Sandpaw’s claws scraped down the stone as she sharpened them on HighLedge. She could see every cat from here. Her brother, Bearpaw and Snowpaw were sharing tongues by the fresh-kill pile and her mother, Hollyleaf and father, Mousewhisker were sharing tongues outside the warrior’s den. Larchpaw sat outside the medicine cat den with his mother and father, Birchfall and Whitewing.

“They were by the WindClan border.” Sandpaw pricked her ears. Who was by the WindClan border? “Are you sure it wasn’t Sol and his friends?” she heard Bramblestar ask.

“No, I think they said there names were, Aidan and Freya,” came Thornclaw’s reply. “They said they were looking for the cat of the sea, the grizzly cat and the sand cat.” Sandpaw gasped. The cat of the sea, the grizzly cat and the sand cat! They meant Oceanpaw, Bearpaw and Sandpaw!

Chapter four

Oceanpaw and Blossomcloud returned with there jaws stuffed full of catmint. Jayfeather would be pleased! Oceanpaw carried her bundle to the medicine cat den. She spat it out on the floor. Jayfeather padded over to them and sniffed the catmint.

“Nice and fresh,” he mewed. “Good job.” Oceanpaw was impressed by her mentor’s sense of smell. He gaze slid from the catmint and over to her, making it almost impossible to believe that he was blind.

“You should get some sleep,” he meowed. “You must be exhausted.” He shouldered past her to collect the catmint she and Blossomcloud had dropped on the floor. The cheery warrior had already gone. Oceanpaw padded over to her nest and drifted into deep sleep.

She found herself in a cave. The was sand and covering the ground and a pool of water with a strange full-moon shape hole in the roof above it. A fire coloured tom and a golden she-cat appeared from around the corner.

“The cat of the sea, the grizzly cat and he sand cat. They will save you,” they chanted before fading away into nothing…

“Jayfeather! Jayfeather!” Oceanpaw sat in her nest, eyes still wide from her dream. “A prophecy has been told…”

Chapter five

Bearpaw lapped at Snowpaw’s still-mud-stained pelt. A purr rose in her throat and she turned around to start licking his ruffled fur. Bearpaw felt a warm glow inside him and he stretched out on the ground, feeling the sun on his dark brown pelt. The sky cracked with lightning and on of the bramble thickets went up in flames.

“Fire!”

Bearpaw and Snowpaw made a dash for the nursery. First thing first, they had to get the kits and elders out. Foxclaw and Sandpaw were already there. Bearpaw grabbed Moonkit and made a dash for the camp entrance, handing Lionblaze his kit. Bramblestar was helping Sandstorm to the entrance. Berrynose, Honeyfern, Hollyleaf and Mousewhisker were helping Greystripe and Ferncloud. Bearpaw followed the other cats to the stream across the WindClan border, Snowpaw at his side.

Chapter six

Sandpaw glanced wildly around the cats. Sorreltail, Brackenfur, Ferncloud… Where were Firestar, Oceanpaw and Jayfeather? Sandpaw pulled her way through the cats but she couldn’t see her sister anywhere. She wanted to wail like a kit to its mother. She had been with Oceanpaw through everything and now she was stuck in the camp. Mousewhisker suddenly scooped her up and carried her across the stream. She turned to face her father.

“Oceanpaw, Firestar and Jayfeather are still back at camp,” she meowed.

To be continued...

book 2, The caves