Fade Away

'This is my first fanfiction, so I'm kind of nervous. Enjoy!'

Chapter 1
I blink snow out of my eyes, and watch as my breath shows white. A tiny drop of snow falls on my muzzle. It melts in a split second. I breathe out in a sigh. I’m not used to the cold yet, I mean… I’m used to the cold; there’s been frost and snow as long as I can remember, but I couldn’t see my breath then. It’s getting colder every sunrise.

“Mommy, what is dis white stuff?” A kit mews in front of the nursery.

“That’s snow, dear.” The queen mews in reply.

“It’s weird.” Then I hear a squeak. “And cold!”

A rusty purr of amusement comes from my throat.

“Tigerpaw, are you ready to go out training?” My mentor, Whitefall, asks as he strides up to my side.

I nod.

Oh, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Tigerpaw, an apprentice in CreekClan. We’re not a huge Clan, but we’re not a small one. We ARE the smallest Clan in the forest, though. There are two other Clans, LeafClan and ShadeClan.

“Tigerpaw, come on.” Whitefall mews at the edge of camp.

“Coming!” I meow, sprinting to his side.

And then we head out.

The territory is different in leaf-bare, the warriors say. The creek is frozen over, and there are no puddles. But all I know is snow all over, a few frost covered trees, and (of course) the frozen creek.

“What are we doing today?” I ask.

“We’re going battle training.” Whitefall mews and we curve to head to the training arena.

I sigh. I’m not the best at fighting. I mean, I’m okay, but I’m not great either. According to Whitefall, I’m more built for fishing, but I can’t train in that because the edge by the creek is slippery, and only warriors are allowed to go there to fish. They don’t want apprentices to slip and crash into ice and fall in and drown.

The training arena and the dens are the only places that aren’t covered in snow. The training arena is surrounded by trees, and the little snow and frost that does get in is swept up at dawn, after every training session, and at dusk.

We crawl through the entrance and spread out.

“Okay,” Whitefall mews, shaking out his gleaming white fur. “Get into position. We’ll hold a training battle, and then practice some new moves, okay?”

“Okay.” I mew.

The next thing I know, Whitefall is leaping at me. I duck under him, and then squeeze under his belly. I’m pretty small, if you’re wondering. Whitefall whirls and leaps at me. Light on my feet, I hop out of the way. CreekClan is known for being agile and intelligent, but Whitefall is more into brute force. It’s pretty easy to fight him once you know his strategy.

I yelp as he bowls me over, pinning me down. I slither through his grasp and bound away. He whirls at me and pounces at my tail. I sail over his head and lash my paw (claws sheathed of course) at his tail. He begins to run.

I chase him, and spring onto his back.

“I’ve got you now!” I yell triumphantly.

He then lunges forward onto two paws, sending me flying. I smack down hard on my back.

“OOF!”

I know what to do! I saw a warrior use this move once. I charge a tree and leap, kicking off with all of my might. I shoot towards a stunned Whitefall. I crash into him, sending him stumbling backwards. I trip him with a paw. I know I can’t pin a cat larger than me, so…

WHAM! I stumble backwards shaking my head. I look up to see Whitefall sitting, licking a paw. He lowers it and eyes me curiously.

“That was brilliant, Tigerpaw! You were amazing! That move usually takes apprentices moons to learn.”

“Really?" I tilt my head. “Anything that requires agility is easy for me. And anyway, I didn’t win. ”

“Like I’ve always said, you’re built to be a hunter. And this isn’t about winning, it’s about training. Now, why don’t we head back to camp?” Whitefall said.

“But you said we were going to practice new moves.” I whimper.

I’m not usually this into fighting, but exhilaration courses through my body. I feel like I can do anything!

“Sorry, Tigerpaw, but we’d better head back. The elders are going to need their bedding changed soon.”

I groan. I HATE checking the elders for ticks and changing their bedding.

“Come on, Tigerpaw, it’s not that bad.” He mews. “Besides, I need to talk to Rainstar.”

I sigh and trot out of the arena. I shiver as another spasm of cold hits my body. I feel my teeth chatter as I rush back to camp.

“Tigerpaw, slow down!”  Whitefall calls.

I don’t heed him. I’m mad at him for making me check the elders for ticks again! The other apprentices have never even taken care of the elders, because Whitefall ALWAYS makes ME do it! I snippily ask the medicine cat, Darkleaf, for mouse bile. He glowers at me but fetches it.

I enter the elder's den, still scowling as I start pulling tick after tick. I HATE this job. I yank the bedding away and drag moss in from the supply. I throw it down and storm off to wash the mouse bile off of my paws before whisking away to the apprentice den. I throw myself into my nest and set my head on my paws. I sniff disdainfully as I close my eyes and…

I’m standing in a starry clearing. I glance around. There’s no one in sight.

“Hello?” I ask, and my voice echoes around, bouncing around.

I shiver, I don’t like this place. The leaves rustle and I whirl.

“W-Who’s there?’ I stammer.

A tom steps out of the underbrush, his silver tabby fur bristling. His beady yellow eyes are narrowed into tiny slits, as if I’m a piece of prey or an enemy warrior.

“Me.” He growls in a low tone.

A shiver goes through my body. Something’s different about this warrior…

“Who are you?”

He growls, flexing his long silver claws, as if he wants to challenge me. He still doesn’t answer the question.

I ignore his claws and ask, “Why are you here?”

“Curious, aren’t you?”

I roll my eyes and say, “Just answer the question.”

“The answer IS in question.” He replies, as if it was obvious.

Wait, how’s the answer in the question?

The cat snorts as he realizes I don’t know. Hey, I’m trying, but if would only be more clear!

“Quest.” He growls, as if I’m the mouse-brain.

“What quest?” I ask.

The tom rolls his eyes and asks, “Are you always this mouse-brained, or do you just have bees in your brain today?”

“Hey!” I yell furiously. “I’m not the one being mouse-brained. I can’t know everything in the world, especially when you’re being so mouse-brained about telling things!”

The tom recoils, hissing, “Do not anger a StarClan cat, apprentice!”

Wait… His fur has stars in it! He’s StarClan, that’s what was different!

“I’m sorry.” I mumble.

“Let me finish what I’m and we can be done and never speak to each other again.”

“Deal.” I agree, but I hope to never agree (or meet) with him again.

“Well, StarClan has received a prophecy.” The tom begins. “It tells of a prophecy that involves 4 cats.”

I open my mouth to ask him what the prophecy is about, but then I shut it and wait for him to answer my question.

“It says:  Plant, water, and darkness will join together and throw the fate of the Clan’s into uncertainty.”

“What’s that mean?” I ask, confused.

Oops, I forget.

“Shut it!” He hisses.

I wince and go silent, watching with my eyes as big as the full moon.

“Go to the Gatheringplace in a quarter-moon.” The tom growls while glowering at me. “All will be revealed then.”

He begins to shimmer and fade.

“Wait!” I cry. “What do you mean? Why do you have to be so vague about everything?”

He only looks at me.

“How am I supposed to find the Gatheringplace? I don’t even know where it is!”

That is true, but I mostly say this to get him to start talking so he won’t stop talking.

“You will know.” Is all he mews.

“What about me? Am I a part of the prophecy?”

“You will learn all in time.”

I groan. He is super annoying!

“Where is this quest leading?”

“You will learn all in time.” He repeats.

“But-” I begin to say, and then I stop and blurt, “You didn’t even tell me your name!”

“My name is-” He begins to shimmer and quiver.

“Yes, your name is-” I mew.

“Are you always this annoying?”

“Answer the question!” I hiss. “Before you can’t answer it at all!”

“Fine.” He huffs indignantly, shimmering and sparking as it seems the darkness is eating him whole. The only thing remaining is his face. “My name is Swiftstar.”

And then he’s gone.

I wake up in my den. The sun shines brightly in the sky. I stand and walk out, watching the sunset. That really happened, didn’t it? It had to have. My dreams aren’t that clear, so it has to be. Besides, if I go to the Gatheringplace in a quarter-moon and no one’s there, then I won’t have to worry about a thing.

“Let all cats old enough to swim gather beneath the SkyLedge for a Clan meeting!” Rainstar yowls.

I turn and trot over to the SkyLedge. I wonder what this is about.

“As you know, tonight is the Gathering.” Rainstar begins. “I will be taking Cloudpetal, Darkleaf, Whitefall, Watereyes, Puddlesplash, and Tigerpaw.”

“Why so few cats?” Fishpaw called out.

Rainstar’s ear twitched and she replied, “It is leaf-bare, and if there is an attack we will want as many cats to defend camp as possible.”

My heart pounds. My first gathering! Whitefall walks up.

“Excited?”

I nod vigorously.

He purrs, “I was too.”

"When do we leave?” I breathe.

“As soon as Rainstar says we can.” Whitefall replies.

I feel my tail flick impatiently. Why can’t we be going right now? I can’t wait!!

“All cats that are going to the Gathering follow me!” Rainstar yowls as she springs off the SkyLedge.

I leap after her, bouncing with each step.

“Somebody’s excited.” Cloudpetal remarks as she reaches my side.

I shrug, but I’m quivering with excitement. I’m going to my first Gathering, for StarClan’s sake!

Cloudpetal purrs with amusement and heads over to Rainstar.

We stay in a group and walk out of camp. We trudge through the snow. It’s freezing! I shiver with excitement AND cold.

My paws burn with cold, and we head through the snow. I hesitate as we reach LeafClan’s border, but then follow. It’s weird, and smells like the trees that surround the training arena.

We walk towards a small cave, but then everyone stops. What’s going on? Why is everyone stopping? I try to take a step forward, but Whitefall pushes me back with his tail.

“Wait.” He hisses under his breath.

Rainstar’s ears twitch, and then she flicks her tail. Then everyone bursts forward. I’m nearly run over by cats, and I pick up the pace and run forward. The moment I step through I look around.

Whoa.

My breath is taken away. I’m in a huge cavern. There are 3 entrances, but one is frozen over. Three ledges are up high. Above them, you can make out all the stars in the sky. A black tom runs in with gray paws leaps up onto a ledge. Rainstar leaps on one next to the tom.

“Graystar.” Rainstar mews calmly. “Good to see you.”

“Good to see you too, Rainstar.” He growls.

I sit down and wrap my tail around my paws, quivering with excitement. The Gatheringplace is huge!

I stare up at Silverpelt. Are you there, Swiftstar? And StarClan, if you hear me, please help me understand the prophecy.

And-

“Hi!” A cheery voice mews and I whirl. “I’m Shadowpaw. What’s your name?”

The speaker is a black tabby tom.

“I’m Tigerpaw.” I mew.

"It’s nice to meet you, Tigerpaw.” He purrs. “What Clan are you from?”

“I’m from CreekClan.” I mew.

Shadowpaw wrinkles his nose in disgust.

“How can you stand eating fish?”

I shrug, “It’s not too bad. And besides, the creek is frozen over, so we haven’t had fish in a while.”

“Oh.” He mews. “Prey’s scarce in LeafClan too. Prey just seems to… vanish.”

Yeah, right, like prey could just “vanish”. I puff out my chest as I really we must just be more efficient hunters than LeafClan.

“Shadowpaw!” A voice calls.

“That’s my mentor. I’d better go. See you later, Tigerpaw!”

He bounces away.

I watch as he leaves.

“Let the Gathering commence!” A voice yowls, and a tom springs onto the remaining ledge.

I move over to sit behind all of my Clanmates, in the very because the other cats head to sit with their Clans.

Whitefall nods appreciatively at me, and I blink. I guess that’s what I’m supposed to do-

“All is well in LeafClan.” The tom mews. “We have two new warriors, Goldenpetal and Treeleaf.”

“Goldenpetal! Treeleaf!” I yowl with everyone else.

“Prey is scare, but we are coping well.” He mews. “We had a fox problem, but it has been dealt with.”

He turns to Graystar. I watch him in concern, his fur seems tattered and he looks exactly and is twitching every so often. I shake it off. I must be imagining things, or maybe he had a fight earlier...

“It was chased into ShadeClan territory. Keep an eye out.”

“We will.” He rumbles.

The tom steps back, and Rainstar steps forward. I turn my attention to her.

“The creek has frozen, but we are doing well.” Rainstar’s voice rings clearly through the cavern. “We have enough prey to survive. We-”

Rainstar is cut off by a shriek. Graystar is staggering around on his ledge, his eyes swirling as his tail quivers and spasms.

“Not this again!” Whitefall hisses in annoyance. “Graystar is always SO overdramatic. He wants all the attention to himself. he's probably pulling some stupid stunt.”

A couple cats murmur in agreement.

I don’t know…

Graystar’s ledge vanishes into thin air and Graystar tumbles through the air, shrieking and writhing. His tail begins to fade… What in the name of StarClan is going on?!?!

He hits the ground with a sickening crack and lies still.

Graystar is dead.