Songflight's Discovery

This is the first book in the second arc of the Songflight's Journey series.

Prologue
The assembled crowd parted as a large bulk made it's way through them. The formidable beast made his way to the middle, where a stone platform was ready and waiting. Once he had seated himself on it, he turned to face the creatures around him. Glittering beady eyes shone in the darkness, watching his every move.

"My friends," he said in a low and authorative voice. "The time has come to act. To make them pay." A chorus of agreement greeted his words.

"We start the journey tomorrow at the crack of dawn," he commanded. He swept into the darkness of his den, but just before he did, the moonlight caught on the pale pink scar the ran down his forehead and right between his ears, like a path of destruction. The path he vowed to unleash upon his enemies as soon as possible.

Chapter One
Songflight poked her head out of the warrior's den. She gave a smile when she saw the slender black-and-white outline on the hill, but the smile was tainted by sorrow. Padding over to her daugher, she said, "How was it sweetheart?" Mariflower smiled but didn't respond. "You can talk now," she assured her.

"Oh," she said softly. "It was... okay. I had a lot of time to think." A few tail-lenghts away, Smokewhisker glanced over, but didn't interrupt. Songflight knew what Mariflower had been thinking of, and a few stray tears welled in her eyes.

"I see. Well, how about some fresh-kill?"

"I'd like that. Do you want to share with me?" Mariflower said to both of them. Songflight smiled, glancing at Smokewhisker.

"No, I already ate. You two go on." As she watched them pad off, she felt a tail stroke her back gently. "Hello Troutstream." Her mate purred and rubbed his chin on her head.

"Good morning." His gaze followed Mariflower, who was almost like his adopted daughter now, and turned back toward Songflight. She read his unspoken question.

"It was fine... but I think she had a lot of time to, you know." He nodded sadly.

"She's strong," he said. "You both are." Songflight nodded gratefully. Troutstream had a way of making everything better.

Bluewater joined them. The clan deputy looked a bit flustered and hassled, but her olive eyes were as steady and sharp as ever. "Do you two want to come to the Gathering tonight?"

"Sure," Songflight mewed. She knew Bluewater and Pinestar had enough on their minds already. There was no telling how the clans would be tonight. They had all fought together against Razorfang, but it was leaf-bare, and things changed when you were struggling to survive.

Nightfur padded over. The young tom had become a valuable warrior after both his sister's death had been avenged. "Do you want me to take out the dawn patrol Bluewater?" he asked.

"Sure," the deputy said gratefully.

"Okay," he nodded. "I'll take Songflight and Dazeflight." The gray-and-white tom had just emerged fromt the warrior's den. He nodded and padded over.

"Let's go," Nightfur said a bit awkwardly. Songflight knew he wasn't comforable with giving orders to more experienced warriors, but it was a good skill to learn. She gave him a warm smile and followed him out of the thicket tunnel.

The sun was rising in the sky, giving birth to a new morning as the patrol headed through the woods. They meandered through at their own pace; most of the clan wouldn't be awake for another hour. Nightfur caught a sparrow and a mouse before they reached the LightningClan border. While the two toms headed further down the stream to scent-mark, Songflight peered into the water. WaterClan's specialty was fishing, and she was no execption. Spotting a quick flash of silver, she darted her paw in and hooked the fish with her claws, then killed it with a quick nip.

"Nice catch," said Dazeflight, heading back towards her. Nightfur approached from the other side.

"I think we're done," he said. "Let's head for the TreeClan border." Songflight nodded. Nowadays, she could think of TreeClan without any pain... almost. But before she had time to think about it, they were moving again.

As they approached the border, Songflight's ears pricked. She stopped to listen. "It sounds like a fight," said Nightfur, his eyes widening. Dazeflight raised his head and scented the air. All three cats eyes met.

"Badger!"

Songflight tore through the woods, skidding to a stop when she reached the border. A cat came tearing out of the woods on the TreeClan side. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw what cat it was, and stopped altogether when she saw the beast that roared after it. Bushtail didn't seem to see them; he whirled around and stood, petrified, as the badger thundered down on him. Why isn't he doing anything?

Then her mind flashed back to the first real conversation they'd ever had, when she had thought her mother was leaving the clan. He had confided in her his one fear: badgers. His sister had been killed by one as a kit. "No!" she screamed.

But before she could spring in front of him, or even move, a gray blur attacked the badger. It was a cat, but not a clan cat. In fact, Songflight had never seen it before. However, that wasn't her main concern now. "WaterClan, attack!"

They joined the fray. Songflight leaped onto the badger's back and scored her claws down the silver-and-black fur. For a second, over the creature's head, she met Bushtail's gaze. "I'm sorry," he mouthed. She gave him a gentle smile, then bit down hard on the badger's neck.

Nightfur drove his claws into the badger's shoulder and nipped its ear. Letting out a bellow, the beast slammed the young warrior against the ground. "No!" Songflight screamed. She leaped down from the badger's back and slammed her whole body against its head, forcing it away from Nightfur. Her shoulder ached from the impact, but before she could recover, the badger turned on her and shoved her so hard she went flying across the border, landing with an echoing thump near a bush.

Head throbbing, Songflight couldn't find the energy to get up and run, though she heard the badger's heavy pawsteps as it approached, hateful black eyes burning. She saw the large mouth open wide, tiny white needles flashing. Closing her eyes, she prayed that the end would be quick and painless. And then... nothing. She opened her eyes. Bushtail was in front of her, locked in a headlock with the badger. His yellow eyes were panicked but filled with determination. "Run Songflight!"

She stumbled to her feet and got out of the way. The others joined the TreeClan tom and sent the badger packing through the woods. But she didn't even glance its way. Slowly, as Nightfur and Dazeflight chased after it, she made her way towards Bushtail. He was terrified of badgers. Scared stiff. But somehow, he'd managed to overcome it. And he had done it for her.

"Thank you," she said softly.

He took a step forward too. Now their noses were almost touching. She could feel the electric current zigzagging between them. "No problem," he whispered. "You saved me first."

"No, he did," she said, glancing towards the mysterious gray tom, who was sitting calmly a few tail-lengths away, his eyes on the bracken where the two toms and badger had vanished through.

"I don't mean that," he said, with a smile that made her heartbeat accelarate. "I meant-"

"He's gone!" Dazeflight crowed, reentering the clearing triumphantly. Songflight shot him a look of disgust as Bushtail retreated a few steps back.

"Who are you?" Nightfur said, staring at the gray tom. The loner took his time answering. He slowly got to his paws and stretched, then licked a cut on his foreleg. Dazeflight twitched his tail impatiently.

"They call me Smoke," he said. "And with reason." His eyes were an eerie shade of blue, so pale they were almost white, with two narrow slits for pupils. "I go nowhere and live everywhere. I belong to the wind, to the sun, to the bird that soars in the sky. I am nothing and contain everything. I bend to your will yet I'm as solid as a rock."

"You just saved me from the eagle's clutch but you're crazy as a loon," Bushtail finished. Nightfur snorted with laughter.

"Are you okay?" Dazeflight said earnestly, looking like he honestly thought Smoke had hit his head or something. Songflight continued the stare at the tom. There was definitely something strange about him, but she couldn't put her paw on it, or decide whether it was good or bad.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he inquired cluelessly, casually licking one paw and regarding them coolly.

Songflight and the others exchanged helpless looks. "Should we take him back to WaterClan?" wondered Dazeflight, as if Smoke wasn't even there.

Nightfur frowned. "He's a bit odd," he whispered. "But he did help us out. Yes, we might as well."

"I'll be going now," Bushtail said. "Uh, thanks. I'll tell Sootstar about this."

"You're welcome," Songflight said, gazing into his yellow eyes, longing to say more. He gave a hasty nod and disappeared. Shaking it off, she turned back to the others. "Would you like to come back to our Clan's camp with us?"

Smoke shrugged. "I might."

"Okay then," she faltered. "Come on."

She led the way back through the woods, wrapped up in her own thoughts. If Smoke was really all he said he was, why did she feel so uneasy about him? Only time would tell.

Chapter Two
"Who is this?" asked Pinestar, coming down from Leader's Rock. At his side was Songflight's mother, Maribel. The two looked happier than ever together, and she was glad for them, knowing all they had been through.?

"Smoke," she said. "We encountered a badger by the TreeClan border and he helped us fight it off."

Bluewater's ears flattened. "A badger?" Songflight nodded as more WaterClan cats began to gather around them, murmuring to themselves.?

Pinestar frowned. "That's quite unusual for this time of the year. Perhaps we need to heighten patrols."

"Pinestar?" Lilystem, the medicine cat, approached. "I need to talk to you." Songflight saw that her green eyes were worried and frightened. What had scared their steady-minded medicine cat so much?

"Okay," the leader said. "Bluewater, you can come too."