Prologue
A brown she-cat with cream patches nimbly leaped across a river, skidding to a stop at the RiverClan camp entrance. She strode into camp, looking up at the full moon’s dim light on the camp.
Ugh. I hate this. Pretty much everyone else has gone to the gathering. And I have to stay here guarding the others for my warrior vigil. It’s for a good cause though.
Dreamrose quietly stepped her way over to a little crack in a rock, squeezing through.
This was the warriors den, and her first time.
So then Dreamrose sniffed to see which nest wasn’t taken, and she found one in the middle, next to Rowanfeather's, the deputy’s.
And then she faded off to sleep.
When she woke up, Dreamrose was very confused.
Where am I? There was a starry clearing, with flowers and dim moonlight.
And a huge river!
With a dark ginger cat on the other side. Of which Dreamrose knew all too well.
“Dad!” She happily meowed.
He gave an amused purr. “Do you remember me? I’m Squirrelclaw, your dad.”
Dreamrose grinned. “Of course!”
“Well….I have something to tell you.” Said Squirrelclaw.
“What is it?” “It’s…complicated.” He gave a sigh.
“Listen to my words carefully.” In a melodic voice, he spoke.
“When the roses of dream flow, to the speck of the deer it must go. They will meet a fire’s feather, which will bring a quiet whisper. Shade of yarrow and a fern’s brook, will bring a gaze at the evening with funny eyes' power. A jackdaw's flight will have answers right, and thorns of finch feathers, completing the quest, putting RiverClan to the test. Bring these together, make it forever, for they will put out the fiery fawn, bring these together, make it forever, then will arise, a great new dawn.”
Wow…WAIT WHAT?! A prophecy! And I’m in it! She thought.
“Wait, Dad….why did you deliver this to me?” Dreamrose confusedly asked.
“Make the right choices…else RiverClan meets its doom.”
Chapter 1
Fallow shook out her messy fur as she woke up.
She yawned.
The golden she-cat hadn’t slept well this night, her head full of dreams of terrible things happening to her kits.
She quickly checked to see if they were okay, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Maple, Fire and Ivy all three peacefully sleeping, snuggled up together in a cozy ball of soft fur.
She gave them a quick lick, then padded to her parents, Ice and Jade.
At least, her adoptive parents.
Fallow had been found in a collapsed twoleg den, her biological mother, father and sister all dead.
But that was not the only meeting with death she had ever had...
'Hello there, dear', a warm voice sounded next to her.
'Hey, mom', Fallow replied, and she rubbed her mother's face with her muzzle.
'Where's dad?'
'Out hunting with Finch, Silver and Brook', Ice answered her foster daughter's question.
'How's Ivy? Has she healed?'
'I think so', Fallow meowed.
'She didn’t sneeze or cough during the night and she didn’t feel hot.'
'Good. And how about you?'
'Oh, I'm fine. They were calm tonight!'
Fallow looked at her belly gently.
She was expecting another litter of kits.
Sometimes, she felt like singing and crying at the same time.
These kits would bring happiness in a hard time, bring new life and hope to her family.
But on the other side, Flame would never be able to see their beautiful pelts and eyes, hear their sweet voices, smell their warm, homely scents...
Flame had been Fallow's beloved mate, and if you told her there was a kinder, prettier she-cat on the world, she would never believe you.
Tears started to pool in her amber eyes, and even though she tried to hold them back, she just couldn’t.
She buried her nose deep in Ice's thick white fur, who tried to calm her by whispering things in her ear like: 'It’s okay, I’m here for you.'
'Thank you, mom. I love you', Fallow muttered back.
Later that day, Fallow was out with her adoptive sister and best friend, Rainbow.
Rainbow got her name because of her eyes, which had a different color, one bright yellow and one deep blue.
Fallow had wanted to take her kits with her, but Rainbow and Jade agreed that she needed some rest, and had left Maple, Fire and Ivy to play with their grandfather and young aunt, Cheese.
'Hey, Fallow, you know what I dreamed last night? Well, the two of us were just chilling, and then like, thirty cats jumped out of a river nearby, kits and old cats too! They told they have some thingy called a Clan, and they asked us to join it. Freaky, right?'
Fallow grinned.
'A typical dream for you!'
'Yeah, it probably is', Rainbow laughed, and then yelled: 'Blueberry!'
Both she-cats raced forward and searched the bushes.
This was their own little game they played, one of them named an object while they were walking and the first cat to find that object was the winner and could ask the loser to do anything for them.
'Gotcha!', Fallow exclaimed, while Rainbow wailed: 'Aww! I just saw some!'
'Too bad. But not really!', the golden-furred loner joked, and she pushed her friend into a blueberry bush.
'Now you'll remember where they are!'
'Hey, stop it!', Rainbow giggled.
'Now, what do I have to do?'
'Hmm... I want you to tell Cheese that cheese is gross and your least favorite food!', Fallow instructed.
'That won't end well...'
'Mom! You're back! We found some feathers for you!', Ivy meowed excitedly when Fallow came back to her family's living space, the garden of an abandoned twoleg den.
'You said your muscles hurt from sleeping in the wet grass, so we thought you could lie on these!', Maple explained, and Fire nodded happily.
'Aw, that's so sweet of you', Fallow told her kits.
'Do you want to play something together now?'
'Yes!', the three of them meowed at the same time.
'Okay! What about hide-and-seek, I heard aunt Fern said you liked that when she played it with you!', their mother suggested.
'I want to do that!', Fire agreed.
'What about you two?'
'I'm fine with it too!'
'Me too!
'Great! I'll search for you!', Fallow said, and when she started counting, they all ran away quickly.
She found Maple first, who had hidden herself behind a bush.
Then she discovered Ivy, who had sheltered behind her aunt Jackdaw, and lastly Fire, who played the game hard and tucked herself away in a dumpster.
'Fire, you're all smelly!', Ivy exclaimed.
'Ew, wash yourself!', Maple added.
'I think that’s a good idea!', Fallow laughed, while the ginger she-cat started licking her dirty pelt.
Then, Fallow felt a hard stomp in her belly.
'Ouch!', she yelled.
'Mom, are you okay?', Maple asked with a worried look, while Ivy and Fire looked up too to check on their mother.
'Yes, I’m alright. It’s just one of your future siblings being nasty!'
'Okay, good', Fire said.
'I'm happy you're alright', Ivy added.
'Same here', Maple meowed.
Fallow felt a happy feeling in her chest.
Her kits were so sweet.
She couldn’t have asked for three better daughters.
Fallow laid down on top of the dumpster Fire hid in that afternoon.
Silent and Evening had promised to tell their nieces a story when they went to sleep, so Fallow could do her weekly ritual for Flame.
She looked up at the stars and meowed: 'Oh, Flame, I wish you were here. I miss you. Soon, our kits will come. I hope you're up there somewhere, and see them.'
Then she picked up the rabbit she had brought, and laid it on the ground.
Rabbits were Flame's favorite prey, and even though she knew her mate couldn’t eat it anymore, she liked to place it there for one night, and let her kits feast on it next morning.
She saw Flame so much in them.
Maple and Fire's ginger pelts, all three's green eyes, the shape of Ivy's face...
Then, Fallow kept silent for a while.
Flame had protected her kits when they were about to be attacked by a badger, but passed away in the fight.
Fallow kept seeing the blooding body, kept hearing Ice's voice saying: 'I'm so sorry, Fallow... she's dead', and kept feeling her wet fur after hours of crying.
Then, she continued her ritual.
The last step was making a small fire in honor of her name.
She kept rubbing a twig against a stone for a long time, until she finally got a nice, warm flame.
She sat there for a while, thinking of all memories of Flame, and the put the fire out and went to the rest of her family to sleep.
She crept amongst her foster sister, Sky, and her kits, and fell asleep almost immediately, drifting off to a land full of dreams, nightmares... and Flame.