Task 13: What was the first prophecy your clan ever received from Starclan, and who received it?
Cherrypaw couldn’t tell whether she was awake in that moment as the rain trickled down, dripping off her coat. The strange cats appeared in the corner of her vision, darting through the forest. She couldn’t keep her eye on them long enough to tell who it was. “mend the path to freedom,” a cat whispered in her eye as the she-cat raised her hackles.
She turned around but found that the only one there was herself. A moment later, there was another whisper: “danger is closer than you think.”
The she-cat took off, attempting to run from the forest that loomed ahead, showing to be relentless in preventing her from escaping. Everywhere she looked, there was a cat, chasing after her. She couldn’t shake them. There were voices in her head that chanted “mend the path to freedom” and no matter what turns Cherrypaw took, they remained in pursuit.
As Cherrypaw saw the edge of the forest fork into two paths, she slowed down momentarily, ready to divert to the left when she noticed the dipping path on the right. However, she skidded to a stop when she noticed the small apricot cat that sat in the way, with fur that sparked in the light of the night. As the other cats that were sat with the apricot cat began to step towards her, she quickly turned right, taking the dive. She had hoped the water would soften her fall and as she jumped, for a moment, she felt weightless as she floated through the air before dropping, heading straight for the water.
Before the she-cat could hit the water, she awoke suddenly, gasping for breath as her eyes darted around the medicine cat den. “Oh, it wasn’t real,” the apprentice whispered, as she found herself calming down.
The next night, the cats appeared again, whispering “mend the path” within her ear but Cherrypaw held her ground, refusing the let fear draw her away from answers. Cherrypaw watched the cats in her dream as the apricot tom appeared, watching her intently. “Danger is coming,” he purred, watching her silently, not explaining any further what he meant.
When Cherrypaw went to ask the cat to explain, he was gone and Cherrypaw was alone in the forest. In that moment, it was deathly silent, no other sound could be heard except the beating of the apprentice’s heart.
Cherrypaw took it upon herself to speak to her mentor the next night, needing an explanation to what was now becoming a reoccurring dream.
“Sounds like a prophecy…neat, I never get those,” Bluepaw, another medicine cat apprentice, said, poking her head up from the patch of grass where she was collecting herbs, now paying attention to the conversation between the two cats.
“Nonsense, we Thornclan cats don’t get prophecies. That’s just an old elder’s tale,” Tigerlily snarled, dismissing Cherrypaw as she shrugged her shoulder away from her apprentice.
“What if I do? I’m not a Thornclan cat,” Cherrypaw asked, looking at the older she-cat.
“You’re training under me, therefore you’re a Thornclan cat. Get back to work. I don’t have time to hear about your bad dreams, because that’s all they are,” Tigerlily growled, flashing her fangs at Cherrypaw who quickly threw her head down, continuing to pick up herbs to bring back.
Bluepaw walked over to Cherrypaw, nudging her shoulder against the she-cat.
“Don’t listen to her. She’s scared of anything that is different. It sounds like you just had a visit from the ancestors,” Bluepaw whispered quietly, making sure that their mentor was too busy doing her duty to pay attention to them.
“You think?” Cherrypaw asked as she held herself tensely, after all it did just seem like a bad dream.
“Yeah, the cat you described sounds like what I heard the old medicine cat looked like. Pear…something, I can’t remember his name,” Bluepaw replied, a twinkle in her eye as her ear perked forward. “My mother used to tell me tales about the medicine cat that she was told by her elders. He was so cool! He apparently hated violence and was super into living peacefully.”
“Huh, maybe it was a prophecy,” Cherrypaw whispered.
“Yeah, wouldn’t it be super cool. You, Cherrypaw, a street cat, were the first cat of Thornclan to receive a prophecy,” Bluepaw answered excitedly. “I mean it’d make sense, Pear…Bush! It was Pear Bush, he lived on the streets too. Maybe that’s why. You have different morals than us that were raised in Thornclan.”
“The first prophecy,” Cherrypaw whispered to herself. “I got the first prophecy.”
The she-cat grinned to herself as she resumed her duties, having a bounce in her step for the first time in a while, as she thought about what that could mean for her position in the clan, opting to neglect the message that Pear Bush was trying to get across to her.
She turned around but found that the only one there was herself. A moment later, there was another whisper: “danger is closer than you think.”
The she-cat took off, attempting to run from the forest that loomed ahead, showing to be relentless in preventing her from escaping. Everywhere she looked, there was a cat, chasing after her. She couldn’t shake them. There were voices in her head that chanted “mend the path to freedom” and no matter what turns Cherrypaw took, they remained in pursuit.
As Cherrypaw saw the edge of the forest fork into two paths, she slowed down momentarily, ready to divert to the left when she noticed the dipping path on the right. However, she skidded to a stop when she noticed the small apricot cat that sat in the way, with fur that sparked in the light of the night. As the other cats that were sat with the apricot cat began to step towards her, she quickly turned right, taking the dive. She had hoped the water would soften her fall and as she jumped, for a moment, she felt weightless as she floated through the air before dropping, heading straight for the water.
Before the she-cat could hit the water, she awoke suddenly, gasping for breath as her eyes darted around the medicine cat den. “Oh, it wasn’t real,” the apprentice whispered, as she found herself calming down.
The next night, the cats appeared again, whispering “mend the path” within her ear but Cherrypaw held her ground, refusing the let fear draw her away from answers. Cherrypaw watched the cats in her dream as the apricot tom appeared, watching her intently. “Danger is coming,” he purred, watching her silently, not explaining any further what he meant.
When Cherrypaw went to ask the cat to explain, he was gone and Cherrypaw was alone in the forest. In that moment, it was deathly silent, no other sound could be heard except the beating of the apprentice’s heart.
Cherrypaw took it upon herself to speak to her mentor the next night, needing an explanation to what was now becoming a reoccurring dream.
“Sounds like a prophecy…neat, I never get those,” Bluepaw, another medicine cat apprentice, said, poking her head up from the patch of grass where she was collecting herbs, now paying attention to the conversation between the two cats.
“Nonsense, we Thornclan cats don’t get prophecies. That’s just an old elder’s tale,” Tigerlily snarled, dismissing Cherrypaw as she shrugged her shoulder away from her apprentice.
“What if I do? I’m not a Thornclan cat,” Cherrypaw asked, looking at the older she-cat.
“You’re training under me, therefore you’re a Thornclan cat. Get back to work. I don’t have time to hear about your bad dreams, because that’s all they are,” Tigerlily growled, flashing her fangs at Cherrypaw who quickly threw her head down, continuing to pick up herbs to bring back.
Bluepaw walked over to Cherrypaw, nudging her shoulder against the she-cat.
“Don’t listen to her. She’s scared of anything that is different. It sounds like you just had a visit from the ancestors,” Bluepaw whispered quietly, making sure that their mentor was too busy doing her duty to pay attention to them.
“You think?” Cherrypaw asked as she held herself tensely, after all it did just seem like a bad dream.
“Yeah, the cat you described sounds like what I heard the old medicine cat looked like. Pear…something, I can’t remember his name,” Bluepaw replied, a twinkle in her eye as her ear perked forward. “My mother used to tell me tales about the medicine cat that she was told by her elders. He was so cool! He apparently hated violence and was super into living peacefully.”
“Huh, maybe it was a prophecy,” Cherrypaw whispered.
“Yeah, wouldn’t it be super cool. You, Cherrypaw, a street cat, were the first cat of Thornclan to receive a prophecy,” Bluepaw answered excitedly. “I mean it’d make sense, Pear…Bush! It was Pear Bush, he lived on the streets too. Maybe that’s why. You have different morals than us that were raised in Thornclan.”
“The first prophecy,” Cherrypaw whispered to herself. “I got the first prophecy.”
The she-cat grinned to herself as she resumed her duties, having a bounce in her step for the first time in a while, as she thought about what that could mean for her position in the clan, opting to neglect the message that Pear Bush was trying to get across to her.