The Stormfather

Grayclaw dashed from the camp, speeding through the bushes and leaves, eyes wide in terror. He leapt a small ditch in the ground and glanced over his shoulder, spotting Wishfeather running behind him. The rest of DarkClan had gone a different direction, taking the other path out of camp. 

"Is everyone out?" Grayclaw asked, puffing slightly from the run from camp. 

Wishfeather nodded. "Emberfur helped Thymepaw, and the rest of the warriors ran away quickly." 

Grayclaw sighed in relief. "Any idea what it was?" He asked, nodding towards where he could hear more huge, lumbering footsteps.

"I have no idea. Something big usually doesn't shake the ground when it walks." Wishfeather mewed, and leapt onto a low branch of a small, young oak tree. The branch shuddered under his weight, and the deputy began to climb higher.

"Smart." Grayclaw nodded, before digging his claws into a neighboring pine and climbing. The branches would be too feeble to hold his weight, but the main trunk of the tree would hopefully be strong enough to hold him. He glanced upwards, and could see a few rain clouds on the horizon. "Just our luck."

Suddenly, he heard a shriek out in the forest. He didn't recognize the voice, but it came from the direction of the massive pawsteps and Grayclaw hoped that no one had run into whatever in was.

"Grayclaw, we should check who that was!" Wishfeather shouted from his tree, starting to climb back down.

Grayclaw started downwards, climbing quickly and soon dropping to the pine-covered ground. He raced across the terrain, and felt the the wind begin to pick up, a cold, harsh wind that came with a storm. "Those clouds are moving fast." He stopped as he saw a flash of fur in the trees.

Wishfeather paused when he saw the sandy brown fur through the trees, and suddenly the cat, for now they could see her face, turned towards them. 

She dashed across the forests, and Grayclaw could see flecks of blood on her fur.

Something about the cat struck Grayclaw as familiar, and he blinked a few times, trying to place who this was in his mind. 

"Run!" She yowled. "The bear is coming!" 

"What's a bear?" Wishfeather and Grayclaw both asked.

The she-cat sighed, and ran past the two DarkClan warriors. When she passed them, she could see a huge scratch on her back, one that looked like a claw-mark but was much larger than even a badger claw-strike.

Grayclaw shrugged and ran after her, passing by the trees they had climbed earlier and continued to run. "Who are you?" He yowled over the wind, which was gathering farther.

"Sand!" She replied, and continued running. 

Wishfeather was lagging behind, continuously slowing to look behind himself, evidently scared.

"Come on!" Grayclaw shouted. A spattering of  raindrops fell from the sky, and he  he sighed. "I hate getting wet."

Wishfeather picked up his pace for a few moments, falling in beside Grayclaw. Sand was still a few pawsteps ahead, and all three of them were panting now.

After a few moments, Sand winced and slowed to a stop. "I don't think I can run farther with this cut." She mewed, and clenched her jaw as several raindrops hit her wound.

"I think we're far enough away." Grayclaw conceded, and sat. He looked around himself. " Where do you think the rest of the Clan is running to?"

"They'd probably run towards Four-Fallen." Wishfeather paced around Grayclaw. "Maybe try to cross the Thunderpath."

"Wait!" Grayclaw turned to Sand. "Are you the one who lead to fox to us?" He exclaimed.

Grayclaw woke quietly as the sun poked through the trees. He softly rose to his paws, not wanting to disturb the rest of the sleeping warriors. Instinctively, he looked towards Gorsepelt's nest, then looked at his paws, trudging out of the den when he saw she wasn't there.

He walked slowly towards the medicine den, pushing past a few loose brambles. As he entered, he saw that Thymepaw was still asleep, and that Emberfur, at the very back of the large den, was softly counting herbs.

"Oh! Grayclaw! Hello." She turned towards him, pulling a leaf covered in honey out from the small holes she had dug out of the dirt to store her herbs.

"Hi." He said, unable to keep the sleepiness from his mew. "Uh...."

"Spit it out, Grayclaw. I know you came here for a reason." Emberfur mrrowed in laughter.

"Well I had a dream..." He trailed off.

"What?" Emberfur looked at him sharply. " What happened in it?" She asked, stepping closer to him.

"I was out in a clearing, following the fox trail again, when... Well, I though I heard voices in the bushes. Whispers. There were two voices, but I couldn't get a glimpse of what was behind the bush. I- I think they were arguing about something. As soon as I looked towards the bushes they stopped, and left. I went to check behind the bush and there was nothing, no pawprints at all. But... Emberfur I swear I could smell Gorsepelt."

Emberfur had been nodding along with what he had been saying. "Grayclaw, all people have dreams about those they have lost. Many relive memories of their loved ones in their dreams. I don' t think its that strange."

"But then why was Gorsepelt arguing? And with who?" Grayclaw huffed in exasperation. "There may have been something else. I... there was a taste in my mouth as the dream ended. Like water drunk from a stone that had been rained on. Sharp, wet, obviously, but there was something about it..." 

"What?" Emberfur snapped. The ginger-brown cat strode towards him. "Grayclaw, did you just say that?"

"Yes?" Grayclaw responded in confusion. "What? Is that important?" 

"No. Not at all." Emberfur responded with more intensity than Grayclaw had ever seen from her.

"Please, tell me. What does it mean?"

"It is not in my place to interpret the dreams of another. Signs can be warped, misread." Emberfur spoke quickly, as if nervous.

"Signs? Wh- Was that a adream from StarClan?" Grayclaw asked incredulously.

"Possibly." Emberfur turned her back to him, motioning with her tail to leave. "I need to care for Maplestar and Thymepaw. Go... patrol, hunt, whatever it is you usually do."

Grayclaw hesitated. "GO back to the part when you said it was a dream from StarClan..."

Emberfur didn't respond, instead saying, "And if anyone sees a good oak tree on our land, tell me! I need the leaves."

"Okay, but what about-" Grayclaw began.

"Nothing! That dream was nothing, Grayclaw!" Emberfur was a terrible liar.

"Ugh, fine. Nothing. Sure. Just your average dream from StarClan." Grayclaw walked out of the den, spotting Wishfeather sending off the patrols.

"Ah, nice of you to finally join us, Grayclaw." Wishfeather sneered.

"I'm a few moments, late, Wishfeather. No one ever cared about that little amount of time. Here, you don't care that Birchnose is still waking up. You just hate me." Grayclaw said honestly. "For no good reason as well. So, if you really think its that bad for being a couple of moments late for a patrol, then half the Clan would be being punished in a moon! Not everyone is going to sleep for the same amount of time, or wake up ready to go immediately. Don't go picking some fights where your clearly in the wrong!" Grayclaw spat.

Wishfeather stuttered.

"Oh, so surprising when your being a fox-heart someone points it out to you." Grayclaw murmured.

"You cannot speak to a deputy that way, Grayclaw!" Wishfeather snarled.

"Oh really? Does anyone here think that Wishfeather is in the right in this situation?" He looked at the gathered Clan.

"No." Birchnose mewed.

"Of course not!" Emberfur shouted from her den.

"No." Maplestar wheezed from where he lay, injured in his den.

Wishfeather suddenly stopped as both the medicine-cat and leader spoke. "It was just a silly little joke-" He began.

"No, it wasn't. I think everyone knows how much you hate Grayclaw, though for whatever reason I really cannot tell." Maplestar spoke clearly, voice not impeded by the fox's claw marks that had struck his throat. Thankfully he had not lost a life, though.

"Yeah, why do you hate him, Wishfeather?" Birchnose asked.

Wishfeather was about to speak when a branch snapped out in the forest. A big one. Every cat's head turned towards the source of the noise. they could all hear more twigs snapping, and the brush of bushes being pushed.

Something in the forest was moving. Something big. And it was coming towards them.