FLAREPAW

Poolstar stood and began to pad toward Mothermouth. Shadowfoot walked beside her, matching her strides step by step.

"Come on, Icepaw!" called Alderpaw. Icepaw was still sitting on the rock, staring up at the rocks. At Alderpaw's mew, she stood and began to follow slowly. Nervous furball, Flarepaw thought. Who could be nervous about Mothermouth? It's just some dark tunnel.

It took the cats only a few moments to reach Mothermouth. Flarepaw stood on the threshold and peered inside. The blackness beyond the stones archway and darker than the cloudiest night. Flarepaw narrowed her eyes, trying to see where the tunnel led, but she couldn't see a thing with a hiss of frustration.

Beside her, the other apprentices craned their heads nervously around the entrance. Even Shadowfoot seemed unsettled by the black hole ahead of them. "How will we find our way in such darkness?" he asked.
"I will know the way," answered Poolstar. "Just follow my scent. Alderpaw, Icepaw, and Shinepaw, I need you three to remain guard outside. Don't forget that Claw's rouges hunt in his territory. If you spot a rouge nearby, yowl and we'll come to help you fight them off."
Shinepaw nodded.
Flarepaw couldn't help but glare at her. It was an instinct she developed ever since.. that day.

"Flarepaw, you will accompany me and Shadowfoot to the Moonstone."
Flarepaw puffed her chest proudly at the honor she was given as she strode past the other apprentices watching her and padded into the dark tunnel.

Inside the cave, her eyes still detected nothing. The complete and utter blackness felt strange.

The cold, damp air reached through her thick fur and into her bones, stiffening her muscles.

She followed Poolstar and Shadowfoot through the blackness, judging her way by the scent and the feel alone. They were walking along a tunnel that sloped down and down, winding first one way and then the other. Flarepaw's whiskers brushed the side of the cave, telling her where to walk and where to turn. Her nose told her that Poolstar and Shadowfoot were only a tail-length ahead of her.

On and on they want. Does this tunnel go on forever, or what? Flarepaw wondered. Then she felt a tingle in her whiskers. The air in her nostrils seemed fresher than before. She sniffed again, she could smell peat, and prey, and the smell of heather. There must be a hole somewhere in the roof of the tunnel.

"Where are we?" she mewed in the darkness.
"We have entered the cavern of the Moonstone," came Poolstar's soft reply. "Wait here. It will be moonhigh soon."

Flarepaw folded her hind legs under her on the chilly stone floor and waited. She could hear the steady breathing of Poolstar and the more rapid, fear-scented panting of Shadowfoot.

Suddenly, in a flash more blinding than the setting sun, the cave was lit up. Flarepaw's eyes were wide open after the blackness of the tunnel. She closed them quickly against the cold, white light. Then slowly she opened her eyes into tiny slits and peered ahead.
She saw a gleaming rock, which glittered as if it were made from countless dewdrops. The Moonstone! Flarepaw looked around. In the cold light reflected from the stone, she could make out the shadowy edges of a high-roofed cavern. The Moonstone rose up from the middle of the floor, three tail-lengths high.

Poolstar was staring upward, her fur practically glowing. Flarepaw followed Poolstar's gaze. High in the roof was an opening that revealed a narrow triangle of night sky. The moon was casting a beam of light through the hole, down onto the Moonstone, making it sparkle like a star.

Beside her, Flarepaw smelled Shadowfoot's fear-scent growing, until it became overpowering. Flarepaw felt once in her life, startled. She admired the brave warrior as any cat. Was he really scared of some glowy stone? She saw a flash of movement, felt fur rush past her, and heard the fleeing pawsteps of Shadowfoot racing back at the entrance.

"Flarepaw?" Poolstar's voice was quiet and calm.
Flarepaw stepped forward. "Don't worry Poolstar, I'm still here." She shot an annoyed glare at where Shadowfoot had chicken out.

"I heard Shadowfoot's pawsteps leave," Poolstar murmured. "I think Shadowfoot was surprised by the power of the Moonstone. In the world above, Shadowfoot is a fearless and mighty warrior, but down here, when the spirits of StarClan speak, a cat needs a different kind of strength."

Flarepaw watched as Poolstar padded up to the stone and lay down beside it. She reached her head forward and touched the Moonstone with her nose. Her deep blue eyes sparkled with its reflection for a moment before she closed them. Now she rested her head on her black paws, her eyelids flicking, her paws twitching occasionally. Was she sleeping? Flarepaw wondered.

Flarepaw let out a yawn. If Poolstar's sleeping, it can't be bad if I take a nap too, she thought. She padded over to one of the cavern's corners and curled up into a ball, using her tail as a moss bed.

When she blinked open her eyes, she wasn't in the Moonstone cavern anymore. She seemed to be in IceClan's territory. Is this a dream? she thought.

As she padded around the snow woods, sniffing around for prey, she heard a great sizzle. When she turned around, the snowy woods had a fire spreading around its trees, flames catches up on the branches. Flarepaw widened her eyes and tried to find an escape route.

Then she saw a strange cat in front of her. They were flame-colored and their back was toward her.
"Hey, you! You need to get out of here! It's too dangerous!" She yowled, hoping the cat could hear her over the fire.

But when the cat turned their head toward her, Flarepaw widened her eyes in shock. The cat had pure white glowing eyes. They sat up, and started padding toward her.
And sickening horror, she saw whenever the cat stepped, the snow turned black very quickly.
Realization hit Flarepaw. They weren't flame-colored. They were made out of fire!

"Stay back!" Flarepaw hissed, arching her back in a battle-ready position.
When the fire cat was right in of her, they spoke. "Take my paw." The fire cat took out their fire-blazed paw, and, for some reason, sounded older and very familiar, but Flarepaw couldn't guess who.
Hesitantly, she grabbed the fire cat's paw and the smoke went straight into her nostrils.

Flarepaw woke up with a jolt of horror, and she scanned her surroundings. She was back into the Moonstone cavern.
She shook her head, trying to shake the scent of fire away. Just a dream, she told herself.

Suddenly, Poolstar lifted her head. "Flarepaw? Are you there?" She mewed.
Flarepaw stood up, shaking off the fear-scent from her pelt and calming herself down. "Yeah, I am."
"Hurry," she hissed. She felt her fur brush past her. "We must return to camp."
Flarepaw raced after, astonished by her speed through the darkness. She followed her scent briefly, up and up the stone tunnel, until she led her safely back to the outside world.

Shadowfoot was waiting at the opening beside Shinepaw, Alderpaw and Icepaw as Poolstar and Flarepaw climbed out of the cave. His expression was cold and his fur was slightly ruffled, but he sat motionless and dignified.

"Shadowfoot." Poolstar greeted him.
Shadowfoot relaxed a little. "What did you learn?"
"We must return to camp immediately," Poolstar meowed briefly.

Flarepaw tried to ignore the cold fear that gripped her muscles, did Poolstar see the same dream Flarepaw had?