Misted Over by Skystarxx3 (classic children's novels .TXT) 📕

clearing my throat. The black she-cat turned and glared at me, her green eyes blazing. "What do you want?" she asked coldly. Jaypaw said nothing, his blue gaze staring straight through me.

I shifted my weight on my paws. "Well... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," I muttered. "It was wrong of me to listen to you, and I apologize." Hollypaw snorted. "Do you think that will undo what you did?" she snarled. "What Lionpaw and I were talking about was none of your business! You should be ashamed of yourself; StarClan will look down on you and pity you!" I bowed my head, giving in to Hollypaw's rant.

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "It's just that you called Thornpaw-"
"Leave him out of this," Hollypaw interrupted, emotion flickering in her green eyes. "He has nothing to do with anything."

Jaypaw touched the tip of his tail to Hollypaw's shoulder. "We have to tell her," he insisted. "She already knows about the prophecy, we might as well tell her the rest." Hollypaw looked like Jaypaw had told her that he was really a ShadowClan cat and that he was going to kill her.

"No." Her words were barely audible. "No," she repeated, her voice slowly rising. "What would StarClan do? What about the warrior code?"

Jaypaw shook his head. "The prophecy is stronger then the warrior code," he murmured. "So that means we have to break it?" Hollypaw snarled, the fur on her neck rising. "No," Jaypaw replied. "The prophecy says that we have to protect the Clans. Even if that means breaking the warrior code. We have to do this, Hollypaw."

The black she-cat said nothing. She was silent for what seemed like moons. Jaypaw's eyes were round and blue. No doubt shone in the deep pools of wisdom... wait, wisdom? Jaypaw was no bigger then a fox cub! What would he know?

"Alright," Hollypaw said at last. "I'll go get Lionpaw." She turned and padded away, disappearing into the apprentice den.

I sat in front of Jaypaw. My pelt felt hot and itchy. I began to groom my pelt, and then I stopped, letting my thoughts consume me.

I was named Leopardpaw, right? Well, I looked nothing like a leopard. I had a pale grey pelt with lighter spots, and a underbelly the same shade of grey. My tail was long and thin with a fluffy white tip, like a lion's tail. My eyes were grey-blue, and I had black tipped ears.

Weird, right?
I jumped as Lionpaw and Hollypaw approached, their eyes narrowed and serious. I snorted. Who did they think they were? Clan leaders? Jaypaw swung around, his blue-grey pelt fluffed out a little. "Come," he ordered, swishing his fluffy tail. "We'll tell you everything."

-l-e-o-p-a-r-d

Chapter 3

-j-a-y
I padded behind Lionpaw underneath the pine trees that stretched high into the sky. Rain fell, slipping down leaves and dotting our pelts. Jaypaw and Lionpaw seemed to not mind, but Hollypaw was cursing under her breath. Jaypaw turned sharply to the left, and I skidded in the mud to follow. He trotted into a den, ducking down and squeezing inside.

I stopped and peered down into the dark tunnel. "Jaypaw?" I called. "Is it safe?" My voice echoed through the hole, yet Jaypaw didn't reply.

"Go!" I heard Hollypaw's impatient meow and I stumbled and plummeted headfirst into the hole. I yowled in fear and tried to grip the ground, but my wet paws slipped feebly over the mud.

I grunted as I slammed to the ground. The world spun, and I barely moved out of the way as Lionpaw and Hollypaw crashed down too. We had landed on a pile of moss, as if a cat had put it there. "We discovered this hollow moons ago." I turned my head to see Jaypaw padding up to us, his pelt clinging to him.

"It was supposed to be a secret," he went on, with a glare at me. "But I guess every cat will figure it out one day." I lowered my head, feeling guilty. These three cats had to give up their secret place just because I had to stick my nose into their pelt.

Jaypaw turned and walked down the tunnel, leaving wet paw prints. I followed carefully. Hollypaw and Lionpaw followed, their gaze fixed straight ahead. Jaypaw jumped over a tiny pond, but I splashed through it carelessly.

Lionpaw hissed, but I ignored him. Keeping my eyes on Jaypaw's fluffy tail swinging to and fro was more important then thim getting their paws wet.

"There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws." Jaypaw said. I froze. "What?"

"There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws."
I could say nothing. Those words sent a chill through my bones, squeezing my insides, pulling my ears and yanking my limbs around.

Then I quickly blinked and shook my pelt. The tunnel walls seemed to be caving in on me, and I felt small and vulnerable. The walls were a dark brown, with bits of rock weaved in among roots.

"I have to get out of here." Without waiting for a reply, I turned and barged past Lionpaw and Hollypaw. Lionpaw growled at me, and Hollypaw snapped her teeth near my nose. My padding turned to a trot, and that turned into a run.

I sharply turned to the left, and then to the left again until I burst into a small clearing. A stream ran through the middle, with a little boulder settled about a fox-length away from it. I sniffed the air cautiously and stiffened.

The scent of Lionpaw and a unfamiliar smell filled my nose; the two scents were weaved together, as if the two cats had been pressed against each other.

I sighed. I needed to get out of here. I jumped over the stream and began to enter one of the many tunnels when I perked my ears and heard my name being called: "Leopardpaw! Leopardpaw, where are you?"

I grit my teeth. It was Jaypaw, Lionpaw and Hollypaw. I darted into the shadow of the boulder, praying that my grey pelt would blend in to the shadow.

"She went in here," I heard Hollypaw say. Pads scraped over the dirt. I peered over the edge of the boulder to see Jaypaw and Hollypaw sniffing near the stream. Lionpaw had froze in the entrance to the tunnel, his amber eyes wide.

"Come on, Lion-" Hollypaw cut herself off and closed her mouth. Lionpaw gave a tiny nod, and Hollypaw dug her claws into the ground. "You still think about her, don't you?"

Another nod.

"Well, stop it!"
I tilted my head as Hollypaw snarled at Lionpaw. "Heatherpaw is in the past!" she hissed. That must've been the unfamiliar scent.

"We have a prophecy to worry about." Jaypaw glanced at his littermates, rolled his eyes and jumped over the stream with a single bound.

I quickly pulled myself back behind the boulder and prayed to StarClan that Jaypaw wouldn't check behind the boulder.

"Have you ever been in love?" Lionpaw snarled.

"No!" Hollypaw hissed. "And I don't plan on it! Do you think I would want to be laying in the nursery with kits squirming underneath me? No! I want to be a warrior!"
I winced.
Her words were too harsh; maybe Lionpaw wanted to have a mate, and have kits squirming underneath him. Uhh.. not him. His mate.

"Well, maybe the things you want are different from the things that I want!"
"The prophecy is more important then a stupid mate and a stupid kit! Now, keep yourself together! If I see you even glancing at a she-cat, I'll be more then mad at you!" I could imagine the black she-cat facing her brother, pelt fluffed out, green eyes blazing and claws unsheathed.

"I wish I was never a part of the prophecy because of my stupid sister ruining my whole life!" Paws thudded against the ground, and I watched Lionpaw soar over the boulder and dart out of one of the tunnel entrances.

I huffed as Jaypaw shoved me sharply in my side. "Found me," I said weakly, giving a tense smile. Hollypaw was by her brother's side, giving me a indignant glare.
"Eavesdropping again, are we?" she asked, her voice cold.

-h-e-a-t-h-e-r
We headed back to camp. I fluffed out my pelt, trying my best to block out the cold winds of night. The sky was a deep sade of purple, and the warriors of StarClan were starting to appear. The purple light shone through the trees, and as we padded through the violet patches of moonlight, Jaypaw suddenly skidded to a stop.

"My stick!" His words were barely audible, and I jumped backwards as the blue grey apprentice barged past. He ducked into some bushes and pulled backwards and faced us. "Rock..." he whispered, dropping a stick and rubbing it with his paws. "Rock, please talk to me.."

I tilted my head and glanced at Hollypaw. She was just as bemused as me, her tail twitching, eyes glued on her littermate.

Jaypaw suddenly crouched down, dropping the stick. His blue grey fur rose, and his blue eyes flashed. The whole world went black, and I jumped backwards. Hollypaw was by my side in the blink in a eye, pressing against me, trembling.

I bit back a yowl of fear as a a cat appeared. Instead of fur, he had pink skin with tufts of fur along his spine, a rat-like tail, and bulging blind grey eyes and a sagging body.
"Hello, Jaypaw," he said, his grey eyes staring straight at me. Jaypaw looked at the cat, rising up, his tail lashing with excitement. "Rock!" he mewed. "Do you have anything to tell me?" The bald cat gave a tiny not before opening his mouth and saying, “You must travel to the mountains,” he said. “But not today. In three sunrises, you must go to the mountains and help the tribe.”

Then he blinked his grey eyes and took a step towards me. “Even you.” his voice was barely audible, with a slight echo to it.

Then the cat vanished, and the world turned back to normal. I let my breath out, and my whole body shivered. “What is the matter with that crazy cat?” Hollypaw snapped at Jaypaw. “Why should we take her to the mountains?”

I growled and began to reply, but Jaypaw beat me to it. “Maybe she plays an important role in the prophecy,” he suggested. “Maybe she should go to the mountains.”

Hollypaw glared at me, but suddenly a golden brown shape bounded from the bushes. “Thornpaw!” Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and I all cried in union. Yellow eyes bright, Thornpaw meowed, “Mountains? You get to go to the mountains? Can I come too?”
-t-h-o-r-n