Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Something is wrong.” The starry cat whispered.

Goosefeather set down the mouthful of leaves he had been about to sort and sighed. It was Icegaze, because of course it was. The pale she-cat had been pacing around his den for moons now, but wouldn’t tell him what was wrong. 

She wasn’t pacing now, though. The semi-transparent white cat was sitting, her fur raised in alarm. Her eyes - one icy blue and one pale yellow, for which she had presumably been named - were wide and locked onto something just over Goosefeather’s shoulder.

He turned, catching sight of two kits playing near the entrance to his den. He felt his shoulders tense. Ever since his sister’s kits had snuck into his herb supplies, this sight of kits near his den made him anxious.

One of the kits glanced up, saw him looking at them, and the two ran off.  They were Swiftbreeze’s kits, Patchkit and Leopardkit. As they darted away, Icegaze began making a low wailing sound. Somethings wrong with the kits, then? Goosefeather thought.

“It’s wrong, it’s all wrong. The consequences will be disastrous.” She wailed, and Goosefeather was glad, not for the first time, that no one else could hear the spirits that visited him.

“Are they sick? Something deadly and contagious?” He asked. The spirits were cryptic, and occasionally insistent, but none of them had been so distraught before.

“She’s the wrong one, don’t you see?” Icegaze hissed, crouching low to the ground. A wild light entered her eyes, and she lunged suddenly to whisper in his ear. “You can fix this, Goosefeather.  You can keep things on track. Listen carefully, the fate of every clan depends on this prophecy.”

Goosefeather stood, frozen, and Icegaze dug her claws into the ground.

“Moss must become Tiger, and Leopard must climb to the stars. If she burns bright enough, Fire will blaze through the forest, and the future may yet be saved.”

“Alright, so Leopardkit is to become leader.” Goosefeather muttered. There’s no telling what the rest of it meant. But if I’ve learned one thing about these prophecies, he thought scornfully it’s that no matter what I do they’ll sort themselves out eventually.

“But she must mind the water!” Icegaze hissed, seeming not to hear him. “If she doesn’t, there will be too many gaps.”

Goosefeather nodded, relaxing slightly as the white cat faded from view. Peering out into the camp, he could see Leopardkit playing near the nursery. She doesn’t look particularly special. He thought critically but what do I know?

Chapter Text

“That old cat is watching me again.” Leopardkit mewed as her mother licked her ears.

Swiftbreeze paused in her washing long enough to glance across the camp. “That’s just Goosefeather, dear. He’s watching you because it’s his job to make sure you’re healthy, that’s all.”

Leopardkit wasn’t so sure. She thought she could hear something like doubt in her mother’s voice. “But he never stares at Patchkit like that.” She argued, watching her mother’s face carefully. 

Swiftbreeze eyed Goosefeather suspiciously. “Is that so? Well, it’s nothing to worry about. He’s probably just staring off into space. I’ll have a word with him later, since it’s bothering you.” 

Yes, Leopardkit was sure now that she wasn’t hearing things. Swiftbreeze sounded…angry? Upset, certainly. What was the word she’d heard Stormtail say the other day? Wary. That was it, Swiftbreeze was wary of Goosefeather.

As Leopardkit sat pondering her mother’s emotions, Swiftbreeze stood, stretched, and padded off to greet a returning hunting patrol. Patchkit turned to her with mischief in his eyes.

“You should go talk to him.” He said. 

“Why would I do that? Swiftbreeze is going to talk to him later.” She replied.

“Oh, so you’re scared of him?” Patchkit was grinning now, his whiskers twitching with amusement. “You’re a fraidy-mouse, hiding behind your mother!”

“Am not!” Leopardkit squawked, fur fluffing up indignantly. “It’s just that…Swiftbreeze doesn’t like Goosefeather. And I don’t know why.” She admitted.

“Oh.” Patchkit tipped his head, considering the old gray cat in question. “I guess he’s a little weird. But all the Elders are weird, so I don’t think it matters much.”

“I guess.” She replied. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. I’m not scared of a weird old cat. This is my Clan and I’m safe here and he can’t make me feel uncomfortable and…and… “I am going to go talk to him!” She announced, standing suddenly.

“Ok, good luck.” Patchkit called after her and she marched across the camp.

Finally, she stood in front of him, craning her neck to make eye contact. He stared back at her, blinking calmly. His head was tipped to the side, like he was listening to something, but all Leopardkit could hear were the quiet sounds of clan life around them. Leopardkit took a deep breath, trying to focus on her anger instead of her fear.

“Hey.” She said as forcefully as she could manage. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Oh? Well that’s good.” Goosefeather replied.

Leopardkit paused. “Yeah. So. You can stop staring at me.” She tried to square her shoulders and bare her teeth at him, mimicking an expression she’d seen once, when she was only a moon old. Riverclan cats had come to the camp, and Adderfang had snarled at them to keep away from the nursery. But her memory of it was hazy, and the expression felt clumsy on her face.

“Hmm. And do you know why I’m watching you?” He asked. When Leopardkit didn’t reply, he continued. “You have a great destiny ahead of you, Leopardkit. Reach for the stars, mind the water, and the course of the clans will be kept on track. You may be the wrong one, but you’re the only one we’ve got.” 

His last sentence was almost a whisper, but it still sent a shiver down her spine. The wrong one? What does that mean? Leopardkit thought. Oh, who cares. I have a destiny! I’ll be leader one day.

With wide eyes she turned and pranced back to Patchkit. Just as she was sitting down beside her brother, she caught Swiftbreeze’s eye. Her mother was sitting with Adderfang and Sunstar, and she lifted her tail to beckon them over. Eyeing the two of them as they approached, she bent to lick Patchkit’s ear.

“But you already groomed us!” Patchkit whined.

“Yes, but you’ve got a bit of dust on the back of your head. I won’t have you looking dusty when you become apprentices!” She mewed. “Now, Leopardkit, where was it you were coming back from?”

“I went to talk to Goosefeather.” Leopardkit announced, lifting her chin. “I told him I wasn’t afraid of him.”

“Did you now?” Adderfang purred kindly. “That was brave of you.”

“Yes.” Leopardkit nodded importantly, “And he told me that I have a great destiny!”

Adderfang curled his tail around her and bent to lick her head. “Of course you do! You’re going to be brilliant.”

Leopardkit purred, settling into his side. I am going to be brilliant. And I’m about to become an apprentice! Everything is perfect.

Chapter Text

Everything was not, in fact, perfect. Leopardpaw watched, trying and failing to contain her annoyance as her mentor explained the move again. And therein lay the issue for Leopardpaw - her mentor was Robinwing.

Robinwing is fine. She thought grumpily. But shouldn’t a cat with a destiny get someone flashier, someone more important? Sunstar should be mentoring me, or Tawnyspots. 

“Leopardpaw? Are you listening?” Robinwing asked. Leopardpaw nodded, and she continued. “Good, show me the move then.”

Leopardpaw leapt to her feet, balancing on two paws and swiping with her front paws. She landed roughly back on all fours. Robinwing watched her closely, then nodded.

“That was fine, Leopardpaw. Tomorrow we’ll work on landing lightly, so you can spring away if you need to.” Her tone was even, and she didn’t seem disappointed, but  Leopardpaw couldn’t help but feel bitter.

Of course, that’s the real issue. She thought. It doesn’t matter that Robinwing is just fine. I’m just fine. Not great, not terrible. Average.

Dejected, she followed her mentor back to the camp. Her paws ached from a long day of training, but she felt like she hadn’t improved very much. Or rather, like she’d improved just enough to stay in the middle of the pack. 

If she had to rank the apprentices - and, to be honest, she often did - then Patchpaw was at the bottom of the list. Her brother was good at hunting and fighting, but he only worked as hard as needed to. Not very ambitious. Leopardpaw thought. 

Snowpaw was in the middle with Leopardpaw. The younger cat had good instincts, but sometimes she relied on them too heavily. It’ll turn into impulsiveness if she isn’t careful. She’d overheard Sparrowpelt say as much once.

And then there was Oakpaw, who was evenly matched with Leopardpaw but wouldn’t be for long. The younger apprentice was big and naturally gifted. He’d been held back a bit, though. His brother had had a terrible accident, then went missing, then turned up in Riverclan. It was natural that he’d been distracted in training.

Leading the apprentices was Bluepaw. Bluepaw. She thought, sighing. Now there’s a cat with the talents you’d expect of a prophecy cat. She just learned so quickly. On her first hunt she’d caught a massive squirrel, and Weedwhisker still mentioned it wistfully. On Leopardpaw’s first hunt, she had caught a little mouse, and Robinwing had had to point it out to her, first.

But what can you expect? She thought I am the wrong one, after all. Even moons later, Goosefeather’s words plagued her. She tried to focus on the good part, the part about reaching for the stars and saving the clan. She even tried to distract herself by wondering about what “mind the water” meant.

It didn’t matter, though. Every time something went wrong, no matter how small, the words danced into her mind. She pushed through the tunnel into the Thunderclan camp, and was immediately greeted with a scene of chaos. 

Warriors paced back and forth, arguing. Speckletail had her tail wrapped protectively around Goldenkit and Lionkit and was eyeing every shadow like it might be hiding invading cats. Adderfang was in the middle of the crowd, voice raised in what sounded like a call to battle, while Sunstar was speaking in low, even tones that she could only just hear. 

 At the center of the commotion were Bluepaw and Snowpaw, trapped between Goosefeather and Moonflower, trying to stay out from under the paws of the pacing warriors. At their feet lay a vole, plump and juicy, but apparently the subject of much scrutiny.

Eyes darting back and forth, Leopardpaw caught sight of Swiftbreeze, sitting near the edge of the crowd. Her ears were flat and her tail flicked back and forth, but she wasn’t yelling. Leopardpaw slipped around the crowd of cats to sit next to her.

“Swiftbreeze? What’s going on?” Leopardpaw whispered. She was trying to listen to the fighting cats, but there were so many voices overlapping it was hard to focus on them. 

Adderfang, Stormtail, and Sparrowpelt were the loudest, crying out about fighting for honor and survival, so she could guess there was a battle coming soon. But someone was also yelling about a vole, presumably the one Goosefeather was staring at so intently, and someone else kept meowing about the will of Starclan.

“Goosefeather has had a sign, or so he claims.” Swiftbreeze replied crossly. “He says Starclan wants us to attack Windclan.”

“Oh. Was the sign in the vole?”

“On its fur.” She said, her attention focused back on the warriors. 

Robinwing was challenging Goosefeather now, drawing anxious muttering out of several cats. The words were different, but each cat meant the same thing. If we don’t trust Goosefeather, then are we rejecting Starclan? But how can we place all the power and wisdom of the stars in the paws of one cat?

Adderfang pushed forward to stand in front of Sunstar, his tail whipping back and forth. “Do you doubt Starclan, Sunstar, or is it Goosefeather you doubt?

Sunstar stared back at Adderfang, absorbing his brazen challenge. Finally, he nodded. “We’ll attack Windclan at dawn. We must have faith in Starclan, and in Goosefeather.” His voice was edged with concern, and with a warning.

Goosefeather better not be wrong. Leopardpaw thought as Sunstar began naming the warriors he would take into battle. Sunstar might make him retire.

Relief swept over the assembled cats as they realized their leader was not contradicting their ancestors. Then, a new energy moved through them. Some cats were immediately anxious again, while others dug their claws into the ground with anticipation.

Moonflower spoke up then. “Will all the apprentices have to fight?”

Adderfang turned to face her. “All must fight when we’re in this much danger!” He swept his gaze over the clan before landing on her. His eyes glinted with pride.

Sunstar followed his gaze, surveying her calmly. Leopardpaw pushed her chest out and her chin up, hoping she looked big and brave. 

“Robinwing,” Sunstar said, turning to find her mentor in the crowd. “Is Leopardpaw ready for battle?”

Leopardpaw held her breath as Robinwing hesitated, glancing over at her. Then she nodded.

“Very well. She will be part of the battle party. Patchpaw and Fuzzypelt will stay to guard the camp, along with Windflight and Tawnyspots.” Sunstar continued giving orders, but Leopardpaw hardly heard him.

I’m going into battle. She thought, her paws trembling with a mix of fear and excitement. Robinwing hesitated, but she said I was ready.

Swiftbreeze glanced down at her with concern. “You’ll stay out of the worst parts of the fight, won’t you? And don’t try to fight any cat bigger than you.”

“I’ll be okay, Swiftbreeze. I’ve been training really hard, and we have Starclan on our side.” Leopardpaw hesitated, searching her mother’s gaze. “Don’t we?”

“Of course we do.” Swiftbreeze replied, trying to sound confident. “Besides, if Goosefeather were wrong then surely Starclan would have sent a sign to Featherwhisker. He’s a sensible cat, he wouldn’t let us run into battle if he thought Goosefeather was misinterpreting things.”

Leopardpaw relaxed. Yes, that sounds right. She thought. Featherwhisker would know if Goosefeather was wrong. Featherwhisker is sensible and trustworthy.

Then another thought occurred to her, and she felt herself tense once again. If he’s wrong about this sign, could he be wrong about my prophecy too?