It was a restless night in IslandClan. Ominous black clouds covered the sky, and no stars were in sight. The forest mingled with the scents of unfamiliar cats. Warriors stirred in their sleep, and night guards were more alert than ever.
The ferns parted to reveal a small, cream-colored cat. She was completely unmoving, but her shivering paws betrayed the fact that she was alive. It was a cold night for the small cat. Leaf-bare was upon the Clan, and the tree that provided shelter from the wind was no more, for it's leaves had shed.
Finally, the cat stretched and her eyes narrowed in thought.
The night is young. There is plenty of time to collect the herbs that Goldenbranch needs. She walked towards the Stream, where numerous clumps of watermint were hidden near the riverbed.
Good, the small cat thought,
Goldenbranch will be pleased.
As she plucked pawfuls of the precious herb, her mind wondered about the prophecy.
Only the Power of the Lion,
and the Wit of the Amber One
will save IslandClan from
the Web of the Shade...
Her eyes shadowed, as if she knew more to the prophecy then she was supposed to. So many questions were running through her mind that even a blind kit could sense that something was troubling the young cat. Only questions, and no answers. What did the prophecy mean? Who, or
what, is Lion and Amber? Were they Clan Cats, or creatures of the unknown?
Life had been hard for the small cat. An unkind mother and a harsh father, and littermates who she would never fit in with because she was too small, too odd with a black stained pelt, too much of a daydreamer that her family forgot she existed.
Then the cream and black cat smiled. "IslandClan was the best thing that ever happened to me," she whispered to herself, "here we take care of the young and look after the old, because we are all
equal."
"Mudflower! Where are those herbs I asked for?" came the call of Goldenbranch, her mentor.
"I'm coming Goldenbranch!" the cream cat answered, clearing her mind of her problems.
As she walked towards her mentor, she made a silent promise:
However hard my life has been, however hard it is now, I promise I will never stop looking after my Clan as a medicine cat, never stop fulfilling my duty as a medicine cat, because I will give my last breath to help my Clan to face what's coming ahead...