A Time To Travel/Chapter 8

By Gigglepaw

Ivypaw gasped as she fell forward,her head spinning.Then her vision went black.Her stomache flipped,and she opened her jaws in a yowl,but nothing came out.Then the spinning stopped.Ivypaw sighed in relief.

The silence was near deaffening.Then it broke.Her breath came in ragged sighs.“Poppypaw?"she gasped.

She heard a moan come from in front of her,and her heart began to beat faster.“Poppypaw?"she asked again.

The moan was louder this time.“Ivypaw,my head..."

Ivypaw could hear Mosspaw sitting up.“Mosspaw?"

“I'm here."he muttered.

Suddenly the spinning resumed.“Uhhhhh..."Poppyaw groaned.

Ivypaw's vision cleared on the lake's edge.“We're home!"she squeaked.“This is great!We're home!"

She turned to her brothers,and her blood ran cold.“Poppypaw!"He staggered,then fell to the ground.

Mosspaw stared at the ground.*All of this is my fault...* he thought sadly.If he hadn't pushed the circle,none of this would have ever happened.

Poppypaw was breathing in short ragged gasps,and every few moments a groan escaped him.Ivypaw sat next to him in worry.She looked up.“Go find Lightningfoot."Mosspaw nodded and ran towards camp.

As he broke through the undergrowth,approaching the stone hollow that made up ThunderClan's camp,he gasped in shock.Cold twoleg stone was built in piles and towers.Cats milled about,placing new pieces of material on and twisting it.Fire burned in a dry,shelter area.

Terror shocked through Mosspaw.“FIRE IN THE CAMP!"

Several cats looked up.One yelled out “Intruder on our territory!"

Pawsteps thrummed the path out of the hollow as many warriors camp out.They raced towards him,claws out.He didn't recognize them.“What are you doing on our land?"One of them hissed.

“*Your*land?This is ThunderClan territory!"Mosspaw protested.There were two warriors and an apprentice,so clearly they didn't see him as a threat.Anger bristled his pelt.

The other warrior,a silver she-cat,said,“We *are*ThunderClan,mouse-brain."

“You're not of ThunderClan,"Mosspaw said,once again angry with these ignorant cats.

The apprentice spoke up.He was tan and skinny,and his legs were long.“He smells of ThunderClan,yet I don't know him."

“What is your family name?"The first warrior said,a solid black tom.

“Family name?"

“Your father's father's father's name?"The warrior explained,“I am Darksky of Brightstorm's family."

Mosspaw shook his head.“I do not know.We keep no records of that in ThunderClan - not in the ThunderClan I know."he added,seeing the hostile glares of the warriors.“Besides,I wouldn't know anyway.I...I never knew my family."

Mosspaw remembered that day when he,Ivypaw,and Poppypaw walked into ThunderClan camp as kits,cold and hungry.That was his only memory.Ivypaw remembered more.She said that they had been on the lakeshore for several days before a mouse ran by.Poppypaw had followed it,and it led them into the forest.That must be how they got to the camp,she had said when she told them.

Darksky turned as a third cat run up the slope.“Lionmoon,we have everything under control here."

Lionmoon was a black she-cat with silver on her neck.She was small and something about her was familiar to Mosspaw.She stared at him intently.“It's alright,"Lionmoon mewed calmly,“I'm here to take him to Moonstar."

“Wait!"Mosspaw protested.“I need a medicine cat.It's for my brother.He's ill.My sister is with him by the lakeshore."

Lionmoon stiffened.“Alright."She looked at the apprentice and Darksky.“Go fetch Moonstar,Twinklingsky,and Ferretwind.Quickly!"She looked at the last warrior.“Wavingreeds,you are not needed.If anyone questions you,tell them I dismissed you."The silver cat dipped her head and turned tail,following Darksky and the apprentice.

Lionmoon leaned closer to Mosspaw.“It's really you,"she mumbled in shock.“Stormwind?"

Mosspaw backed away.“I'm not Stormwind.I'm not even a warrior.I am Mosspaw."

Lionmoon shook her head and said,“Here are kits are named for life.Few ever recieve a new name.You were Stormwind last time I saw you,and your sister Aspenleaf,and your brother Wildheart."Lionmoon took a shaky breath.She looked on the verge of tears.“It has been so long,Stormwind.So,so long."

Mosspaw's heart beat faster.“Are you...?"

Lionmoon smiled and said,in a soft,quiet voice,“Yes.I am your mother."