BraveClan's touching story/(3): Rediscovering Wonders from Darkness/10

## Part 10: The Escape, the Follow

DarkClan story continued, Destinyflower and Warmtail: In the morning, they woke up. Some other cats were becoming apprentices and warriors. Darkstar was thinking, Destinyflower must have done something to Warmtail to make him attacked by StarClan. He saw his mate, Purpleslash, a very senior warrior doing well in the Clan. She refused to give up and become an elder. Even if her muscles and bones started failing. Then he looked at the younger batch, the kits happily playing with each other.

Then Bluntgaze reported to Darkstar about another Clan on the premises. He did not know what it was, but it looked small. She said they almost killed her, but she managed to run away. Then she got lost for a day, but she managed to come back. Destinyflower, as usual, eavesdropped on them. Darkstar looked grim. "Do you remember the path?" he asked in a grunt. Bluntgaze said, "I'm sorry, my leader, but I was lost and went in all directions and-"

Darkstar put up a finger to shush her. "Very well," he said in disappointment.

Destinyflower was shocked. She had gotten a vision during the night. It looked like she had found BraveClan with Warmtail, and saw Fierylight there. They were so overjoyed, and they were welcomed in, along with Warmtail, who was happy to see SunClan. But then, while she was hunting, Darkstar, Oakbush, Auburnfur and Longpaw (as a warrior) came out of nowhere and she got killed. It went by pretty quickly, so it seemed like only a few minutes for her, but it was already day.

Warmtail said he didn't get any sort of visions from StarClan. "Fine," was all Destinyflower replied. Then she explained about her vision. Warmtail was shocked. "But wait... are you a prophecy cat, too?" he asked in amazement. Destinyflower had never thought of that, she didn't think so. But she thought about Warmtail's first vision. He said he saw Destinyflower, himself, Fierylight and another cat on the light side, but on the dark side was Darkstar, Purpleslash, and a few of his kin. Warmtail seemed like he read her mind because he exclaimed, "My vision yesterday! It was the prophecy cats! And I recognize that last cat. She was the third leader of SunClan, her name was Marigoldstar! Didn't know why I couldn't see that. She's also my aunt."

Destinyflower replied, "But wait, she's probably alive..." Warmtail looked joyful. "So everybody didn't die," he said almost to himself.

Then he told Destinyflower, "Darkstar and Oakbush were two cats all right, but Purpleslash wasn't glowing. But Longpaw and Auburnfur were. Auburnfur is my... other aunt. They're both on my dad's side."

Destinyflower nodded with interest. "Cool," she said. "But I think we'll have to go to BraveClan."

Warmtail frowned and told her about her vision. "You could die," he said. Destinyflower replied, "I doubt they know where BraveClan is, the camp looks different. It must be much farther away." She thought about what Bluntgaze said. She must have been to BraveClan. Hopefully she *totally* forgot the way to it or anywhere near it. Destinyflower and Warmtail packed up supplies, and left DarkClan immediately. The bad thing that happened is that an apprentice, Talonpaw spotted them leave. He was learning hunting with his mentor, Lilaccliff. Lilaccliff saw them go, too, but she didn't see it completely.

"Maybe they're just on patrol like us," she suggested. Talonpaw then said, "But they're going farther out the border!" Lilaccliff hissed, then shouted, "Focus on your prey, not two cats going away!" Talonpaw still looked suspicious at them. He recognized the faces. After training, he reported this to Darkstar. Darkstar looked confused, and did an announcement that Destinyflower and Warmtail were gone. He probably assumed that they got lost like Fierylight did. But Talonpaw wasn't the only one who saw them go. An apprentice, Moorpaw was with his mentor, Highjump. The two apprentices told Darkstar all the details. Moorpaw only saw them pack up and go out of the camp, while Talonpaw saw them leave the border.

That made Darkstar worried. Then he pushed both the apprentices down, and scratched them. Their mentors pulled them away. Darkstar wasn't especially fond of apprentices telling him weird stuff, but he did call out both Destinyflower and Warmtail's names. There wasn't ever an answer back. Darkstar knew they had gone, and he thought what the apprentices were saying was true. After all, nobody would ever lie to him. Darkstar told his deputy, Bronzeslope, and he was on the quest. He brought along Smokyleap, one medicine cat, Charredbelly, Spiderroot, Puddlestem, and Frozenbreeze. They went into the same direction as Warmtail and Destinyflower.

Where these two were, Destinyflower groaned. "I feel heavy," she complained. "Pull yourself together. We're both prophecy cats," Warmtail replied. "StarClan won't make us die unless the prophecy's fulfilled, and they will guide us on our path, especially towards BraveClan. They're telling me to go... that way!" He pointed into more forest. Destinyflower said, "Let's travel a little more, and then we'll eat what we brought." Warmtail agreed.

They ventured on a little further until they got really hungry. "Let's stop, now," said Destinyflower. She dropped the rabbit she had brought, and chowed it down ferociously.

Warmtail laughed and said, "You should have eaten before we went!" Destinyflower chuckled and replied, "Yes, I did, but we've gone so far!" Suddenly Warmtail's ears perked up while eating. "Did you hear that, Destinyflower?" She shook her head. Warmtail said, "It sounded like-like-" Then it happened again. It was a great rustle. Destinyflower gulped, then said, "Eat quickly, we gotta move!" Warmtail just took his hare and went on.

But that's when the six cats jumped out of the bushes. *"RUN!"* screeched Warmtail. They both took off at full speed, but so did their pursuers. They both were panting heavily. "We can't go towards BraveClan! We have to go on a false path!" Destinyflower yelled. Warmtail didn't need an explanation so he nodded. They both went onto the wrong path. "Wha oo-ee-oo ow?! Ee cat gur un lie dis fovever!" Warmtail was struggling to say, with the hare in his mouth. *I should have eaten as quick as Destinyflower,* he thought. His jaws were very close to just opening, but he clenched them tightly shut. He wanted to make it drop, discard it, but then he would have no food.

Destinyflower had an idea suddenly. *"I KNOW!"* she yelled. *"HEY, RABBIT-BRAIN RUNNERS!"* She was addressing her pursuers. *"WATCH THIS!"* She winked at Warmtail, and he got a complete idea of what they were going to do. They zig-zagged through the forest, and to their satisfaction, Frozenbreeze crashed into a tree. DarkClan's motto was don't pay special attention to fallen warriors, but Smokyleap ran back to attend to the hurt cat. Warmtail was relieved at least the medicine cats do something. But he and Destinyflower kept zig-zagging, and the other cats eventually lost where they were. Destinyflower and Warmtail went to a stop, but they felt out of air and sweating even though it was still leaf-bare. Warmtail dropped the hare out of his mouth and got air. It took them a few minutes to get back to normal.

Warmtail immediately ate the rest of his hare and said, "Do we go on, Destinyflower?" Destinyflower nodded, and they immediately used StarClan's guidance to go on the path. "I hope we made those warriors terribly lost," she said, laughing. Warmtail also laughed. After an hour or so, they stopped to hunt. They felt like they were going to die from starvation if they went more, so they hunted a few mice and birds.

Once they ate they went on even more. "I wonder how long this path even is?" Warmtail asked.

"I dunno, but lets keep moving," said Destinyflower. It was getting really dark, so they found a cave and slept in there.

The next day, they hunted food, ate and continued. That's when Destinyflower noticed something strange. "Am I getting fat?" she asked. "What? No, of course not! Why?" were Warmtail's surprised words. Destinyflower told him she had a small bum. "I'm-I think... I'm expecting your kits..." she said.

Warmtail just said, "How will you keep going, then?" Destinyflower said, "I can keep going. It's not far, I'm pretty sure. This forest can't be big." Warmtail looked doubtful, but he nodded. Finally, after some time, they saw a camp with cats in it. They went closer. "Is this BraveClan?" asked Warmtail. "Maybe... maybe it is!" replied Destinyflower in awe and joy. Then Fierylight saw them and held out her paws with a smile. Destinyflower ran into them, exclaiming, "FIERYLIGHT!"

"Destinypaw," Fierylight said, "You've grown." "I'm Destinyflower now," Destinyflower replied. Warmtail introduced himself, too. Sootmist and Hazecrest recognized Warmtail at once, and said they were from SunClan. Bravestar immediately welcomed everyone in. Destinyflower told them she was having kits, so she became a queen. She also told them about the light and dark prophecy. Leafpaw said that Fierylight was a prophecy cat, too. Everybody was really happy at the time. While going to sleep, Destinyflower saw StarClan.