Warriors The Heavenly Three, Chapter 1: Goldenwing Speaks

_The Heavenly Three: Goldenwing Speaks_

...Silver feathers littered the ground in the training hollow of the apprentices' den. They were contained in a small sandy spot, and the down on the base of them moved ever so slightly in the gentle Newleaf breeze. I gazed up at the sky in awe...There appeared to be nothing, and I wondered who the feathers belonged to. Maybe another Clanmate must have drug a bird around camp, perhaps some rowdy apprentices who liked to play with their food. But the birds around the forest had smaller feathers, so those ones might have once belonged to a larger animal. I decided to decipher the whereabouts of the owner of the long, elegant, silver feathers. After looking in every corner and crevice, I finally gave up and headed towards the fresh-kill pile... Then I ran into something that made me swear to never bite into a sparrow again... There, right in front of the fresh-kill, laid a lithe silver tabby body. The only thing that I saw was a striped spine and... wings? I thought I had been seeing things, so I took a few steps closer to the limp body. I peered over the top of it... It appeared to be a young tom close to my age. His body was curved inward, as if his last moment forced him to take some kind of defense. It had wings, indeed. They were partially bare, the pink skin disturbingly exposed. The once-magnificent set of wings were lopsided and injured. At once, I recognized him... It was my Clanmate and friend, Silverheart.

"Silverheart!" I yowled, and frantically nudged him. The silver tabby tom let out a tired "Mrrrow" and woke up.

"Goldenwing... Why did you wake me up? I was having such a fantastic dream." I said nothing, as I was stunned. Silverheart gave me a suspicious look for a second, and whispered,

"Are those your wings? They're just beautiful!"

I flexed my shoulders and then felt a strong wind... I glanced back to see a freshly-grown pair of magnificent gold-flecked white wings... Just then a quick blanket of blackness swept over me, and I felt like I was falling, then... CRASH. I found myself sprawled out on the sand next to Silverheart, and felt numb all through my back and spine. I looked back at my wings, but they had been devastated, just like Silverheart's. I continued to be paralyzed, and from down on the ground, I caught sight of a black body shooting down from the sky and onto the ground nearby. It made a painful crack, and went limp. The body with severely damaged black wings belonged to Bluesky, the overworked but gentle medicine cat. _One of Bearstar's favorite cats, _I thought with dread...

I opened my eyes and found myself back in reality. I scraped around my nest for anything unusual or leftover from my dream, but there was nothing except warm moss. As I was finding myself back in the ThunderClan camp, I knew that something wasn't right. I belonged to StarClan still, and have died in ThunderClan, my birth Clan, as a young warrior. _What's going on? How am I alive again? How is this possible? _I thought over and over again right before I walked into a small puddle. I grunted and flicked my forepaw in frustration; I did not look forward to how long it would take for my long fur to dry. I backed away and looked into the puddle for a moment. After it stopped rippling, I did not see my own golden brown face staring back at me... It meant one thing... I was not part of the Earth. I was still a spirit. _I'm supposed to be hunting in StarClan right now... Why have they sent me back to Earth? _I remembered my dream, and then made a connection. I have fallen from the sky, and two other Clanmates did as well. So StarClan must have rejected us... I wanted to find Silverheart and Bluesky, and fast. So I set off towards the warrior's den, but found it empty. Then I headed for the leader's den to ask where all the warriors had gone. I stood at the entrance and called, "Hello? Bearstar?"

"Come," a strong voice sounded from inside. I nosed through the lichen curtain and stepped inside. In the corner sat a large, muscular brown tom. He laid on his side, at ease with the calm environment of the Clan. His blue eyes were half closed in much-needed slumber, and I didn't want to disturb such a precious thing. But finding Silverheart and Bluesky was urgent... The larger cat got up, stretched, and sat with his plumy tail wrapped around his forepaws.

"Hello there, Goldenwing. How's the prey running?"

"It's running fine these days, Bearstar. I'm wondering where all the warriors have gone."

"Well, who are you looking for?"

"I need Silverheart right now." Bearstar licked a forepaw and ran it across his head in smooth strokes.

"I believe Silverheart is on a sunhigh border patrol with Gingerfoot and the others. They could be near Sunningrocks by now."

"Thank you," I said and dipped my head in respect.

"My pleasure!" Bearstar purred. I began to walk out of the den, but Bearstar spoke again.

"Goldenwing..."

"Yes, Bearstar?"

"Come for a moment..."

I went back and sat down with the ThunderClan leader. The leader gave me a questioning look, and asked,

"Have you been doing alright since your accident?"

I paused for a second, then stammered, "W-Well, no, not really... I just can't help thinking that I betrayed StarClan somehow to make them send me back to ThunderClan. I don't know what I have done wrong."

Bearstar nodded, and said, " StarClan speaks to me time and again... I know you are honest and as pure as the driven snow."

I continued to feel demoralized. Bearstar continued, "In fact, you are one of my best warriors."

I felt amazing pride swell in my stomach. It was good to know that I had been an asset. I still was, although I had been half alive. As the leader and I sat together for a moment longer, Bearstar rested his head on top of mine, just as a leader does in respect and comfort during a warrior ceremony.

The gentle leader said to me, "Don't worry, my warrior. I'll accept you no matter what."

Bearstar let me go on my way, and my heart remained light. Bearstar knew all along that StarClan was not angry with me. Although I knew that I had been accepted, I needed to know if Silverheart and Bluesky had a place here in ThunderClan once again... I needed to contact them as soon as possible.


End file.

Warriors, Fantasy