Warriors: Omen of the Stars #2: Fading Echoes

a creative fantasy full of bravery, friendship, and doubt. readers will be hooked by this masterpiece.
-ursula murray-bozeman

“Lost? What do you mean, lost?” Nightfall hissed. The two kits backed up quickly and Nightfall relaxed a little to not frighten the two kits. “Go back to Mouseflight and send Lionwing please.” She could barely speak calmly but it was good enough because Sagekit’s fur smoothed out and she led her sister away.
Nightfall waited impatiently for her mate and after a few heartbeats of his absence, she decided to search for Berrykit alone. He couldn’t have gotten far. She ran forward, sticking her nose up in the air for his scent. She smelt it easily and followed it westward. It led over thick growth and even crossed stale twoleg scent but they never crossed after that. Berrykit must have wandered off really far because Nightfall could find no end to his scent trail. Until she did, of course. It was almost twilight when she caught a mist spray on her pelt. She looked up, and saw a River. Berrykit’s trail went straight through it. Nightfall trembled so violently that she could hardly stand. His dream the night before from Starclan. Was it just a coincidence? No more time for thinking. She lunged into the icy depths and dove under. The current was too storing and the water wasn’t clear enough to see in. She bobbed her head helplessly above the water, just be pushed back under again. She yowled her son’s name countless times, and it soon became too dark to see. That’s when she felt it. She was still finding it hard to swim, but she somehow made it to a shallower part and hauled herself to she Sandy bank. A tuft of her briefly touched her hind leg. She immediately dove under again and hauled the fur bundle with her teeth. She brought it to the shore.
It was Berrykit. His fur matte black, his eyes closed and his body was broken. The rocks beneath the surface and the colliding water probably did this. Even though Nightfallk knew that her kit was dead she still meowed pleadingly. “Wake up, Berrykit! Wake up or you’ll get sick from the cold!” Silence.
What an awful way to die for a poor kit. He was just curious. Nightfall began to yowl with such a fierce pain that eventually, Lionwing found her, wet and kneeling beside her son’s dead body.

Chapter 3 in the next book of this series.

Frostheart: Yeah I know I'm sorry! While I was writing my fanfic I kept getting Dark Shadow ( the actual character for this fic ) and Dark Light ( another OC ) confused, and although I've fixed it in my Notes, I think I forgot to do it for the chapters I've posted here 🥲

A crisp breeze sighed through the trees. Fallen leaves crunched under paw, while the ones still on the branches of oak and birch were painted with many shades of orange, red and yellow. Leaf-Fall had gripped the forest, and a quarter moon had passed since the Gathering. Sunsetsplash flattened her ears when she remembered what had happened.
" Please welcome Dark Shadow to ShadowClan."
Yowls and caterwauls of many cats chased away the quietness.
" May I speak, Ravenstar?" Dark Shadow had asked politely when the din faded away.
" Yes."
" I am delighted to be a part of such a noble and honourable clan. I wish to...make my mark upon this forest." His voice, smooth and unctuous, made Sunsetsplash shiver. What was he planning? The clan leaders had declared the Gathering finished, and they all returned to their own camps. But Sunsetsplash never shook the feeling that something wasn't quite right...

Sunsetsplash padded through the trees, her pelt brushing against her mate's. They weaved through the thick trunks, their paws kicking up leaves with a satisfying crunch. They stopped in a sunny clearing and sat down. Smokecloud pushed his nose into the leaves, went onto his back, and rolled, eyes closed and purring, in the leaf-mulch. Sunsetsplash laughed. " You're such a mouse-brain, Smokecloud! You look silly." Smokecloud paused and angled his head to look at her. He put on a face of mock incredibility and meowed, " Oh, really? Who'd have thought?"
He shook out his pelt — with difficulty, since he was on his back, paws in the air — and slithered in the leaves some more. " You should do it. It's fun."
" No. I'll look like an idiot."
" Anymore than you usually do?"
Sunsetsplash fluffed up her fur and growled playfully. " Take that back."
Smokecloud's whiskers twitched. " What if I don't?"
" Or else I'll shred you!"
" I'd like to see you try."
Sunsetsplash pounced on the tom, claws sheathed, and landed on his stomach. He grunted from her weight and rolled over onto his side. Sunsetsplash let out a yelp as she was pulled sideways, and she landed on her belly in the leaves beside her mate.
Smokecloud wrapped his paws around her shoulders and pinned her down. " Hah! I win!" He purred, eyes dancing. Sunsetsplash sighed dramatically. " Alright, alright. You win." Smokecloud licked her cheek and resumed rolling around in the leaves. Sunsetsplash found herself copying him. The warmth of the earth soaked into her slightly chilly pelt, and the sun slanting from the trees hit her belly fur. But she did feel a bit stupid though, so she instead buried her nose into Smokecloud's scruff. He turned and licked her pelt. " Leaves." He said between licks. Sunsetsplash purred.
" Yeah, you've got a lot of them." She was lulled slightly asleep by the rhythm of her mate's tongue, and she sighed and rested her chin on his shoulder.
" I love you..." She murmured into his fur. " Me too." Smokecloud purred. Sunsetsplash almost drifted off to sleep when a writhing pain burst from her flank. She shifted a little and gasped. When the pain stopped, and her insides didn't feel like they were wringing together anymore, she opened her eyes and noticed that Smokecloud was watching her worriedly. " What's wrong?" He demanded. " Nothing. I'm fine." Sunsetsplash meowed, wincing as she felt another little stab." It's probably just a bad mouse or something."
" Either way, we're going to go see Whiteleaf and Fernsight." Smokecloud said sternly.

" So? What is it?" Sunsetsplash asked. They were in the medicine den. Smokecloud had rushed her back to camp before she could say anything, and now Whiteleaf and Fernsight were whispering to each other. Smokecloud was pacing a few fox-lengths away, and Sunsetsplash could've sworn she saw two muzzles — one russet and one brown and cream — poke into the medicine den every once in a while. Whiteleaf finally looked at her and broke into a purr. " You're fine." She assured her. " You are expecting kits." Sunsetsplash purred loudly and looked at Smokecloud, who stopped pacing and wrapped himself around his mate. " We're going to have kits!" Sunsetsplash whispered into his ear. Smokecloud licked her muzzle. " They're going to be beautiful, Sunsetsplash...I know they are." Sunsetsplash smiled and thought about the life they would have together.
• I'm having Smokecloud's kits! •

- Sunsetsplash