Chapter 30
Brambles scathed Umberpaw's pitch black pelt as he squeezed through a narrow opening. The briars and thorns curved like a lions claws, waiting to snag and tear at flesh.Immediately he disappeared into the shadows, trailing along the trees for cover.
"I hope she's right about this" Umberpaw mumbled to himself.
He met a cat named Sprucepaw down by the lake who asked him to go to ThunderClan camp to speak with the Zodiac's. Apparently there was a meeting for all eight of the cats with powers down by the lake tomorrow at midnight.
And it was now Umberpaw's job to ask the two Zodiac's to come. But what if a patrol caught him? Umberpaw had no power to fight with, just to disappear into darkness with.
Nearing the jagged enclosure of the cats of ThunderClan, Umberpaw took extra caution and slinked to the ground. A beetle crawled across the ground, the black apprentice almost yelped in fright.
"I hate insects" he scoffed quietly, flicking the shiny pest away.
Up ahead a guard stood alert, it was one of the senior warriors, Briarstripe.
Just my luck, Umberpaw just had to come on the night one of the smartest and strongest warriors was standing guard. Taking a deep breath, the Zodiac quietly padded to the opposite direction Briarstripe was looking and headed towards a gape in the structure.
Weeds and Ivy trailed alongside the rock wall, silver moonlight running alongside the cracks in its surface. Umberpaw shivered as he saw spiders trailing along the stone, their long legs protruding like long spiny whiskers.
Poking his head in between the crevice, Umberpaw noticed a small cat gazing up at the moon. Her pelt was a sleek blue-gray color, and she appeared to be whispering to the stars.
His gaze lingered on a marking on the cats front paw, it looked like a crescent moon!
She's a Zodiac, he silently gasped. Maybe luck was on his side after all! Letting his guard down for a brief moment, Umberpaw almost screeched in surprise as he saw the cat staring directly at him.
Had she seen him? No how could she, Umberpaw was as dark as the shadows!
"You can come out now" she meowed quietly and calmly, turning back to look at the stars.
At first Umberpaw didn't respond, was this a trick? But then realizing the cat had in fact known he was there, Umberpaw padded into the moonlight.
"Sorry" he apologized to the she-cat, keeping his body hidden so no other cat would see.
The mysterious apprentice turned, "Are you a Zodiac?" she asked politely, giving Umberpaw an inquisitive look.
The black apprentice blinked his pitch black eyes, "Yes, and you are too, right?".
The cat nodded, "My name's Bluepaw, I'm one of the Zodiac's of ThunderClan."
Umberpaw tipped his head in greeting, "I'm Umberpaw, my sister Hollowpaw and I are the Zodiac's of ShadowClan."
Bluepaw was quite a mysterious cat, he wondered what her power was. Most likely something to do with the sky, she wouldn't stop staring at the stars!
"So what made you trespass on ThunderClan territory?" she asked without any sign of what she thought of Umberpaw.
"Umm..." he shuffled his paws, not knowing what to do. But then the ShadowClan tom remembered about the meeting, that was the whole reason he came!
"The Zodiac of WindClan wanted me to tell you we're holding a meeting for all of the Zodiac's tomorrow at Midnight." The she-cats interest seemed to perk, and she gazed at Umberpaw with her bright silver eyes.
"What kind of meeting, where?"
"Between RiverClan territory and the Horse-Place, you can just travel along the shore and you'll find the crevice. We're meeting because of the prophecy, do you kno..." he cut off as Bluepaw gazed anxiously at him.
"You think we can stop the prophecy from happening?" the hint of hope in her voice was almost undetectable.
"Well" Umberpaw looked down at the ground, "I don't know about that, but I think we should at least try. Don't you?". Even if there was a small chance of the omen being false, then the eight Zodiac's needed to find out.
"Okay I'll come" Bluepaw meowed as she turned back to the stars, "And I'll make sure Charredpaw comes as well."
Bowing his head at the ThunderClan apprentice, Umberpaw slunk back into the shadows and headed off towards ShadowClan territory. If indeed four out of the eight Zodiac's were going to die, Umberpaw could only wonder.
Were he and Bluepaw going to be one of the ones left standing?
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