A/N: 39 reviews! We'll definitely make it to the goal by next chapter!

Chapter Nine

You would expect for it to be hard to sleep on the first night as an apprentice, but it wasn't. Mosspaw and Shadepaw, worn out from the day's events, fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the moss. Each dreamed of different things; their new name, their new life, the old world. But Mosspaw in particular found a starry meadow, one that my very close friend happened to go to . . .

Mosspaw looked around curiously at her surroundings. She had been chasing a beautiful yellow butterfly, and now she was here in this seemingly endless field of grass. Her head was light, her paws feeling as soft as the feathers of a baby bird.

The meadow was littered with flowers of every color —purple, blue, white, pink— and every blade of grass glinted in the warm sun. It was a truly amazing sight.

The apprentice heard a rustle and pricked her ears, looking around for the source of the noise. She turned in circles and spotted a translucent blue-gray she-cat with stars in her fur. This had to be a StarClan cat. Mosspaw stared into the green eyes, green eyes that looked unnervingly like hers, and saw a lifetime of grief in them.

"Who are you?" she breathed, but she already knew the answer. Who else could it be, but the cat Blossom and so often talked about, the cat that she had pined for, the cat Mosspaw had seen once she had entered the goddess's memories?

"My name is Blueflame." The words were no more than a soft breeze.

"Blueflame," the pale gray she-cat acknowledged. "You're Blossom's . . . " she trailed off, not knowing what to say. Was Blueflame an older sister? Friend? Kin?

"I am not here to tell you who I am." The beautiful she-cat suddenly looked hard at Mosspaw with an intensity in her gaze that caught the apprenrice by surprise.

"Please . . . Don't let . . ."

It was getting harder and harder for Blueflame to speak. What she wanted to tell Mosspaw was not approved by the rest of StarClan, and when we detected it, we had to stop her from saying any more. We were simply transporting her back to the StarClan forest; no harm was done.

"Don't let what?" the apprentice asked. But it was too late. The figure was fading quickly, ultimately disappearing in front of Mosspaw's eyes.

"Don't let what?" she called out, more desperately. There was no reply but the soft rustling of grass in the meadow.

"Please!" Mosspaw yowled. She didn't know what was going on anymore. She didn't know why she was screaming, or what Blueflame wanted to say. She didn't know where she was anymore.

"Don't let . . ." There was a whisper, a tiny one. "Don't let . . . m-my . . ."

"Tell me!" the pale she-cat shrieked. "What do you want from me?" She looked around wildly. Despair was coming in on her. There was no place to run, no place to hide. The meadow grew darker until Mosspaw was drenched in blackness. She flailed her paws, trying to get away as the light weakened. Her mind was fuzzy with confusion.

"Mosspaw! Mosspaw!"

Was someone calling her? The voice sounded so close, yet it was impossible to reach . . .

"Mosspaw!"

And then, with a start, the apprentice's eyes fluttered open.

Mosspaw raised her head wearily, her bones aching like an elder's and her mind feeling as if it hadn't rested at all. She quickly got a sense of her surroundings; Blossom's cavern, as usual. Two faces, one dark gray and one black, stared down at her.

"Are you okay?" Shadepaw asked, worry in his voice.

"Okay?" Mosspaw repeated dully. Her mind took a moment longer to process the words. "Yeah. I'm fine . . ."

"In other words, it was a bad dream and you're over it now," Blossom meowed brusquely. She flicked her tail. "Listen."

The pale apprentice cocked her head to one side, pricking her ears. She made out a faint pattering sound, one she had heard three moons ago . . .

"Rain!" Mosspaw exclaimed suddenly. There was no doubt about it. By some miracle, her rain was back. Her heart thumped faster in her chest, drawing her to the falling water in the same way light attracted moths.

"This is the perfect time for a lesson." Head held high and regal, the goddess bounded out of the cave in two strides. Shadepaw nudged the entranced Mosspaw and together the siblings followed Blossom into the rain.

Their mentor's ear twitched, but she didn't turn around. Instead the black cat tilted her face to the sky and opened her jaws to begin her lecture.

"The rain is truly nature's work of art. With it, it brings life and growth. It takes away the threat of drought, for rain is falling water. Water is also an important element of RiverClan's life; they use it to fight and to catch their prey, fish."

Mosspaw stifled a yawn. Sure, she liked rain, but this stuff was obvious.

Blossom's voice suddenly became somber, and both apprentices jerked to attention.

"However, the rain is also dangerous. Twolegs cause something we call poison-rain. It's still water falling from the sky, but it is deadly if it falls on you. Prey die. Herbs wither.

"Even without having the poison, rain can kill a cat. All the Clans, especially Riveraclan who live close to the river, are in danger of their camp getting flooded if the storm is bad. Floods can cause massive destruction, not only to lives but to territory and dens."

The pale she-cat felt a seed of horror plant itself inside her stomach at the goddess's words. The seed quickly grew into tendrils of ivy, choking her from the inside, filling her with fear and shock.

Shadepaw seemed to notice this, because he gently nuzzled his sister's shoulder and turned to Blossom.

"Surely it can't be that bad, right? I mean, the poison-rain or floods probably only happen once in a few seasons or something," he mewed tentatively.

The goddess curled her lip, her expression dark and her eye flickering. "It doesn't matter how often it occurs. What matters is that cats always get hurt when there's a disaster. They always get hurt somehow, physically or emotionally. Whether it's your own self or not who's suffering means nothing." She was advancing on the apprentice, every hair on her pelt bristling.

"I think—" Mosspaw started, but was cut off by a snarl from the goddess.

"This isn't your place to speak, apprentice."

The smoky tom suddenly dipped his head calmly to his mentor. "I understand. Thank you for clarifying."

Blossom relaxed notably at Shadepaw's words, her posture becoming less threatening. Mosspaw let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

The goddess had been affected greatly by Shadepaw's comment. Those words, "probably only happen once in a few seasons" irked her beyond belief; her life probably only happened once in an eon, she didn't want every cat to pass it by as just another little problem that would be fixed.

"Well, come on," the she-cat meowed, gesturing with her head to further away from the cave. "You've been cooped up in my cave and the hollow for too long. Go out there and stretch your legs a little."

Mosspaw felt a strange flash of alarm. "Are you coming with us? What about the rain?"

"Of course. As for the rain . . ." Blossom closed her eyes. As if by some kind of magic, the the rain lessened. The she-cat noted that despite how easy it seemed, the black cat seemed to be having an internal struggle as the rain became tiny droplets, the clouds cleared, and eventually the water stopped falling altogether.

Shadepaw put in his question. "Can we go to the meadow?"

Surprise flashed in the goddess's eyes for a moment. "It's far from here . . ." She shook herself, as if getting rid of an annoying fly. "Okay." Blossom padded closer to the edge of Mount Crimson and looked down. Mosspaw did the same and inhaled sharply.

It was a long way down, and in a part of the wall was a ledge full of jagged rocks. If a cat fell down there . . .

The apprentice felt dizzy, a wave of nausea sweeping over her. They had to go down there to get to the meadow?

She tried to take deep breaths. Her mind was spinning, from the huge drop or the stressful dream or the brutal training during the past three moons she didn't know.

Suddenly, Mosspaw felt herself teetering on the end of the cliff, dangerously only a short distance away from tumbling down. She shut her eyes and prepared for death—

Teeth met the ashen she-cat's scruff and pulled her to safety. Mosspaw had only begun to gather her bearings when Blossom began shouting at her.

"You idiot! Be careful, darn it! I wouldn't be able to . . . I would snap if . . ."

Seeing that the goddess was, for once, at a loss of words, the two littermates shared a brief glance before both walking towards their mentor.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to slip." Mosspaw ducked her head.

"We're okay now. No more accidents," Shadepaw promised.

The goddess had a faraway look in her eyes as she stared past the mountain to the world. "Come on, then," she muttered gruffly. "No more mistakes . . And go down tail-first."

The three turned themselves around. Blossom jumped off backwards, digging her claws into the stone as soon as she began falling. Shadepaw boldly followed, Mosspaw last to come down. She closed her eyes and hung on tight.

"Now," the black cat meowed. "Stretch your hind paws down as much as possible and latch on with your claws. Let go of the mountain with your front paws and move yourself down a bit before putting them back on."

Mosspaw hesitated. She didn't want to let go; her instincts were screaming for her to stay where she was so she didn't fall.

But she had to believe in the goddess.

So she extended her dangling legs down Mount Crimson, found a small crevice to dig her claws into, and released her front paws.

For a heart-stopping moment, Mosspaw felt as if she were falling. But then a second after she attached herself back on to the stone.

Little by little, using the method, the two apprentice and Blossom reached the bottom safely. Mosspaw let her breathing slow. Everything was fine. Climbing up again would be easier than going down.

"Cone on!" Shadepaw yowled, elation in his voice. "Let's go!" He pranced over to his sister, butting her playfully and dashing away. Her fear gone, Mosspaw smiled and raced after her brother.

Young cats easily forget trauma once the moment of fear has passed, and these two were no different. The two zigzagged across the barren earth in an intense game of tag. The goddess followed behind more slowly, keeping an eye out for any disruptions. Soon, however, the apprentices tired of their game and fell in with Blossom.

Her legs aching from the run, Mosspaw trudged on with her . . .

With my what? she suddenly wondered. They were a somewhat ragtag group, that was for sure; the powerful, graceful goddess, the bold Shadepaw, and her.

But despite the hardships —Blossom's ever-bloodthirsty voice, the littermates' rebelism and former hatred of the black cat—, strong bonds had grown between them.

As they made their way to the meadow, Mosspaw looked from one cat to the other. Her heart gave a happy, contented sigh, and then she realized who they were.

They were family.

As if on cue, when Mosspaw found the word to describe them, Blossom halted. The apprentices followed suit.

"We're here, you two," the she-cat announced. "Welcome back to the meadow."

A/N: I know, I know, that was a terrible chapter. After Blood is finished —which hopefully is soon— I will be doing a rewrite.