Clan of the Eclipse, Amanda and Tabitha [the little red hen ebook txt] 📗

She was in the forest, walking alone under vivid stars surrounding a full moon. All was calm and quiet. Suddenly, she realized she wasn’t in a part of the forest she knew. She looked around, cautious. It seemed familiar, but it wasn’t. The trees were larger and thicker; more ancient. There was a rustle in the undergrowth. Eclipse whirled around and gasped. Her mother! Then another cat appeared. Her father!
“Mother! Father!”
“You are the last remaining tribal cat of these forests. The other cats have lost their way. Not even Raven will return to the ways of the tribes.“ Trail of Stars, her mother, began.
“That is why we come to you.” Fang of the Fox continued.
“We will follow you always, and your kin, through the journey. We will warn you about trouble and give you advice. We will guide you in subtle ways on your travels.”
“We?” Eclipse asked. Then she gasped as she saw eyes glint behind them.
“Yes. Some of the other tribe members will guide you as well. But not as much as we will.” Trail of Stars meowed.
Eclipse bowed her head. "Shatteredsight said you would come. How do you wish to guide me, mother? Father?"
“We will rarely can we enter your dreams. That is why you must be vigilant. A cloud or a leaf, a burning twig, could contain a message. Look around you carefully, my daughter.”
Their daughter looked to each of them in turn. They paused, sensing her about to speak.
“Mother...Father...I left the ways of the tribes; I may heal and assist others, but that is not because I follow tradition; it is because it is right.” She meowed quietly. “I will not return to their customs. I will heed your warnings. I will listen to your guidance; but I will decide for myself how my cats will live. I won’t turn my back on you, but I will not step back into the past. They will be clan, not tribe.”
They stared at her, sorrow, then understanding, shining in their gaze.
“Of course, Eclipse. We will deal with your group of cats as different from tribal cats; they are not tribe, but rouges and soft-pelts. They have no common blood yet. But there is one thing they now share in common; us. From now on, those who die for you and your friends will be taken by us. Their spirits will remain always in the world around you. We will always be with you.”
“Tell your friends about us.” Trail of Stars meowed. “If they do not believe, then we cannot take them with us.”
Eclipse nodded. “But there will be doubts. Some may think I’ve gone mad.”
Fang of the Fox meowed “Then if you cannot make them believe, we will enter their dreams and convince them. To aid you, we will visit Bramble before dawn.”
“We will give you signs, Eclipse. Always heed your surroundings.” Then her voice changed suddenly and she meowed “Watch the shadows and never move alone.”
“But for now, my daughter,” Fang of the Fox meowed “Sleep.”
And Eclipse’s eyes grew heavy, her paws grew sore, and she drifted into a deep, refreshing sleep.

Dawn’s light woke Eclipse. She instantly felt restless; her dream last night consumed her thoughts. She woke the others quickly, checking Bramble’s healing leg before she was convinced that he hadn’t reopened it during the night. Then she allowed Misty, Maya and Ghost to hunt. While they hunted, Pepper and Scratch stood guard. Bear and Raven patrolled - the black cat mentioning hunting anything she found...just in case the hunters came short. She spoke quietly with Bramble as the other worked.
“Did you have a strange dream last night?” She asked casually, licking comfrey into his bright pink wound. He winced. The wound still had to be sore, but the infection was nearly gone. Either way, the fur wouldn’t grow back.
“Why?” He seemed eager “do some of the herbs cause them?”
She shook her head. “No. I just dreamed of two silver cats who looked and sounded very much like my parents. They said they would visit you at the end. I wanted to see if I just wasn’t over my parents abandoning me yet…or if they really had come to me.”
He looked over his shoulder, and then whispered in her ear fur “Were they called Fang of the Fox and Trail of the Stars?”
She nodded.
“Good. Then I can tell you this; watch the shadows and never walk alone.”
Eclipse nodded just as the hunters returned with prey. Ghost carried a wood pigeon; Raven carried several mice and a vole, while Maya carried in a squirrel. Misty came back empty-pawed. The prey was smaller than what Eclipse was used to, and she scented the air nervously.
She smelled frost.
What would they do if prey disappeared? More than one cat would suffer – Ghost was a sickly cat, and Bramble was still weak…

“Eclipse?” Bramble asked, looking confused.
“Huh?”
“Why are you staring at me like that?” He asked.
She flicked her tail nervously, but Raven and Bear took that as a signal to approach. The other cats followed her lead. They seemed to be trying piece together how this was going to work.
Well…so am I…we’ll just have to do it together.

“Bramble and I have news for you all.”
They looked at her; even Bramble looked expectant.
“Last night, I had an important dream.”
“How was it different from any other dream?” Ghost asked; she sounded edgy.
“I dreamed of my mother and father, who have died in an honorable battle with Dragon.”
They didn’t even look shocked, just more expectant.
“I was told that I will receive dreams and signs, including omens, to guide me through this journey. I am new at this, but have been named by the last spirits of the ancient tribes as this group’s Shaman.”
“Shaman?” It was Pepper.
“Yes. I am a healer as well as the cat who takes messages from the ancestors of my bloodline.”
There was a pause. Then Maya asked the question she’d been waiting for. “How do we know you don’t just miss mommy and daddy – or that you just want to make all this up?”
“I was told by the same cats – they were clearly her parents – that I was to follow in her footsteps and learn from her the ways of the Shaman.” Bramble began calmly, “I am to give her whatever aid I can. Including giving you proof of our dream; their names. They said Raven had heard them from Eclipse. Fang of the Fox was her father. Trail of the Stars was her mother.”
Raven gasped.
“Were those their names, Bear?” Misty sounded sure they were, but non-the-less impressed. Maya looked expectantly at Eclipse, her eyes narrowed.
He nodded; his eyes were full of sorrow - and joy.
“Would Eclipse tell him their names?” Maya asked suspiciously.
“No.” Her brother sounded breathless. “Raven didn't even know their names. Shatteredsight...our mentor...he said it's dishonor their spirits.”
There was silence again.
They bowed their heads in understanding and compliance.
“Now…is there a cat who does not believe Bramble and I have seen my parents, and therefore our first ancestors?”
Nobody answered. Relieved, Eclipse rose. “Bramble is well enough to move a little. It's time to move to a new den. Bear...would you go get my herbs from our old den? Please?”
"Of course. And sis...I'm sure they're proud of you..."
"Thanks. Be safe, Bear."
"Always."

It was around high noon when they came to the river. Ghost and Bramble plopped down, both looking exhausted, as the rest of them got a drink. Raven and Maya went straight into a hunt’s crouch and moved down the stream to find prey. Pepper laid by his sister, panting himself. Eclipse checked Bramble’s leg. It was hot and swollen again. Misty and Scratch began to scuffle along the edge of the stream.
"Get away from the edge, you mouse-brains!" Bear snarled. "Before you fall in and drown!"
"Sorry, Bear." Misty meowed, and the two chased one another away from the water to wrestle close to Ghost - and far from the big, mean silver spotted tom.
"Kits..." He growled. But Eclipse saw the sparkle in his eyes; he was warming up to them.
“What do you use for inflammation?” The healer tested Bramble quietly.
He thought a little. “Comfrey?”
“Right. There’s one other that I mentioned last night.”
He had to think a little harder. “Mallow, right?”
“You learn quickly!”
She began to clean the dirt that had collected on the wound away. Between licks, she continued “The mallow, though, doesn’t grow as close as the comfrey does. The mallow grows in fields or thinner parts of the forest. But the comfrey should be close-by. Comfrey grows in moist soil.”
“Where does fever weed grow?”
“In dry soil; pine ridges, corpses and the more barren areas of the forest.”
“And horsetail?”
Amused and cheered by his open interest, she answered with an amused purr “Anywhere there is plenty of sun and decent soil; it’s a hardy plant. I can even find them in ditches and around black rivers that humans use for their Sun Pelts.”
Maya and Raven appeared again. Maya had a minnow and a vole. Raven had a thrust and two titmice. She had always preferred the trees; it wasn’t any wonder her mother had called her Raven.
“Are you ready to hunt Ghost?”
She nodded, rising.
“Then go with Pepper, Bramble and Eclipse to hunt while they search for the Mint. We’ll eat our share while you’re gone.” Maya gave the orders. Bramble’s whiskers twitched as if in irritation. Bear's eyes narrowed.
Eclipse watched the two. Both of them were waiting for her to step up.
This is the second time she's questioned my leadership. I have to stop this.

"And you two! Stop goofing off!" Maya hissed at Misty and Scratch, who broke up instantly. She clobbered them with a paw.
"That's enough, Maya!" Eclipse was on her paws, in the queen's face. "Those two have done nothing but behave. Misty and Scratch are barely weaned! As for giving orders to hunt and gather herbs, that isn't your place!"
Maya hissed. "I'm older, stronger and can both hunt and fight. You make up stories about cats and chew up plants! Why should any cat listen to you?!"
Eclipse snarled with bared fangs “I brought you into this forest. I interpret the warnings of danger and problems, the advice of, the ancient cats who lived here for centuries. If you don’t want to heed my laws, then you may turn around and leave the clan right this instant!” Her claws were out, and her fur was up.
Raven was puffed up, looking ready to leap. Bear was standing, claws out, and seconds from attacking. They others stared with wide eyes; clearly they weren't sure what to do. Maya’s eyes blazed with fury. Her fur rose as she unsheathed sharpened claws. The older, more powerful cat crouched to pounce. Eclipse wasn’t sure what to do to hold her own, but she knew one thing; she couldn’t have the others interfere.
There was a sudden yowl from the undergrowth and a huge, orange tomcat exploded from the forest. His claws were long, sickle-like things and his fangs just as nasty. It pounce right onto Pepper’s astonished back. There was a furious, spitting hiss and the two fell into a tangle of scratching and biting. Eclipse and Bramble yowled in surprise. Raven dove into the mess, helping Pepper. Bear, Ghost and Maya rushed between the healers and the conflict, driving them back.
“That’s not Dragon!” Eclipse growled at Maya.
“What?”
“That’s Lion. Dragon is a black cat!”
Maya and Ghost looked shocked.