This is this weird new idea I had about the last moments in a cat's life before they died. How did I come up with it? I don't know. But hopefully it will turn out okay.

The first is Swiftpaw.

"Come on," Swiftpaw hissed. "Hurry up!"

Brightpaw padded behind the large black and white tom. She nearly stumbled as she hit a tree root. "Swiftpaw, I'm tired," she complained. "Can we go back? I want to sleep."

"And let Bluestar ignore us forever?" spat Swiftpaw. "She made Cloudtail a warrior, and he hasn't even trained as long as I have! She only did it because Fireheart is his mentor." He hissed the name scornfully.

"But what if those… creatures find us?" Brightpaw mewed, her eyes wide.

Swiftpaw's eyes narrowed. "Then we prove that we are true warriors."

He turned away and stalked forward again without a word. Brightpaw followed him warily. "I really don't think we should be doing this."

"No!" snarled Swiftpaw. "Bluestar can't let us stay apprentices because of who our mentors are! We need to show the Clan that we can defeat whatever is scaring away the prey. Bluestar will have to make us warriors then!" The tom's eyes burned furiously. "So get moving!"

Brightpaw stiffened, then padded next to the tom. Swiftpaw focused on the forest ahead. He raised his head to taste the air quickly. "I don't smell anything. We're near Snakerocks now, I think."

He kept walking. The sky overhead became lighter as the sun started to rise. "Hurry, the dawn patrol might come soon." The tom broke into a run.

Brightpaw nodded hesitantly, and raced forward with him. Suddenly she stopped and hissed. "I-I scented something," the apprentice stammered.

Swiftpaw lifted his muzzle. The stench was faint, but there was something new in the air. "Brightpaw," he murmured. "Do you smell –?"

"Dog!"

Brightpaw's yowl was accompanied by ferocious barking. Swiftpaw skidded to a halt right in front of Snakerocks just as dogs poured from the bushes on either side. "Oh, StarClan! A whole pack!"

The dogs were bigger than any Twoleg pet he had ever seen. Judging by Brightpaw's horrified look she was thinking the same thing.

"I want to go back to camp!" she wailed. She and Swiftpaw both knew it was too late, though. The dogs howled and circled them.

"StarClan, please let the dawn patrol come," Swiftpaw whispered. But they would have just started from camp. There was no way that a patrol could have made it to Snakerocks already.

Then one dog, bigger than the rest, stepped forward. He snarled, and as if on a signal, the pack leapt forward.

"Fight!" Swiftpaw screeched.

The tom slashed out as the dogs came at him, his claws like thorns. The creatures' sharp teeth tore his fur, and for a minute Swiftpaw was lost in the battle. He raked his claws over a dog's pelt, and then blood, his blood, was soaking the ground. It flashed before him like a series of events, the dogs growling, him fighting by instinct. It could have lasted a heartbeat, or an entire moon.

Then Swiftpaw stopped and turned as Brightpaw yowled in agony. He turned just as a dog clawed at her face.

"Brightpaw!" The ginger and white apprentice fell to the ground as Swiftpaw watched, her face bleeding, one eye torn off.

Swiftpaw stared in horror as the dog turned from her to him. He hesitated, and in that heartbeat, a dog leaped and bowled him over. The apprentice looked up into the face of the drooling animal. He snarled defiance at death.

The dog's growl formed harsh, cruel words. "Pack, kill, kill!" It seemed to be laughing at him. The other dogs joined in until it was like a horrible symphony ringing in the tom's ears. Swiftpaw glared at the dog, and slashed up with his claws.

The dog's head came down. Sharp fangs met in his throat. Swiftpaw's snarling wore down.

The sun broke off of the horizon and rose fully into the sky. Swiftpaw watched as his vision blurred. He saw the sky fade like the night was fading, now.

The dawn was blood-red.