Echoshine opened her eyes to the edge of a misty forest.
Surprised, she carefully stepped out into the clearing beyond. She recognized the clearing as soon as she stepped in it, and was both drawn to it and repulsed by it at the same moment. Nicknamed "Starclan's Clearing", the circular patch of grassy land was a place to be one with the stars. Many cats would go there in their times of trouble, seeking advice from Starclan. But the clearing was infamous for another reason, especially for medicine cats like Echoshine; you could never travel there and NOT have a vision. And those visions were never good.
Echoshine, carefully and slowly, padded into the clearing and observed her surroundings. The mist from the forest had followed her into the clearing, and was now curling around her. Echoshine looked closer. The mist was a glowing white, curling and twisting and dancing through the empty space around Echoshine like spirits. Echoshine narrowed her eyes, squinting at the shapes made by the mist. Cats, dancing Twolegs, kits; as soon as Echoshine thought it, it was there. Suddenly the wind picked up and swept the shapes away, almost knocking Echoshine off her paws. The shapes soon reformed once the wind stopped, however, and showed an image of pearly white snow falling to the ground. A few of the plants around Echoshine suddenly had frost on their leaves, and fell over. A nearby tree's leaves all fell to the ground at the same time from the frost. Under this tree, the mist twisted and formed a young white she-cat, with long claws. She sniffed the air once, and Echoshine's fur stood up. Something about this she-cat made Echoshine edgy. A smoky gray tom suddenly joined Echoshine. He padded forward, to the mysterious she-cat. No! Echoshine wanted to yowl, yowl to the sky! She didn't know why, but Echoshine's every being wanted to shy away; to wake up. The she cat waved her tail, looking to Echoshine as a sign of happiness. The smoky tom sped up, reaching her- just in time for her claws to dig into his stomach.
Echoshine sat, paralyzed, as the white she-cat dug her claws across his belly, tearing the dark gray tom open. Suddenly, Echoshine and the white she-cat were surrounded by what looked to her like almost 100 bodies; bloody, torn, bruised bodies. The white she-cat purred, and stretched her paws out in a yawn. Echoshine glanced at her claws; bloody and frost-covered, they were not a pretty sight. The wind picked up again, and this time Echoshine was thankful as the white she-cat was whisked away.
As before, the mist regained its shape, and coiled into yet another cat; but this time there was a clan! The first cat, in the front, was black; it shied away from the other cats, especially what looked like the leader, a grayish black she-cat. The she-cat was obviously a vain, proud cat. It seemed to Echoshine that pride radiated from her bones. Suddenly, the white she-cat from before formed to Echoshine's left, and charged at the proud she-cat. The pride immedietly turned to fear, and the she-cat dashed away, seemingly oblivious to the cat-calls and gasps of her clanmates. The white cat continued to charge, and the rest of the clan followed the grayish she-cat; except the black she-cat. What was she doing? The black she-cat turned to see the retreating pelts of her clan. Echoshine could almost hear her thoughts; I can't go back now! The white she-cat, about 20 tail lengths away, had slowed to a crouch. "So," she hissed, "who will die tonight?" The black she-cat's conflicting emotions showed on her face; fear, fury, and realization. The black she-cat slowly padded backward, her eyes never flitting from the face of her attacker. "Y-you." she stuttered, mind blank from fear. The white she-cat purred, like she had right before she killed the smoky black tom, and snorted. "Hah! We'll see." The black she-cat closed her eyes, a determined, fearful, accepting gesture, as if she was resigning herself to the fact she was going to die. The white she-cat began the charge once more, as if she was restless to make the final strike, the one to end her life, and the hope of all the cats left in the clans. But the black she-cat was already glowing.
The icy she-cat continued the charge, oblivious to the fact that this time, the enemy was not normal. But the she-cat continued to glow, and the glow intensified; from a faint light like a firefly on its first flight, until the glow was so bold, the air surrounding the raven-black warrior was bright yellow like the sun. When the white blur connected with the black and yellow orb of light and cat, the sunlight surrounding her finally broke free and exploded, and the white she-cat was blasted backward, and flew away from the glowing kitty to land, with a SNAP! and a moan, on the ground before Echoshine.
Echoshine stared at the dead she-cat laying a few tail lengths away from her, her jaw hanging down from shock. What felt like seconds to Echoshine was probably minutes, because when she looked up, the black she-cat, her glow completely nonexistent, was standing right next to her. "Burning frost, glowing shadow." she whispered. And then the mist faded, and Echoshine's world turned to black.