Gamer4 in. Well, nothing to say here.
Disclaimer: I don't own either Warriors, the Garfield arc that this is based on, or anything that may be referenced in this chapter.
Warriors: Alone
Jayfeather knew, when he woke up, that something wasn't right in the Thunderclan camp. It might have been the fact that he couldn't here the usual signs of clan life outside his den, or just about anything else, but he dismissed it. Casually, he stood and got some medicine for Berrynose, who had fallen ill not too long ago. He went over to where he'd left Berrynose the night before.
He wasn't there.
Some part of Jayfeather was screaming that something was terribly wrong at this point, but since it couldn't tell exactly what it was, he passed over it. He returned the medicine to the pile, guessing that Berrynose had gone out hunting, or something, and padded over to the fresh-kill pile, where he picked a mouse and sat to eat it.
As soon as it made contact with his tongue, he spat it out in disgust: it tasted as though it had been there for a long time. But it had been at the top of the pile: nothing at the top was ever old, common sense said that much. But this mouse tasted like it had been left there several moons before.
It was then that exactly what was wrong struck him: he couldn't feel anyone around the camp. Just to make sure, he went into each of the dens, one by one, and felt for the presence of his clan. The nursery, the elder's den, the leader's den: all empty.
It was here that something occurred to him: Windclan must have attacked, or one of the others, maybe a mix of them. That would definitely explain the place being empty. He left the camp to find out.
Another sign that something was up revealed itself to him as he left and set off toward Shadowclan. The borders of the clans were so old that it was barely possible for him to tell when he crossed territory. A small part of him knew that this was strange: even if Shadowclan had done something like he suspected them of doing, they would still mark their territory.
He finally arrived at the camp. This time, it took less time for him to realize the camp was empty. This made him extraordinarily uneasy, because it was a lot less likely that the other clans had taken their two rivals than what he'd thought at first. It was possible, but so unlikely that he unconsciously started shivering. Nervously, he headed for the Windclan camp.
It was the same story here, which openly terrified him: the border marks were weak, and no one was there. Three clans ganging up on one, he could believe. Two ganging up on two, he could believe with a little imagination. One trying to take out all three? Even if he thought this idea could possibly occur to any sane leader, it would never work.
He began running down to the horseplace, desperate for something to be normal. No luck: even the horses and their twolegs were gone, as were the cats who used to live there.
He ran back to camp, panting a little from running. Something was seriously wrong here, and he couldn't think what. Even a twoleg would have been small comfort, because it would be something from the world he knew. But even all of them were gone.
He ran into the camp, and suddenly, everything seemed to be back to normal. Firestar was currently organizing a hunting patrol, and he looked over as Jayfeather ran in. "Oh, Jayfeather, there you are. Lionblaze is in the medicine den, take care of him, will you? He got hurt in a fight against Windclan."
"Yes, Firestar," Jayfeather said, enormously relieved, if not slightly bewildered, by the abrupt return to normality. He stopped by the fresh-kill pile on the way, and was satisfied when the mouse he chose tasted exactly like mice usually did. He went over to the medicine den, where Leafpool was taking care of Lionblaze, who had a long, but not too deep, cut on his leg. "I'll take care of him, Leafpool," he said, walking in.
"Thanks," Leafpool said, walking out.
"Hey, Lionblaze," Jayfeather said, feeling the need to tell his brother about his dream. "You'll never believe what I just dreamed."
"What you just dreamed?" Lionblaze asked, looking up. "This is the dream, Jayfeather."
"What?" Jayfeather asked, looking at him. "What are you talking about?"
"First clue: I got hurt in a fight," Lionblaze said. "This isn't really happening."
Suddenly, everything came rushing back: he couldn't sense where Lionblaze, or anyone else was, and he could tell that he was alone again. Leaving the den, and really shaken up by what had just happened, he walked to the side of the hollow. Finally, he decided to devote some energy on actually finding out what was going on. He sniffed around the den. Suddenly it dawned on him: no one had lived in the camp in moons. But, he thought, suddenly panicked beyond all reasoning, that means I haven't lived here in years!
Desperately, he ran to the only place he could think of: the moonpool. He didn't even have time to register that now the clan's prints seemed just as ancient as the Ancient clan's had when they'd arrived. He ran down and knelt to drink. Rapidly, he recoiled: even the moonpool tasted as though it had gone stagnant. Nervously, he backed into the corner of the place, facing a lifetime, or even an eternity on his own. Panicked by the thought, he shouted out, "I don't want to be alone!"
Suddenly, he jerked upright. He could here a voice talking in the distance. It sounded vaguely familiar.
"Yeah, we are talking the joke of the century. We are talking April, May, June, July, and August fools."
Raising his head slightly, Jayfeather saw the speaker, a she-cat with stars in her fur. Suddenly, he sat straight up. "Yellowfang?" he asked, amazed.
"We are talking- Jayfeather?"
That was Yellowfang's voice, all right. As she came closer, Jayfeather could feel embarrassment coming from her. "Well, it looks like I owe you an apology," she said, looking at him.
"Is this real?" Jayfeather asked, not wanting anything pulled over his eyes again.
"Yes, and nothing happened to the clans. Everything's the same, actually, that was a dream."
"Why did you do that to me?" Jayfeather asked, feeling anger coming up inside him.
"Well, it wasn't supposed to be you, to tell you the truth," Yellowfang said. "It was supposed to be Berrynose, after his disbelief and... not appreciating... the clans... Jayfeather, what are you doing?"
The fur on Jayfeather's back was rising. "I don't care if you're a Starclan member, you're about to die again," he growled, before jumping after her.
The End
Well, that's it. I'd appreciate any reviews, except flames. A cookie to anyone who recognizes the line about April, May, June, July, and August fools. Please R&R, Gamer4 out.