Brightheart's Reflection
"Pack, pack. Kill, kill." The voices haunted her endlessly. She stood alone in the dark of the night, a dead body lay at her side. The trees stretched up high, their long branches covering the stars from her view. The shadows seemed the grow darker still, stretching out and reaching forward to consume her.
Crouching away with fear, she huddled closer to the still-warm body by her side. She blinked down at the cat, horrified, and used one paw to turn the cat over. Blood spilled from the wounds, and stained her white paws. The body rolled over limply, revealing the tattered and terribly scarred face of Swiftpaw, hardly recognizable if not for his pelt.
She looked up again, shivering with the sensation of being watched. Peering into the darkness, her sense of being alone in the dark was forgotten, she saw two eyes, a pair staring at her from the shadows. Then, another appeared blinked beside it. More and more eyes shone in the black, and suddenly a shape emerged.
Four paws, a body larger than a fox. Eyes hungry, and jaws drooling. The way the dog growled sent a tremor of fear coursing through her. "Pack, pack!" The surrounding dogs snarled fiercely as one, louder than ever. "Kill, kill!" The chant repeated, and grew louder still. The leader stepped forward menacingly.
Brightpaw looked up into the eyes of the dog towering over her, it's drool dripping and landing on her forehead. She forgot how to swallow, only managing to take a shaky step back. Her back paw bumped Swiftpaw's body. And with the loud chant coming to a climax, she hardly had time to begin a screech as the dog lunged forward.
Teeth pierced her flesh, and large claws raked her sides. She yowled in pain, and trashed, her claws unsheathed and paws outstretched to catch onto anything she could. Pain seared her face, and suddenly all she could see was red. She let out a cry of pain as she was threw to the side, only to look up and see another dog in it's place, bearing down over her again, and ready to resume her torture.
Brightpaw gasped, her eyes flying open to see the light of the den. She winced as the pain from her dream only worsened in reality, and she cried out in agony. Then suddenly, there was a cat by her side- no two. She strained to see through her pain as the two cats leaned down over her. And she yowled out in fright, their shadows bringing flashing visions of horrible drooling dogs, lunging at her from the shadows, and bearing down on her in hungry anticipation.
She shied away, rearing up to escape these offenders. Lashing out a paw in fright, she felt her claws snag in something's fur. And then a voice broke her panic, "Brightpaw! Brightpaw!" It yelled over her struggle. "It's okay!"
And her mind cleared again. Drawing a shaky breath, she looked up into the worried face of Cloudpaw- no Cloudtail. His white fur was wild, sticking out at all angles and iluminated by the sun shining into the den behind him. His blue eyes stared into hers desperately, worriedly. Her gaze lingered on his for a moment, before looking over the tom's shoulder at Cinderpelt, the young medicine cat staring with shock at the scene Birghtpaw had created.
Then she looked at her paw, her claws still snagged in Cloudtail's long fur. She pulled away quickly, and whispered a broken, "Sorry." in a terribly raspy voice, which only made her wince at the sound. But even the act of wincing brought on a new onslaught of pain, and she shied away from it again, pressing deeper into the mossy nest.
Cinderpelt seemed to have recovered from her shock. "You're finally awake." Was all she managed to say at first.
Brightpaw made no effort to show she had heard the medicine cat. She hardly registered the fact that Cloudtail had climbed into her nest slowly, and was curling up at her side. Her mind flashed with more images, this time including another cat. A small black-and-white tom laying on his side, wounds scouring up and down his body, and his amber eyes staring forward blankly.
"Swiftpaw." She whispered, blinking up at Cinderpelt now. "Where- Where is he? What happened?"
Cinderpelt looked very uncomfortable at these words. She sat down slowly in front of their nest, and seemed to plan the words deliberately in her mind. "Swiftpaw died, Brightpaw." Her meow was light, and careful- hesitant as if stepping out onto thin ice. "You were both attacked by dogs, and he died before the warriors could find you both."
The words hit her like a blow. "He can't be..." She whispered, "He fought..." She remembered the tom launching furiously upwards to meet the dog face-to-face, claws outstretched, and face contorted in a powerful snarl. "He fought like all of LionClan." Her voice cracked, and she felt a sob well up inside her. Her body trembled, not even realizing that Cloudtail had pressed his nose to her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"I'm sure he did." Was all Cinderpelt could offer, her kind voice lowered to a whisper. "He served his Clan very well."
There was a stretch of silence between the three, which carried a great weight. She continued to tremble, and Cinderpelt turned away. The medicine cat filled the silence by padding over to the herb store and rummaging through it. "You were hurt as well, Brightpaw." Her voice said, though her back was turned. Once content with the herbs she'd mixed together, she placed a leaf in front of Brightpaw. "This is a mixture of poppy seed, chamomile, burnet, and honey. It'll help with your recovery."
Brightpaw stared downwards at the mixture, the sticky blend appearing unappetizing. It took some gentle coaxing from Cloudtail before she finally reached down and lapped up the herbs. The chamomile stuck to her tongue, but the honey helped it go down smoothly. She swallowed forcefully, and looked up to see Cinderpelt watching her with approval.
"Very good," The medicine cat purred, though she still looked a little uneasy. "Do you want anything else to eat?" She offered, "I'm sure Cloudtail would be happy to fetch you a mouse."
"Okay." Was all she offered as a response, and regretted the decision the heartbeat the white warrior stood up and hurried from the den. The place where his white pelt was pressed against hers had offered warmth, and now that it was gone she was startled by the cold. Alone in the nest, she sat up slowly, her sides aching with painful protest as she did so. After a heartbeat of just sitting there, staring forward, she turned slowly and began to lap at the dirty fur on her chest. She smoothed it down with slow, rhythmic strokes, and before long Cloudtail was beside her once more with a mouse in his jaws.
He offered it to her quietly, and she accepted with a broken mew of thanks.
Cinderpelt, who was still hovering anxiously, looked down at the two cats. Her tail twitched with nervousness, and she said aloud, "Everyone will be so relieved when I tell that you're awake."
