Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors
Sorry for the confusing stuff, but this happens often on Warriors fanfics. Thanks to the Prologue, Ch. 1 is labeled as Chapter 2 with the name Chapter 1, Ch. 2 is Chapter 3, and so on. The Prologue is Chapter 1.
Chapter 2
"No!" Crescentkit yowled. "Come here, you crow-food-eating mange-pelt. Leave my brother alone!" She continued to taunt the fox, although knowing it couldn't understand her, Crescentkit hoped she could distract it long enough for Duskkit to escape. The fox whipped around and growled. Crescentkit crouched, teeth bared, ready to dodge to one side if the fox pounced. Suddenly, the fox turned away from her, and leaped at Duskkit, who was skirting around the fox to escape. "Duskkit!" she screamed.
Then a movement from the edge of the bramble thickets caught her eye. Crescentkit watched, amazed, as two cats leaped from either side onto the fox. It yelped in alarm as it was knocked over from the weight of the cats. Seizing the chance, Duskkit scrambled to his paws and fled past Crescentkit into the safety of the gorse tunnel.
Meanwhile, the fox had recovered from the shock and was snapping at its attackers, whom Crescentkit had a clear look at for the first time. She had thought that they were two of her Clanmates, but as an unfamiliar scent, mingled with fox and blood, touched her nose, she realized that they were rouges. One was a tortoiseshell she-cat, and the other one was a dark gray tom.
Crescentkit felt her neck fur rise. What are they doing here in my territory? They completely ignored the scent markers! Finally the two rouges had the fox down in defeat. It turned tail and fled, but the rouges chased it down and bit down on its neck. The fox fell over, twitching and going through spasms. Why are they killing the fox? Great, now we'll have that dead thing in our territory. One of the cats raised his paw and struck the killing blow; the fox let out a single choking sound, then laid still.
The rouges licked their paws, obviously not bothered that they just killed a fox. A warrior does not need to kill to win their battles! Crescentkit thought. Suddenly the tortoiseshell turned to face her. "You're lucky that we were here to save your whiskers!" she hissed. "You would have been road-kill by now, you mouse-brained kit!"
Crescentkit fluffed out her fur. Before she could meow an angry retort, the gray tom added, "What are you doing here anyway? Didn't your mother ever teach you and your littermate to stay away from here? This is our territory, kit. There are more cats beyond those brambles. I don't want to see you here anymore. We rule the Twolegplace, and we'll have the forest if we want to."
Anger surged through Crescentkit. How dare they? This is ThunderClan territory! But she forced her voice to remain calm. I have to let them know what Clan cats are capable of. I don't care if I'm only two moons old. "Then stay at your Twolegplace. The forest belongs to the Clans, and no other cat." She took a step forward. The rouges let out threatening growls, but Crescentkit went on. "I may only be a kit now, but I'll grow up to be a warrior. Clans live by the warrior code. It's been like that for countless seasons. Do you think a couple of Twolegplace cats can change that?"
The tortoiseshell spat. "Then tell your Clan that it's time for them to leave, or we'll kill them off one at a time, starting with the kits," she added threatening, eyes narrowed.
That's just the opposite of what the warrior code says! Then she shook herself. These cats knew nothing about the warrior code or StarClan. They were just a bunch of rouges from Twolegplace. "The Clans have lived here for moons upon moons. We look up to StarClan, our warrior ancestors, to guide us. Warriors do not kill to win their battles, but that makes us no less fierce when it comes to defending our borders!" she hissed.
"Oh, we're so scared," the tom mewed sarcastically. "Dead cats! In the sky! Nonsense. A tale for kits! Maple, do you think we ought to teach this kit a lesson?"
"Oh, yes. We killed a fox; we can do the same for you!" Without warning Maple lashed out with her forepaws. Searing pain shot through Crescentkit as the tortoiseshell she-cat slashed at her throat. Maple pinned her down; Crescentkit was feebly attempting to scratch at her with her hind paws, but her energy was ebbing away as she struggled to breath. She was faintly aware of the dark-gray tom watching her with a cold look of contempt. The world grew darker and darker, and just as Crescentkit thought the sunlight would vanish forever, Maple's weight disappeared.
"I think it would be best for all of us if you let her go."
Hailstorm! Thank StarClan… The forest switched in and out of focus. Crescentkit felt herself being carried back to camp, and everything went black.
She was standing in an unknown dark place, filled with sharp rocks jutting out of the ground and dead, black trees. Mist swirled around her, and the cold night air made her shudder. Crescentkit looked up. She couldn't see any warriors of StarClan, and she felt alone and afraid. She heard faint whispers, but couldn't make out what they meant. The whispering gradually grew louder, though Crescentkit still could not hear what they were saying.
Then, a soft voice drifted right next to Crescentkit's ear, and she jumped.
… A terrible choice… death…
Suddenly Crescentkit felt as if she were being watched by many hostile eyes. She felt cold, as if ice were slowly creeping up her blood. Claws pricked her spine. She wanted to turn tail and run, but her paws were frozen to the ground. Ice pricked at her heart, and she felt a strange force slide out her claws. To Crescentkit's horror, they were bloodstained and appeared to be made out of ice.
"No…" she whispered, and darkness engulfed her.
"Crescentkit, can you hear me?" The mew sounded strangely distorted to her.
Where am I? Crescentkit wondered. "Am I dead? Is this StarClan?" she murmured groggily.
"No, you're fine," the voice meowed soothingly. "You are in ThunderClan, and I've fixed your wound."
Then Crescentkit recognized the scent of herbs mingled with that of a familiar cat's. "Rainfall?" She felt a tail lie on her flank, and felt calmed. But suddenly, she was aware of the pain in her throat. Memory rushed back to her: Duskkit and her slipping out of camp, climbing to the top of the ravine, scaring away the blackbird, the fox, Maple's claws running across the throat… she gasped in horror as she remembered the dream. It had seemed way too real. "Darkness! Terrible darkness! And ice and evil and blood and death…"
Rainfall looked down, worried. "You had a bad dream, that's all." He leaned in closer. "If it helps you, you can tell me what you dreamed of. Maybe I can figure something out."
She blinked at the medicine cat. "Thanks." She told him about the dark place, and the whispers. "And then I heard this one voice say something about 'a terrible choice' and death. Then I felt ice, this cold…" she described how her blood seemed to freeze, and the bloody ice-claws.
Rainfall looked thoughtful. But he said, "It was just a bad dream. Don't worry about it."
"What about Duskkit?" Crescentkit demanded. "What about those rouges?"
"Duskkit is safe. He was the one who alerted the patrol to rescue you, you know. He ran into camp yowling about a fox and two strange cats. Hailstorm lead the patrol out of camp and found the rouges hurting you." Rainfall flicked his ears. "He dealt with them. They said they were only passing, and Hailstorm sent them back to the Twolegplace."
Only passing! They wanted to take over the forest! She wondered if she should tell Snowstar about that. Perhaps Maple and her partner were only bluffing, trying to scare her.
Keep it to yourself! A voice hissed in her ear. This is your own battle and your battle alone. No other cats'.
But I don't want to fight yet! I'm not even an apprentice yet, Crescentkit protested. She didn't know who or what the whisper belonged to, but she felt fear prickling beneath her pelt.
Who are you and what do you want with me?
Whoops I guess I made Crescentkit sound a little older than she actually is when she was talking to the two rouges. Heh, my bad. But, whatever I'm not gonna change it. Also I got Maple from Mapleshade even though they aren't really connected in anyway.
