Looming overhead like insidious and ancient sentinels, the dark trees leered down at the diminutive apprentice that padded beneath their boughs. Casting a worried look around him, Scourge tried to regain his bearings only to his horror realise that this part of the forest was completely unknown to him.
Something was not right here, even with his limited knowledge of the forest, Scourge could instinctively feel that something was off. Roots snaked their way across his path like monstrous serpents writhing from the murky depths to ensnare unwary interlopers. The pine needles that stabbed at his paws underfoot were brown and thorn like. Flooding his nostrils, the overwhelming scent of decay almost caused Scourge to vomited. Even the ground itself seemed to radiate an aura of unspeakable dread and writhe underfoot as though dark and sinister things lurked beneath the surface. Overhead, the moon and stars, which should have glowed with bright, mystical light were darker than a killer's soul.
"Where am I? " Scourge mewed, his quiet voice uncomfortably loud in the deathly silence. Despite this, Scourge was not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer. All he wanted was to get out of this place and back to the safety of his nest.
Then he heard it. Breathing. It came in ragged gasps as though the creature that it belonged to had long suffered from breathing problems. Then came a sound which one could only describe as being like a badger being slowly but inevitably sucked into a bog. It took Scourge several heartbeats to realise that the sound was a demented laugh.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" The voice came from all angles at once, making it impossible for Scourge to pinpoint it's source. "It looks like a little, lost kit. Ha ha ha, this should be fun! "
Unsheathing his claws and bearing his fangs into a challenging snarl, Scourge whipped to where he thought the voice was coming from, although he couldn't be sure. He just hoped against all hopes that he wasn't trembling as much as he thought he was.
"Looks like we got a feisty one," Came a second voice, far deeper and with more of a snarl to it than the first. "Been a while since we had anything remotely resembling a challenge."
"Oh no this one won't be a challenge, far from it," mused the first voice in what Scourge assumed to be a mocking tone.
"Show yourself!" Scourge called out into the darkness, "Unless you cowards prefer to skulk and hide in the shadows!"
"Oh but my friend, we've nothing to hide." Chuckled the first voice as two shapes seemingly detached themselves from the shadows. Fighting the urge to recoil in disgust and horror at what he saw, Scourge forced himself to study the cats, for cats they were.
The first looked like a decrepit elder, his once handsome tabby coat now mangy and streaked with grey. Buboes and pustules riddled his pelt and when he moved, it was nearly impossible to not notice the way his ribs showed under his fur. But scariest of all were his eyes, those ancient, demented eyes which suggested that this cat had long ago lost any hint of his sanity.
Equally imposing, the second tom towered over his pox ridden counterpart. Immense in size, Scourge doubted that even Thistleclaw could match this colossus of a warrior in sheer physical might judging from the abnormally large muscles that rippled under his fur. His fur was a black that Scourge couldn't even begin to fathom, it was though this cat, his massive size not withstanding, he seemed to blend effortlessly to the background. His eyes, while holding perhaps a hint of sanity, were filled by what can only be described as lust for blood. It was as though a great beast was caged within the warrior, held back only by the will of whatever remained of the tom's kit hood innocence, if he had any to begin with.
Pacing slowly the two cats studied Scourge as though he was little more than a piece of prey. Maybe to their twisted minds, he was. But Scourge was not prepared to give in to his fear.
"Who are you and what is this place?" He tried to shout but the words came out as little more than a quiet mew.
"What does it matter to you?" Snapped the second tom with barely concealed malice, "You are here and now your ours."
"Now now Bloodtail," the first pox ridden tom scolded lightly, "He is new around here." He then turned to Scourge with what appeared to be a vague attempt of a welcoming grin although it held no warmth whatsoever.
"This my friend is a wonderful place, a refuge from those in StarClan who would persecute us for ...little misunderstandings during our lifetimes. Our mortal lifetimes anyway."
Fighting the ice cold dread that threatened to overwhelm, Scourge trembled and knew instantly that he stank if fear. Finally, his trembling lips formed two words.
"You're dead?"
"Looks like the prey has some brains Verminhide," Bloodtail smirked, revealing his long teeth before regarding Scourge, "Yes, we are dead but what of it. So are StarClan."
"But But that's ...imp"
"Nothing is impossible," Verminhide hide hissed menacingly , "Once you know that, power is but a claw swipes away. The power to become a powerful leader. Or perhaps. ...to save a loved one."
He smirked through lips thickly covered by crusty scabs as he saw Scourge's ears perk up. Despite himself, Scourge could not help but remember Thistleclaw promise to do something unspeakable to Bluefur. What if these cats could help him? Could he refuse such an offer?
But one last look into their cold, uncaring eyes, Scourge knew that to think they wanted to help him would be foolish. He had to leave and he had to leave now, before something bad happened.
"A generous offer," he stuttered bowing his head low so as not to appear rude, whatever happened he didn't want to anger these cats, "But I must decline."
"Idiot!" Bloodtail raising a claw to strike Scourge but before either rhe or the repulsive Verminhide could attack, two incandescent pillars of fire sprouted from the ground and wreathed around Scourge, burning the pair of dark warriors, scorching their fur. One was a brilliant blue that would have made a green leaf sky pale by comparison while the other was an orange brighter than the flames of the eternal sun.
As the warriors backed away, hissing in shock, Scourge saw a dazzling light appear and through it came a beautiful grey furred she cat came running towards Scourge.
"Follow me," she urged quickly. Glancing back at what was behind him, Scourge ran towards her and didn't look back.
" What's happening? What were those flames? " He asked as they bolted between the tree's boughs faster than he had even thought he could run before, terror lending wings to his flight.
"Not now," The she cat urged and kept running. Going silent, Scourge ran alongside her until he began to notice that slowly the trees were beginning to thin allowing the starlight to quietly filter back in and the dry foliage become replace by lush, thick grass and trees. As they did so, the flames around Scourge began to flicker and die. Only now then Scourge and the she cat stop running.
"We should be safe now," The she cat panted before turning to face Scourge. But before another word could pass from her lips, Scourge felt the world flicker and fade around him.
"I can't explain now," she said calmly in a tone of eternal reassurance, "But remember this, Two flames will burn in your life. The blue may appear fickle and weak bit is actually strong and loyal. The orange will be naive and small hut if you guide it, it shall grow to a roaring inferno."
As the world and with it, the she cat faded from sight Scourge tried to fight the darkness to reach her.
"What is your name?"
The she cat smiled as she looked down upon him with a kind of motherly love and it was then that Scourge thought he saw something familiar in her eyes.
"My name is Moonflower. "
Scourge let the name wash over him and then slowly, he opened his eyes.