Alternate title: The continued torment of a certain Shadowclan leader
Hello everyone! I saw the wonderful chapter posted by TheSkyclanCat earlier today and just couldn't help myself. In order to fully understand what is going on here, I urge you to read both of the Halloween chapters with Umbra by TheSkyclanCat (and my earlier spin-off from last year (or the year before, how time flies)). Please feel free to leave reviews and happy reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors nor the original idea for this work. Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter while the original theme of this work belongs to TheSkyclanCat.
Hollypaw knew she should have felt unnerved. Her life had been built around the relatively rigid set of rules and regulations that comprised the Warrior Code. Ever since the fox hunt fiasco, she had done her best to adhere to the Code like sap to leaves.
But now, watching Firestar and Sandstorm soar away to Starclan knows where, all she could feel was excitement. Her new vulpine (emkitsune/em, a rather sly voice whispered) instincts were howling at her for mischief. And what better timing, now that no one was paying attention.
Hollypaw finished tickling Lionpaw's nose, ignoring his spluttered sneezing and Jaypaw's raucous laughter from the air, and scanned her surroundings. She spotted Berrynose, now a male peacock, strutting around to show off an enormous tail (for once in his life), bragging about how it reflected his capabilities as a warrior. He was almost begging to be tricked and Hollypaw certainly wasn't about to deny him.
"That Umbra character certainly knew what she was talking about!" He puffed proudly to an eight-legged Spiderleg, unaware of Hollypaw slinking up behind him. "Told me I needed a charm to show off my stuff, that's what she said, and- eep!" He shrieked as he smelled fire. He whirled around only to find his longest feathers alight with what looked green fire and three black fox tails rushing away from him accompanied by high-pitched cackling.
Once she had raced behind the apprentice's den, she instinctively made herself invisible as an irate Berrypaw gave chase. When he was gone, she gave in to the laughter that had her rolling on the ground.
"If you're quite finished." A clipped voice interrupted from above. Jaypaw was circling above her and piercing her with his sharp (and now functional) eyes, making her realized she had dropped the invisibility.
"I thought you were going to take a look at the territory." She huffed, tails waving in impatience to do more in the limited time they had.
"I am, but I was wondering if you'd like to come along. I'd ask Lionpaw but-" he nodded at the lion who was now wrestling Ashfur, who'd inherited his father's snow leopard charm and for once, was not sulking in the shadows.
"Fair enough. I'll come!" Hollypaw sensed that there was only so much fun to be had in camp, think of what she could find in the territory! Besides, it wasn't like she wanted to spend the night frozen, as Mousefur had taken Bluestar's old charm and was more than happy to show off her powers on trouble-making apprentices.
Blackstar enjoyed cool crisps nights such as this. The only time he had ever had a bad time on a calm night was when Brokenstar had ordered him to Thunderclan territory in the old forest and-
Well, it wasn't worth thinking about.
After he had had his eyes checked by an exasperated Yellowfang, he had promptly resolved that it had all been a product of nerves and a lack of food. Most certainly not real. Even if seeing Firestar and his mate at Gatherings during leaf-fall did conjure up images he would rather forget.
Shaking his musings away like annoying cobwebs, he stretched and left his den, deciding that a beautiful night should not be wasted. After a twinge of misgiving, he decided to take a walk, using the excuse of patrolling the Thunderclan border. Had to keep an eye on those troublesome cats, after all.
He had no idea how correct he was.
Reaching the border clearing, he took a moment to scent the area. All was well. At least until a green flash emanated from his right. While his instincts practically screamed at him to run, he found himself edging closer and closer. Just as he reached his paw out to touch it, the light vanished. In its place, a terrible screeching bodiless yowl filled the clearing.
Blackstar screeched and back-pedaled, looking wildly around for the source of the noise.
That's when he saw it. A great eagle watching intently. Not only that, but two other familiar figures, further away in the sky, one with wings of white and the other of black, dancing around each other.
"Not again!" He yowled and bolted- only to run into the back wall of his den. Gasping, he found himself in his den. Oh, just a dream.
And almost yowled again, finding a green ember at his feet. He spent the rest of the night wide awake, trying to ignore his own tremors while staring at the ember (which vanished at dawn) and resolving to confront Firestar at the next Gathering.
Back at the border, Hollypaw was collapsed in laughter. That would keep Shadowclan scum off her territory! Jaypaw also managed to look amused but was also mystified as he spiraled down to land on a nearby branch, taking care to ignore his grandparents' dance in the sky above.
"Any idea what he meant by "again"?"
Little did the siblings know that they had watchers. In fields of starlight, ghostly cats had gathered around different pools that reflected the living world to watch the night's shenanigans.
An older, ruffled gray she-cat arched an eyebrow. "So that explains what ailed Blackfoot all those years ago…" Yellowfang murmured.
"It certainly does." Snickered her blue-gray companion. Bluestar continued to chuckle, especially once the pool rippled to reveal an annoyed ice-bird freezing a certain peacock in place.
"I'm glad we managed to direct Umbra back to the clans again." Cinderpelt purred, her father rumbling in his own laughter.
"This is all very amusing for you." Raggedstar grumbled. "But when you say "clans", you mean "Thunderclan". I would very much appreciate if you would stop tormenting my successor."
As cats began to bicker around them, Silverstream studied the pool fondly as a familiar grey wolf smirked at the proceedings around him in the living world. "Maybe we should guide her to the other clans next year." She purred to her daughter, Feathertail.
Yes, that would make for a most entertaining night.
Yeah...so I made Hollypaw/leaf a little OOC based on the creature she became (hope no one is too bothered by this). To all Blackstar lovers out there...I also apologize. I don't even dislike him, I just can't help myself! I reasoned that Mousefur would be cheeky enough to claim the Articuno charm once Bluestar passed as no one else seemed to want it. Berrypaw almost became a bear again but then I figured that I should this time pick an animal that is naturally known as a show-off (and as a bonus, ironically has a very large tail).
In any event, I hope you enjoyed this work. Please read TheSkyclanCat's work as it is wonderful. With that I wish everyone a very happy and safe Halloween!
