Haunted
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, if I owned Warriors, Oh the things I would do. Tigerstar would still be alive, only pretending to be dead, maybe that's what put this idea in my head.(don't own warriors)
Summary: Firestar has a disturbing dream
Notes:More Firestar centered, but alot of Tiger in there too. A brief guest star role by Sandstorm. In this one italics is dreaming. Set in between The last book of the first series and the first book of the second series, before Sandstorm has kits.
Firestar lay down, tired. Sandstorm curled up next to him and smiled at her leader and love. He smiled back and softly licked her ear. They both lay down their heads to fall, exhausted, into the realm of dreams.
Surrounded by the dewy light of dawn, the pool glistened and trees rustled softly. It was obviously new-leaf, for the trees were filled with light pink petals. As the wind softly kissed his flame colored fur, it stirred a great cloud of the petals that danced around him, a whirl of confusion and light. Slowly they settled to the ground, somehow leaving the pool untouched.
Firestar padded over to the water. He looked into its crystalline depths and saw himself staring back. Suddenly his reflection smirked, without the original moving. The water, suddenly murky, rippled and his reflection changed. Green eyes became amber and cold, ginger fur darkened to to brown and developed a tabby pattern. Tigerstar rose out of the water, miraculously dry. Firestar backed up a step.
"Tigerstar." He hissed, voice filled with hate and a touch of hidden fear. The tabby smirked some more at him.
"Hello Firestar. Glad to see you still recognize me...and that I still inspire fear in you. It is so good to see ones life not being in vain." Firestar bristled.
"Frightened of you?" He scoffed. "We beat you, you were killed. Get out of my dreams, coward." Tigerstar laughed and advanced on the living cat. Around them the lovely landscape remained, a mockery of the feelings of both cats.
"Your memory is almost as great as your intelligence, oh leader." Tigerstar mocked softly. "You never beat me. You never killed me. Scourge did. You could never have beaten me." Firestar was backed up to a tree and the tabby showed no sign of relenting, pausing with his face only a inch away from the younger toms. "You never could." Firestar felt anger canceling out his fear, bile in his mouth. He slashed at the dream figure.
"I kill Scourge and Scourge killed you. I could kill you easily." He shouted. In his dreaming ire, his fur caught the fire of his name and he burned, smoldering. Tigerstar easily evaded both the claws and flames.
"Kill, kill, kill. Quite the little blood monger we've become." Firestar hissed and struck out again, but moving impossibly fast, the tabby evaded him again. "Are you so sure that I'm dead. You saw me fall, but did you see my body being buried?"
"Of course you're dead! I don't remember seeing your exact body, but there was no doubt that you're absolutely gone." Reasoned Firestar desperately. Tigerstar stood in front of a tree, the ginger tom leapt, and hit the tree head on. He backed up to see Tigerstar shaking his head at him, standing just to his side.
"If you're so sure, then why are you having this dream? And my, my, haven't we become clumsy while I've been away." The thunderclan tom snarled and aimed blow after blow toward the object of his hatred in a steady rain of claws and teeth. Tigerstar dodged them all.
"I don't know why I'm having this dream. It was a good dream until you came out of starclan to attack me." He snapped. Amber eyes laughed at him.
"But Firestar, I thought that Starclan was filled with the kind, wise, good souls of cats. How could someone as evil as me go there?" Tigerstar feigned surprise. Firestar leapt at him again but again hit a tree.
"Fine, then you came form whatever abyss your kind goes to and-" Tigerstar didn't allow him to finish.
"My kind? Tut tut, now aren't we the hypocrite. Remember those days when you were told 'your kind' couldn't be warriors?" Firestar green eyes widened, then glared again.
"Yes, I remember, you and your followers said those things to me." Tigerstar grinned as the young tom walked into his verbal trap.
"Roles reversed now, it seems. Becoming more and more like me as the day goes on I suppose. Face it, Firepaw, you're alot like me." Firestar shook his head as he backed away from yet another tree, his fur still burning brightly.
"I am nothing like you. I only try to help others and you...you just kill and are cruel and evil. We are nothing alike. All you do is destroy." Tigerstar dodged another flaming blow and licked his paw, bored.
"And you don't? Look around you Firestar." The ginger tabby looked up and around him. The lovely glade was in ruins, burning with the fire that clung to the thunderclan leader.Flames and smoke whipped around him, charring everything. His own fire went out as Tigerstar faded away into the smoke, leaving only his voice.
"How come a cat who saves the forest as a hobby can't even save himself?" The words hung in the air as urning branches fell toward him, crashing in, unescapable...
"Firestar! Firestar please wake up!" Sandstorm frantically nudged her mate awake. "Firestar, you were yowling in your sleep. Are you alright?" The ginger nodded vaguely.
"I'm...I'm fine. Just a nightmare, is all." He said quietly. Sandstorm looked at him, filled with worry.
"Are you sure? Did you have another dream about Tigerstar? He's dead, Firestar. He's not coming back. It's over, we're alright." She licked his shoulder gently.
"I...I know." He said. He wished he could explain more than that, but he couldn't. "I'm alright. Go back to sleep." Sandstorm eyed him but did, waiting to make sure he rested his head down as well. Watching her sleep, Firestar knew he was nothing like Tigerstar.
He only wished his subconscious knew it too.