SHIMMERWIND'S RISE
The most ambitious rewrite of Starkit's Prophecy you'll ever see
CHAPTER FOUR
FEVER DREAMS
REVIEWS (By Mintflight0245)
Duskspiral- No it doesn't! I've read yours, and it's AMAZING! I think both of us are doing amazing :)
DarkCrystal666- Aww, thanks! And INdeed, it is a first, and oop yes he did break Fanfic. Oops.
Dragonbreathjr- Thank you! And Yes, the original one is SCARY, I'm pretty all of us suffered through it before writing this story. But uh, thanks again!
Succulentsofa- Thanks, it kinda just slipped in. And thanks! I'm sure you'll do amazing as well!
PhoenixEcho2007- Thanks! And aww, cute!
(PHEW I think that's all of them there ya go Res)
Three days later, Bramblestar gathered all of the new apprentices and their mentors into a clearing in ThunderClan territory.
"Today," he said, "We will be beginning battle training."
Shimmerpaw felt excitement rush through her body as she shared an ecstatic glance with Songpaw. This was what ThunderClan was famous for. Their exhibition of strength and wits on the battlefield!
Looking over, though, she saw that Cloudpaw looked a bit on edge. She had zero clue as to why, but concluded that it may have been because he was abysmal at playing badger. He would either play the world's easiest threat or destroy the Clan he was defending.
"In combat," said the ThunderClan leader, "Victory rests on controlling your center of mass, which is just below your chest. If you have control of it, then you are balanced and in control of your actions and where they land. If you lose control, your enemy's fight becomes ten times easier and you lose. There is no situation where you can win a fight without knowing where your paws are gonna land.
"That is what we will be doing today. We will be practicing on controlling your balance. Each of you, one at a time, will charge me, and try to land a hit and land on your feet. Eventually, I will begin countering you like a real battle, but let's make sure that you are centered first.
"Cloudpaw," said Bramblestar, "You and Molewhisker can demonstrate."
Hesitantly, Cloudpaw stepped forward until he faced his mentor. "Keep still this time," said the leader to the mentioned apprentice's mentor, "Just make sure he can land a hit and stay on his paws."
"What if my claws unsheathe?" whimpered Cloudpaw worriedly, "What if I hurt him?"
"Cloudpaw," said Molewhisker with a honeyed voice, "You are three days into your apprenticeship. I've been a warrior for moons. It won't matter regardless."
Cherryfall roughly elbowed his brother as his apprentice chuckled in embarrassment.
"Now," said Bramblestar, "Charge Molewhisker as fast as you can and land a blow. Doesn't matter where. Just make sure to mand on your paws."
Cloudpaw nodded, took a deep breath and charged. He leaped into the air a bit too much, though, and his stomach flew into Molewhisker's muzzle, knocking the wind out of the poor apprentice and causing the mentor to recoil and press his paw against his muzzle. The she-cat's chuckled and snickered as Bramblestar helped the duo recover.
"Good first try," he consoled, "But maybe it would be best if you decide where to land before."
As the two set up, Bramblestar gestured for Shimmerpaw to follow him to a farther corner of the clearing. "Now," he said, "Attack me. Pick a place on my body in your range, hit me and land on your paws."
Shimmerpaw nodded and focused. Her mind landed on the leader's shoulder. She looked at her target, took a breath and charged. She tried to twist mid-air, managing to kick out her paws into Bramblestar's shoulder, but landed on her flank and rolled back to her paws.
"Not a bad decision," said Bramblestar, licking his shoulder, "But you'll firstly want to practice your twist, which we'll do at another time, and try to pick an easier spot. Maybe one that you can hit and stay upright at the same time. Like my chest. That's a direct attack on my center of weight."
Shimmerpaw nodded and stepped back. She planned her move in her head and charged, lowering her head and slamming it into Bramblestar's chest. The leader let out an oomph at contact and stumbled back, but the bludgeon knocked Shimmerpaw off balance, making her woozy, and causing her to sit down to try and realign herself.
"Again, I see what you're trying to do," said Bramblestar encouragingly, "But it's probably not best to sacrifice your head. Your skull's not yet fully developed, so any blows you deal with it has a chance to knock you down with the same force.
Shimmerpaw groaned. "You made it sound so easy!"
"Battles are the same way," said Bramblestar, "They sound appealing and on the road to glory, right? It isn't until you walk in the midst of the aftermath when you realize the true price everyone pays."
Shimmerpaw was silent as Bramblestar shook out his fur.
"Let's try again."
And so, the pairs continued to go at each other. Shimmerpaw tried and failed a couple more times before realizing that she didn't have to charge straight forward, charging diagonally at her mentor and lowering her shoulder, which sent him to the ground and below her paws.
"Nice work!" he had praised, filling the apprentice with well-earned pride.
But by the time she had finished, Songpaw was long done. She had knocked down Cherryfall on the second try by slipping behind her forelegs and underneath her belly, sending her onto the ground with the wind knocked out of her. Shimmerpaw was shocked when she saw her friend waiting patiently for her to finish.
But poor Cloudpaw was having an unfortunate experience. He had tried to be strategic at first, but then just started flinging himself at Molewhisker. Very quickly did his dilemma become clear. He was not strong. He was as weak as a rabbit.
If it wasn't for how miserable Cloudpaw looked, Shimmerpaw probably would have laughed.
"Why don't you two take a break?" said Bramblestar, going over to Molewhisker who was trying to comfort his apprentice, "Don't go too far. We still have a lot of training to do."
A couple minutes later, the two friends were walking through the nearby forest, talking about some of Purdy's stories.
"I don't get how Cloudpaw can stand those stories," said Songpaw, rolling her eyes, "They're so boring and long! And his accent just makes it sound like nonsense!"
"Oh, give him a break!" retorted Shimmerpaw, "You can tell he loves to do it. You just can't sit still for ten seconds!"
"Yes, I can!"
"Bet you can't!"
"Bet," smirked Songpaw, "I'll stay up all night listening to how Purdy managed to outsmart a fox by boring it to sleep!"
"Oh, come on," said Shimmerpaw, a little taken aback, "Don't you realize he's doing this because he's lonely?"
Songpaw did a double take. "I never thought of that."
"Yeah," said Shimmerpaw, "He said that back before the Great Battle, he had a crush on another elder named Mousefur! His eyes lit up like the sun when he mentioned her!"
"Awww, that's so cute!" gushed Songpaw, "Now I feel bad!"
"As you should."
The two walked in silence, both noticing the wind carrying the scent of ShadowClan from the border.
"Speaking of cute…"
Shimmerpaw's eyes widened in horror. "Don't tell me!"
"Of course not!" said Songpaw, rolling her eyes, "Why would I have a thing for a ShadowClan apprentice? They're all pretentious jerks! But it is in my right to say that the brown one was looking pretty fine."
Shimmerpaw was laughing in embarrassment. "You're so humiliating!"
"Well, no one's watching!" said Songpaw with a wide grin, "I'm just saying that if he fixed up his personality a bit, I'd be...willing to set the code aside for a night of fun…"
"Songpaw!"
"StarClan, you're so dense! Can't an apprentice fantisize freely?"
Songpaw realized that Shimmerpaw was no longer following her.
"Shimmerpaw?"
She looked back to see Shimmerpaw frozen in place, looking into the trees.
"What's going on?"
Shimmerpaw's eyes were narrowed as she looked into the trees. She swore she had seen something move.
"Talk to me-"
"SHHHHHHHHH!" hissed Shimmerpaw, slowly sneaking forward. Her blood pumped in her ears. She no longer felt safe, paranoia making her shake quietly as she looked around.
After advancing about a tree-length deeper, she allowed herself to relax, turning to Songpaw in relief. "Sorry. I thought I saw something."
The moment they turned around, they both screamed in horror.
Behind them was a disgusting, dirty and terrifying cat. Their black fur was ruffled, torn and skinned, their bones were shattered and contorted beneath the skin, distorting the cat's stance to an unhealthy slouch, and the eyes were dull green, almost dead, but yet they twitched and observed the she-cats like prey.
The second they saw the monstrosity, they bolted, their legs carrying them wherever their brains were ordering. All that mattered was escaping.
Seconds later, they burst into the clearing, panting and on the brink of tears. The four cats shot up instantly, Cherryfall and Molewhisker by their sides to calm them down.
"What happened?" said Bramblestar, sharing the look of confusion between the siblings.
"W-We...W-W-We s-saw…." stuttered Songpaw, "A-A c-c-cat...th-they…"
"Calm down, honey," said Bramblestar gently to his daughter, "Take deep breaths."
Shimmerpaw was trying not to cry in front of her mentor, her heart beating at the speed of light. She noticed Cherryfall and Bramblestar share a glance of worry dictating that she was shaken up a bit more than they were expecting.
"Let's get you two back to camp," said the leader decisively, "We'll talk to Jayfeather and Leafpool about whatever you saw."
They turned from the clearing and began to head back, Bramblestar pulling his son and daughter close. "It's gonna be okay," she heard him whispering to Songpaw gently.
"What did she see?" said Cherryfall to Molewhisker worriedly.
Molewhisker shrugged, glancing at Shimmerpaw. "Whatever it is, it must not have been anything good."
Jayfeather was having weird dreams lately.
Ever since he had surrendered his powers, StarClan had been filling his sleep with convoluted symbolism about what he had endured in the days leading up to the Great were just weird fever dreams about hedgehogs actually flying while others would be visions of his past reincarnations, which would unsettle him the whole morning.
But this specific one was definitely the most peculiar. He woke up in a large field stretching as far as the eye could see. The catch was the field was entirely made of sticks.
Jayfeather couldn't help but feel StarClan was mocking him.
Precariously, he stepped along the meadow of sticks, hissing and spitting curses whenever a splinter pierced his pads. He growled as he saw his pawsteps become bloodier and bloodier. If this carried over into the real world, he swore to commit a one-cat-mutiny on StarClan.
After about fifteen minutes of walking through the endless field of wood, he caught an irritatingly familiar scent of a cat he did not want to see.
"Do you enjoy pissing me off?" he snarled to the grey cat walking to his side.
"It is one of the only joys StarClan offers," said Yellowfang, her voice drenched in such potent snark it made the tom roll his eyes.
Jayfeather tried to ignore her, but Yellowfang followed him regardless. He had an itch to sprint as far as he could from her, but his pads were aching enough.
"Y'know," he growled, "Watching me step on every splinter in existence is kind of a low blow."
"So is the world."
Jayfeather sighed dramatically. "What do you want?"
"I want you to keep walking."
"Wow. You really want to watch me suffer.
"Yes. So stop bitching around and get a move on. You fought a fucking war, for StarClan's sake. And you were blind!"
Jayfeather groaned audibly. Yellowfang was the only cat that seemed to enjoy getting on his nerves, no matter what he did.
A perfect half-moon shone in the sky, the only source of light for Jayfeather's paw-destroying travel. He was just about to slit his throat to wake himself up from this pest of a dream when he caught sight of something peculiar.
Sticking up from the meadow (even Jayfeather groaned at the pun within the observation) were three distinctively large branches standing erect amidst the moonlight. Jayfeather gave an accusing glance to Yellowfang, who easily met his stare.
Jayfeather felt unnerved, all of a sudden.
Surely this was no longer just a fever dream.
This seemed important.
With a more hurried pace, he walked to the tripod of branches and stood between them. After a useless glance to Yellowfang for some sort of guidance, he tiptoed cautiously forward to the branch closest to him, reached out and placed his paw on the bark.
As if he was bludgeoned in the chest, he was thrown back in time to a restless night. The sky was cloudy and fierce and yowls of terror and grief filled the ThunderClan camp. Jayfeather looked around to see Hollyleaf at his paws, bleeding from a gash to the throat.
"I-I'm sorry…" she rasped, reaching out to Leafpool, "I couldn't leave without getting to know my mother."
Jayfeather was hyperventilating, trying to reach out to his long-deceased sister before stepping back to see that no longer was Holyleaf at his paws, but an intimidating bracken tom, choking on his blood and holding a wound on his throat.
Tigerstar.
Jayfeather looked wildly around. He saw cats of old, faces he recognized. Firestar, Sandstorm, Graystripe, Bramblestar, all looking on in shock.
Why am I here?! He thought.
But just as he blinked, the scenery changed again. Now, he was in the medicine den, an old, blinded brown tom choking, saliva foaming from the mouth.
He recognized this tom as Brokenstar. When he looked up to the cat standing over him, he gasped.
It was Hollyleaf.
"Time...to wake up…" she rasped in Brokenstar's ear.
"No…" stuttered Jayfeather in horror, "No...How...Why...This isn't you…"
Hollyleaf looked up at Jayfeather, her eyes shining with malicious, evil life.
"The dead...always...rise…" she rasped with a grin.
"No...NO! HOLLYLEAF!"
Just as Hollyleaf slashed Jayfeather's throat, he gasped back to the field of sticks. The three branches were gone, but Yellowfang still stood off in the distance, her eyes filled with guilt.
"What did you do…" he snarled.
"I'm sorry, Jayfeather," said Yellowfang, "But your break is over."
She blinked and her pelt seemed to shine as bright as the stars.
"Out of Limbo between Dark and Light, a star shall shimmer to combat the night."
Jayfeather was furious. "A PROPHECY?! WHY?! WHY CAN'T YOU LEAVE US BE?!"
"This is no longer about you," said Yellowfang, slowly fading away as darkness consumed him, "But you must protect your brother's daughter at all costs."
"Wait...SHIMMERPAW?!" he shouted into the darkness, "WHY?! YELLOWFANG!"
Jayfeather gasped awake, getting a grip on his dream as Leafpool peeked in.
"Hey sleepyhead," she said, "You were asleep for a while...Is something wrong?"
"Yes," snarled Jayfeather, pushing past his mother, "Everything is wrong."
He stormed out of the den.
"LIONBLAZE!"
*sigh*
This took way too long.
I apologize for the delay. I honestly have no idea how the Erins can possibly write battle training. It's so...boring. It took me five days just to work up the inspiration to finish it.
Add that to the list of why I am a horrible writing partner.
But I'm done. For a while. I hope you enjoyed the ride that this story has been for now. We still have three more authors yet to show their faces, and trust me. You're going to love it.
Next up is my long time partner-in-crime.
Thanks for reading. Once again, I'm sorry this took so long.
Best,
~Res
"if ur a bad reviewer u dont belive in Gosh ull go 2 hekc. thx guys for the god reveis. !"
-darkrose, Our Lord and Saviour