alrighty hello hello hello! welcome to this book of one-shots, this will contain one shots about my characters. this particular one shot is a fallenclan challenge!

Five times Beebounce had a nightmare, and one time Rushstorm did.

1)

Beepaw thinks that he's been able to mask his nightmares well for the first few moons of his apprenticeship. When he has them, he just slips out of the apprentice's den, making sure not to wake his denmates. He sits outside the den, and tries to calm down. Slow his rapid breathing. Push away the horrors clouding his head.

This time, he can't even get out of his nest. He half-rises on trembling paws, and promptly falls back into his nest with a thud noise. Tonight was just too much. It was vivid, and raw, and Cherrykit's death had seemed like it was happening all over again. He squeezes his eyes shut, before realising that all he can see is his sister's tortured last moments. He gives up, and lies sideways in his nest, staring at a feather stuck to the wall of the den. He thinks it's a swan's feather. It's large enough, and a pure white colour.

He can't get back to sleep. His breathing is ragged, and Starclan, he is so scared. Brambleswipe's green eyes are especially murderous tonight, and he just can't deal with it. There's a pounding in his head, and his heartbeat doesn't seem to be slowing down. He knows he's not bleeding, but the old scar on his side seems as fresh as when it first happened.

Besides him, he hears a sudden change in breathing from one of his denmates. Rushpaw. He thinks they're friends, Rushpaw seems to think so at least. He always greets him in the morning with a friendly mew, and they walk to training together. Beepaw saves him a squirrel whenever there's one on the fresh-kill pile. It's a developing friendship, but it's one Beepaw wants to hang onto.

He tucks his head into his chest fur, trying to calm his breathing. Whatever tentative link he has to Rushpaw will melt away like ice in the sun when he realises how pathetic Beepaw is. He's crying in the night like a kit, for Starclan's sake.

"Beepaw?" A quiet voice says, bleary with sleep. Beepaw sighs, and rolls over to face Rushpaw. The grey tom is facing him directly, green eyes bright even in the dim light. "Are you alright?" He asks, and Beepaw blinks.

"I'm fine." He mews stiffly, looking away. For some reason, he can't quite meet Rushpaw's gaze. Something about the close contact makes his fur stand on end.

Rushpaw huffs. "You don't look fine." He says, and Beepaw's eyes widen. It's moon high. He's not sure if he can do this now. It's too late. He just wants to curl up his nest, and sleep. But he can't. Maybe… it could help to talk about it?

"I have… nightmares." He mews quietly, choosing his words carefully. Rushpaw's brow furrows, and his mouth falls into a frown, but he doesn't say anything. Beepaw is grateful for that. He's letting him explain himself. "You know what happened?" He says.

He doesn't want to say Brambleswipe's name. It had no place here, in this warm den, with Rushpaw's fur pressing up against him. At some point, he shifted closer, and Beepaw trembles. (It's not just from the nightmares, but he doesn't know that yet.)

Rushpaw looks confused. "You had a littermate." He says. "Cherrykit?" He asks, and Beepaw shakily nods. Rushpaw must have only just joined the clan at the time of Cherrykit's death, he thinks it was a quarter moon before. "So, your nightmares are about her dying?" He questions, and Beepaw shakes his head.

"Not really just her dying, more about… how I couldn't help her, I guess." He whispers. Rushpaw looks outraged.

"You were a kit." He hisses, and Beepaw agrees with him. He was just shy of three moons, and he watched as his littermate had her throat slit in front of him. By his aunt, no less.

"I know that." He snaps. Rushpaw looks taken aback, and he instantly feels guilty. Rushpaw is just trying to help him. "Sorry." He mumbled, and Rushpaw blinks.

"No… it's fine. I understand." He mews, and curls into Beepaw's side. Beepaw can feel his ears turning bright red, and he feels like there's something clogging his throat. He swallows, and moves slightly, letting Rushpaw's head slip onto his shoulder. "W-what are you doing?" He stutters. (Why can't he speak? He could speak just fine a moment ago.)

Rushpaw moves away from him, looking embarrassed. "Sorry." He says, and Beepaw sighs.

"No, it's fine." He mews, not really thinking about it. "I-I liked it." He manages to get out, and Starclan, he wants to be buried alive right now. Rushpaw hesitantly moves closer to him, and he presses back into the grey tom's side. This is fine. Rushpaw is just trying to comfort him, that's all. And it's helping. When he next closes his eyes, all he sees is darkness.

(And a pair of green, un-Brambleswipe like eyes, but he's choosing to ignore that.)

2)

Beepaw all but leaps out of his nest, and besides him, he hears Rushpaw and Fishpaw stir. He mumbles a quick apology, and Fishpaw grunts, and slides back into sleep. He stands there, in his nest, head pressing up against the tightly woven reeds of the roof. It's cool inside the den, and that makes it easier for him to calm his breathing.

He saw Cherrykit. Not like he usually did- no, she was alive. And talking to him. She looked his age, but with stars glittering in her fur. They'd spoken, and half-way through, he'd realised, with a shocking certainty, that he was in Starclan. Which meant that Cherrykit, rather than being a figment of his imagination, was Cherrykit. The cat he'd grown up alongside.

He'd run away, and had crashed through thick brambles, and into a clearing. There had been two cats on the edge of the clearing, a brown she-cat and an older black she-cat, and he'd brushed straight past them, and had launched into a deep, dark murky forest. There, he'd closed his eyes again, and had fallen into his usual dreams. This time, it had been worse, because Cherrykit's voice, and face is fresh in his mind. She'd called out to him, in a kit-squeaky voice, "Beepaw, save me!". And he'd done nothing. Like he'd done the first time.

So when he wakes up, it's as bad as it has been in at least a moon. His heart is beating frantically, and he's not too surprised when his denmates wake up. Thankfully, Fishpaw falls asleep almost immediately. Frogpaw doesn't even start, she just keeps on snoring. Rushpaw is the only other apprentice who doesn't fall back asleep. To the untrained ear, it would sound like he had, but Beepaw knew differently. Rushpaw's pattern of breathing had shifted, and he'd left out a faint sigh, like he knew what was coming.

Beepaw never intended to worry his new friend, but these nightmares seemed to happen almost every night. And Rushpaw was a great comfort- he was solid, and warm. Something to hang onto while the rest of his world fell apart. But sometimes, he worried that he was troubling Rushpaw too much. Waking him up at all hours of the night, dumping all of his trauma on him.

It wasn't like Rushpaw wasn't without trouble. He'd mentioned, in one of their late-night catch up sessions, that he thought he wasn't seen as a real Riverclan cat because he didn't know who his parents were. (And also because Rushpaw couldn't swim. Beepaw itched to give him a swimming lesson, but he felt like that might be overstepping a boundary.) Beepaw hadn't really known how to react to that, so he'd just stepped forward and pushed his muzzle into Rushpaw's cheek. He'd felt weird after he'd done that, like he had butterflies in his stomach.

(He guessed that maybe Rushpaw's parents were some weird twoleg bred cats, and he wasn't used to that type of fur. He could be allergic, or something.)

Beepaw accidentally scuffs his head on the roof of the den, and Rushpaw gets up. He blinks sympathetically at him, and Beepaw feels his heart melt with gratitude. He's so, so lucky to have such a good friend. Rushpaw steps over to him, tiptoeing over Fishpaw. He usually tucks himself right up alongside Beepaw, but Fishpaw's sister became a warrior yesterday. Her and Heronflutter used to sleep curled up, right alongside each other. Beepaw guesses she must have felt lonely, or something, because last night she asked if she could sleep in between him and Rushpaw. Beepaw was a bit confused as to why she didn't sleep in Frogpaw's nest, but he complied.

Rushpaw siddles up alongside him, and Beepaw instinctively shoves his head in the crook of Rushpaw's neck. There's a notable height difference when they sit side-by-side like this. Beepaw is still shivering, and Starclan, he thinks his teeth are chattering. Rushpaw tilts his head. "Bad night?" He asks, and Beepaw nods, wordlessly. He doesn't need to explain himself now. He can do it in the morning.

3)

Rushpaw wakes up to rough, uneven breathing. His eyes instantly fly open, and he goes into protection mode. He's done this a dozen times.

(Each time is equally as hard.)

Beepaw doesn't seem like he's in too much stress, his eyes are wide, and Rushpaw can see that he's trying not to cry out. But his breathing is already calming down, and when he sees that Rushpaw is awake, he offers him a small smile. Rushpaw rises out of his nest, and walks the mouse-length to Beepaw. (He doesn't really need to, he could just roll over if he needed to. But that would be pretty undignified.)

"Are you alright?" He asks quietly, and waits for Beepaw to catch his breath, and absorb the question.

Beepaw slowly rises from his nest, and sits, slightly hunched over. He shrugs. "I'm okay." He mews softly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rushpaw asks cautiously. Beepaw looks around, checking to see if anybody else is awake. They aren't. The den is sleeping soundly, despite the growing threat of the rogues, and Starclan knows what else.

Beepaw then sighs, and stares at the floor. "It was the usual." He murmurs. "Brambleswipe getting me and Cherrykit, her killing Cherrykit, me not doing anything." He punctuates that last bit with a sweeping lash of his tail, and Rushpaw winces.

"I've told you." Rushpaw says, firmly but fondly. "It wasn't your fault."

Beepaw huffs. "Sure as Dark Forest seems like it was." He says, and Rushpaw chuckles.

"Do you even know what that means?" He teases, and Beepaw rolls his eyes.

"I've heard it enough from Houndtooth." Beepaw says, tone becoming lighter, more carefree. Rushpaw's heart swells, because he knows he's done his job. "I think I can understand the meaning based on context, alone."

Rushpaw blinks. "I have no idea what you just said." He says bluntly, and Beepaw snorts, before clamping his paw over his mouth. Rushpaw flicks his tail up, and lands it squarely on top of Beepaw's paw. Beepaw blinks, and looks down at the trailing tail-tip, before meeting Rushpaw's eyes again. He shifts away from Rushpaw, and looks outside of the den. Rushpaw follows his gaze, and doesn't see anything worth noticing.

"We're friends, right?" Beepaw mumbles, and Rushpaw's mouth hangs open out of the sheer absurdity of what Beepaw has just asked. Of course they're friends. They're best friends.

"Obviously?" He answers, and Beepaw looks slightly panicked. Rushpaw corrects his answer. "We're best friends, Bee. You're never getting rid of me." He jokes, and Beepaw's face breaks into a beaming smile, one he never sees during the daytime.

4)

Beebounce awoke in the medicine cat's den, confused, stiff and fearful. He'd been having a nightmare, but it had seemed especially vivid - when Brambleswipe had slashed at him, he'd felt the pain in his side. When he stirred, and tried to rise, he could see that he was bleeding. Not too heavily, but he could see the faint tinge of red staining his tan fur, lapping through the cobwebs.

Hang on. Cobwebs? What had happened to him?

He squeezes his eyes shut, and tries to remember. He sees flashes: The Shadowclan patrol coming towards them, Fishclaw lunging for Foxstorm, Hawkstar dragging his claws in his side, a sick grin on his face. He opens his eyes with a shudder. So that's what happened.

He doesn't want to get out of his nest, knowing that the slightest movement could dislodge the cobwebs, and start up the bleeding again. Instead, he lies in the moss, looking around the den. He's not alone, he realises. He can just about make out Duckspark, sleeping peacefully in a different part of the den. He sighs. No ever-present nightmares for his aunt, he reckons.

There's a cat by the entrance to the den, keeping guard. He squints, and grins when he recognises who it is. Rushstorm is sitting there, slumped against the wall of the den, but there. Keeping watch over him.

(Not quite in the way he wants, but he'll hang on to what he can get.)

He coughs, a subtle movement. Duckspark doesn't stir, but Rushstorm's ears flick up, and he looks around, confused. He coughs again, and Rushstorm whirls around. His face immediately brightens, and he heads towards Beebounce, grinning.

"You're awake!" He exclaims, in a half-whisper.

"Yeah…" He says, not really too sure what to say. "What happened?" He asks, and Rushstorm sits down.

"Shadowclan." He mews grimly. "They attacked you and the patrol for no reason. Fishclaw said it was Hawkstar who did that to you." He spits out the name 'Hawkstar' with venom, and Beebounce sighs.

"They'll be drama at the gathering." He mews, and Rushstorm bats him on the shoulder with his tail-tip.

"Who cares about the gathering? You're hurt." Rushstorm says, and Starclan, Beebounce's heart thuds at the way Rushstorm said that last bit. He half-snorts, and looks down, trying to mask his expression.

"What did Rosestar say?" He asks, changing the subject. Rushstorm shrugs.

"She's angry. Foxstorm hurt Fishclaw as well, but she should be okay." He explains, and Beebounce blinks. Is Rushstorm implying that he wasn't going to be? Rushstorm seems to have noticed his face, because he quickly speaks again. "You're fine. Duckspark said you'll be trapped in here for a while, that's all."

Beebounce looks up for him from his nest, and smiles. "At least you'll be keeping me company." He mews softly. It came out way less teasing than he expected, and overly gentle.

Rushstorm nods at him. "I will."

5)

Beebounce is surprised that it's taken this long for him to have a nightmare. He hasn't had one, not really, for a good few moons. Not the shock-you-out of your sleep, gasping for air type of nightmare.

Yet that's what's happening right now. His breathing is shaky, and he feels like he's choking., He's hunched over, trying to keep quiet. The warriors den used to be more spaced out, but leafbare causes cats to mesh together. If he jerks around too much, he'll end up waking Fishclaw to his left, or Rushstorm to his right.

He doesn't want to wake either of them. It's weak. He should have gotten over this as an apprentice. He needs to stop hanging on to the past.

But he saw Brambleswipe again, just a few days ago. And there was a murdered kittypet. All is not well in Riverclan.

He's not too surprised when Rushstorm stirs. They're pretty much in sync, and Beebounce thinks he might have cried out in his sleep. He can remember making a squeak, or maybe a yowl, and being jolted awake. Whatever's happening between him and Rushstorm at the moment, whatever was going on with Rustpaw, he knows he'll have Rushstorm as long as he doesn't know Beebounce's secret. And that's more than he could have dared to hope for.

Rushstorm doesn't get up, he just rolls over in his nest until they're facing each other. If Beebounce wanted, he could press their foreheads together, like Rosestar and Flickfur do. But he doesn't, and he just lays, gazing into Rushstorm's eyes. He can't really make out the grey tom's expression in the murky light, the almost full moon is obscured by clouds, and the stars aren't that bright. He can just see the faint gleam of green.

"Are you alright?" Rushstorm asks, his voice low. It's hesitant, like he's not sure that Beebounce would answer him.

(He would. Every time.)

He squeezes his eyes shut, so he doesn't have to see Rushstorm's face when he lies. He can't tell Rushstorm what he was really dreaming about. "Fine." He whispers. "Just… kept seeing that kittypet."

(His nightmare was Rustpaw, clawing his way up the gathering tree, and revealing Beebounce's secrets to the clans. He couldn't pass that on.)

Rushstorm lets out a huff of air, and gently lays one of his paws on top of Beebounce's. He opens his eyes, wide, and Rushstorm blinks at him, and pulls it away. He looks panicked, and Beebounce doesn't blame him when he changes the subject.

"I saw her too." He blurts out, and Beebounce nods, willing him to go on. "It was horrible, wasn't it?"

"I don't want to think about it anymore than I have to." Beebounce says, rolling over again. He can feel Rushstorm's gaze boring into his back, and he closes his eyes. He can endure whatever nightmare his brain sends his way. He's not letting Rustpaw think for a moment that he's telling Rushstorm the truth. Not yet, not in this open warriors den. He'll have to find the right time to do it.

+1

Rushstorm went to sleep feeling unimaginably happy. It was warm, and he was perfectly sleepy, and he was curled up around Beebounce. What wasn't there to feel happy about?

But his dreams don't seem to reflect that.

He's on the gathering island. The warmth has been sucked out of the day, and instead it's cold. The air is lashing against his fur, and he's soaked to the bone. He feels small, and shrunken in, as weak and as limp as a kit.

The lightning strikes just to the left of the island, and he cries out, eyes wide with fear. He's alone on the island, he realises, and he spirits to the oak bridge. He needs to get back to Riverclan, get back safe in his nest.

When he arrives at the tree bridge, covered in mud, paws skidding and sliding, he's dismayed to see it's been broken in half. It juts out half-way across the lake, and splits off. On the other side, stands Beebounce. He looks as handsome as he does in real life, his fur seemingly unaffected by the rain. It's smoothed back, and groomed meticulously. Rushstorm takes a step forward, squinting. "Beebounce!" He calls out joyfully, knowing that he's going to have help. Beebounce doesn't respond.

Something doesn't seem quite right.

Beebounce's eyes are grey. A familiar, beautiful grey he sees every waking morning, and every time they share tongues. They remind him of the sky just after a thunderstorm, when you realize the storm has passed, and the sun is just about to peak out from behind the clouds. His eyes remind him of hope.

This Beebounce, this well-groomed, smirking Beebounce, has strikingly green eyes. They're dark green, not as bright as Rushstorm's own. But they seem familiar, and Rushstorm gasps when he realises who's eyes they are.

Hawkstar. Hawkstar's expression is fixed on Beebounce's usually sweet face, twisting him. Beebounce steps forward, leaning towards him. Rushstorm is fixed in place. All he can do is watch.

"He's just going to leave you, you know." This Beebounce hisses, and it's like a mask has been lifted. He grows in size, and his tan fur is shedding, revealing a dark, dark grey. His father stands before him, and Rushstorm has never been more scared.

Rushstorm stands his ground. He's the Riverclan deputy, for Starclan's sake. He can deal with a nightmare. "He's not." He spits, jutting his chin out.

Hawkstar leaps off his bit of the bridge, and stalks towards him. He's muscular up close, and riddled with scars. "How do you know that?" Hawkstar asks. "Everyone else has." He adds slyly.

Rushstorm squeezes his eyes shut, and shakes his head furiously. "T-that's not true." He mews, but his voice is shaky. Hawkstar has hit a nerve, and he knows it.

The Shadowclan leader smirks, and he tilts his head to the side. "Is that why Wisp left you here?" He asks, and Rushstorm whimpers. His mother had told him time and time again, that she didn't want to leave him, but that niggling thought always came back to him. He glares at Hawkstar, bares his teeth and snarls.

He lunges forward, but at the last moment, Hawkstar prances out of the way, and his paws catch on air. He thuds to the ground, and awakes suddenly, with a gasp.

Beside him, he can feel Beebounce, the real Beebounce, stir. The tan tom opens one eye, and smiles sleepily at him. "You alright, love?" He asks, and Rushstorm can't even appreciate the petname.

Rushstorm sits up suddenly, and hangs his head, tilting it away from Beebounce so he can't see his pained expression. "I had a nightmare." He mews, feeling like the roles had been reversed.

Beebounce wraps his tail around him, and leans into him. "It's fine. You're fine." He mews, and Rushstorm hesitantly nods.

Now he's awake, and he's in the faint, half-light of the dawning day, he knows that Beebounce won't leave him, as sure as he knows he's alive. And he's okay. He is fine, and he has to believe that.

wooooo that was 3643 words exactly ! really liked writing this, i love my boys and i wanted to explore their friendship with the theme of nightmares :)