Rainsplash
A lean grey cat had walked up, and I had momentarily unsheathed my claws. He murmured something woozily before collapsing into a heap of fur just outside of the medicine den. Ironic. He was a rogue, probably here to steal what food was rotting in the corner of the camp. Instinctively I shot past him and into the Medicine Den. I pushed the dead medicine cat, crying softly as I looked through his spotless collection of distillations. Herbs ran through my head faster than the giant monsters did on the endless sheet of black glass outside the forest. The old, wise medicine cat, who had shown so much passion insisted on teaching me knowledge about herbs. I cried harder over his death, unable to ignore his dead body. I walked back, touched his nose, and walked out with bundles of herbs hanging out of my mouth. I stole some of the celandine and daisy leaves for myself, still trying to ease the pain in my shoulder. I set a pile of healing herbs aside for him to chew up when he woke up. Jogging towards the river, I picked up several pieces of moss and dipped them into the river. After caring for the rogue, I tested my shoulder by climbing a rather small tree. The daisy leaves had had a better effect than any herb I had taken. I leaped down and left camp, hoping to get back before he woke up again. I breathed in the air, and hackled. I need to fine mint on my way back. The smell of blood began to turn into a rotting smell, dulling my sense of smell. Yowling angrily I shook my head furiously, still horrified by seeing so many dead cats. Worried I would mentally collapse, I thought of the rogue instead. there was no way he was in our clan; I would have remembered his dark ears. I wondered if he was a medicine cat. he looked quite thin for a rogue, let alone a warrior cat at all. If he was a kittypet he would have been dead by now. Was he at the last Gathering? I have seen him… He was-
A loud rustling intruded my deep thinking. I jerked my head upright and spun around quickly, looking for the grey cat I had encountered that morning. I didn't see him. I heard it again. I tried sniffing around the ground, instead of the poisoned air. I smelled a faint scent of rabbit floating around the blood and rotting smell of my former clan. Keeping my nose to the ground and my belly low, I crouched around on my toes, quiet as a field mouse. This time, I saw a small rabbit hole peeking out of two oak leaves. The rabbit that abided there looked so pathetic I understood why the wolves didn't kill it. It's better than nothing, I supose. We made eye contact, and I shot forward desperately, my hunger beginning to push me forward like a footsoldier hungering for a kill. I had been so busy caring for the cat, I had forgotten to feed myself. The rabbit, thin as it was, was extremely fast. Growling frustratingly, I pushed my feet farther under me, causing my speed to increase. I was merely a fox's length away now. Leaping forward, it bolted away from me. I managed to hook a claw into its hind leg, pulling it back greedily. Impatient to kill it, I dug my teeth into its neck and viciously tore away at it, eating the fresh meat provided. I ate most of its upper torso, saving the larger part for the pathetic cat at camp. I was quite full, either way. Remembering his shape, he looked as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. Moons possibly. He would be dead, if then, fool. I scolded myself. Picking the rabbit up by the skull, I carried it back to camp. I almost dropped the rabbit in surprise when I saw bright eyes staring at me. Did he just smile at me? We're surrounded by dead cats, and he smiled at me. I just stared awkwardly.
"This is yours," I meowed solemnly. "I ate what I wanted. You look like you needed the majority; so here." I stepped closer, cautiously. He was a larger cat, and sat down when I stepped forward, a sign of peace. I padded forward casually, and dropped the meat in front of him.
"Thank you," he said quietly. He still sounded very hazy. "You're sure you don't want any more than you took?" he tilted his head a little.
"I'm fine, thank you," I said firmly, scanning him. His eyes still looked droopy, red veins irritating his bright cyan eyes. Maybe some celandine? Or water?
"You didn't happen to take the herbs beside you, did you?" I ask worriedly. He wasn't supposed to eat any of them, in truth. I was worried he had.
"I wasn't sure what to do with them. I am no med," he said, looking away. I kept my strong gaze on him, but I couldn't help but feel slightly sympathetic towards him.
"Here," I said, heading towards where he had fallen. I picked up the Cherville roots and set them in front of him. "Helps with sickness,"
"Shouldn't you get some?" he asked, pushing a small portion back. I looked at him confusedly.
"I have had enough. This is for you," I said sternly. I pushed it back and added, "Don't eat it. Chew it up and spit it out. Do the same with these," I instructed, pushing forward more Cherville. I gave him a few Dandelion leaves for shock, Feverfew, and Goldenrod.
"This is quite a lot of herbs," he said worriedly. He bent down, beginning to chew on the Feverfew.
"You can eat that," I said automatically. "If you're that worried, the Dandelion was for shock, the Feverfew's for headaches, and Goldenrod's for sore joints. I doubt any of that will negatively affect you in any way," I said informatively. I cursed at myself mentally for sounding like a member of StarClan. The cat nodded, eating more herbs.
"What's your name, anyways?" I asked nonchalantly. I really did want to know. I watched carefully as he sat up from eating all of the herbs. He curled his tail collectively around himself before speaking.
"My name is Stormscorch. And your name is…?" he meowed, looking at me for response.
"Rainsplash," I said monotonically. "That's no rogue name you have. What clan are you from, and why are you here?"
"I believe I should be asking you that," he said pausing. He looked back up again, more sober. "My clan was slaughtered by wolves. I did nothing but cower behind a bush and watch helplessly. They were all mauled; nothing was left behind," he said, looking at his paws.
"You are sure that they were wolves?" I asked, looking up incredulously. Wolves. Not humans. That meant I could find them, somehow. I could figure out why they're slaughtering clans.
"I was hunting. The cats I were with smelled them as well, I even heard them. They were gone before I got there, but I knew it was wolves. I could hear them howling, their feet stampeding into my camp, I-"
"I know," I said cutting him off. It began giving me images. I imagined Leopardstar getting pulled apart by two wolves, Halftail being eaten, Coalfoot mauled.
"I'm guessing that's what happened here," he said sadly. Stormscorch looked around, then got up and looked back at me.
"We might as well go hunting before dusk," he meowed, sighing. He headed towards the deeper parts of the oak forest. I ate more Daisy leaves for my shoulder and followed suit. He twitched his tail to the left; I nodded as he crept away in that direction. I walked the route I had before. Plenty more where that hate came from. I continued onward, finally picking up a scent. I willed myself to follow it, in sheathing my claws. I frowned at what I had found. A field mouse. Half the size of the hate I had caught earlier and gave to Stormscorch. Be grateful that you have a meal at all. My conscience scolded. Trotting up to it, it seemed to give in to death, only running a few fox lengths before I managed to kill it. After covering it, I thought I heard Stormscorch behind me.
"I really hope you hunt better than me, because I honestly prefer fig-" I turned around as I spoke, and cut myself off. He was nowhere in sight. His dark ears slightly stood out in the woods, but I inferred he was more East than I. I turned in a slow circle, hearing the leaves rustle even louder, taunting me. I growled and dug my claws into the soil underneath me. In the corner of my eye, I saw a light grey cat with a white tipped tail, floating behind it. She was watching me from under a grove of leaves. I kept her in my peripheral vision and acted the part. Sniffing the air, I pretended to follow a false path, slightly to the right of the rogue. It stayed back, frozen in its crouch. I cursed at the realization that she knew I had seen her. Might as well, I thought daringly. Adjusting my shoulder, I growled under my breath, whipping around to run back and attack from behind. As I turned, it was right behind me, and pushed me back onto the ground. Yowling, I clawed blindly at her face, making her retreat slightly.
"In the name of Starclan-" I screamed angrily, getting up. I recognized him to be male as he cut me off abruptly.
"This is my clan, and you are not welcome," he boomed. Readying myself, I paused, looking at him in bewilderment.
"Your clan? What clan? You consider dead, slaughtered cats a clan? I honestly believe I'd remember a cat like you if you were in my clan, you little piece of-" He howled, interrupting me again, which I hated. Growling, I went offensive and dove under him, raking my claws all the way down his lower stomach, barely scratching his privates before he bit down hard on my hindquarter. Hissing, I kicked back, but he held on. He was quite a large cat, bulkier than Stormscorch, but slightly shorter. His weight made it harder to shake him off. Yowling angrily I began to rock back and forth, bucking him off. I pushed my head up into his stomach to knock the wind out of him. He rolled off to the left of me, and I leapt up to attack him again until a darker figure appeared kicking sand into my face. Hissing and spitting, I looked down shaking my head wildly to rid of the sand. I tried unsuccessfully to rub the face from my eyes, waiting for an attack. To my surprise, I saw Stormscorch staring at me, quite dismayed.
"What do you think you're doing?" he scolded, looking down at me. "You could've gotten yourself killed, fighting like that. Did you even ask him-"
"Who made you in charge?" the cat spat angrily. Now that we weren't trying to kill each other, I could get a better observation of him. He was a light brown cat, with a long, golden stripe that ran down his back. Smaller stripes cascaded down from the spinal one, making his fur look like a golden waterfall. He had dark green eyes that seemed to shoot claws through me, stronger and harder than Stormscorch's soft blue ones. I glared back as Stormscorch struggled to make peace between us. Turning, Stormscorch looked towards the golden tom.
"What's your name?" Stormscorch asked benevolently. The other cat, his hostile look fading, sat down and curled his tail neatly around his paws.
"My name is Phoenixflight," he said, rather awkwardly. Stormscorch smiled and introduced himself and me. I stood up and acknowledged him with a curt nod.
"That's a nice scar you got there," Phoenixflight said, looking down at my shoulder.
"Got it in a fight," I meowed back. I turned to Stormscorch, "I'm going to get my prey," I said tersely, and stalked away. I could hear Stormscorch and phoenixflight continuing to talk quietly, their footsteps growing louder as they approached the camp. I remembered our quarrel from the short battle that occurred earlier and confronted him when they walked into the smelly camp.
"What did you mean by defending my camp, earlier? Certainly you know now this is not your clan camp," I said stiffening my back. He paused momentarily, before beginning.
"I assumed this to be my camp. I was mistaken; I apologize," he said, looking around. "I left my clan. The leader is quite foolish, and I prefered a different-err-opinion. The leader called for a meeting, and threatened to kill me if I did not leave immediately. I have been alone for around a moon now. I came across you burying a mouse, and wondered if you were hostile, or a rogue. From the looks of it…" his voice trailed off. I looked away, standing.
"This used to be my clan," I said, looking around. My chest heaved, memories flooding into my mind. "Stormscorch had the exact same thing happen to him, but no cats were left. He said he saw wolves invade," I lowered my voice, "Nothing but blood," I repeated.
"And, you assume that same pack attacked your wolves?" Phoenixflight stands, a stern look replacing his empathetic one.
"I believe so," I sigh. I look at my paws, hardening my face. "They weren't the most loving cats, my clan. They were family, though. They're lives were wasted," I growled, spitting at the end.
"Maybe we should go back to Phoenix's camp, and see if the same has happened to them," Stormscorch appeared. "After you're both healed, of course," he added quickly. I looked at Phoenixflight, who just nodded. I nodded to Stormscorch, and quickly limped into the medicine den to fetch herbs for Phoenixflight, Stormscorch, and I. We agreed to begin at dawn, tomorrow.
I groaned, yowling and squalling. If kitting was this painful, I wondered how a queen was able to do it so many times... all her life...
A small cream cat was lying beside me soon afterwards. The only physical appearance he had from me were his small, white ears. He could even have my eyes...! I watched in awe as he crawled around blindly. It grew dark, instantly after. The other queens and the medicine cat helping me had wandered off. The forest was colder. It looked almost exactly like the Dark Forest, but with a small opening in front of me, leading out to nothingness. I stood up cautiously, tending my hinds for a run. Walking slowly, I hadn't walked a rabbit's tail before feeling something hard, flat, and cold ram into my shoulder. Yelping, I stumbled off my feet as I continued to slide forward at an alarming pace. I looked around, horrified to see nothing visible pushing me forward. Nothing but the opening in front of me, dragging me forward with some force.
By the time I had grown weak and tired from pushing against... whatever strength was pushing me, the fear for my life grew worse as an edge began to form. A rocky, jagged edge.
The edge of a cliff.
Alarmingly, I began to scratch and wriggle wildly, still unable to get to my paws. The abyss below was dark, and cold. Much like my surroundings, but with an impeccable, sinister darkness. A familiar voice echoes through my head as I neared the cliff, followed by other voices.
"Bring him out, please,".
"How dare you speak to your leader so!"
"There's no way she's alive by now..."
"MOTHER!"
I yowled angrily for Stonekit, spinning uncontrollably as I fell into the abyss. I felt something hard meet with my side. Silence.
Alarmed, I shot up, leaping into the air like a jackrabbit. Stormscorch was watching me, his eyes formed into an empathetic look as my breathing became ragged, and uneven.
"I heard you murmur a kit's name in your sleep," he said slowly, disarmingly.
"Mm, just a bad dream." I confirmed, holding my breath to hide my terror. "Sorry. Goodnight." I turned away, walking a distance from the two boys before collapsing under a tree, exhausted.