Chapter 6: Pinestar
Pinestar awoke the next day with sweaty paws. He had had nightmares, again. No matter what he did, they always kept returning, always getting worse, never giving up their chocking, black hold on him.
He shivered as the images of his latest terror returned to his mind.
The figures of screaming cats, flashing claws, and stinking bodies littered around him. He stared in horror as cat turned on cat, brother turned on brother, clan turned on clan. Why is this happening? He had thought in the dream, and then yowled to get there attention.
A blond tabby cat turned towards him, its blue eyes full of hate. "You!" It spat, tail whirling back and forth maliciously.
No. It's not possible!
Pinestar froze, his legs, tail, and even eyes locking in place. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move, not even a whisker length.
It can't be.
The blond cat snarled, lunging forward to dive at his throat. Hard, icy fangs sliced through the flesh like knives through butter, met by no resistance. The light-haired cat took out all of its loathing on Pinestar, raking its claws down his sides, making the leader squirm and cry out in agony.
"This is what you get, coward!" It yowled in contempt, raising its bloody paw to land the final strike.
"NO!" A voice yowled, and a streak of ginger flew past Pinestar's blurred vision, slamming into the blond cat and pummeling it to the floor.
The two cats battled, and the ginger dash slowly formed into the shape of his beloved Foxflight, her plumy tail billowing behind her as she bravely slashed and bit at his assainant.
But as time wore on, Foxflight grew weaker and weaker, her fur turning dull and her eyes losing their shine, while the blond cat grew stronger, seeming to feed off of her energy. Eventually, all the caring she-cat could muster was a pitiful paw swipe. The light-haired attacker laughed maniacly, slamming his paw down upon Foxflight's beaten form and breaking her back.
As her eyes grew lifeless and her body grew still, rage seeded in Pinestar, coursing through his limbs and fueling his mind. He rose to his paws with a cry of fury and charged, rampaging towards the murderer. Pinestar evoked his wrath upon the cat, sparing it no mercy as he tore into it, his amber eyes like vehement fires of hatred.
Pinestar stood over the body of the blond cat, breathing heavily, his paws, claws, muzzle, chest, and underbelly caked with blood, and turned his head to look at Foxflight's body.
All of the bitterness and rage left him, replaced by woe and dispair. He raised his stained muzzle to the sky and cried out to the heavens, mourning his beloved companion, wanting her back, if only for just one moment.
He lowered his head, defeat crashing down upon him, knowing theat his plea would never be answered. He opened his swimming eyes to look at her, one last time, and backed up in shock.
Foxflight's, now dull, ginger fur was transforming in color, morphing into a silvery gray. Her stripes became a darker manifestation of the former shade, and her nose changed from brown to black. Before him now lay Greyleaf, her body even more broken, as if she had fallen from a great height.
Pinestar backed away, terror creeping into his mind, and he tripped over the body of his aggressor. Scrambling to his feet, the brown tabby tom froze in shock as the blond fur turned to a darker shade, the stripes dissapearing to become another pattern. The only thing that didn't change was the eyes, those cold, lifeless blue eyes.
Pinestar backed away, horror seizing his mangled throat, and ran as fast as he could, the horrible shadow of his past chasing him through the forest, laughing malevolently.
Pinestar shook out his fur, trying to dislodge the memory, and padded out of his den. Immediately, the warm, dappling sunlight and the soft, prey-scent filled wind helped to calm him, resetting his mind to the task at hand.
He quickly assigned himself to a border patrol with Russetpelt and Frogleap. Both of them had only been warriors for less than a moon. I hope they're inexperienced enough to not notice that I'm not paying much attention to the borders.
The two cats had yipped in surprise when they had been assigned on a patrol with their leader, then they went about lifting their heads proudly as if they had done some great feat to deserve this honor.
Pinestar chuckled with affection for the younger cats, the lives of pride and love flowing through him.
Pinestar walked confidently over to them. "Lets start at the lake border and work towards the Greenleaf Twolegplace," He suggested.
Frogleap and Russetpelt nodded enthusiastically, their eyes twinkling with merriment and excitement. Russetpelt swung her ruddy-brown tail from side to side, gazing up at Pinestar with her big green eyes, and Frogleap stood proudly, his brown tabby chest puffed out and his bicolor amber and green eyes shining happily.
After grabbing some prey form the fresh-kill pile, the three Shadowclan cats set off towards their destination.
The patrol, as Pinestar had suggested, started halfway across the lake border and moved on towards ThunderClan from there. When they eventually trekked across the edge of the border to the Greenleaf Twolegplace, the area was empty, with only the wind that made the long grass swayto keep them company.
The patrol started to remark the borders. Why isn't she here? She has to be here! Pinestar struggled to contain his emotions, passion battling against foresight, but moons of practice enabled him to keep a calm face, only the slight twitching of a claw gave away his anxiety and disappointment. Just as they were leaving, his hopes being demolished, a bush on the ThunderClan side of the border began to rustle, its leaves falling to the ground.
Pinestar's patrol whirled around to face the noise. The brown tom fixed his amber on the bush, waiting and willing for a certain cat to appear.
With one last great shudder, the bush released its hold on its captive and Greyleaf hurled out, leaves clinging to her pelt and an exasperated look in her eyes.
Pinestar almost smiled, instead he fixed his gaze upon her, marveling at the rich, green color of her eyes. He was so busy admiring the forest green shade that he only barely registered the Thunderclan patrol that followed her.