Chapter 9
"Welcome back, son."
Forestguard approached the dark tom who claimed to be his father. He
was eager for more information about this cat's life.
"Father, how did --"
"I am disappointed. You were nearly beaten by that RustClan warrior.
You need more training."
"But—that warrior was moons older than me! He had a lot more
experience!"
"That is no excuse. During my life, I fought tooth and claw to be the
very best. Every cat knew me, and respected me. You will do the same, and
with a little training, administered by me, you will be an undeafeatable opponent."
Forestguard's head reeled. He was already a warrior, and now this dream
he had known for two days was going to turn him into a war machine? This was
only a dream anyways; but he knew it was more than that.
"O-okay. . ."
WHAM! Forestguard suddenly found himself on the floor, looking up
into an expressionless pair of bright yellow eyes.
"The first lesson any good warrior would have taught you is to expect surprises
at all times. Training must have grown lax since I've been away."
Forestguard quickly sprang to his feet.
"Hm; try that again. I'm ready now."
Forestguard watched carefully as the tom in front of him circled and
prepared to strike. Forestguard blinked. . . and when he opened his eyes, he
was flat on his back.
"No fair! That's impossible!"
The shadowy feline before him regarded him with amusement, then
meowed, "Think of it this way. If you can learn to beat me, then you will be
able to defeat any cat in the forest."
"It doesn't really matter if I can beat you or not, does it? This is only a
dream, after all."
"Hm, I suppose it is. Fine. I can see you want to give up. I'll just exit
your life forever, and you can go back to your silly dreams of rolling in catmint
and other such nonsense. . . and these weird thoughts would just go away.
You would be left with no inkling of knowledge about your father. You would
be just another warrior, with no impressive skills to speak of. Goodbye."
The tom walked away, and Forestguard's heart raced in panic at these
last words. He hadn't meant to drive him away!
"Wait! Don't go!"
He could still see a faint shadow of the cat, and he saw the tom turn back.
"I am not yours to command, Forestguard. You have disappointed me as
my son; you and I are nothing alike. I gave you a chance… and you blew it."
Forestguard felt dazed. He shook his head to clear it. He was in a dream;
why did this feel so real? He would just wake up in the morning, and everything
would be perfectly normal.
He then settled into a dreamless sleep.