Disclaimer: No. I do not own warrior cats. *Sigh*
Chapter Two: Over, or Just Begining?
Squirrelpaw's eyes opened to see nothing but blurs of color, with a red haze making her sight worse. She moaned, and then it turned into a blood-curdling yowl. She stretched out, her back arched, and despartly tried to grab hold of something, but soon realized there was nothing to hold. Only air.
Another spasum of pain shot through her, and another yowl followed. When it had passed, she stopped and panted hard, her chest heaving. She threw her head back and wailed. "Is this StarClan? Is this what I'm going to have to live with? Enternal pain?" She screeched to nothingness, and then fell back into her original position, the pain shooting through her again, and a yowl ecsaping her lungs.
"This isn't StarClan, honey." A soft voice whispered, but where it had come from was unknown. Squirrelpaw blinked, straining her eyesight to see where she was and who the voice was coming from. It sounded so famliar... But who? Another wave of pain flowed through her, followed by another yowl, erased her wondering thoughts from her mind.
She laid there, shuddering as the pain passed, but it felt like her own blood draining from her, but didn't smell or sense the sticky red liquid surround her.
"Then where the hell am I?" She maoned, curling up and shuddering again when she got the chance after the pain had passed, but the draining feeling staying. The voice sighed, and seemed to 'look away'. Squirrelpaw's eyes shot open wide as she uncurled and her back arched again, her screech echoing. She bit down on her tail, which did close to nothing but make more pain.
Squirrelpaw closed her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek, and then another wave of pain flooded through her, causing her to scream louder than before. She yowled so loud, her thoat and lungs felt like they had just caught on fire, and the flames where slowly eating her from the inside out.
The feeling passed, but she knew better then to think it was over. As soon as she could move again, she gasped to catch her breath, her eyes still wide with the pain. "Why... Why... Why me?" She mumbled, curling up tighter into a ball of silver fur.
"The pain will pass as soon as you let go... As soon as you stop fighting it... And then you'll be in StarClan." The voice whispered. "And be with me, and your siblings..." It added, making Squirrelpaw freeze.
_Lillypaw... Ravenpaw..._ She mumbled their names, suddenly staring off into the distance. The pain didn't return, though there was something surrounding her, keeping her locked in. It was like a sheild... She could feel the tension. The pain swirling around it- Threatening to break at any minute.
Squirrelpaw shook her head. "No. I wont stop. I have to keep going... I- I- I have to..." She croaked, tensing as the pressure on the sheild grew. She swallowed, and then took a shaky breath, closing her eyes as she pawed at the air, slowlys standing.
The sheild broke, and the pain returned, instantly causing her to yowl out again. The pain went through her like a bolt of lightning has just struck down on her, and she lived. She collasped to the ground as the pain faded, and she no longer saw the blurry scene when her eyes opened again.
She blinked, confused. Her body shuddered as she felt the pain go through her again, but it was more like a background then the hole picture. She took a short, gasp-like breath and looked around, seeing nothing but grass and blood. She stared in horror at the area before her, having no memory of what had happened.
"Wha-?" She mumbled, her voice quiet and stained. She gulped, and then felt the ground beneath her. She sighed with relief, her claws sinking into the soft ground as she pulled herself up.
She shuddered, staring at the bodies of her brother and sister. She sighed, still not remembering. "What happened?" She asked herself, gulping. She looked away, not wanting to face the grim scene.
Her ears twitched as she heard something near by. Her eyes looked to the side of her, droping into a crouch. Her expression was as cold as stone, waiting for whatever it was to come out of it's hiding.
A black tom with wide, yellow eyes stepped hesitantly into the blood scene. He swallowed hard, and then looked at Squirrelpaw, and then dropped into a crouch and hissed. "Why are you on SunClan Territory?" He growled. "And.. What... Exactly happened here?" His eyes glanced around, and then a gasp came from him as he saw the two carcuses.
Squirrelpaw jumped up, realizing what the tom must be thinking. "It's not what it looks like! I didn't do this." She explained quickly, and then winced as she moved to fast. She glanced down and saw that her once-silver fur was pretty much soaked with red color, and her chest was bleeding badly. She frowned, confused.
She felt the pain, but it was like it didn't bother her. Her eyes flickered once as she blinked, her stone eyes disappearing from veiw, and then coming back. She looked back at the stranger, her grey eyes staring at him blankly.
He blinked and looked at her from a distance, just now seeing her wounds. His jaw dropped open as he gasped. "Are you okay...?" He mewed, taking a step toward her, his once-hostile, wide, yellow eyes still wide, but with worry.
Squirrelpaw nodded quickly, wincing as she did so. "Yeah. I'm... Fine." She mumbled, looking away. He frowned and then looked behind him, and then raced away, leaving Squirrelpaw behind.
She sat down, staring at the bloody grass. "What happened...?" She mumbled to herself, confused. Her face was now expressionless; Showing nothing. No more pain. No more confusion. Nothing. She looked dead, like her father had before he had slaughtered the apprentices with such glee.
Her fluffy, silver fur ruffled in the quick breeze of the cool, new-leaf wind. She sighed and then looked up as she saw the black tom return with another cat. This new cat was pure black, with a white splotch over her eye. She walked with a limp, and looked old. She had peircing golden-yellow eyes, which made Squirrelpaw shudder when she looked at them.
"Who are you?" She hissed lowly, taking a step toward Squirrelpaw. Her black fur was sticking up in every direction, and her tail looked like 10 times it's true size. The cat's lips curled back into a snarl as she leaped at the apprentice, knocking her over and pinning her down.
Squirrelpaw gasped and hit the ground with a thud and cringed as claws dug into her wrists. "I- I- I didn't do this!" She managed, staring up at her with fighten eyes. A chill ran down her back as the smell of an already eaten mouse filled her nose.
"Onestorm, please!" The other black cat called, hesitating behind. "She didn't do this." He added, pawing at the ground. The cat who had Squirrelpaw pinned growled and clawed at her nose once before stepping off and padding to the other cat- Who seemed to be her apprentice.
She scowled at him, glaring. "And how do you know, Thunderpaw?" She chalenged. The apprentice took a shaky steap back, flattening his ears against his head and then looked down at the ground, his tail falling and hitting the ground silently.
Squirrelpaw watched them both, blood oozing from the scratches on her wrists. She wrinkled her nose as she felt the blood drip down and onto her lip. "Ew..." She muttered, spitting into the grass. She shook out her fur and turned to leave, realizing that his would be a good time to make her escape.
"Where do you think you're going?" They called in harmony, turning to see Squirrelpaw half way into the trees. The silver she-cat sighed and turned around, eyeing them carefully. She drew in a breath and then glanced around, knowing that they could easily kill her if she said something wrong.
Her paws clawed at the ground nurvesly as she looked at the other apprentice, Thunderpaw, who simply shrugged and looked up to his golden-eyed mentor. "Away..." Squirrelpaw finally answered before looking at them both in the eye. "You guys clearly do-" She was cut off.
"We don't like intruders, mouse dung. But we can't just let you go, can we? No. That would be too easy," Onestorm growled, taking a step toward Squirrelpaw. "Right, Thunderpaw?" Her voice was harsh and low as she looked down at the apprentice, who nodded again and looked up at her, his own yellow eyes gleaming. Clearly, he liked his mentor.
Squirrelpaw sighed and then turned around and started towards them, confused by their sudden expressions. "What?" She mewed, stopping. Her eyes darted from left to right, wondering if something had happened behind her that she had not seen.
"You're just gunna let us capture you? Without a fight?" Thunderpaw asked, tilting his head. Squirrelpaw nodded slowly, also confused. "Oh..." He then mumbled, and turned around, disappearing into the shadows of the forest.
Onestorm huffed and flicked her tail, motioning Squirrelpaw to follow her. She had clearly been wanting a fight. Squirrelpaw sighed and hesitantly followed the black she-cat with a white splotch over her eye.
The two cats walked through the forest at the same pace. Always looking ahead of them and never giving everything a second glance or thought. Squirrelpaw trailed behind, looking at almost every little detail of the new forest, her eyes wide. "Wow..." She breathed almost silently, amazed.
She paused for a moment and stared at the ground, her face returning to a blank expression. Her grey eyes became clouded with age and wisdom, and her mouth tightened shut. She stood there, as if she was frozen in time.
Squirrelheart sat there, tears welling up in her eyes, as she stared at the tree before her. A note was etched into the bark, the 'words' sloppy and hard for her to make out. The young, silver she-cat shook out her fur, sending a tear drop flying. "Why... Why me?" She muttered silently, now staring at the ground.
The she-cat's claws extended and dug into the soft earth beneath her. Her grey-blue eyes where still glossy with tears as she looked back up at the tree. A sigh escaped her as she lifted her paw and pressed it against the bark, tracing the ending of the letter, which was the name of the cat who had done it._
"Fireheart... I'm... So sorry..." She said aloud, taking her paw back and placing it beside the other. She sat perfectly still, her ears folded back and her head tilted to the ground. "I was stupid. I was dumb... It was a mistake..." She sighed and then looked up. The sound of paw steps rang in her ears, making her jump up and rub her tear-steaked face against her shoulder.
Squirrelpaw gasped for breath and looked back up, her eyes wide. She looked around instinctevly for the tree she had saw. Her eyes scanned each and every tree, until she came to one with vines growing up it and covering up something. She swallowed hard and started toward it, forgetting about the cats who where leading her back to their leader so they could hold her hostage.
Her paw stopped moving as she stood before the tree. She looked up and swipped at the vines, easily taking them down. Her jaw dropped as she saw traces of what she had seen, but by the looks of the large claw marks over the note, it seemed that someone had ruined it.
She frowned and stumbled backwards, suddenly feeling faint and lightheaded. "Ah... Oh..." She moaned before falling over onto her side and passing out, her body hitting the ground with a quiet thud.
Thunderpaw walked silently beside his mentor's side, his fluffy black tail flicking back and forth as he padded through the forest. He walked with a bounce in his step, showing he was clearly a happy camper.
Onestorm stopped and pricked her ears, her eyes narrowed. "Dammit..." She hissed and looked behind her. "The little murderer got away!" She exclaimed and looked at Thunderpaw, who just simply looked at her with the stupidest look ever on his face.
"What did you call her?" He suddenly hissed, his eyes also narrowed. Onestorm scoffed and began walking away, her tail lashing angirly back and forth. Her black paws hit the ground silently, but tension radiated off of her.
She huffed and gestured him to follow. "You heard what I called her, now come on." Thunderpaw jumped and quickly trotted after his mentor, afraid that she would tell his leader, Rosestar, about how he refused.
They walked in sync with eachother, their noses in the air and their ears open for awhile, tracing their steps, until Thunderpaw stopped and darted to the left, ducking under some ferns and low branches. "This way!" He called to Onestorm, "She's over here."
Onestorm sighed. The fact that her sense of smell was not as good as it had been saddened her. She shook out her black fur and followed the apprentice, watching the tip of his black tail to make sure he didn't stray to far from where she could see him.
She sped up as Thunderpaw's tail disappeared from her sight, and then skidded to a stop when she saw him crouched beside Squirrelpaw, nudging her limp body as she laid there. He blinked and then looked around, wondering if the she-cat had gotten her paws on any deathberries.
Thunderpaw looked up at his menter with a bewildered look. "Is she dead?" He asked, looking back to the silver she-cat before him. Onestorm simply shrugged and continued to look around for any of the deadly berries.
"Why would we care? It's not like she's apart of our clan..." Onestorm reported, no longer looking. Thunderpaw shot her a glare that was most likely more deathly then the berries and then whipped his head back to Squirrelpaw.
Onestorm sighed and then padded over, pushing him out of the way, and fastening her teeth around Squirrelpaw's scruff. She picked the apprentice up with a grunt, and then turned around and walked away, her ears folded back. Thunderpaw sighed and followed his mentor, his tail drooping and dragging in the fallen leaves behind him.