Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I don't own Warriors. I PWN it! HAHAHAHA!! Just kidding. Well… yeah I don't own it or pwn it. I just don't own it!

Mastermind

Prologue

A tom looked into the cave. His eyes narrowed at what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, he half-ran into the cave. It wasn't as dark as he expected to be, but dark nonetheless.

"Ah… I was told that you'd come…" rasped a voice that spoke for many moons.

The tom looked, and almost flinched at the cat that spoke. Its eyes were big and bulging and it's fur… there was practically none. It looked like… a male. He was lying down on the ground.

"And I was told that you'd probably try to be wise and all-knowing," the tom growled. I was never told that he was so… ugly though, he thought to himself.

Somehow, the ugly cat's eyelids somehow slid over its big eyes, obviously attempting to narrow it. Perhaps, he had guessed what the tom was thinking.

"I am wise, but I may not be all-knowing," the ugly cat mewed gruffly, "Besides, I have watched over this place seasons before you were born!" the ugly cat unsheathed gnarled claws, and scraped the ground, emitting a horrible noise.

"Just let me have it. Give me your permission already!" the tom snapped, impatiently.

The ugly cat eyes bulged, and seemed to stare at the tom, "You know my name. Use it."

"Rock, please just give me permission," the tom snarled.

"You have a powerful name," Rock mewed, changing the subject. "Use it for good, and not bad. You are… both blessed and cursed."

"What I think is good might not be what you think is good."

Rock got up from shaky paws and limped until his old breath ruffled the tom's fur. Now that Rock was close up, any cat could tell that his eyes did not see anything, and yet, it seemed to stare through you.

"I will never give you permission," Rock hissed, "Not if you keep on mewling like that!"

"I can change your fate right now!" the tom spat.

"Will you, now?" Rock mewed softly, almost mockingly, "Go on, and try."

The tom gritted his teeth angrily, and clamped his mouth shut.

"I… fine, I won't…do…it! Please, Rock… just give-"

"Swear to me. Swear that you won't curse yourself," Rock commanded, though he didn't really sound commanding with his old, raspy, voice.

"I can't do that," the tom whispered, "I'll have to go without your permission."

"I'd like to think that you're a good cat… but I can't trust you."

The tom looked up, anger seeping up, overpowering him. He trembled with fury, wanting to rip out Rock's eyes, to rip out what little bits of hair he had left…

"CURSE YOU!" he snarled in an unearthly voice, "I curse you, now and forever!"

The tom's eyes lolled around his eyes sockets, and his paws felt shaky. He let out an involuntary whimper, and his paws almost gave way, but he forced himself to stand. Rock just stayed there, standing, maybe trying to imitate a cat that was watching.

"I've traveled far… just for this…" the tom whispered.

Rock eyes disappeared briefly behind his eyelids, and his gnarled claws clawed softly at something… woody. There was a stick that the tom hadn't noticed it before. There were numerous scratches that seemed to be placed with thought and care.

"I pity you, for what you have to bear. I… give you permission," Rock mewed, sounding grudging and uncertain.

"Thank you… sorry about cursing you…" the tom breathed.

Rock let out an odd, raspy, barking sound, it sounded distinctly like a laugh, and his eyes were narrowed not with anger, but what seemed to be amusement.

"You can't exactly curse a dead cat."

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His paws fell into the unseen paw prints in the rocks. It always felt big… and unknown. If he had sight, then, maybe, he could actually see if it really were cat paw prints…

"Jaypaw! Stop fooling around and get to the Moonpool!" Leafpool snapped.

Gritting his teeth to stop an angry retort, he padded up to the pool until a bit of water wet the fur on his forepaw. Even if it was only a little dip, he still disliked it.

Closing his eyes, he extended his conscious to every other cat.

Mothwing wasn't going to dream about any StarClan cat prancing about and rattling on about prophecies. The she-cat didn't even believe in them.

Willowshine was most likely talking to Mudfur… something about RiverClan, nothing that would really interest Jaypaw. He wasn't going to look at her dreams. Heck, he wouldn't even bother 'spying' as Leafpool called it on Littlecloud, Barkface, or Kerstrelpaw. Leafpool would be awkward to spy on… he'd have to be extra careful not to let himself show. He didn't want to imagine what she's say if she found out.

He almost woke up from his 'trance' as he detected another cat. It wasn't a medicine cat, or any Clan cat. Maybe it was a rogue, a loner, or, although he highly doubted it, a kittypet.

Letting himself be absorbed by this cat's dreams, the first thing he saw was the cat itself. Or, himself, as the cat was a he. He was a golden-brown tabby, with grass-green eyes. He was staring straight ahead, at something. He started to turn around, and Jaypaw quickly launched himself behind a random bush.

The cat cocked his head to one side, seeming to be confused, and then went back to staring in front of him. He seemed to be impressed and fascinated by what he saw, because his eyes seemed to glow slightly.

Curious, Jaypaw quickly glanced at what the tom was so interested in. He expected it to be something… spectacular. Letting his eyes adjust to the brightness he let out a squeak of surprise.

It was… a sunset… a mere sunset. Colours streaked towards the glowing sun… beautiful hues of pink, red, and a bit of orange. Jaypaw thought it was breathtaking; many cats saw this many times, but being blind, he never had the time to actually appreciate it.

"You're one of the few cats who seem to like it," the tom mewed softly, not looking at Jaypaw, "It's beautiful, isn't it?

Who was this tom talking to? Him?

The tom turned his head, this time to look right at Jaypaw. His green eyes regarded him with a bit of respect, mixed with distant understanding.

"Time to go, Jaypaw," a voice seemed to ring from the skies. The sunset shattered so quickly, and all was black. He opened his eyes, blindness returned.

Jaypaw could scent Leafpool, and as usual, fog barred her mind, so Jaypaw couldn't tell what she was thinking. Wisps of hope seemed to occasionally flow out, and even those little pieces of emotions were brief, and evaporated swiftly.

His ears pricked as heard another noise, not those of the medicine cats yapping about different herbs and such, but a murmur. It was distant, and Jaypaw was only able to hear it thanks to the breeze that blew towards him.

"Beautiful things don't last…" the voice seemed to say.

Jaypaw shivered, the image of the tom with the green eyes flashing in his mind.

I'm probably going to write more… soon, hopefully. I'm hoping that it'll turn out as good on the computer as it was in my head…

Please review!