But the pain never came.
Rather, the weight of the fox seemed to vanish.
The heavy breathing and bad breath were now gone. Red could now hear cats hissing and the barking of the fox. He felt himself slowly get picked up and carried away. He would not dare open his eyes, and he could feel the stickiness of blood on his eyelids. The wound on his scruff stung, the pain became overwhelming.
The sounds of hissing, the sounds of cats, slowly faded away. His body started to feel numb, as the blood slowly seeped out of him. He could slowly feel myself drift into slumber.
'No, not now! I want to know what happens next!' Red cried out to himself. But tiredness quickly overcame him as darkness engulfed him as he blacked out.
Start of dream
The pain suddenly vanished. The hissing of cats disappeared and replaced by the sound of birds.
"So you have arrived at your destination, young one, " Red's eyes quickly opened, mostly of surprise.
Now before he was a cat, like an older version of himself. Same orange fur and green eyes. His starry pelt gleamed in the moonshine.
"I met you before, in another dream. You said I must come to the forest. Why exactly, am I here?" Red questioned the starry cast.
"I am afraid it is for you to find out." The cat replied calmly.
As the words came out of his mouth, the world slowly turned black.
End of dream, several days later...
The world suddenly burst into life.
The sounds of cats seemed faint, even light. The ground felt soft, yet firm underneath him. He slowly opened his eyes to take in what was around him, the scent of plants and what looked like herbs, was overpowering. Strong and horrible.
Shelves, upon shelves of them. He slowly attempted to get up. His body seemed to ache as he did so. 'Is this a den, where am I?' he thought.
"Don't stretch, you will reopen your wounds."
Red slowly turned around to see a dark bluish gray she-cat. She looked about two moons older than him. Her whiskers twitched, showing amusement.
"I'm Spottedpaw by the way, I'm training to be a-"
"Stop with the talking Spottedpaw, you talk too much. Oh, you're awake!" A golden she-cat meowed.
She looked old and withered. Her voice held a soft yet harsh tone to it.
"That's my ment-"
"Shut up already, would ya? You always talk and it gets on my nerves. Well, I might as well go get prey for you, you must be starving! Would you like a mouse?" The she-cat asked Red.
A sudden pang of hunger hit Red as the words came out of her mouth. The pain on my back, for the most part was gone. He was able to nod without reopening the cobweb covered wound.
After the golden she-cat left the den Spottedpaw went over to him and whispered, "That's my mentor, Poppyheart. She can be moody sometimes".
Red nodded as if to understand, simply he was troubled by his environment. The cold, damp room made things uncomfortable. The room was silent, except for the drip drop of water in the background.
"So where am I and how long have I been out?" He meowed, trying to break the silence.
"You have been away for about three sunrises, but that's normal under your circumstances, and you're in ThunderClan, there are four clans by the lake, ShadowClan, RiverClan, WindClan and the best of course-"
"Oh, just quit talking. You know you can be very annoying sometimes. Pinestar is here to talk to, um... what's your name?" Red has just noticed she walked into the den, most likely in the middle of his conversation with Spottedpaw.
"My name. Oh, my name is Red." he meowed hesitantly. He has been stuck on the thought of being out so long.
"Hmm, what an unusual name. Ok Red, here is your mouse, also Pinestar, our leader, is here to speak to you." Poppyheart dropped the mouse in front of Red and then stepped aside to reveal a tall muscular tom. He had dark brown pelt, and underneath the fur he noticed deep battle scars. Some looked fresh and others looked many moons old.
"I am just going to ask a couple questions, then I am going to let you leave, alright." His voice was calm, he had the power in this conversation, so Red quickly nodded his head.
"So, what were you doing on Thunderclan territory?" Pinestars voice was deep and strong. His confidence showed he was used to speaking to cats. His confident eyes looked down at me. Red felt small, helpless
"So, what is your story, do you have family somewhere, do you have a reason to be here?" Red gave in.
He told him about Maple, a cat he had met in the city, dreams of starry cats, saying to come to the lake, and the rogues. He had a hard time telling him about them. He mostly kept it to himself though, what happened to Maple. The memory stung like a bee, but he managed to keep it to himself. He let me finish talking and then he looked up at Poppyheart. They went to the back of the room while Red ate his mouse. 'This is the best thing I owned since I was born!' the plump mouse was soon consumed. Pinestar and Poppyheart were still in the back of the den. 'Am I in trouble?' he thought. His question was soon answered when Poppyheart and Pinestar returned, Pinestar looked down at Red. Pinestars eyes showed nothing but hope, his words said it all.
"Red, would you like to join ThunderClan?"