Yes, this will be a several chapter story. How many, I don't know. It depends how far I want to go with this. Could be just a few more...
Chapter 3: The Dream
The bittersweet smell of death still clings in the air. Even the morning rays of sunlight fail the extinguish the anguish and horror of the bloody scene. Russetfur licked her lips, ruffling her coppery coat. The absents of the constant croaks and ribbits of frogs is unnerving, and the clearing before, even more so.
Again, the ShadowClan deputy shakes her pelt, taking a cautious step forward. Several cats line the area, mouths foaming, dogs teeth collar all to clear. The few patrol warriors accompanying her let out low growls, swinging their heads from side to side in a panicked frenzy.
"BloodClan cats", whispered Boulder, who had worked up the courage to approach the bodies.
"ThunderClan had better stay off our territory! I wanna chance to kill some more BloodClan cats!", jeered Cedarpaw, swiping a paw at his mentor, but receiving a blow to his ear instead.
"The attackers weren't ThunderClan", Russetfur hissed, sniffing the corpses. "Whoever attacked these cats is from BloodClan!"
Plunk! Plunk! A shiver ripples through me as the cool water of the cavern drips from the stalactites, landing with a splash on my nose. Someone sneezes, I can feel the vibrations as they well up, echoing through the cave. My brother is still alive, but he is weak. Too weak. We were all weak, or we wouldn't have lost.
Ever present fresh blood coats my pelt, leaking from the new wounds. The attack from our own clan had rattled me. Images flash through my mind as I remember the relief as I saw BloodClan cats approach us, then the fear as they lunged, then relief once more as hearts stopped beating . I don't blame them, who could. The battle has left us defeated, weak, we all want the comport of knowing we can still hurt, still burn, still kill.
Suddenly, I smell it, then see it. A mouse. Small and scrawny, but still food. Scrabbling to my paws, I stumble forward, lumbering along an old cow. Freezing, I release my mistake, but the mouse dose not run. With a twitch of his whiskers, he scuttles forward, forcing me to follow him into a new cavern. Lowering down on my haunches, I stalk forward. I am but a few rabbit lengths away and ready to pounce, but before I can, the rodent, scampers away. Again and again I follow, but again and again the mouse moves, causing me to travel deeper and deeper into the cave.
It's dark. The thought strikes me forcefully, turning my attention from the mouse, who scampers away. Darkness filters around my body, sinking cold hands into my heart, piercing my soul, yet I am not afraid.
Breath whooshes from my lungs as a dull glow fills the cave. Glaring from the centre, an enormous rock glitters, sparkles, projecting colour to the darkest parts of the cave. Something calls me forward. Like a fly to light, I am moving towards the stone, soon inches from its smooth surface. I hear them. Voices! Sounds fill me ears, as if someone has finally took away the vail that had left me muffled, soundless. I laugh and purr, the sounds of my voice igniting my brain. There are others too. Forest cats prod around me, kits jump and tumble, apprentices rush from den to den. I know them, their faces, their scents, their coats and eyes, but I have never seen them. Yet something jars at the back of my memory, something missing, like a book from which the pages are torn.
Abruptly, the sounds stops, turing into unreadable whispers. Dozen of eyes are wide with terror, staring at me, urging me to do something I cannot understand.
Bright and wild, a pair of amber eyes bursts from the thicket! Streaking behind them, a pale tabby body rockets towards me, but not before my back explodes in pain. I scream, thrashing, trying to claw at something, anything, but I can't. The paws aren't mine, nor the willowy frame of the kit's body I possess. The ground dissipates, something grabs my paw, trying to drag me back. My screams die to whimpers of pain, then nothing, as my world is silent once more.