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Pebblepaw slunk out of the medicine cats' den, a gentle drizzle spraying her pelt as she strode across the clearing. One cat was hunched over the fresh-kill pile; it was Eveningpaw, a dark gray tabby who was Pebblepaw and Snailpaw's littermate after their mother died. Eveningpaw turned her head to the side as Pebblepaw approached. "Feels nice, doesn't it?" The she-cat purred, lifting her head slightly upward. As long as Pebblepaw could remember, Eveningpaw had been fond of water. Snailpaw had said when they went fishing she was always the first in and always the last out.
"I suppose, if you're a fish," Pebblepaw purred back, clawing a trout from the pile. Eveningpaw was munching on a bleak that looked fresh out of the river. "Did you catch that?" Pebblepaw asked idly, side-eying Eveningpaw as she chomped into her trout. Eveningpaw nodded, licking the blood along her jaws. She twined her tail with Pebblepaw's, smiling.
"It's scary, isn't it?" Eveningpaw asked, her smile seeming sad. She lowered her head and tore the last of her bleak's meat off its bones, and talked as she chewed. "I've never been in a war, and..." she swallowed, "I've never seen Swallowstar that furious in my entire life." Her voice sounded humorous, but the look in her eyes told Pebblepaw that she was scared, and absolutely serious. Pebblepaw rubbed her head on the she-cat's wet shoulder.
"It'll be alright, Eveningpaw." I've never seen her like this before. She always seemed so fearless. Pebblepaw thought, chewing through the fat of her bite. Seeing her friend this scared made her even more scared. She thought back to when they were kits, when her mother, Mothfur, had died. Eveningpaw who was Eveningkit then, had comforted the sad and confused Pebblekit. She was Pebblekit's voice when Pebblekit was too depressed or scared to speak for herself, and Pebblepaw had always admired Eveningpaw for that.
Eveningpaw dug a hole to bury the remains of her prey in. She nudged her nose against Pebblepaw's head and briefly purred at her. "I know. We'll be alright. I'm still scared, though," she chuckled, and Pebblepaw nudged her back. "May the sun warm your back and the fish leap into your paws. Goodnight, Pebblepaw."
"Goodnight, Eveningpaw."
She watched her friend pad toward the apprentices' den and felt her heart drop. It wasn't good on her to see Eveningpaw so down. She'd have to be strong for her; Eveningpaw wouldn't be able to stand up under all this pressure without someone to lean on. Sighing, Pebblepaw finished her trout, buried it, and then walked back to the medicine cats' den. She barely noticed the sharp essence of herbs as she stepped in. She ignored the unease bubbling within her as she curled up in her nest. Slowly, she fell asleep...
In her ears... she heard... ebullient popping... and something hot and thick like honey against her fur, dragging her away...
She gasped and shot up, panting, her distraught gaze scanning her surroundings. It was the same forest from last night, except... what was that, sticking to her?
She looked down.
Blood! Where did all this blood come from? As soon as she saw the dark red liquid clotting in her pelt, she smelt its acrid, deathly malodor and gagged. Frantically she waded out of the lake of blood, struggling to get out. At the bank of the bloody lake, she could make out half-rotten carcasses littered across the soil. She clenched her teeth, resisting the urge to throw up. Finally, she made it out of the blood, and fell against the ground where she rolled in the grass. Why is this happening to me? Pebblepaw thought bitterly, feeling agitated as her confusion, sadness, and anger all battled for dominance over her mind.
She noticed the sound of pawsteps too late. When she looked up, she saw the same cat from her dream last night... a dark, spotted brown tabby with piercing yellow eyes. She stood before her, scowling.
"You are such a pest," the she-cat growled. "Why do you keep coming back? You don't belong here!"
"I don't know!" Pebblepaw cried, feeling a surge of frustration. She was lost in this gloomy, eerie place, and the last thing she needed was some surly she-cat trying to chase her away! "Just leave me alone, okay? I don't know why I'm here! I don't know! This is where I go when I fall asleep, I don't know why!"
When she looked back, the she-cat's expression had softened, but she still looked rather fierce. "Why don't you stand up? You're lying right next to a corpse."
Pebblepaw inhaled sharply and glimpsed to her side. It was that carrion she had seen before; maggots and worms crawled all over the deep red and fatty flesh. She gasped again and jumped straight up, nearly backing into the she-cat behind her. Pebblepaw backed away, unable to tear her gaze from the dead cat, but the she-cat stepped in front of her and blocked her view. The dark spotted tabby's nostrils flared as she sniffed Pebblepaw.
"Ah... RiverClan. You're a fish-breath, aren't you?" The peculiar she-cat grinned and flicked an ear. "What's your name, runt?"
"What's yours?" Pebblepaw's voice was quivering on a growl. The she-cat seemed amused by this and chuckled.
"A plucky little fish-breath, you are. I... am Leopardtail. I was once from WindClan, I believe. But that was, as the elders would say, 'once upon a time'."
She was a little surprised she'd never heard about Leopardtail before. Something about her struck a chord with Pebblepaw. Like she was familiar to her, outside of these persistent, nightly dreams.
"Where is-"
"Ah ah ah." Leopardtail twitched her whiskers and smiled. "Your name, please. Questions after we are properly introduced."
"I'm Pebblepaw, medicine cat apprentice of RiverClan," Pebblepaw meowed hesitantly.
"Good, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Leopardtail laughed, suddenly rolling over onto her back mid-air. Her bottom half became translucent, and Pebblepaw watched, dazed, as Leopardtail circled her like smoke. The spotted tabby reached a paw out and tapped her on the nose, though Pebblepaw did not feel it. Her giggle seemed far-off an echoed against nothing.
"Where am I?" Pebblepaw inquired.
"Isn't it obvious? You are in a dream."
"That doesn't make any sense!" She snapped and shook her head. "Why are you here? Why do I have these dreams every night? Why are they always so gruesome and disgusting?"
"I know none of the answers that you are seeking, river pebble." Leopardtail had an oddly sincere expression as she peered upon Pebblepaw. "Sometimes there are lost souls here in the dream, but never those that are living. I have just as many questions as you, I'm afraid."
"Are you always here, though?"
"For as long as I have died. My memories before this place are relatively hazy. I lose a bit of my living self each day. Though," she snickered, "time flows endlessly here, so you can't really tell days apart, if there are any."
Pebblepaw found the more questions she asked, the more questions she ended up with. She sighed and looked away from the floating, ghostly cat, and exhaled slowly. "You say you're dead, right? You're a spirit?"
"Yes, to my knowledge."
"Then why aren't you in StarClan? Or the Dark Forest?"
Leopardtail seemed to mull over this, one paw up to her chin. "I... do not know." Pebblepaw let out an exasperated sigh and Leopardtail raised her brow at her. "I've never really thought about it before. Hey!" The spotted tabby's sudden exclaimation startled Pebblepaw, and her pelt spiked up. "You say you come here every night, is that so? If you come here every night, perhaps we could unravel this riddle together, hmm? Both you and I have something to gain, yes?"
The medicine cat apprentice tilted her head to the side and snapped an ear as if a fly had landed on it. She pondered. Although Leopardtail had complied with her - mostly, anyway - she was still somewhat wary. But, she figured, looking up into the tabby's brilliant yellow eyes; she didn't really have a choice, did she? This she-cat was now a part of her dreams, for better or for worse, and if Leopardtail could help Pebblepaw be rid of them... well, she was willing to give it a try.
"Sure."
"Wonderful," the spotted tabby chuckled, her voice and body slowly disappearing as Pebblepaw's vision faded into blackness...