Guess who's back?! :D It's me!
Here with another great chapter for you awesome readers!
I hope you all enjoy! :)
Mudpelt tossed and turned in his mossy bed, not able to fall asleep. The moon was high in its course, and the crickets cheeped incessantly.
Growling, Mudpelt stood, stomping and kneading his bed angrily with pricked claws. The moss shredded under his attack, floating into the air and making him sneeze.
The noise was extremely loud in the quiet of the warriors' den, and it woke Greystripe with a jolt. "Do you mind?" He grumped, wrapping his fluffy tail around his nose. "Some cats like to sleep!"
"Sorry." Mudpelt flopped down with a sigh, gazing through a tiny crack in the ceiling made of branches, vines, and leaves. A lone star twinkled.
Why can't I go to sleep? I can't stop thinking about that rogue that frightened Dawnfeather. That smell... So familiar... And the fear in Dawnfeather's eyes... She obviously knew and feared the rogue...
A sudden urge to kill any rogue that made Dawnfeather as scared as she had been flew into Mudpelt's mind. I'll find that rogue, and make him pay!
Contented, Mudpelt curled up, not asking himself why he was so protective over Dawnfeather.
The blue sky rose high above Dawnfeather's head, and Icepaw and Birdpaw leaped along behind her.
A ache inside her grew as she thought about her dead kit and best friend. The ache dampened the joy of the peaceful field that she was in.
"Momma! Look!" Birdpaw excitedly called, bouncing up and down and pointing with her tail at the two figures that appeared on the crest of a nearby hill.
Instantly, Dawnfeather knew who it was. Yowling with joy, Dawnfeather raced through the grasses, heading for Storm and Windy.
As she grew closer, she could make out the looks on their faces. Fear. Panic. Their mouths silently moved, yowling at her in terror.
A cloud moved over the sun, and the sky turned blood red. An evil laugh seemed to fill the sky, echoing from the clouds.
"You thought you could beat ME?!"
A large black paw suddenly appeared from nowhere, smacking Dawnfeather to the ground. She screeched and yowled in terror, clawing feebly at the paw in a attempt to escape.
A scream from Storm made Dawnfeather fight all the harder. Suddenly the paw lifted, but she was too late. Rushing over to her kit, whose blood stained the now-dead grass, she yowled in agony.
Windy, Icepaw, and Birdpaw lay dead as well, their sightless eyes staring with fear.
Dawnfeather slumped over. "No! NO! NOOOO!"
Scourge's laughter echoed once more, glee in his voice. "You can't hide from me, DAWN! I will take EVERYTHING you love, your kits, your friends, your CLAN! And you won't be able to do anything about it!"
The laughter swelled, drowning out any other noise.
"NOOOO MAKE IT STOP!" Dawnfeather held her paws over her ears, writhing on the ground. Suddenly, through the laughing, a sneeze echoed.
Dawnfeather snapped awake, leaping to her feet, fur bristled and claws unsheathed.
On the other side of the den, Mudpelt flopped into his moss bed. He didn't notice her slip outside.
Sitting down in the cool night air, Dawnfeather cleaned her ruffled fur, cleaning the sweat and dust from her white coat.
Looking up at Starclan, Dawnfeather sent a silent message to them. Whatever happens, please, keep my kits and the clan safe.
Calmed down, Dawnfeather peeked into the warrior den, looking at her kits. Icepaw slumbered quietly, his nest beside Tawnypaw's nest. Birdpaw slept on the other side of him, her bed lined with soft bird feathers.
Smiling, Dawnfeather returned to the den. Wrapping herself into a tight ball, Dawnfeather quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Icepaw stepped beside his mentor, Mudpelt, as they walked to the training pit. It was empty for the moment, but would soon occupy more than the pair soon.
"Ok, today, we will work on head-on attacks. Now, you're going to be a big cat, so strength will probably be your best bet." Mudpelt explained.
Icepaw listened intently, nodding every now and then.
"Now, what you want to do is keep your head low, protecting your throat. And, with great strength comes knowing your strength. Know your limits. A good thing to do is use your shoulder to knock a cat off balance," Mudpelt demonstrated by lightly bumping Icepaw's shoulder with his own. "But you want to do it unexpectedly, or the cat will have to brace against your attack. Now you try on me."
Icepaw nodded determindly, ramming himself against his mentor's side. He fell back, rubbing a small bump on his head.
"No, not like that," Mudpelt said kindly,"Use your shoulder."
Icepaw rammed his shoulder once more against Mudpelt, making him shift to the side. "Good, good. One more time?"
This time, Icepaw went lower, lifting with his shoulder as he smacked into Mudpelt, causing Mudpelt to lift off the ground an inch or two before falling to the earthen floor.
"Wow! Way to go there, Icepaw!" Mudpelt congratulated, shaking the dust off his fur. Icepaw's ears flattened at the praise, but there was no mistaking the pride in his eyes.
Birdpaw sorted the nettle to one side, careful that her furless spots wouldn't touch the nettle. She had learned the hard way how the stinging nettle got it's name!
She sighed, looking up at Cinderpelt. "Is this all that a medecine cat does?" She wondered, looking back at the pile of herbs.
"Of course not! But a good medecine cat always has plenty of herbs on hand in case of an emergency!" Cinderpelt said, flicking her tail cheerfully.
Birdpaw nodded, carefully pushing the pile of nettle over into its seperate nook. "What's this?" Birdpaw said, holding up a large, soft leaf.
"That's called lamb's ear. It's good for rashes and sores." Cinderpelt said, setting the leaf on a log in the sun. "When they're dried, they can be crushed up easily and mixed with water to make a paste."
"And this?" Birdpaw held up another leaf, bigger than the last one but not as soft. "Burdock. Good for burns and headaches."
"What about this one?" Birdpaw meowed, wrinkling her nose at the smelly bulb. "Wild Onion. Good for earaches and infected wounds. But they make your eyes water!" Cinderpelt said, laughing at Birdpaw's watering eyes.
Dawnfeather sighed as yet another mouse skittered to safety in its tunnel. "Are you okay?" Longtail asked, coming up beside her. "That's the third prey you've missed today!"
"Oh, I'm fine! Must be a little distracted though!" Dawnfeather lied.
She had been thinking about the nightmare all day, and it was showing.
"I'll just focus harder." Dawnfeather promised, slinking into the underbrush.
Longtail looked after her thoughtfully before turning and heading his own way.
I should tell someone... But who is there to tell? Not my kits, I don't want to scare them! Windy isn't alive anymore... Dawnfeather shook her head, clearing it.
"Go in, get some prey, get out. Then you can have time to think." She promised herself, before pouncing on a vole.
There you go! Sorry if the chapters aren't long enough, I just can't seem to write longer ones! :(
Ah, well...