So here I was, just listening to Ankoku no Tsubasa no thanks to Worenx, and I get a favourite. I just added the chapter like...a half hour beforehand. WOW that was fast. Thanks!
Against a certain someone's wishes, I decided to write ANOTHER short chapter, this time taking Poppystripe's POV. This way I can fill in some info that needs to be said before I move on to a more climactic chapter, such as what I have in mind for the next one. THEN I will do Bluekit's POV, so that certain someone does not chew me out and annoy me for the next five months.
Disclaimer: The Warrior series does not belong to me, nor will it EVER. Please don't sue me.
Note: The beginning of this chapter has more of a Teen rating than K+, but it's not really graphic-gore. It just has a lot of blood (though it's not even really "coming" from something).
Chapter 5
The scent of blood surrounded Poppystripe. Darkness had engulfed her. Tall, sickly black trees surrounded her, reaching so high they blocked out the sky. The ground was sticky and black, and stunk horribly. She could hardly bare to stand on it, but it was better than the tar and blood-filled river; black and red slithered together in unison, the stench making her want to retch.
Looking around, the only sign of life Poppystripe could make out were the shadows of cats, but never once did she catch their scent, nor did she see the shadow's master.
"H-hello?" She called, shocked when hisses met her ears. She wheeled around, but again nothing living stirred; only shadows dashing to and fro.
The medicine cat shivered, her fur on end. Where was she? This was not StarClan. StarClan was cool, bathed in moonlight, and her starry ancestors always led her back safely.
There was no safety here.
Poppystripe could hear screeches of pain every so often, and the clear 'thump' of a body falling, sometimes much larger than that of a cat's... Just how did she end up here? It was Half-Moon. She had gone to the Moonpool with the other medicine cats and touched her nose to the freezing water...and opened her eyes to this horrible place.
"Spootedleaf? Yellowfang? Leafpool!?" She cried out, her paws beginning to run on their own. She wanted out of this place. The scent of blood was overwhelming. Her pads ached with every pawstep on the strange, sticky surface below her paws. Dodging over tree roots and strange shiny grey and black obstacles, she began to see how endless this strange place was. She could swear by StarClan that she had just passed a certain tree, or that the river never seemed to move away. She couldn't even pick up her own scent! Where was she?!
Finally, panting heavily, Poppystripe realised that it was hopeless. She would never find her way out of this maze of trees and blackness alone. Shaking, she curled up into a tight ball, begging the darkness to go away. Was this an omen? She couldn't tell anymore. Pinching her eyes shut, she began to feel the hard, sticky surface below her paws wet. The scent of blood drifted up into the back of her throat, urging her to retch, but she refused. Without opening her eyes she knew what surrounded her paws, and what was slowly dribbling into her pelt, soaking her chest, stomach, and part of her tail.
As her eyes shot open, she jumped up and back, surprised to see an ocean of blood surrounding her. Nowhere was safe from the sticky, red substance. It rippled and bubbled before her slowly in an unnatural way, scaring her to back up more until she felt the thick spongy bark of a deadened tree blocking her escape. Her mind reeled, fear paralysing her from doing anything but watching the red rise up and take the form of a large cat. It stepped toward her, the blood tricking off it like a wounded animal, but it did not notice. A low, horrible rumbling growl like thunder came from its throat. It raised a paw, ready to strike.
"NO!" She howled in horror, too scared to defend herself from the inevitable bloody claw. Her eyes closed on their own and she tucked her head into her chest, the fear of death running off every hair on her pelt. She never had an apprentice. What would ThunderClan do without a Medicine cat?!
"BLWAARRGHH!" A bubbly howl erupted from the blood-fiend's mouth and a loud splash followed. Some warm, sticky blood splattered across the ginger tabby's pelt, shocking her. Timidly, she opened her eyes, shocked to see two blood-covered fiends at battle. The newcomer, smaller compared to the first, had its jaws clamped around first one's neck, while the first dug a claw into the smaller one's back and pulled. They both yowled in pain and anger, suddenly pushing off each other and jumping back, the smaller of the two in front of Poppystripe protectively.
A-a blood-cat is...protecting me...? The idea was hard to grasp. The first one was just so terrifying. Why would it want to protect her? Was it a StarClan warrior? ...no...there were no stars in this beast's pelt. It was nothing more than a blood-soaked monster...
Poppystripe's fur stood on end, and she arched her back threateningly. A hiss ran out of her throat, gaining both the beastly feline's attention. The larger one snorted, a strange thunderous rumbling coming from its throat, as if it were laughing. The smaller one, though, somehow seemed hurt at the gesture. Its soulless red eyes darkened in pain. The ThunderClan medicine cat blinked in confusion before the larger of the two growled something and sunk back into the abyss of red. Though it was gone, Poppystripe knew that it was not defeated, and could easily return when it wished...
The smaller blood-covered cat looked from the blood to back to Poppystripe again, its tail motioning for her to follow. At first the ginger she-cat thought better of it, but with the quick realisation that she had nowhere else to go in this awful place, and that the murderous blood-covered cat could return whenever it wished, she grudgingly followed the beast at a distance. It led her in complete silence until the blood vanished from the ground. Grass soon replaced the black surface, and Poppystripe slowly recognised the silver plants and moonlight washing over the clearing. The blood-cat stopped abruptly then, taking a seat and starring longingly at the prey-filled forest before them.
Nervously, the ginger she-cat passed the beast into the familiar StarClan hunting grounds, her eyes locking with its for a brief second.
Go... Its eyes seemed to say to her before it turned and stalked back to the Place of Blood and Darkness alone. Poppystripe couldn't help but stare after it until it vanished through the mist bordering their worlds.
"The eyes of StarClan shall be blinded, and the forest will run red; Blood will run once more..." Poppystripe spun around, the ghostly forms of her warrior ancestors coming into view at long last. Leading them was a fiery ginger tom, his green eyes pained deeply. "Blood can only be destroyed by Blood..." He mewed on, his gaze lifting from her to the mist behind her. "But not without the price of four..."
"Wait, w-what do you mean by that?!" Poppystripe demanded, but the ghostly forms began to vanish before her, along with the clearing all together. Something hard jabbed her side. "Was this a warning? An omen?! What do you mean?! FIRESTAR!?"
Poppystripe's eyes flung open and she jumped to her paws, shocking the grey she-cat beside her.
"I-I'm sorry! W-we were all up already and you looked like you w-were having a nightmare..." Volepaw mewed nervously, her head bowed and ears flat.
Recognising the Moonpool and other Medicine cats staring at her, Poppystripe hastily apologized to the apprentice for scaring her, the vision still clean in her mind.
"It's alright, Volepaw...you did nothing wrong." She nodded to Redbrook, her mentor at the lip of the summit. "Let's get going. It's too cold to stay out like this." She fluffed her fur, trying to look like that was the only thing on her mind.
"Alright!" The apprentice chirped, racing up the frosty slope to the red tom.
The older medicine cats nodded to her when she joined them, and they began their descent back to their respective territories. Redbrook, Volepaw and Nightwind all veered off to the eastern side of the lake, leaving her to lope back into ThunderClan territory with Stonetail alone.
"You look shaken." The tom mewed, a look of concern on his face.
"It's nothing. I'll be fine." Poppystripe assured as they entered ThunderClan territory. The familiar trees and scents calmed her more than speaking to the giant tom ever could.
"I'll leave you here then," he mewed understandingly, allowing Poppystripe time to drink in the ThunderClan scents around her.
She gave him a curt nod and the grey tom was off for ShadowClan territory.
Alone at last, Poppystripe allowed her thoughts to whirl. She had been attacked by 'blood.' Yet another 'blood' had protected her. Her ears drooped softly at the thought of the look in the smaller blood-cat's eyes. It felt pain. It knew she saw it as a monster. She regretted ever thinking that. It had led her back safely to StarClan, and protected her. She should be grateful if anything.
Poppystripe jumped over a fallen log and began her descent toward the hollow. StarClan had repeated the prophecy after that battle. It had to be a sign. There were two 'bloods.' One would fight them, and the other would protect. But what question now was who were those "bloods?" And how or why would StarClan be blinded? There were still too many mysteries in the prophecy. For now, Poppystripe decided, it would be best to concentrate on helping her clan survive leaf-bare. She looked up to the milky dawn sky when the bramble tunnel came into view. It was already cold enough to see her breath. It wouldn't be long until white cough and green cough threatened the clan, like every year. And with Crimsonkit's...unique condition, the last thing she wanted right now was for the kit to become sick. The red she-kit was the closest thing she had to solving the mystery of the Blood Prophecy.
The Medicine cat nodded to Thrushtail on guard duty before squeezing into the tunnel and emerging into the ThunderClan camp. She looked over to the nursery, hidden under branches of the pine and interwoven bracken to keep out any intruders. Crimsonkit had moved from the Medicine Den to there a moon ago, half a moon after Dawnstar's announcement about her to the other clans at the Gathering. She had very few injuries, but she had noticed the kit to be very weak physically, likely because of starvation. She rarely moved from her nest, even now without Bluekit's continuous prompting or by Whiteleaf's wishes. And when she did move, she had trouble walking on her polydactyl paw, often tripping and being unable to get back up without help. Both Dawnstar and Whiteleaf had expressed their worries to her about Thornwhisker being right...maybe she wouldn't survive leaf-bare, and maybe she wouldn't be strong enough to become a warrior.
Poppystripe shook those thoughts away. No. Thornwhisker could not be right about that. StarClan had taken her mother from her. They must have had plans for the tiny red kit. They would not let her die now.
The ginger she-cat strode into the Medicine Den, her mouth spreading into a large yawn. She was tempted to go and check on the she-kit right now, but exhaustion had claimed the better of her. It would be best for the both of them if she rested first.
Eyes growing heavy, Poppystripe finally curled up in her nest, somehow managing to find sleep between her worries.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" Something small but hard jabbed Poppystripe in the side, rousing her from her sleep. Opening her eyes a crack, she saw a pair of little blue eyes staring at her. "Oh! You're awake! Finally!" A purr came from the little furball beside her.
"Yes, Bluekit?" The Medicine cat sighed, getting up slowly. "What's wrong?"
"Whiteleaf said to come and get you. Crimsonkit isn't eating again!" The black kit explained cheerfully, not understanding how bad this really was.
"I see. I'll be there in a moment." She mewed curtly, reaching into the back of the den and picking out a few herbs. Hopefully the little she-kit only had a stomach ache... Poppystripe had guessed that the tiny she-kit was actually about four moons old, the same age as Bluekit and Granitekit. Being as small and weak as she was already though, every meal counted. If she was to last leaf-bare and become an apprentice with the other two kits, she'd need to start eating more and gaining her strength.
Poppystripe hurried out of her den and to the nursery, a small bundle of herbs clamped firmly between her jaws. Snaking her way in between the bramble and branches, she paused to give Thornwhisker a nod before stepping over to Whiteleaf, who hovered over her foster kid nervously. She dropped the herbs and looked over the kit, curled up tightly with a scrawny mouse in front of her. The mouse was untouched.
"How are you feeling today?" She asked quietly, hoping for an answer this time, but her hope was misplaced yet again. The she-kit was just as silent as the day they found her. She had yet to utter a single word. Poppystripe wondered if she was just deaf at first, but she had reacted to Whiteleaf and Bluekit's calls enough times to rule that out. She had no idea what else it could be, and she didn't dare risk asking another medicine cat about it, or having Dawnstar look bad if word got out about it.
"She just isn't eating...is she sick?" Whiteleaf fretted, beginning to circle Crimsonkit nervously. Bluekit seemed to think it was a game and began following her mother, pouncing after her tail joyfully.
"I'll need to check..." Poppystripe replied, nosing Crimsonkit. She didn't smell sick, and her nose was wet and cool, and her body warm. She rolled the kit onto her side, glad for the first time to be clawed at while working. That showed she wasn't too sick to move. Feeling her stomach carefully, she was unable to find anything wrong with it though. Shaking her head, Poppystripe pushed the mouse closer to Crimsonkit.
"It's alright. You need to eat, okay?" She purred nudging it even closer.
The red kitten blinked at her, then looked passed her, as if examining something far away. She starred for an eerily long time, making Poppystripe shiver. Half the clan was nervous to go near the strange she-kit because of this strange behaviour. She'd suddenly stop whatever she was doing and just stare, sometimes even listening for StarClan knows what. Thrushtail refused to even go near the 'badger bait-kit,' as he called her, once even starting a scuffle between himself and Onefeather because of his rude ways. Just like Whiteleaf, Onefeather treated the little kit as his own, possibly because he too knew what it was like to be foreign to ThunderClan and constantly standing out.
"Let's eat! Let's eat!" Bluekit cheered, drawing Poppystripe's attention back to the present. Crimsonkit was busy nibbling away at the mouse, Bluekit happily joining her.
Relief brushed over Poppystripe in a wave. So long as she was eating...
"Thank you!" Whiteleaf purred quietly, not to disturb her daughters' meal. "I don't know what you did, but it looks like everything's fine now."
I don't know what I did either... Poppystripe admitted silently, nodding to the young queen.
"Try to get her out for some fresh air later. Maybe it'll make her feel even better. She needs to practice walking on that paw anyway..." She couldn't help but look to the deformed paw. It was sprawled out away from her curled up form as if it wasn't even a part of herself. The poor thing needed to learn to get use to it...there was nothing a medicine cat could do about such a thing.
"Alright Poppystripe, and thank you again." Whiteleaf mewed, licking her kits' heads affectionately.
"Eeeew!" Bluekit complained, shying away from her mother. Crimsonkit paused and looked up at her curiously, before returning to the mouse, eating it much faster than before. It looked like she finally noticed how famished she really was. That was always a good sign.
"Call me back if anything changes." Poppystripe meowed. Whiteleaf nodded and the ginger medicine cat pushed her way out of the nursery, just in time to see Badgerclaw send out the last hunting patrol. She gave him a nod as she stepped up to the gargantuan deputy.
"Is Dawnstar still in?" She questioned, looking up at the Highledge above them.
"She was out earlier, but she's probably back by now." He meowed.
"Alright, thanks." Poppystripe mewed back, beginning her ascent up the Highledge. Rocks clattered down after her as she pulled herself onto the ledge and peeked into her sister's den. "Dawnstar?" Her scent was fresh.
"Yes, Poppystripe?" A pale shape stirred deeper inside. A pair of blue eyes opened and looked to her, inviting the medicine cat in. "Did StarClan send you anymore dreams?"
Stepping into the den, Poppystripe took a seat a fox-length from Dawnstar.
"Yes..." She mewed, and retold the tale of the bloody warriors and the repeated Prophecy of Blood.
Dawnstar curled her tail tightly around her paws.
"I see..." She managed, looking at the medicine cat with narrowed eyes. "So you still know nothing of the prophecy's meaning then?" She ventured.
"I'm sorry, Dawnstar...I have no leads. StarClan has told me nothing more."
"It's fine...how's Crimsonkit?" Her fur fluffed slightly, worry on the tip of her tongue.
"She has still said nothing, but she was eating a mouse earlier. I also told Whiteleaf to bring her out for some fresh air. With any luck, she'll start getting used to her paw." Poppystripe could only hope. In two moons she'd be old enough to become an apprentice. It wouldn't look good for her to be left behind when her littermates became apprentices, not when Dawnstar had said such things at the Gathering almost two moons ago. "I'm sure she'll be fine." She hastily assured, forcing her fur to lay flat. She needed to raise Dawnstar's confidence somehow, even if it was a lie.
"I hope so too, Poppystripe...I really do..." Dawnstar whispered, circling her nest and curling back up in it. She flicked her tail in dismissal, and Poppystripe happily obliged.
Stepping out onto the Highledge and overlooking camp, she could see the grey furball that was Granitekit and his black 'shadow' that was Bluekit race out of the nursery. She took a seat on the ledge, watching over the two kits as they skirmished playfully, batting each others' noses and dashing through the orange leaves left on the ground. They would make excellent warriors one day, she just knew it.
Bluekit paused and turned back to the nursery, calling something inaudible to Poppystripe's ears. Moments later, a tiny speck of red appeared in the entranceway, poking its head out timidly into the cold leaf-fall air. Bluekit ran back to the speck and vanished into the nursery, racing out a moment later and pushing Crimsonkit out in front of her. The poor kit looked terrified from her sister's reckless act, and Poppystripe tensed, wondering if she should step in. The last thing the kit needed was a sprained paw. It'd be enough work to learn how to walk!
About to stand and tell Bluekit off for being such a reckless little furball, she paused when the little black kit stopped pushing and bounced in front of Crimsonkit, a moss ball between her paws. She bounced it from paw to paw, the crimson kit watching it with interest, before tossing it into the air over her head to Granitekit. The little tom caught it easily between his paws and began to dribble it as well, his eyes glowing with the pleasure of tormenting the little kit. Crimsonkit slowly dragged her paws along the ground, watching them carefully, before finally facing Granitekit, all four paws firmly in place, her eyes glued to the ball.
Granitekit hissed something to her and hooked the ball on his claw and tossed it over the kit's head again. This time though, Poppystripe was shocked to see Crimsonkit bunch her muscles and actually make a jump for the ball. Her left, deformed paw reached for it vainly though as gravity took its hold on her and dragged her back to the ground, her body twisting strangely to land. With a thump, Crimsonkit landed on her stomach, her paws splayed out around her uselessly.
Poppystripe took that as her cue to intervene, jumping down the tumble of rocks and into the center of the hollow. She approached the kits quickly, her tail fur on end irritably as she watched the other two kits toss the moss ball between themselves, ignoring Crimsonkit completely. How could they just ignore her like that?! She opened her mouth to scold them, but something black zipped in front of her, making her jump back in shock.
"Wait." Onefeather hissed into her ear, watching the kits play.
"But—" Poppystripe fretted, but he did not lower his paw. Seeing as the former WindClan cat would not let her pass without a fuss, Poppystripe sat and watched the kits play on. Why did he want her to wait? Granitekit and Bluekit continued to play on as if nothing happened, leaving Crimsonkit to lie on the ground alone. Her eyes shifted from the two playing kits to their smaller littermate, suddenly noticing why Onefeather had stopped her.
Crimsonkit had collected her paws under her, and was attempting to stand up by herself. Her eyes were screwed up in concentration as she slowly lifted her front end into the air, her deformed paw shaking with the effort, but firmly holding her in place. After her chest was finally clear of the ground, she began lifting her hindquarters, which lifted twice as fast as the front. Crimsonkit shook herself, some dust shedding from her fur, and slid her paws around to face the other two kits. Slowly, she lifted her right forepaw and placed it down firmly, eyes glued to the moss ball. Scooching her hindpaws up, she took an unsure step with her deformed left paw and faltered, but managed to stay upright.
Onefeather smiled. His paw slowly lowered as he looked on proudly at his kit. "See?" He purred as Crimsonkit inched closer to Granitekit silently. The little tom was so preoccupied with Bluekit that he didn't see or scent the little she-kit coming. When Bluekit finally tossed him the ball once more, Crimsonkit tensed and dived right in front of him, snatching the ball right in front of his nose.
Poppystripe was lost for words, just as Granitekit was as he starred at Crimsonkit in shock.
"It looks like she beat you to it!" Bluekit purred, dashing up to her sister and affectionately rubbing her back with her tail. Crimsonkit's eyes shined as she looked to the ball in her paws. She pulled herself up again and curiously rolled it between her paws, barely managing to stay standing.
"Rrrr..." Granitekit growled, quickly retreating back into the nursery.
"Looks like Granitekit is a poor loser." Onefeather purred, stepping up to his kits and nuzzling them.
"Seems that way..." Poppystripe managed, her whiskers drawn back proudly. Maybe Crimsonkit stood a chance after all. Her eyes shifted from kits to the Highledge, amazed to see Dawnstar looking down at all of them. Had she seen what happened?
I hope she did... Poppystripe thought, looking back to the kits as Bluekit bounced around Onefeather, as if battling him single-pawed while he acted as if she had actually injured him. Crimsonkit took a curious jab at the warrior now and then, jumping back in shock and falling over when he pretended to be hurt by her as well. It'll be great if she sees how right she was.
"Oh! Wow! What's that?!" Bluekit mewed, her eyes the size of moons as she looked into the sky. Poppystripe looked up, surprised to have a cool snowflake flutter down and onto her nose.
"That's snow, Bluekit." Onefeather purred, reaching up and batting at a snowflake with one of his paws.
Bluekit shivered when one landed on her own nose.
"They're cold!" She gasped, instantly disliking the frosty menace.
Poppystripe purred. "Sadly, you'll be seeing a lot of them for the next few moons."
Crimsonkit shivered, collecting the moss ball into her mouth and inching back toward the nursery. She had the right idea, Poppystripe concluded, shivering herself, some snowflakes fluttering off her fur as she did so. The red kit slowed a few pawsteps from the nursery though, and looked back her, her blue and amber eyes meeting her own. Poppystripe opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but stopped when the kit looked on to Onefeather and Bluekit, then finally up to Dawnstar. The leader tensed, her blue eyes meeting the kit's miss-matched pair for what seemed like a moon, until the kit finally turned around again and pushed her way through the brambles, her prize still firmly between her jaws.
Poppystripe cocked her head in curiosity, shifting her gaze up to Dawnstar as well. The leader's eyes had not shifted from where the blood-coloured kit had stood though, her body frozen in place like ice. What was wrong? Poppystripe wondered, but before she could scramble up the Highledge to ask, Dawnstar came to and turned away curtly, moving into her den.
Her ear flicked in curiosity as she watched her sister vanish over the lip of the Highledge. What had Dawnstar seen just then? Did StarClan send her a sign?