Hi everyone! This is the 3rd installment of a spin off from the wonderful SkyClanCat's work. I just get so many ideas every time! I really should work on my own ideas...I probably will. Eventually.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this work as well as read the original content from the SkyClanCat. Please feel free to leave reviews. Have a happy, safe and lucrative (for all you trick-or-treaters) Halloween!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Warrior cats. Original ideas come from Erin Hunter and TheSkyClanCat!
Halloween Enchantment: Beyond the Clans
It was that wretched time again. Bad enough that he had to suffer the Dark Forest, day in and day out wandering through the murky forest, starved of both food and good company. And the one day he could actually feed, he was forced to feed solely on blood rather than chew on a fat, juicy mouse. Even worse, he had to leave clan territory or else that pathetic kittypet would force him away regardless!
The tom snarled, his elongated fangs glinting in the moonlight as he stalked through the brush. Darkstripe, in his desperate search for sustenance, found himself in the old territories. Finally, some uninterrupted feeding! But his pleasure was short-lived.
All the trees and bushes he had known better than the back of his paw…they were gone! Burned and torn away by those disgusting two-legs! Almost on cue, a certain scent caught his nose. Two-legs! Unlike in life, when his instincts would have sent him scurrying back into the safety of the forest, his frenzy drove him forward. After all, what were Two-legs filled with aside from greed and nonsense?
Blood. Lots and lots of blood.
Jim was having a rather stressful Halloween night. At fourteen, he should have been with his friends or even stuck finishing his math homework for the following morning. But here he was, babysitting Suzy, his precocious 8-year-old dressed very cutely as a mouse (he shuddered at his mother's cooing (Ooh, isn't your sister adorable?) as his parents attended a Halloween party with their work friends. After scouring the neighborhood of all the candy they could find (he was just sooo excited to deal with her during a sugar high) with her little group, his mother had insisted they stop by their grandparent's farm to show Suzy off after dropping Suzy's friends at their home.
As the little girl skipped ahead, humming the lyrics of one of the many overplayed Halloween songs, he was suddenly forced out of his silent sulk. A red glare shone briefly from the edge of the woods. With an uneasy shrug, he caught up with Suzy, keeping a wary eye open. It was most likely just some punks cutting through to get back to the houses with a fancy flashlight, he told himself. No big deal.
Ferocious snarling cut his thoughts off. His sister shrieked as a shadow leapt forward, fangs dripping. It looked a little like a cat but quite a bit bigger than normal. Big enough to seriously hurt Suzy!
"Suzy!" Jim yelled, his cowboy hat falling to the ground as he lunged forward to pull her to safety. But before he could take more than a step, a large shape fell onto the demonic cat with a clarion call. The siblings watched spell-bound as the new arrival raked thorn-sharp claws at the monster which gave a yowl before racing away into the darkness. As the creature turned to look at them, Jim gasped. That was a griffin! He had read about them before. But what was one doing here? And why was it black rather than the tawny gold of a lion?
The griffin watched them for a moment then nodded his head towards his grandparents' home. That was all the encouragement Jim needed. Snatching Suzy up, he raced towards the house.
"Thank you, Mr. Griffin!" Suzy yelled, waving over her brother's shoulder.
As the children vanished from view, Ravenpaw couldn't help but snort. Kits- never a dull moment no matter their form. As he retreated to the barn, his thoughts took a turn even darker than his feathers. What was Darkstripe doing here? He was supposed to be dead! He slipped into the barn just as the Twoleg's light tore into the night, his dark pelage hiding him from their prying eyes.
"What happened?" Barley's deep voice caused him to jump. The temporary griffin ruffled his feathers. "Just a rogue being stupid" he murmured. As close as he was to the barn cat, he didn't want to worry him. Barley's scars from his days with Blood clan ran deep and he didn't want to remind him of the battle against Scourge. Now that brought back memories.
Ravenpaw was so glad he hadn't lost the charm from around his neck on his desperate flight from Thunderclan or during the great battle. He fondly thought back to his first Halloween in the barn. At first, Barley had been skeptical but it hadn't taken very long to convince him that he wasn't just pulling a cruel joke on the friendly loner. It did take a while to convince him that Ravenpaw wouldn't hurt him.
The black and white tom purred. "You always were soft with kits." He purred. Ravenpaw chortled. Noticing the lights from the house turn out, the griffin turned to Barley. "Ready to go?" At the tom's eager nod, he knelt down so Barley could hop on. Barley's purring increased in volume to the point where he could hear it over the wind. As the pair circled over the forest's remains, a blast of blue light illuminated their surroundings. "Shall we take a look?" Barley called. Ravenpaw nodded and landed.
What had been the great Fourtrees was now a wasteland. A emfrozen/em wasteland. The duo was so busy gazing around they missed a dark cat fading into the darkness, frost covering every inch of him. "Uh…" Barley began.
"No, no this was not me."
Far above, the denizens of Starclan chuckled at the scene below. "So, we can still transform during Halloween if there is a full moon." Lionheart rumbled, shaking out his great mane before Spottedleaf, now much smaller and sporting wings, landed atop his head. Bluestar nodded, retracting her beak from the pool. "Better still, we are able to repel Dark Forest warriors in these forms." The newly made ice-bird replied smugly. The former members of Thunderclan were alone, save for Yellowfang, who while being from Thunderclan, did not have the pleasure of meeting the mysterious molly Umbra. She scoffed. "What a bunch of ninnies, running from you lot." The rest of Starclan, while hearing the tales and watching the living celebrate, did not expect some of their own members to change.
Though diminutive, Spottedleaf's sigh still halted all conversation. "What a pity, Fourtrees was so wonderful… Then the twolegs tore it down. Without building anything on it! Maybe I can…" She trailed off, staring at the pool in contemplation. Green light surrounded the pool. They watched as Barley and Ravenpaw startled at the green light surrounding them, erasing the ice and heralding the arrival of ivy and flowers of every variety of red, orange and yellow.
Starclan watched the living pair admire the foliage before reluctantly leaving, clearly headed back to their barn. Spottedleaf slumped down on her perch, clearly exhausted. The fae feline chuckled at their worried gazes. "It was still worth it." She murmured. Then she smirked.
"If I remember correctly, Halloween falls on a full moon next year. Maybe we should start planning."
I always had wondered about Ravenpaw... and since Darkstripe had left the territory to parts unknown, I figured- why not? Did have a little bit of a Ferngully moment at the end, I couldn't help myself. And yes, I left Blackstar alone. He's been through enough.
But there's always next year. (Mwahahaha).
Again, please feel free to leave questions and/or reviews. And Happy Halloween!