Thornkit lay stretched across a small boulder on the far edge of the clearing, his sleep had only continued to get disturbed the whole night. The monster was not leaving his mind anytime soon, and it seemed to be contempt in that regard. But what in StarClan's name could it have been, it seemed like it might have had two at some point. It was too big to be a cat, could it have been a dog?
The dark brown tabby felt his pelt get brushed by another, as Birchkit came over to sit down beside him. The white and pale brown she-cat was watching him carefully, as Thornkit met her gaze steadily. "And here lies the kit Elder, who is practicing his Tick collecting skills before he can begin his training to be a warrior." She gently nudged Thornkit's side to get some kind of reaction out of the tom, earning a chuckle from the dark brown tabby as a response.
Fuzzykit came over to his other side, head butting his side gently. "Come on Thornkit, what's bringing you so down?"
Birchkit glanced at her brother with a stern look, before she turned to Thornkit once more. "Are you still having nightmares?"
"I'm beginning to feel that they're not nightmares at all." Thornkit answered the she-cat with a flick of his tail, his amber gaze starting to burn a hole into the grass touching his toes.
"Maybe you should go see Brambletuft about them, a medicine cat might be able to relieve your fears about it?" Poppyheart's meow startled the three kits, the russet colored she-cat licked Thornkit's ears comfortingly. "She's currently over in her den, I'm sure that she won't mind talking to you." The she-cat reassured the young tom.
Thornkit looked up at his mother who stepped aside, before looking over in the direction of the medicine den. He took a moment to think about what she said, taking a deep breath he slid off the rock and quietly headed over in its direction. He had a feeling that the russet colored she-cat was right, but something didn't sit right with talking about it still. As he approached the opening, he poked his head inside.
"This cut in your ear will take some time to heal, but you should be good to continue your daily activities." the golden brown she-cat meowed, tending to Mintnose's newest injuries. The lilac tortoiseshell she-cat dipped her head to the healer, before heading towards the entrance. Thornkit ducked out of the way to let her pass, debating whether or not to bother Brambletuft inside. But he stepped in anyway, and slowly and carefully crossed towards the healer.
Brambletuft was getting herself a drink from the small stream that swept through, and was startled when she looked back to see Thornkit steadily making his way over to her. "Oh, hello Thornkit." she meowed, her tone warm and welcoming. "What can I help you with?"
Thornkit opened his mouth to speak but closed it quickly, instead thinking on his toes he came up with an excuse. "I, have a sore throat." he fanned a hoarse tone as best as he could, it didn't seem to convince the golden brown she-cat but she stepped towards her stores. Coming back with a tightly knitted ball of moss that was dripping the nectar honey.
"This should subside it, is there anything else?" she meowed, clearly sensing that something was actually wrong.
Thornkit sighed as he prepared himself. "I've been having these weird dreams lately, dreams that do not feel like they're my own." the dark brown tabby started, pausing as he expected a "Dreams are nothing" speech from the she-cat, but she was listening closely. "At first it started off sweet, I was playing in a clearing with other kits… none of whom I could recognize. The next dream I was hunting in an wet biome, where the grass was wet and muddy. But recently the dreams have gotten darker..."
Brambletuft listened to his explanation carefully. "Did anything seem familiar about any of these locations, even remotely to the eyes that you were seeing through?"
"Only the first dream." Thornkit answered truthfully, his dark brown fur fluffing out. "And… there was a monster.. lurking somewhere that the stars or the sun could never reach, it was stronger than me and… I think it had killed me."
Brambletuft looked at him thoughtfully, her eyes full of worry. "I… I am sure that you're just troubled, are you getting enough sleep each night?" her mew was worryingly, but the look in the eye said that she was starting to believe him.
Thornkit took a deep breath before shaking his head no, Brambletuft tilted his head towards the roof with her tail and inspected both of his eyes. "Before bed each night, come see me… I have poppy seeds that should help you sleep better. If these dreams persist, please see me again. Now, if you could please excuse me… I need to have a word with Driftstar."
As the golden brown she-cat nudged him towards the entrance, Thornkit stopped and looked over his shoulder as he had one last thing to say. "I think they might be tied to Oakwhisker, I think he's alive… but in terrible danger." he mewed, looking into the medicine cat's gaze with hope flourishing.
Brambletuft's gaze darkened, her expression deepened and she glanced over his shoulder towards the wet rock. "Just try and take it easy for now, and see me before bed… I will remind Poppyheart to send you over here."
Thornkit nodded as eh turned around and headed back out across camp, he could hear Brambletuft's hurried pawsteps behind him as she rushed towards the leader's den. Birchkit was over by the storyteller's rock listening to another one of Thistlewhisker's tales. Birchkit was too focused on Longflame's tail to really pay attention.
"-and so when Driftpaw reached the edge of the river… Oh there you are Thornkit, good to see you coming over to join us." Thistlewhisker spoke sweetly as the dark brown tabby reached the bottom of the perch.
Birchkit turned her gaze to Thornkit. "What did Brambletuft have to say about your nightmares?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.
Greentooth behind them let out a strained huff of annoyance. "Nightmares are just nightmares, the tom just needs to live with them."
Thistlewhisker glared behind her at the tom before turning back to Thornkit. "You don't mind if I continue from where I left off?"
Thornkit nodded as he sat down and listened to her tale, an unsettled feeling remained in his gut however. As his gaze turned over to where Brambletuft was sitting down with Driftstar, he saw the pale brown tabby sit up and turn to look over in his direction. Tensing up his shoulder, Thornkit turned his back.