Lightning's Storm

A Chilling Dawn

Morning sunlight streamed in through the mouth of the apprentice's den, falling across my closed eyes. I blinked my eyelids open and yawned, arching my back and stretching my paws far out in front of me, digging my claws into the moss of my nest.

Shaking my pelt, I stepped out of my nest carefully as to not to rouse Nightpaw. He had moved his nest again, and it was now back to being pressed up tightly against mine. Whisper, Tattered, and Crash were also sleeping in the apprentice den, since they were receiving training like apprentices. Shiver was still in the medicine cats den, but I had heard her cut was already getting better under the care of Echosong. The rogues' nests were against the far wall, so Nightpaw had moved his nest to be as far from theirs as possible.

My ears twitched as I glanced at the three of them. The rogues had only been here a few sunrises, and so some of my clan-mates, including Nightpaw, were still understandable wary.

But, I'm sure he will get over them being here soon. When he sees that they are good cats, and Leafstar was right to let them join.

I padded out of the den, bounding down into the camp. I quickly found Wolfshade's pelt in the crowd, and we headed out on a hunt.

New-leaf was only beginning, and so we spent a lot of time searching the territory for prey. We managed to find two birds and two squirrels, which was a respectable haul for the time of year. Still though, I hoped to least grab another mouse before we returned to camp. I was sniffing the air for prey-trails when a rancid scent drifted into my mouth around the sweet scent of the sparrow I held in my jaws.

My shoulder fur bristled.

"Do you smell that?" I meowed to Wolfshade.

He sniffed the air.

"It smells like really strong crow-food," he replied, wrinkling his nose up in disgust.

My stomach flipped, both from the sickening, rotting scent and from unease. I couldn't shake a creeping, unpleasant feeling that something was very wrong.

We need to investigate this.

I glanced at Wolfshade and saw that his eyes were in agreement with mine. I turned and strode in the direction of the scent. As I was bounding through the undergrowth, following the trail, I almost stumbled over a damp patch of fur in the tall grass near the stream. I recoiled, the scent of crow-food rushing over me like a wave. My throat spasmed as I dry-heaved from it.

In the patch of dewy grass in front of me lay the fox, dead, its body half hidden by the green fronds. Its eyes were open, but empty and glassy, staring out at nothing. Its tongue was bloated and purple, hanging out between broken yellow teeth and lolling in the dirt. Its patchy red pelt looked bleached from the sun on its skeletal frame, and I saw its fur shift as worms wiggled through its skin. I shuddered, taking a step back, my eyes wide with horror. I dropped the bird I was carrying at my paws, trying hard not to retch at the sight and smell of the rotting thing.

"Good riddance," Wolfshade growled, padding forward and peering down at it.

"...It seems strange though doesn't it?" I whispered, still staring down at the fox.

"What does?" Wolfshade meowed, turning back to me.

My gaze was locked on the fox's eyes. I seemed unable to move mine from its glassy, lifeless ones. The fox's slitted amber eyes looked eerily a lot like a cat's.

"...It's new-leaf. It made it all the way through leaf-bare. Now there should be more prey for it to eat and survive. But, it's dead anyway," I meowed, still staring down into its eyes as a feeling of horror grew in the back for my throat.