The Rogue Traitor #1 - Beginning of the Curse

Chapter Fifteen

"Birdpaw?" Whiskerstar's voice asked from far away. The apprentice stood rooted in the spot, fear pulsing through her. She couldn't bring herself to move away, her eyes wide and claws out, digging into the dusty ground.

"What is wrong with her?" asked Ashflake's far away voice as Whiskerstar came to stand next to his apprentice, putting a grey tabby tail on her shoulder but it did little to comfort the apprentice. All she could hear was cats screeching and yowls of pain, blood pooling on the ground amongst dead bodies. Cat withered in their own blood before their eyes turned glassy, staring into nothing. Some had their mouths opened in silent screams while others had their faces scrunched up in pain. She turned and saw Maplestar prowling out of three bushes, walking straight towards her, his ears pinned back and amber eyes gleaming with malice.

"Birdpaw?" asked the grey tabby leader, causing the apprentice to jump back into the present. The dying cats disappeared, the grass was no longer blood-red and Maplestar had vanished. Birdpaw took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her pounding heart, closing her eyes and then opening them again, Grassbreeze and Ashflake looking at her strangely.

"Get a grip Birdpaw," the apprentice scolded herself, "you look like a complete idiot. It was just a dream, there will be no battle. Just a dream, just a dream." She managed a wobbly smile at the two warriors and took another deep breath.

"Just a mild headache," she said, "I am fine." Though she did not feel fine at all, her heart pounded against her chest and her stomach churned like she has eaten crow-food.

"Why don't we go back to camp?" suggested Whiskerstar, looking down at his apprentice with concern, something in his eyes showing that he knew she didn't have a headache. Birdpaw was grateful for this option and nodded, trying not to be too enthusiastic and keep her lie of a headache. Grassbreeze and Ashflake nodded, though they still looked as the tortoiseshell and white apprentice.

The journey back through the forest was silent and uneventful, except for when Ashflake caught a sparrow, leaping up a tree like a squirrel. Whiskerstar stayed next to his apprentice with the two warriors bringing up the back. When they pushed through the camp barrier, Whiskerstar tapped his apprentice on the shoulder with his tabby tail, jerking her out of her thoughts about the battle.

"Let's go to the medicine cat den," he said, nodding towards where Flowerstem was sorting berries out the front of the den, "and sort out that headache of yours." As Ashflake and Grassbreeze passed he bent down to whisper in her ear, "and tell us what it really was about." Birdpaw nodded, though she dreaded telling the medicine cats and her mentor about the upcoming battle. They both walked up to the medicine cat den and Whiskerstar beckoned to Flowerstem with his tail as she looked up at them both.

"We need to talk inside," he said before disappearing through the ivy dangling out the front of the entrance. The brown and white medicine cat looked at Birdpaw questioningly but the apprentice avoided her gaze, following her mentor inside.

Chiveleaf looked up with a leaf in her mouth, rolling her eyes with a loud sigh as Birdpaw stepping in a pile of leaves, scattering them everywhere. Whiskerstar was sitting near the pond at the centre of the den, a firm look on his face and Flowerstem appeared, rolling the berries inside with her paw.

"I really hope you two have a good reason in being here," grumbled Chiveleaf as she rearranged the pile of leaves scattered on the floor, "we are quite busy at the moment." Birdpaw resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the old medicine cat's grumpiness, and instead took a deep breath as Whiskerstar replied.

"Well, Birdpaw had something she want to share with us," he said and all eyes turned to the tortoiseshell and white apprentice. Birdpaw took another deep breath before launching into a big explanation of what she has seen at the Moonpool, purposely leaving out the part of Whiskerstar. She then told them what she had seen at the clearing during the border patrol. The three cat listened with interest, and even Chiveleaf didn't interrupt. The apprentice finished her story and Whiskerstar rose, his eyes glimmering with an unidentifiable emotion.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" he asked, his voice surprisingly gentle. Birdpaw ducked her head and licked her fur, trying to come up with an answer that was not something along the lines of "well, I didn't want to tell you because you are one the cats in the battle."

"I don't know," replied the apprentice, her voice quiet as she looked at her paws, "I suppose I didn't want to bother you because I could have been just a dream."

"Stupid answer," the apprentice told herself, "it obviously was not a dream, since Rainshadow, that StarClan cat, told you could see the future." That just made Birdpaw's worry increase and Chiveleaf snorted, seeming to have thought the same thing, stacking berries in the wall behind Whiskerstar.

"Thank you for telling us," Said Flowerstem, glaring at her old mentor, using the same gentle voice as her mate, "but I have to say, I don't think it is the dream.