WARRIORS: He Was What I Wasn't

5

"Ooomph!" Wingedpaw landed with a thud on the dirt and sand mixed floor of the Vine Clearing with Pebblepaw pinning him down. He was out on another training session with his brother, an occurrence that they had been doing for roughly a moon now. He could feel himself improving, and strength surged through him.

"Come on! Do better!" Pebblepaw half meowed and half laughed. Wingedpaw narrowed his eyes in determination. He would beat his mentor. Ever since the tour of the territory, Nosight had only been able to instruct Wingedpaw on how to do it, but never correct. That was where his brother came in.

"Well, don't you think-" he cut himself off and pushed forward, catching Pebblepaw under his legs. Pebblepaw buckled and collapsed, yelping in shock. His tail caught a vine along the way, bringing it crashing down and landing on top of Pebblepaw, who sneezed as more dust flew up into the air. Wingedpaw purred in happiness, half trotting half hopping around his brother in glee at his victory.

"Haha!" he mrrowed in joy, finally stopping his circling. Pebblepaw stood up, shaking the vine off as if it was a poisonous bug.

"Ugh," he grumbled, kicking it away. Nosight purred, walking up to the two brothers, her eyes gazing blankly and never making eye contact. 

"How's training?" she asked, flicking her gaze at random. Wingedpaw guessed she was looking for which direction they were in, but wasn't seeming to be able to focus on one spot. He looked at Pebblepaw and smiled.

"Good." It had been good. Today was an unusually happy day as Slinkpaw's usual remarks on Nosight's ability to train him hadn't occurred yet. He always ignored her, but something pricked inside of him each time she sneered. A large part of him agreed with her, but he wouldn't tell her or Nosight that. 

 Wingedpaw flicked his ears when a rustle came from nearby, and all three cats tensed. "Who's there?" Nosight meowed, quickly stepping in front of both Pebblepaw and Wingepaw protectively. She used her body as a shield, blocking the direction from which the sound came from.

Suddenly a whir of shape flashed by and Nosight screeched in agony as she collapsed, blood splaying out. Wingedpaw took a step back in shock, Pebblepaw copying his brother's actions. The two of them shared glances, and an unspoken understanding came before they began yowling for help. Wingedpaw was frozen as he called. He couldn't move, no matter what he tried to do. He could only look at Nosight as she was horribly clawed by what seemed to be... A star. A star on the forehead of the attacker. A leader? 

"What's going on?" Dioritestar yowled, crashing into the Vine Clearing with a couple of other warriors and apprentices behind him. Wingedpaw caught sight of his mother, Cinnamonfur, among the few. Dioritestar gasped as he realized what was happening. Wingedpaw saw him hesitate, but Cinnamonfur was faster. She jumped onto the attacker and rolled him-no, her away. The two she-cats tussled on the floor, kicking up dust and sending vines swinging with no direction as they scuffled. 

Wingedpaw turned his gaze back to Nosight, who was breathing in rapid, quick, and shallow breaths. He scampered forward to her and meowed in a panicked voice, "Nosight? Nosight!" She didn't respond, her cloudy gaze flicking back and forth. Wingedpaw could see the blood trickling down from her mouth, staining the dirt and sand floor beneath them. He looked at the rest of her body, and the sight was horrifying. Clumps of fur were torn out, exposing the raw flesh and the pink and red mixtures as Nosight's gray fur began to clump together as the blood began to dry. Her throat was gone, and the rest of her was mangled and almost unlifelike. 

Wingedpaw couldn't speak at the sight. What sort of cat would do this? Something so horrid? He quickly looked away and back at the tussle. Except, it wasn't a tussle anymore. Cinnamonfur and the strange cat had broken away. Dioritestar stood beside his mate, his gaze flickering from hesitant to angry. Wingedpaw could see the rage in his father's eyes, but also the fear. Fear of what, though? His mother, on the other hand, appeared to be bleeding badly. Cuts and bite marks were everywhere. Her right eye was closed as a bleeding scratch let bright red droplets fall to the floor. 

He couldn't breathe at the sight. One moment he was prancing around his brother in the joy of his victory, and the next Nosight was dead. Dead? How could it be? He could feel himself shaking. Shaking...

"Who are you?" Pebblepaw demanded. For a moment, Wingedpaw thought it would be Dioritestar, but it appeared that his brother had beat him to it. He looked back at the strange cat and saw that she barely had any scratches on her. How is that possible? He frowned, then shuddered when he looked at Nosight's unrecognizable body.

The strange attacker spoke. "Friends, I come in peace. I am Coyotestar of SwampClan, here to say hello."