Warriors: Eye of the Storm

Chapter 4

     Bladekit's ears perked up as he heard a yowl from the elder's den. A mouse-brained elder must've stepped on a thorn. Probably that blind one, too. He was scampering around the camp, watching the apprentices mindlessly throw themselves into bushes to hide from the others.

     He decided to sit on a rock, gazing up as the sun warmed his pelt. The rock felt hard beneath him, but he didn't care. After witnessing Leafkit and Smokepaw share a piece of prey, all he wanted to do was to sink his teeth into the neck of a rabbit or two. 

     Or even Smokepaw's.

     He used his unsheathed claws to scrape at the rock beneath him which helped a little. Why was Smokepaw taking Leafkit away from him? He hadn't done anything to Smokepaw. His fur bristled with fury, making his claws dig deeper into the solid stone, creating some kind of screeching sound. 

     Leafkit and Smokepaw weren't littermates, Bladekit and Leafkit were!   

     They were, they were, they were!

     He got carried away in his thoughts and they pulled him under. He was standing on top of Smokepaw, his right paw lifted high in the air where it could easily land on Smokepaw's face. Bladekit's claws were unsheathed with a tint of blood on the tips. The air smelled of blood and death and the trees creaked and moaned in the wind. The sudden rush of air nipped at the tips of his ears, making him snarl. Smokepaw was laying on his back as Bladekit had him pinned down. He was squirming but couldn't seem to escape, as Bladekit was larger and heavier. 

     Bladekit chuckled. He had Smokepaw's life right between his two paws. Smokepaw's eyes were closed shut and he trembled beneath Bladekit's powerful body, which seemed warrior-sized. For the first time in his life, Bladekit felt truly in control. 

     In control of somebody else's life, that was.

     "Look at me," he growled as he leaned forward. Smokepaw flinched and cowered even more. "LOOK. AT. ME."

     His snarling grew louder and his anger rose and rose until he had had enough. He slashed Smokepaw right on the nose and he let out a yelp. His nose grew red and blood dripped out of it. Smokepaw's senses went wild. Smokepaw finally opened his eyes and they were full of pure fear, which made Bladekit smile before he lifted his paw back up and landed a harder blow near the eyes. 

     He continued until Smokepaw's whole face grew red and his breathing slowed. He let him go, knowing he was too weak to flee. Just as Smokepaw let out a sigh of relief, he bit into his neck as hard as he could. This is what you get from taking my sister away from me. He tore out a chunk of his flesh and began to chew as if it was mouse meat. It didn't taste bad. 

     It tasted good at first, probably as good as rabbit meat, but when he saw his sister with a horrified expression, standing behind a bush, the chunk of meat tasted no better than crow-food. 

     A gust of wind tumbled through the small hills of the forest until Bladekit's surroundings felt...

     Happier?

     He looked around with surprise and realized the blood scent had disappeared and pretty much everything else. The only thing that had stayed was the forest, and it looked completely different. It was much brighter, and the sun was successfully able to filter through the leaves of the trees. He shuddered a little, realizing Smokepaw had only been beneath him a few seconds ago.

     Even the taste of the meat was gone from his mouth, and he was grateful for that. 

     He spun around to get a better view of the forest and realized there was a small, white she-cat with stripes, sitting behind him. He could tell she was a warrior, but she was the same size as him. "What?" He spat.

     "Don't dream about that place anymore," she warned, staring straight at him with her piercing blue eyes. She looked stern, but it made Bladekit laugh because she was the exact same size as him. She was threatening him? Bladekit found it very funny.

     "Who do you think you are?" Bladekit finally huffed out once he had finished laughing. "I can dream what I want." He could dream about all the death and blood he wanted. Maybe he could even dream about killing her. How would she like that?

     "I am Icefang, and I was the deputy of ThunderClan before you were even born, kit." 

     Bladekit dug his claws into the ground with rage. He wasn't "just a kit!"

     "Okay, well, I'm not a medicine cat. Why are you talking to me and why should I listen to you?" He pinned his ears to the back of his head.

     "I'm visiting you because you should not dream about the Place of No Stars," she flicked her tail as she blabbered on and on. "You should take my advice, or else the cats from the Dark Forest will notice you there and begin to visit your dreams."

     "I can do what I want," he spat. This was ridiculous! It was like she was saying dreaming was against the warrior code!

     "No," she boomed, standing up. She took one step forward and Bladekit took one step back with caution. "You will stay away from there." 

     "I don't need somebody to make decisions for me," he snarled and turned away. He threw himself into the bushes and scrambled away not caring to look around and see where he was. Brambles and thorns dug into his skin and he felt blood trickle down his leg but he didn't care. He kept running. 

     Bladekit awoke with a startle. He was safely in his den, tucked away in some corner. His leg hurt from the place the thorns had pricked him. He yawned, glad to be away from the strange she-cat he had met. 

     He wasn't a medicine cat, so why was he having dreams from StarClan? He never wanted to be a medicine cat. The job seemed boring and didn't include the thrill of being a cat in the wild. It seemed like a useless job to Bladekit; even without a medicine cat wounds could still heal. They even showed up as scars, which Bladekit thought was better than being stuck in the medicine den for a couple of days.

     Bladekit got to his paws and stretched. The new-leaf sun dappled through the leafy branches above. The sky was a light pink blending into the dark blue. It seemed to be sunup. 

     Icefang, the name seemed familiar to Bladekit. 

     He shook his head to clear his thoughts and exited the nursery. 

     Littlebranch was calling to the warriors who huddled around her in a wide circle. They were waiting patiently to be placed on a patrol.