Lurking Shadows - Specklepaw/ Pigeonfeather POV

Chapter 31

Specklefur woke to a soft swaying motion. The world was blurry and her hind leg kept banging against the rocks, sending a shoot of sharp pain.
"Ow," she meowed, her voice barely audible. The cat carrying her set her down, his eyes shining with relief.
"Specklefur! You're awake!" He exclaimed, his image slightly blurred for Specklefur.
"Jaguarfur? What happened?" Specklefur's mind spun; she was unable to focus on anything apart from the dizzying pain in her leg and blood-stained tail.
"There was a rockfall remember?" Jaguarfur, the cat who had been carrying her, replied. His warm amber eyes flashed with concern.
"I remember now," Specklefur lied, painfully nodding her head. She was still finding it hard to focus. The dazzling sunlight was shining through the Greenleaf canopy, blinding her. The world was a blur of green and blue, slowly, slowly growing darker at the edge of her vision. She fought to stay awake but, facing the truth that she had no energy, gave herself into the darkness enveloping her in it's pelt.
"Specklefur! Specklefur!" Jaguarfur pleaded, his strong paw shaking her vigorously. Yet his voice faded as Specklefur slipped out of consciousness, giving in to the searing pain.

A dark brown tortoiseshell she cat stood in a mossy glade. Rays of warm sunlight filtered in through the luscious trees.
"Mapleleaf?" Specklefur stood up, noticing with a jolt how her pain had vanished. Am I... In StarClan? Mapleleaf purred.
"Do not worry Specklefur, your time has not ended yet. I have came with a message for you." Specklefur pricked her ears, remembering the prophecy from earlier.
"Beware of the shadows and save the storm," Mapleleaf seemed to read her mind as her intense amber gaze looked deep into Specklefur's blue-green eyes.
"But what does it mean?" Specklefur asked, lashing her tail as her friend started to fade. Not again! She thought.
"Wait, Mapleleaf please!" She begged, but she knew it was too late. She could feel her head starting to throb again and collapsed on to the soft green grass.

The feeling of warmth in the air instantly evaporated as Specklefur came back to the present. The cold crept through her thin, sodden pelt and sent shivers down her spine. She was lying on some spiky twigs to the side of a clearing. Jaguarfur was sitting next to her, fear pulsing off of his pelt.
"Is he... losing a life?" Her brother asked, his amber eyes reflecting horror. Jaguarfur shifted a bit, seeming uncomfortable, and Specklefur could have a good view of what was going on. The throbbing in her head was duller now, enabling her to think more clearly, and her vision was clearer. However, the pain in her leg and tail was just as sharp as before. She gently moved her head up from the ground and rested her chin on some moss to get a view with a better angle.

Halfstar was lying in the middle of the clearing, tremors running through his body. Blazewhisker, mortified, opened his mouth to speak and took a few steps towards his father but Whiteberry stopped him.
"Stay there," she hissed. Suddenly, Halfstar stopped shaking and his emerald eyes went dull. He lay still in the middle of the clearing.
"Noooo," Blazewhisker yowled, burying himself unsuccessfully under some moss. The ginger tom gave up and curled up instead, not seeming to care that a raindrop from a leaf above him was constantly dripping water on to his head.

Without warning, Halfstar shuddered and blinked his eyes open.
"Blazewhisker, look," Jaguarfur lifted his tail with relief and Blazewhisker turned around, his eyes shining with happiness. Blazewhisker ran towards his father and purred. Yet Halfstar's expression remained grim.
"We need to get back to camp," he ordered.
"But we can't leave Specklefur here!" Jaguarfur protested.
"We can come back for her later, we need to go now," Halfstar repeated, more urgency in his voice.
"Nobody is leaving me here," Specklefur spoke for the first time, offended.
"I'm coming with you." Halfstar looked at her surprised, before bending down to lick his chest fur.
"Your awake Specklefur, great!" The leader replied, trying to cover up his embarrassment.
"We should get going then. Can you walk?"
"Yes, I think I will be able to," Specklefur replied, although she was struggling to get on her paws.

Come on, I can do this, Specklefur thought through a wave of pain. She stumbled over a rock and lurched forward but Jaguarfur grabbed her by the scruff. He hoisted her back on her paws and lent her his shoulder for support.
"Careful, looks like rocks really don't like you today," he joked. He moved his shoulder slightly and it resulted in Specklefur toppling over and landing in a convenient bit of moss. Eventually, she sadly decided that it was practically impossible to walk anymore and gave in to the darkness yet again.

Specklefur kept swimming in and put of consciousness, briefly aware that Halfstar was no longer speaking and was being carried by Whiteberry and Blazewhisker. Meanwhile she was being carried Sunpaw, who looked ashamed of herself, and Jaguarfur.

Specklefur was brought back by being dropped on the floor, hard. She realised Sunpaw, along with Stagpaw, had marched off. The camp was eerily silent. What's going on? Specklefur wondered, pricking her ears up. Thistledawn stumbled out of the medicine den, her ginger patched fur dishevelled and flecked with bits of green, sweet-smelling herbs.
"Where did Whiteberry go?" Thistledawn demanded, her gaze flitting over the injured cats briefly. Whiteberry trotted forward, dragging Halfstar behind her.
"You can explain what happened later... But you need to see this," Thistledawn meowed. Specklefur felt dread rise up inside her. What could have happened? She was carried into the medicine den by some cat and there lying in a heap of brown, lifeless fur was Dawnflight.