The Rise of Foxstar ( Warrior Cat Fanfiction)

Chapter 17

(Picture is of Wetclaw)

-Foxpaw's Dream-

"No! You're doing it wrong!" A loud voice yelled, Foxpaw looked around nervously. He was in an old tree, in a very gloomy-looking forest. There seemed to be no sun, but it didn't seem like nighttime either. The sky was just... dark... but Foxpaw could still see his surroundings.

Foxpaw looked down from the tree, there were three cats in a clearing full of dead grass. The whole forest seemed to be dead.

Two of the cats were locked in combat while the other, a larger tom with a mottled gray pelt and yellow eyes, was yelling at them that they weren't doing it right. The two cats were definitely smaller then the mottled tom, one was a she cat with pale gray fur and the other was a slightly larger tom with a fluffy golden pelt.

They were clawing and biting at each other like foxes fighting over prey in leaf-bare. Both were hissing and snarling, ears laid back. The mottled tom watched them with an angry look, as if saying he was upset with the way they were fighting. He seemed disappointed.

"Wetclaw! Then what are we supposed to do?!" The she cat cried out, frustrated. She tangled out of the fight, backing away from the golden tom. The mottled tom, Wetclaw, growled while the golden tabby, who looked strangely familiar to Foxpaw, stood up and shook his pelt and said,"Yeah! Mistlepaw's right! What are we doing wrong?"

Wetclaw growled again,"You keep biting and scratching in the same places. The nose, ears, and flank. " The tabby tom rolled his eyes,"Yeah, so what? We're causing damage either way." It was then Foxpaw noticed something eerie... the smaller cats, Mistlepaw and the golden tom, were covered in red blood that stuck to their pelts like burrs. Foxpaw's eyes widened, is this how these cats train? With claws UNsheathed? No wonder they were covered in crimson, they fought so viciously.

"So what?!" Wetclaw repeated angrily,"So what?! I'll tell you what! You have to aim to kill! At the very least, to maim!" Foxpaw shivered, this cat, Webnose, seemed like a very bad cat, evil even.

"Sorry... Wetclaw..." The smaller cats, of which Foxpaw believed to be apprentices of some sort, mumbled, looking down at their paws as Webnose glared them down. "Alright then, do it again, and this time aim for the throat, paws, and chest. This will give you more of an advantage. " Wetclaw explained with a huff of annoyance.

Mistlepaw's ears laid back, an annoyed expression on her face,"But what if you can't get a hit there?" She asked, Wetclaw growled a reply, an almost murderous look on his face,"If you can't get a hit? Well.... you'll end up losing. And if you lose, you get killed."

Mistlepaw gulped and the golden tabby, who looked strangely familiar to Foxpaw, dug his now-bloodstained-claws into the ground. "Now do it again! And this time, do it right!" Wetclaw growled out loudly, frightening poor Foxpaw.

Foxpaw let out a scared squeak, he only just realized his mistake when the three cats' heads shot towards his direction. Foxpaw shrunk back, trying to remain hidden. Thankfully, the forest was dark and, even with Foxpaw's bright pelt, he was incredibly difficult to see.

"What's that?" Mistlepaw asked, her blue eyes narrowed, but at the same time, full of curiosity and malice. Wetclaw's tail lashed angrily,"I don't know, but I fully intend to find out. " The golden tabby nodded in agreement,"Then we can teach him what the Dark Forest does to spies!" The tabby, of which Foxpaw thought seemed the more violent of the two apprentices, had a smirk on his face and a seemingly evil look about him.

Foxpaw tried to control his heavy breathing, but something strange seemed to be distracting him. Everything around him was starting to get blurry and seemed to be disappearing.

"Mistlepaw, go check around the edges of the clearing." Wetclaw ordered, though it sounded more airy now. A bit echoey as well. The fading silver she cat nodded, starting to pad away. "You, come with me to check the trees." Wetclaw nodded to the smaller golden tabby, who nodded back with his tail flicking.

The tabby tom, who Foxpaw still hadn't learned the name of, looked straight at Foxpaw and finally, his face could be seen. The tabby's eyes narrowed in realization, a rough growl erupting from his throat.

Now Foxpaw understood why the tabby was so familiar. Why Foxpaw thought he somehow knew him. The reason why his golden pelt and vicious nature was so... so... familiar. Why the tom seemed to know exactly who he was looking at. Why he seemed to know Foxpaw.

Foxpaw's eyes widened as the last of his surroundings and the cats finally disappeared. Leaving him in the dark and his final thought before he woke up...

The cat was Lionpaw.

-Dream Ended-

Foxpaw woke up in cold sweat, his eyes wide with fear and shock. A feeling this of betrayal flooded over him and Foxpaw didn't know why. That couldn't have been real, just a nightmare, right? Or was it?

Looking around the den, he noticed that barely any cats were up. The still-rising sun's light peaked through the holes in the bramble-woven roof, providing only some light. Crowpaw, Bravepaw, Mousepaw... they were sound asleep.

But what really caught Foxpaw's attention was Lionpaw. The cat he had seen in his dreams. The cat he saw fight so viciously and with an evil smirk. The same cat... who was his own brother.

Lionpaw was twitching and turning in his nest, his claws were unsheathed and his paws were swiping at nothing in the air. His lips were curled up in a silent snarl, as if he was in the middle of a fight or an argument. But the strangest thing, however, was the blood. Lionpaw was covered in fresh scratches and bites that were leaking red blood that stained his golden pelt.

Foxpaw felt sick, was that not a dream? Had he seen something he shouldn't have?

Gulping and as nervous as a rabbit in a fox den, Foxpaw walked into the clearing, away from the bloody Lionpaw.

Foxpaw was scared, not only for himself, but for the clan. He was even scared for Lionpaw, his older brother who had been nothing but terrible to poor Foxpaw. No matter what, he was still his brother. Evil or not...