Warriors: Cobwebs

12. The Vision

     Webpaw opened his eyes to a land of dim light and clouds. Surrounding him were massive trees, all connected by extraordinary spiderwebs, all gleaming with fresh dew. 

     "Beware the spider who connects the trees, who will trap the Clans so that the tiger may sink its fangs into the heart of the shadow."

     The voice was raspy and slow, wispy. Webpaw looked around, panic-stricken with fur bristling.

     "Who.. who are you?" he cried out, fear tearing at him like dog teeth. There was no answer, and his blood pounded in his ears. 

    Slowly, the figure of a cat formed before him. A cat of ebony and emerald eyes: Shadowclaw. And from his neck seeped a dark liquid that dripped and coated the ground and his paws. His eyes were lifeless, and his face and body were decorated with scars and gashes. 

     "Shadowclaw.." Webpaw whispered, stepping forward with ears laid back. The cat before him pinned his ears back, and gave a heart-tearing hiss, pupils turning to slits.

     "Go away!" he spat, claws piercing the soil. Webpaw leaped back, eye wide with fear and confusion. 

     The scene faded, the ground falling from beneath his paws, and Webpaw struggled to move. His paws were glued to the nothingness he stood upon. The clouded sky disappeared, and was replaced by the bright, twinkling stars of StarClan. The air below him shifted to soft grass that tickled his paw pads. No trees surrounded him, and a bubbling stream trickled behind him. He could move now-

     "Violet!" he called in a kit-like tone, paws shaky. No family greeted him, and his heart sunk in his chest. "Momma.." he mewled to himself, head hanging low. He felt ice-cold, like he was forced into a lake in LeafBare and made to remain there for hours on end. And he sat alone in the grass, disappointed and scared with his eye closed. "Violet.."

     A paw lightly prodded the sleeping cat's side, and Webpaw slowly opened his single eye. His sight was blurry, his fur damp from morning dew and his nose stuffy. He flinched when his stomach loudly growled, and the cat waking him chuckled, amused.

     The medicine cat apprentice turned his head slowly and found himself staring at large black paws. He turned his sights upward and discovered that his alarm clock was Shadowclaw, and he was still on top of the knoll.

     Shadowclaw!

     Webpaw leaped to his paws and backed away, heart racing from the surprise. "Wha- why are you out here?" he demanded, and Shadowclaw purred, smiling. 

     "Calm down. Blackear sent me to look for you. What are you doing out here?" the cat explained, then questioning the apprentice. Webpaw's jaw dropped as he searched for something to answer with. "I was walking and.. and I got tired and stopped to rest. I didn't mean to fall asleep." That was his excuse. And a very poor one to both he and the listener. But Shadowclaw shrugged, hummed and mewed "okay," and turned. "Come on. Clearwhisker probably needs you by now." And the warrior began the trek back towards camp, Webpaw gingerly padding after him. He compared the dream Shadowclaw to the real one, and stopped dead in his path.

    Shadowclaw has a scar just under his eye that the dream Shadowclaw didn't have! They.. they weren't the same cats?!