Chapter 8: Nightmares Don't Come True

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Halftail blinked open his eyes and realized that he wasn't sleeping beside Kanan, Sorrel, or Bine anymore. He was somewhere where he appeared to be floating, or at least hovering a bit. "Am I in Starbound?"

He heard a slight hissing sound and he turned around. Two cat faced each other in front of him, striking and hissing at one another. He had never seen such violent fighting. Half of the one cat's face was torn while the other cat's ear hung limply, holding on by a thread. Blood coated their pelts, but Halftail managed to see that one was pure black with white markings and the other one was his same shade. He wasn't sure which cat would win. Is there ever a winner with fighting like this, Halftail thought darkly.

As quickly as they appeared, the two cats disappeared. Halftail looked around madly in surprise. Only in Starbound could this happen.

He rose to his paws and stalked forward, wondering what else he might be able to see. He was nervous to find out.

He suddenly heard a shrieking cry. He swiveled on his paws and saw a cat far away from him. He had no idea what he looked like, but he realized that the tom was standing over a she-cat, keening in grief. He turned his muzzle upward and wailed as loudly as possible. He couldn't believe that he was seeing all of this. Was there a point?

As they drifted further away from him he blinked his eyes as he saw Bine standing in front of him. "Bine," breathed Halftail with round eyes. "What are you doing?"

Bine just dipped her head as she began to fade. Halftail took a leap forward but vines curled around his paws and held him back. "Bine, where are you going? Don't leave me!"

Bine disappeared into nothingness around him and terror gripped Halftail heart. "No!"

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Halftail awoke with a jolt, terror pulsing through him. He looked around and sat that Bine was still beside him, her head rested on her paws and her tail curled around her. He saw Sorrel was beside her, her head rested on Bine's spine. Kanan was on his other side, snoring softly. Sabine, Zeb, and Molis were across from them. Everyone was safe, so why did he feel so edgy?

He rose to his paws and padded down the ally. The sun was beginning to shine, but it was still mostly dark and surprisingly cold. His fur kept him warm and he hoped no one else was feeling the chill.

He sat down at the edge of the ally, sighing heavily.

"Are you alright?"

He turned his head and saw that Kanan had followed him. "I didn't mean to wake you," he meowed as Kanan sat beside him, shivering a bit.

Kanan shook his head. "I was about to get up anyway. We have to prepare," he assured as he stretched out a hand and scratched Halftail's neck.

"Prepare," echoed Halftail distantly as his tail twitched.

Kanan frowned. "Are you okay? You seem sort of out of it."

Halftail shook his head to clear it. "I didn't notice," he mumbled as he raised a paw and began to groom his face out of pure habit.

"Another nightmare," muttered Kanan as he rubbed a hand against his eyes. "I really should have guessed that first."

Halftail hissed with his hackles lifting. "Yeah, and? I have them all the time now. They're just nightmares. They don't mean anything," he argued curtly.

Kanan had another idea. "You know, nightmares can sometimes show you what is to come," he pointed out as the wind blew.

Halftail pushed his paws under his chest and puffed out his fur. "Yeah." He hated the idea that these nightmares might come true. He had no idea what the nightmares meant, but it couldn't be good, he knew that much. "But not mine."

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