Warriors: Cobwebs

18. The First Suspicion

               Webpaw stared up at the sky, admiring the twinkling stars that glowed amongst the darkness. They were truly beautiful, he thought, as they shimmered above. He knew StarClan was watching; Violet was watching. And maybe, just maybe, he could speak with her.

     He stood and smiled at the tickling feeling the dark grass granted his paws. Of course, he couldn't admire the grass for long, as he had a mission. Luckily, night had only just fallen. And the half moon was rising once again.

     So he trotted into the medicine den and discovered Clearwhisker asleep in his nest, or so it seemed. But as soon as Webpaw came close enough to paw at the ear of the old cat, the medicine cat opened one eye.

     "It's the half moon. We have to go," Webpaw whispered to his mentor, and Clearwhisker yawned and rolled onto his back. Clumps of soft moss and tiny feathers clung to his long, rugged fur, and his whiskers twitched.

     "You can go alone," murmured the old tom, yawning once again and flashing sharp fangs. "I trust you.. I told Fallenstar to let you go." This made Webpaw tilt his head in confusion, and he blinked his once eye. A draft blew in through the den entrance and made both cats shiver. "Wouldn't the other medicine cats question it though? If I didn't have proof?" he asked his friend. He knew, for sure, that Brokenbark would attempt to put a damper on the young cat's reputation if he turned up alone.

     "They won't care," Clearwhisker answered, "now scram. I'm tired."

          The trip up the mountain was surprisingly smooth, despite the cold air blowing against him, and the occasional stumble over a mysteriously appearing rock. Webpaw kept his head low and his ears pinned back, shivering against the chilly breeze, but he drove on. No wind or rock would hold him back; he was determined to speak with Violet, and he would reach his goal and complete his objective.

     When Webpaw reached the summit, he was met by a pair of scrutinizing eyes. Brokenbark glared at him, and curled his lips back into a frown.

     "Where is Clearwhisker?" he questioned, his voice laced with suspicion.

     "Brokebark," mewed a cat, Whisperheart of FireClan. "Clearwhisker is old. He probably stayed at the camp," she suggested. Brokenbark shot her a look and scoffed. "Clearwhisker would never miss a meeting unless there was a problem! We have twolegs in the forest, and we need his help! He wouldn't just stay behind!"

     "Stop it!" Finchfeather hissed. "Webpaw is one of us, or do you have such a small brain that you can't remember that, Brokenbark? Now get to the Moonpool!" Webpaw flinched. Never had he expected to hear the PlainClan cat speak with a voice louder than a mother's tone.

          Brokenbark, defeated, turned and stomped towards the Moonpool. Webpaw glanced at the cats who stood close to the water. Dustfoot was sitting in silence, and an aura of fear and exhaustion surrounded her. Whisperheart sat beside her, her tail swishing back and forth. Across the pool, Brokenbark took his place and Finchfeather sat with him. Frozenfoot was lying on his belly closest to the pool, his paws curled under his chest. Webpaw skirted around the pond and sat beside the silent tom.

     "We had best connect with StarClan," Whisperheart mewed. All of the medicine cats lapped water from the Moonpool simultaneously. Webpaw did the same and backed away, curling up into a ball of fluff and closing his eye.

               Leaves of red, brown and gold swirled around breeze, and they came to rest at Webpaw's paws. The apprentice looked around at the bright forest around him. This was not StarClan's territory, but DarkClan's territory.

     "What.. Why am I not with StarClan?" Webpaw whispered, raising his voice in frustration. "I need StarClan!"  He stomped forward, tail lashing, and walked between a pair of tall oak trees. He had expected to barge past, and continue, but his plan was foiled when he walked directly into a spider web.

     He staggered back and shook his head, shouting and spitting at the web that clung to his face. He tore at the webs until he was freed from their grasp, and he glared at them until they vanished before his eye. He blinked and looked at the space between the two trees. They were connected by a massive spider web. And in the center was a strangely white spider.

          "Beware the spider that connects the trees," Webpaw quoted, and he stepped closer to the web , inspecting the spider. He noticed, just on its abdomen, a black splotch. He remembered the first vision: the tiger and the shadow. And the web. The web that was emphasized so much in his dreams. The web that he had walked into, and trapped himself in.

     His stomach did flips, and the blood pounded in his ears. The white and black spider had moved, and was creeping closer to a dying leaf that had fallen upon the web. The leaf crumpled and turned black, and the spider stepped onto it without hesitation.

     And Webpaw's vision blackened, only for it to return to show him a different scene.

          Sitting, just a fox length away, was a black cat, the one from his first vision. And he turned his head and stared at Webpaw with eyes that could see into a cat's soul.

     "She is behind you," he said, his voice rough and hateful. "Just behind the tangle of webs spun by the spider, is the tiger. Will you let her pass? Or will you release her?" He sounded nothing like Shadowclaw, or any other cat Webpaw had ever heard. It was possible he could have been of StarClan, but a feeling of dread washed over Webpaw that spoke otherwise.

     Webpaw looked over his shoulder and saw nothing but the fence of a twolegplace. Ahead of him, with the black tom, was the forest. "What do you mean?" he asked with a whimper and a troubled expression. His voice became louder. "Who is this tiger? And.. And what do you mean? That she is behind me? Behind the webs?"

     He trailed off.

     "Am I the spider? Or am I the product of its.. Its evil?"

          The black cat's expression turned from void to amused, and he burst into a fit of laughter. "You decide!" he exclaimed, his sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. "It's your choice! I may be the darkness, but I am not the evil! I'm only a shadow of what's to come, so how do I know?"

               Shadow..

     Webpaw's eye snapped open, and he scraped his claws against the rock. He struggled to breathe, and to think. Only one word rolled through his thoughts coherently: shadow.

     The apprentice stood but stumbled, and fell forward, hitting the rock with a soft thump and knocking his breath out. He had never been so shaky, even as he watched his sister's brutal death.

     I could be the web.

     He whimpered and shut his eye tightly.

     He told me to decide. I could be the web.

          Never had he interpreted his vision, or any other related dream, in such a way. Never had he suspected that he would indeed be associated with the strange prophecy.

     But that cat acted as if I could prevent something. So maybe the web is the right choice. But then again-

          "You're awake?"