Warriors: The Blood Moon Rises

Chapter Five

Umber blinked in shock. Join the clan? Her brain was flooded with thoughts. Her life wasn't that bad, was it? I mean, she'd been chased off by clan cats a few times, but she wasn't dead! Well, it was a bit more than a few times, but who was counting?
"Hey, did you hear?" Falconpaw asked.
"Oh-uh- yes. I mean, I don't know!" Umber kept her eyes forward. "Can I have some time to think it over?"
"Yeah, I guess this is a pretty big decision for you to get a new home," Falconpaw considered. "I should probably head back now. You see that tree over there?" She lifted a claw and pointed to an especially thick tree. "When you've made your decision, leave some sort of mark on the tree. I'll check it every day for the next moon, and when I see the mark, we'll meet here the same night."
"Sounds like a plan. Goodbye, Falconpaw."
"Goodbye."
Umber watched wistfully as Falconpaw bounded away. Should she have said less? More? Accepted? Did she really want to give it up and be an extra mouth to feed for some snobby clan cats? Her head spun and different feelings stabbed at her like a bramble bush. She liked Falconpaw, but didn't think she understood how big of a decision this was for her. Umber trudged back to her underground tunnel, her head still hurting with emotions.
Night came quickly, and Umber tossed and turned into her makeshift nest of twigs and leaves. What would she do? She didn't want to disappoint Falconpaw and her sister. Umber's thoughts slowly died down as she drifted off to sleep.
"Umber." A deep, silky voice called her name. Am I awake? Is this a dream?
"No, Umber. I am real, but I walk among your dreams." Umber couldn't see who the voice belonged to. It was pitch black. "Your destinies lie elsewhere. You cannot live as you live now. Your future is not alone. It never was." The voice kept echoing into the darkness like one's echo in a cave.
~
Umber stretched awake and yawned. It had been three days since Falconpaw made her offer. Her head still ached with emotion, the pain bursting every time she saw the thick tree. Along with that, the words of the mysterious dream cat that spoke to her in her slumber. "Your future is not alone. It never was." The words pounded in her head as she climber out of her den to hunt for breakfast. It was a cloudy day; the sky was white and a thin web of fog hung over the treetops. It was humid and wet, and the dew drops on the grass felt nice and cool on Umber's paw pads. Umber's ears perked up as she heard rusting in the grass. She immediately dropped into her hunter's crouch. Mouse, and it's a big one! Umber's mouth watered as the scent filled her nostrils. She crept silently on the mouse until she was close enough to pounce. She sprang into the air, but only a moment too early! The mouse scampered away, but Umber wasn't giving up her breakfast that easily. She broke into a sprint, the wind blowing through her black and white fur. She chased the mouse until she thought she was going to pass out. Finally, they came upon an old fence. The mouse slipped under. Umber curser under her breath and kicked dust to the fence. Stupid mouse! Umber was about to turn around and head back when her ears perked up again.
Inside the wire fence, she could hear cats talking; they were young by the sound of their voices. Umber crept into a hole in the fence. It looked almost as if someone, or something, had chewed its way through. If only I had noticed this thing when I was chasing that dumb mouse. Inside the fence lay mounds of dirt and garbage. It stank of twoleg waste and cat dirt.
"Hah! There's no way a midgety kit like you could kill a rat!"
"Yes I can! I'll prove it to you! If I can, I get the juiciest piece of fresh kill when we get home." Oh no. Even though they had on,y had one brief encounter, Umber recognized the distinct, high pitched voice. It was Shadowpaw! What kind of trouble was she getting into making bets? She peeked around the corner of a pile of garbage, and sure enough, there stood the fluffy tabby. In front of her stood two cats that were a bit bigger than her. Shadowpaw dropped to a crouch as a fat rat ran toward her. Shadowpaw pounced on it, stabbing her claw into its back and biting down on its neck.
"See? Told you I could kill a rat!" Shadowpaw protested, holding the limp, smelly creature in her jaws.
"That was one tiny rat! Even a kit could do that, mouse-brain!" One of the two cats, a long-furred tom, sneered back.
Shadowpaw scoffed, obviously trying to hide her nervousness. She readied herself again as a small swarm came running towards her. They pounced at her legs and even her face! Shadowpaw shrieked in pain as the rats gnawed on her. What do I do? Should I interfere? She's going to die and those stupid snobby cats are going to sit and watch! Before Umber could stop herself, she was bounding to help Shadowpaw.
Umber yanked the rats off of Shadowpaw's fur and flung them as far as she could across the dump.
"Are you okay?" Umber panted, looking at Shadowpaw's injuries. She was covered in tiny bite marks from the rats. Shadowpaw nodded, eyes wide in shock.
"Did they tell you to do to this?" Umber pressed, ready to slice the throat out of those mindless mange-pelts that sat and watched the rats chew up Shadowpaw.
"Yes, but I just wanted to be a good warrior," Shadowpaw huffed sadly, staring down at her paws. Umber sprang in front of the other two cats.
"Get out of our territory, rogue!" The other cat, a brown she, snarled, getting into an attack pose.
"You mouse-brains could've cared less if your clanmate got torn to pieces! You're terrible!" Umber hissed, pinning the tom easily by his neck. She pressed down hard angrily, cutting off his airway. The tom helplessy waved his paws as he gasped for air, his eyes wide in fear.
"W-we're sorry! Please, don't hurt him! We won't do it again!" The she-cat pleaded, her hackles rising.
"Run back to your clan. Your worthless mouths better not speak a word of me." Umber let go of the tom's neck with a push. She shakily steadied himself as he wheezed his air back. He staggered over to the she cat and they both ran away with fear plastered on their faces.
"Thanks for saving me," Shadowpaw muttered, shuffling her paws in shame.
"It's no problem. Let me see those bites," Umber insisted. The bites weren't infected now, but would we if she didn't get something on it soon.
"Shadowpaw!" Both Umber and Shadowpaw jerked their heads up at the desperate cry. Umber squinted her eyes, and could barely make out Falconpaw sprinting through the pines. "Shadowpaw!" She yelled again. Falconpaw dove through the hole in the fence with a grunt. "Shadowpaw! What have you gotten yourself into? I saw Berrypaw and Bravepaw sprinting back like their lives depended on it! Did you try to fight those rats? Are you okay?" Falconpaw bubbled over with questions for Shadowpaw.
"Yeah, I'm okay. They dared me to fight the rats to prove I wasn't a kit. I'm sorry."
"Oh, thank StarClan!" Falconpaw let out a sigh of relief, giving her sister's ear a lick. She turned to Umber.
"Umber! You saved her! How can I ever thank you?" Falconpaw gushed. Before Umber could say anything, a rat bit her in the leg. The disgusting creature sank its needle sharp teeth into her. Umber let out a small cry and shook the rat off, wincing at how much it stung. Umber turned to see Falconpaw and Shadowpaw both frozen in fear, staring in front of them. Umber turned her head to see a gigantic swarm of rats running at them like a gross grey-brown wave. Rats were nasty creatures, and whenever you killed one, the rest of them would come after you in vengeance. Umber tried to run away, but was swept in by the rats. She shrieked in pain as rats bit her from left and right. They sank into her skin and sucked her blood, beady black eyes staring into her soul. She tried to shake some of them off. A few came off, sending blood everywhere, but the rest clung on, their yellow teeth stabbing into her.
"Shadowpaw! Run! Run and get help!" Falconpaw cried out in agony as more rats stabbed into them. Umber bit aimlessly, hoping to break the rat's necks. She was drenched in blood, the rat's and her own. Umber flailed her arms as violently as she could. Rats were flying everywhere as they smacked into piles of dirt. Umber dragged herself onto a mountain of dirt and other trash. Her left leg was numb and the blood was making it hard to see.
Suddenly, Umber's vision became blurry. The scene stared to morph; it was no longer nightmarish, but sweet and happy. Instead of rats, there was a rainbow of butterflies. Umber laughed happily as she floated on the colorful cloud. She bounded across fields of daisies. She rolled in the soft grass of the meadows. She saw the silhouette of a cat in the distance and ran toward it. As she got closer, everything got darker. Everything was black.
"Your destiny lies ahead, but you future is not alone. It never was." It echoed loudly, bouncing around in her head, shredding her eardrums. Umber clutched her head as it got louder and louder until the voice was screaming at her. Umber eyes fluttered. She was back in that dump, covered in blood, dirt, and rat bites. She saw the shape of two cats in front of her. Her ears were ringing unbearably loudly.
"The poison is spreading! We have to get her back to camp! She's hallucinating!" The speaking was muffled and distorted, so Umber had no clue who was talking to her.
"But she's a loner! We can't just take her to camp!"
"The warrior code says it's our duty to help any cat in need!" Umber's ears rang louder. The speaking became too muffled to hear. Umber desperately tried to cling on to her consciousness, but she slowly slipped away back into the darkness.