𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 (BOOK 1) (ROS)

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 5

His vision is filmy. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what he saw, but he felt a cold over his shoulders, the burning sensation of small ice prickling his fur. He sees the blue eyes haunting him in every move, running through the dense forest with tall trees following him. It didn't take that long for the dark-colored tom to fall on the snowy ground, the blue-eyed cat charged at him, its claws sheathed as he leaped onto his body. But then, the loner woke up from his daydreaming after someone had called his name.

"RED'FANG!" Ethel roared at his face, Red'fang fell from the hay, shaking his head. It took a lot to notice his mother figure standing in front of him, his brother looking puzzled. "What was that for!?" Red'fang hissed, his eyes flickered red from being agitated. Ethel growled at Red'fang's angry remark, which made the tom straighten up so he wouldn't have to face the wrath of her. Ethel, feeling satisfied with his small gesture, she began to explain. "I want you two to help me grab some herbs and prey; the forest is looking scarce during this leaf fall." 

"I should've known." Blaze'light commented. "The seasons had been worse; it feels like Leaf-bare is making an early return." 

Red'fang's eyes sparked with realization. He could still vision the snow surrounding a dark forest, where the blue eyes sat there, and just watched him. It made his spine shudder. "I know, that is why it's important to stock up, we wouldn't have any cough spreading around in the barn." Ethel says before turning her head at Red'fang, who looked zoned out from what he had seen earlier. "Red'fang?" She interrogated. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied dryly. He was trying to hide himself from letting the others know. 

Ethel was more than just worried for him; she didn't like for him to hide his emotions. Nonetheless, there was no time for sweet talks. Their survival is relying on their duties. She gave him a nod and then went on their way to the entrance. Blaze'light and Red'fang followed her silently, outside the rainy weather. The storm was getting intense, so they had to hurry and get going. Ethel whispered words of protection and prayer. "May StarClan watch us during this journey, and may they guard my mate as we settled on through these storms."

The two brothers follow Ethel out to the forest, the forests away from the clans. Ethel was following to the mountains, where she believed there were valuable herbs below the valley. She can overhear the brothers speaking of something, a dream that was heard. It made her feel somewhat uneasy.

"What were you thinking about?" Blaze'light whispered at Red'fang. He knew that his brother would rather speak to him instead of his elders. "I dreamt of something. A cat with blue eyes stared down at me before it sheathed its claws and chased me down." He told, still shaken up, his overthinking of the vision led him to think of many... many things that dream could've meant. "Do you think that dream could mean about what's happening right now?" He asked.

"I'm all ears." Blaze'light followed. "It could be paranoia, no?" 

"It wasn't paranoia. I mean, someone like Ice'star could've had those eyes. He had always terrified the young with his stares." He claimed, but that may have been a mouse-brained move to assume his own leader, so he backtracked. "...Maybe not." 

"I can definitely believe that! Blaze'light exclaimed. "He wasn't a good mentor to you or to anyone. Summit'rush had the worst. His loyalty for his mentor who didn't even care is what had killed him." His voice sounding morose, he felt sympathy for the deputy that was unfortunate of CavernClan's manipulation. Red'fang had to believe that Summit'rush's death gave him mixed emotions. He was glad to be alive but felt worse because he blamed himself for what the old deputy had done.

The trio then made it to the mountains, the fog covering the bottom that looked like an endless pit to the dark forest. Ethel's hat almost slipped off from how tense the winds were. She turned her swirled body towards the two brothers. "We will split up. You both take the valley below, I take to the other side of the mountains. Alright?"