StarClan isn't real..

Chapter 15

When Yellowpaw woke, she felt much better, just a bit icky. Her throat ached for water, and her belly rumbled with longing for food. Stormcloud was curled up around her, keeping her warm and safe. Weedtooth was in his own nest, his dark gray tabby pelt lighting up with the dawn light.

Fallenthroat's scent hung in the air, and the memory of her mentor's visit greeted Yellowpaw's mind. But she was still confused. What had happened, and why was her vision so odd? She could see red at the edge of her vision, and the bitter scent of herbs was right next to her muzzle. There was a bitter taste in her mouth, too, of sour herbs.

A memory hit Yellowpaw. She was alone... Specklebird's scent was close? Then the bushes rustled, and that was it. She shuddered.

"Yellowpaw? Are you awake?"

A voice startled Yellowpaw, but she relaxed as she realized it was just Stormcloud. The tortoiseshell medicine cat had woken up, and was padding across the medicine den towards Yellowpaw. She touched her muzzle to the apprentice's forehead, and then pulled back, her eyes alight with relief.

"Your fever broke," She told Yellowpaw. "Are you in any pain of any sort..? Do you need anything; food, water?"

Yellowpaw nodded. "My face hurts, and my body... a little bit... I feel kind of drowsy and dizzy," She admitted, wanting to be taken care of for once, like Blacktooth would when she was a young kit, mewling in the nursery. "Can I have water?"

Stormcloud nodded and padded away.

As the medicine cat vanished into the shadows of the den, Yellowpaw felt a presence nearby, watching her. She stiffened, and the memories of the attack hit her. Now she could remember: Terrible, burning eyes, teeth ripping away her fur and flesh, her own scream as her ear tip thumped onto the ground- the terrible pain as her eye was ripped out, and then the impact as she hit the ground...

My eye! Yellowpaw reached up with her paw to touch the side of her face. Was that why she couldn't see as well anymore?

Just as she was about to touch it, Stormcloud appeared, carefully striding across the den. Yellowpaw shifted her head and saw that she was holding a dripping wad of moss. Quickly drawing her paw back, Yellowpaw tried to look content. She still wondered what had attacked her, or the events leading up to it.

"How do you feel?" Stormcloud asked, dropping the moss.

"Fine!" Yellowpaw mewed quickly. She felt, for some reason, that if she told Stormcloud what she remembered, she'd get in trouble. "My head feels fuzzy," She admitted, lapping at the moss delicately.

As soon as the cool liquid reached her tongue, she immediately leaned in for more, sucking the moss dry of water in a few short moments.

"Fuzzy how? Does your head hurt?" Stormcloud asked, her twisted jaw shifting back and forth as she spoke.

Yellowpaw blinked at the medicine cat, realizing she couldn't feel her left eyelid. "I can't remember anything," She admitted, her tone sounding raspy and uneven now that she was listening to it. "I think... something attacked me?" She remembered Specklebird was there, but where was he now?

"Do you know what?" Stormcloud pressed.

As Yellowpaw thought more, she realized her memories were clogged by a terrible void of terror and horrific screeches. She shuddered, her paws beginning to tremble. "I- I don't know," Yellowpaw whimpered. "Something... happened."

Stormcloud sighed, and gave Yellowpaw a lick between the ears. "You don't need to remember right at this moment. You should rest."

As Yellowpaw laid down her head and closed her eye, Stormcloud turned to the herb store. The torbie began sifting through the piles of leaves, wanting to keep herself as busy as possible. A hunt would be alright. She thought. Maybe when Weedtooth woke up, he could watch Yellowpaw while she took a break.

Is that selfish? She wondered. Maybe-

Her thoughts broke off as a flash of light blinded her gaze. She gasped and collapsed to the ground, her claws twitching uncontrollably. She was shaking, and in the horrible white light she was staring at, an image appeared.

It was a bright red berry, with bright green stems and a sweet scent. Are those... chokecherrys? No... deathberries!

Horror flashed through Stormcloud's mind. Deathberries were one of the most dangerous things in all of the forest, even more powerful than a pack of foxes. As she stared, a larch tree appeared in front of her. The deathberries were attatched to the bark, and as Stormcloud squinted, everything was plunged into shadows.

Silence.

Then, there was a faint clawing. The grunts of stirring cats, then screeches and the sound of claws unsheathing. The sound of battle stretched on for what seemed like moons, and then, there were triumphant laughs, followed by sighs of relief and arrogance.

Stars began to appear in the darkness. A half-moon, too, shining with silver. Stormcloud felt calmer; maybe this was a good sign?

Then, like a bloody wave was washing over the night sky, the silver glow was drenched with scarlet. The moon glowed red, and Stormcloud felt terror clutch her chest. Then there was a whispering- like an owl hooting at midnight, like a rabbit hopping through long grass... or like wind brushing through dark trees.

"When blood floods the sky, a storm will come to rescue the moon."

***

"Stormcloud! Stormcloud!"

Gasping in air, Stormcloud jolted awake. She felt Weedtooth press his paws down on her chest, and she choked as she inhaled oxygen. Her fellow medicine cat was standing over her, his eyes wide with concern. "I woke up, and you weren't breathing! What happened? Did you faint, or have a heart attack?"

Before answering, Stormcloud glanced under Weedtooth's legs. To her relief, Yellowpaw was still asleep, her scarred flanks heaving.

Turning back to Weedtooth, Stormcloud tried to scramble to her paws. "I don't know," She admitted, her voice raspy. "I finished tending to Yellowpaw, then when she was asleep, there was a flash of white-"

"Like a vision?" Weedtooth gasped.

"Yes," Stormcloud admitted. "But not like a dream." She remembered the last prophecy she had received, and it still sent a chill through her fur. "It was... scary. I saw deathberries growing on a larch tree, then it was all dark..." Her mind strained to remember. "It was all dark, and I heard the sounds of battle, and then triumphant yowls. Then stars and a half-moon appeared, and they were washed with scarlet, like blood."

Weedtooth's eyes were as big as an owls as Stormcloud finished. "A voice said, 'when blood floods the sky, a storm will come to rescue the moon'."

"How odd," Weedtooth whispered.

Stormcloud's tail tip twitched. "Should we tell the Clan?"

"No," Weedtooth shook his head. "Red stars and a red moon isn't something WindClan will want to hear. I suppose we could discuss it with Applestar." Worry filled his gaze. "The half-moon... hm. That's when we'll meet with the other medicine cats."

"You think 'saving the moon' means that we'll need to visit the moonstone?" Stormcloud asked, her words sounding stupid even to her.

Weedtooth shrugged. "I don't know what we should do now," He admitted, touching his nose to Stormcloud's affectionatly. "I'll give you some juniper berries, in case you got breathing problems from the sudden shock. I'll watch over Yellowpaw," He added. "At least there's one thing we can fix."