Warriors: a path by the stars #1

EXTRA CHAPTER

Greykit lay curled in her mossy bedding, her small frame trembling as sleep claimed her. The cool night air whispered through the nursery, but even the gentle breeze couldn't soothe her. Her dreams were anything but peaceful.

In her slumber, she found herself in a strange and eerie clearing. The world around her was colorless and lifeless, the grass beneath her paws dry and brittle as if drained of all vitality. Tall trees, their bark dark and cracked, loomed overhead, their twisted branches clawing at the sky. The air hung heavy with something ominous, a presence she couldn't quite place but could feel deep in her bones. The silence pressed down on her, and shadows moved unnaturally in the corners of her vision, whispering softly.

"In the depths where shadows gather,
A prophecy speaks of hidden threats.
A force, born from the roots, seeks to shape the future.
Cats with great power will rise, and their strength will be unmatched.
Yet, this power does not come without a cost.
Those who wield it may find themselves guided by unseen paws,
And the path they tread could lead the clans into an uncertain future."

The words echoed through the clearing, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. Greykit's fur bristled, the weight of the prophecy settling over her like a suffocating fog. The voices grew louder and aggressive with each repetition, swirling around her in a dizzying spiral of sound.

She turned, searching for the source of the voices, but the voices stoped as she found herself suddenly face-to-face with a massive, looming figure. It towered over her, its dark pelt crisscrossed with scars, But it wasn't the scars that sent a jolt of terror through her—it was the face concealed by a bone-white skull, its hollow eye sockets glowing with a piercing yellow light.

Greykit froze, her heart pounding in her chest like a trapped bird. The figure's gaze locked onto her, cold and unrelenting. She tried to move, to run, but her paws felt like they were stuck in place. The ground beneath her seemed to shift, pulling her down, as if the shadows themselves were trying to claim her.

The figure stepped closer, its movements slow and deliberate, as if savoring the fear that radiated from her. Greykit's breath hitched, her throat dry with panic. She took a shaky step back, but the figure followed, its presence growing larger, more oppressive. The air around her thickened, and every instinct in her screamed to flee, but her body wouldn't obey.

"Who are you?" she tried to ask, but her voice came out as nothing more than a hoarse whisper.

The figure didn't answer. Instead, it loomed over her, its yellow eyes burning brighter, casting an eerie glow across the clearing. Just as it seemed ready to strike, to pounce and claim her, the ground beneath her paws gave way, and she fell into darkness.

With a startled gasp, Greykit jerked awake, her body shaking uncontrollably. She lay in her nest, her mossy bedding damp with sweat, her breaths coming in short, ragged bursts. The nursery was quiet, the familiar sounds of her littermates sleeping softly nearby grounding her back in reality. But her heart still raced, and her mind was filled with the vivid image of the terrifying figure from her dream.

Who was that...?

She glanced around the nursery, her eyes wide and wild, half-expecting to see the figure lurking in the shadows. But there was nothing—just the soft rise and fall of her sleeping denmates, the faint rustling of leaves in the breeze outside, and the steady rhythm of the clan's night.

Greykit lay back down, her body still trembling as she tried to calm her frantic heart. She closed her eyes, but the dream wouldn't leave her. The prophecy whispered in her mind like a haunting melody, the words clear and foreboding:

"In the depths where shadows gather,
A prophecy speaks of hidden threats.
A force, born from the roots, seeks to shape the future.
Cats with great power will rise, and their strength will be unmatched.
Yet, this power does not come without a cost.
Those who wield it may find themselves guided by unseen paws,
And the path they tread could lead the clans into an uncertain future."

She couldn't shake the feeling that the dream was more than just a nightmare. It felt... real, like a warning, or a message meant for her. But why? She was just a kit, still moons away from becoming an apprentice. What could StarClan possibly want with her?

Greykit's thoughts raced as she tried to make sense of it all. The figure in her dream, with its bone mask and piercing yellow eyes, haunted her. She had never seen a cat like that before, not in her clan, not in any of the stories the elders told. Could it have been a spirit from StarClan? Or something darker?

Unable to sleep, she quietly rose from her nest, careful not to wake her denmates. Her paws padded softly across the mossy floor as she made her way to the nursery entrance. The night outside was calm, the sky a deep, inky black speckled with stars. The cool air brushed against her fur, soothing her a little, though the lingering fear from her dream still gnawed at her.

Greykit sat just outside the nursery, her eyes scanning the sky. The stars shimmered brightly above, and she wondered if any of them were watching her, if StarClan had truly sent her that dream.

"Greykit?" a soft voice called from behind her, startling her out of her thoughts.

She turned to see her littermate, sealkit, blinking sleepily at her. The pale round tom padded over, his white and grey fur glowing faintly under the moonlight.

"Why are you out here?"  sealkit  asked, his  voice filled with concern. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Greykit hesitated, the words of the prophecy still fresh in her mind. Should she tell sealkit? Would her brother  understand? But as she looked into sealkits  gentle eyes, she felt a wave of relief. She wasn't alone.

"Yeah," Greykit admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "It was... strange."

Sealkit settled beside her, pressing his warm body against Greykit's trembling form. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Greykit hesitated again, but then the words tumbled out of her. She told sealkit about the clearing, the shadows, the prophecy, and the terrifying figure with the bone mask and yellow eyes. As she spoke, she felt a little of the weight lift from her chest, but the fear still lingered at the edges of her mind.

Snowkit listened quietly, his expression growing more serious with each word. When Greykit finished, there was a long silence between them, broken only by the soft rustling of leaves in the breeze.

"Do you think it was StarClan?" Sealkit asked, his  voice hushed.

"I don't know," Greykit admitted. "It felt real... but I don't understand why they'd send a dream like that to me. I'm just a kit."

"Maybe it's a warning," sealkit  said thoughtfully, his  gaze drifting to the stars. "Or maybe it's something that's going to happen in the future. You know how duskwater always say StarClan works in mysterious ways."

Greykit nodded, though the thought did little to comfort her. The idea that the dream could be a glimpse of some terrible event yet to come made her feel even more uneasy. What if the darkness in the prophecy was something she couldn't stop? What if it was too late already?

Sealkit nudged her gently. "Don't worry, Greykit. Whatever it is, you're not alone. You'll have the whole clan by your side when the time comes."

Greykit managed a small smile, grateful for her brothers comfort. But deep down, the unease still gnawed at her. The prophecy spoke of cats with great power, of a future shaped by something lurking in the shadows. Was she one of those chosen cats? And if so, what did that mean for her future? What path will these clans be leading too...