Raven's Cry

Chapter 2

Dreampaw stood amidst a roaring fire, a thousand of orange stars twinkling over her head. "The flames will rise. The flames will burn. The flames will rise. The flames will burn. The flames will rise. The flames will burn. The flames will rise. The flames will burn." The sickly sweet voice rang out in the she-cat's head thousands, millions, trillions of times.

"Stop it!" The silver she-cat yowled, pinning her ears back she backed up until she felt flames scorch the tip of her tail. Whipping it so it came towards her chest, she glanced around wildly to try and find the owner of voice but only to find roaring fires. Smoke burned her throat and stung her nose. The fire slowly crept towards Dreampaw, still chanting their horrid spiel. "The flames will rise. The flames will burn! The flames will rise. The flames will burn!"

Dreampaw sat upright, her blue eyes wide. She looked around, but there was no fire or smoke this time. She was in the medicine cat den. Taking a deep breath she looked over at Drowningsun's nest but it was empty. Just a nightmare. She thought to herself. Getting up she shook out her fur and briefly groomed it before stepping out into the main portion of the den. The cold stone floor felt better than she ever thought it would. Not blazing because of a fire.

She looked over towards the den entrance and weak dawn light filtered through the ivy that hanged over the entrance. Drowningsun was nowhere to be seen. Walking out into the camp she looked around for the black tom but she still couldn't see him. Looking over she saw the dawn patrol trot out of camp, Condorcall in the lead. She found Grimpaw and his ruby eyes briefly flicked over to her but then he disappeared into the stone tunnel that leads to the outside world.

Dreampaw tore her gaze away and continued her search. She padded over to the Elder's Den and stuck her head in. The sleeping ball of calico stuck his head up and drowsily blinked his single green eye. Tawnymask raised his head and blinked at Dreampaw, the young tom flicking one ear. "I've already told the other apprentices just because I don't have one of my eyes doesn't mean I can't groom my fur for ticks." The tom said roughly.

Tawnymask was a young warrior before becoming an elder, but had lost his left eye due to a fox that had wandered into the territory when he was on dawn patrol. Drowningsun had forced him to retire to Eldership, but he said that Tawnymask could move back to being a warrior once his eye had fully healed over and when he got used to only having one working eye.

"No, that's not why I'm here Tawnymask." She assured, and sorta felt bad for the tom. Not only did he have to become an Elder early didn't mean he didn't have to have any denmates. Although, Willowsky would probably end up becoming an Elder soon. After having Owlpaw and Foxpaw, she was basically beaten. And her mate. Pinefrost. "Have you seen Drowningsun?"

Tawnymask shook his head. "No. The last time I saw him was yesterday afternoon when we were doing our exercises." The iconic little hope bubble that Dreampaw didn't know existed popped, but a new one soon formed when she realized she could go check the nursery.

"Alright. Thanks." She mewed before backing out of the Elder's den and jogged across the clearing towards the back of the ravine. A bush with a carved out center stood at the back. Flanked by the Warriors den and the Apprentices den. Slipping in she chuckled as she heard Softkit's whine, hushed by her mother. "Shh. Silentkit and Specklekit are still asleep. You can go play in the clearing later."

"Hello?" Softkit squeaked, turning her head to look at Dreampaw as she entered. "Hey! Dreampaw can watch me."

Honeyflower shot her a hopeful look but Dreampaw gave it back apologetically. "Sorry. I just came here to ask if Drowningsun stopped by this morning."

"I can watch her Honeyflower." Came a deeper and more mature voice. Dapplefur. "I need to get out of here anyways."

"Thanks Dapplefur. Oh, and Dreampaw no he didn't. Sorry."