The Rising Storm

Chapter 5: New World

        Stormpaw stood stiff, he was in the medicine cat den, apart from his body, but not dead. He was standing in front of the strange black tom. The room was deathly silent, Milkshades snoring seemed to have faded into a different dimension as the toms words slowly began to sink in. "Wh-what do you mean i'm changing" he stammered. He stumbled backwards as the tom slowly began to advance towards him. "Who are you!" he cried. A sudden thought crossed his mind and he shook his head standing up straight. "Do you know that white tom I dreamed of?" The black toms expression suddenly changed, his eyes narrowed, his eyes instantly turned serious.

        "Stormpaw, that was not a dream, not even close to a dream, it is a premonition of what is to come. If you continue to remain ignorant of the things around you it will only be a matter of time before that tom comes to your clan and kills everyone, including you." The tom turned around and began to walk away, Stormpaws eyes widened in shock as the tom was able to walk through the den wall, he took a step forward before his head suddenly began pounding again. He groaned as the pain overwhelmed him once more and he squeezed his eyes shut.  

        When he reopened them he found himself back in the medicine cat den, his body was not as sore as it was before but he was still unable to move. He called for Milkshade but when no response came he frowned, where is everyone? He frowned with worry as he waited in his nest. Watching from his nest he saw the sunlight to the entrance of the den was moving. After a while the light suddenly began to disappar altogether and was replaced with a cold chilly darkness. The chilly darkness seemed to have reached into his body for he felt a cold wave spread within him. When the chilly wave disappeared he was finally able to move, it was as though the thing that was binding him in one place just disappeared at once. Once he was free he jumped to his paws and charged out of the den. When he reached the camp clearing he expected to see his clanmates either going to their nests or mourn beside Honeypaws body, but there was not even the slightest scent of his clan. 

        Concerned, Stormpaw ran to every den, even the ones that were not being used, he could not find any sign that his clanmates had ever lived here. He walked into the center of the camp and sat down, he looked up at the sky and noticed there were no stars, but there were 2 moons. His fur instantly bristled, realizing that this was not his home. With a sudden sense of danger he bolted out of the camp, a sudden urge for cover overwhelmed him. When he reached a large bush that he could hide in he jumped into it, instead of scenting for his clanmates this time he scented the air for any possible enemies. When he was determined that there was no danger in the area he slowly slid out from the bush, eyes surverying the forest for any possible threat or movement, he walked further into the forest. The forest reminded him of his territory back home but at the same time it was like a different place altogether. Every shadow seemed to have an enemy lurking within it and every animal he saw seemed to glare at him as though his very existence was a nuisance to their way of life. He quickened his pace, feeling tense and unwelcomed. When  he reached the place that he recognized as the lightningclan and Breezeclan border he instinctively stopped. He recognized large wide plains, though this time there was something different about it, he slowly crossed the border and walked towards the heart of the moor. For every step he made, the feeling of danger grew. When he reached the top of a hill he stopped as the scent of blood reached his nose. His stomach began to feel like a lump was growing in it as he slowly began to peek over the hill. Below him were bodies of over hundreds of cats, some had already decomposed to bones while others were just newly killed. The bodies ranged from new-born kits to elders beyond the age of any in his clan. Instantly feeling sick he turned around and dashed away. The knot in his stomach rising into his throat, when he reached the territory that reminded him of his own he slowed his pace. He stopped and threw up, the picture of all the dead cats flashed back into his mind. Who could do something like that! He thought sadly, he curled up, wondering just what type of world he had ended up in. 

        When Stormpaw reawoke, the sun was beginning to set, the colour of the sunset made his mind flash back to the dead bodies and he almost threw up again. He got up and began walking again, more cautious then ever for enemies. As he was walking through the undergrowth he got the feeling that  he was being followed, more cautious then ever before in his entire life he kept his pace the same and went into a jog. He could hear the sounds of his pursuer behind him and narrowed his eyes, from the sounds of his pursuer he could tell that whoever it was, was not accustomed to this dense undergrowth. Suddenly he spun around and charged, knowing that he could not outrun his pursuer forever, mid leap he found himself facing a black and white tom. Landing on the tom he could tell that this cat was older and far more experienced than himself. The tom threw him off and faced him, the tom snarled at him. "Get off my land intruder!"

        Stormpaw growled with rage, how dare he call Lightningclan territory his own! Stormpaw growled, "This land does not belong to you, it belongs to Lightningclan!"

        The black and white tom glared at him, "yeah right!, I have lived on this land my whole life and I have never met any clan." 

        Stormpaw suddenly froze, the moment the tom had called him an intruder his instincts had taken over, he had forgotten that this was not his world, and this was most certainly not his territory. He could see the tom look closely at him, he cursed at himself for letting himself get out of control. Knowing this fight was not worth it he faced the tom and mumbled. "I am sorry, I seem to have mistaken this place for somewhere else, I will leave." As he turned to leave he could feel that the tom was watching closely, watching every bit of movement that he made, when he spoke, his voice cautious and curious. 

        "You are not from around here are you, though you smell of this forest there is something different." The toms eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "What is your name?"

        Stormpaw turned around and narrowed his eyes at the tom, suspicious of why the tom would even ask such a question. "My name is Stormpaw, what is yours?"

        The toms eyes instantly narrowed as soon as Stormpaw had spoken his name, as though Stormpaws name held some meaning to this tom. The tom stood up straight and looked at Stormpaw, although now there was a hint of respect. "My name is Badgersoul."