Warriors: War of the Clans - Darkness

Chapter 6

"What do you mean, you can't see?" Fox stared at the orange she-cat as she shuffled her paws uneasily.

"I-I mean..." Tiger took a deep breath. "I was born with a disease. It made it so that my eyes were below average at birth, and they've only gotten worse." She looked up. For the first time, Fox noticed that her grass-green eyes had a milky touch to them. It wasn't much, but it was obvious once Tiger pointed it out.

"I don't need to see in the tunnels. That's why I moved in here once I realized that."

"But out in that blizzard... How did you see me? It's almost impossible to scent in a storm like that!" Fox exclaimed.

Tiger nervously smiled. "Losing my sight has made my other senses sharper. I could scent you, faintly. And that was enough."

Fox was silent for a moment. "So, it's like you can see, but you can't really."

"Yeah." Tiger turned to the stream. "Now are we going to catch a fish or what?"

Fox smiled, padding over to Tiger as she dipped her paw into the water.

<|.....|>

After Lion had gotten over the shock of seeing so many new creatures, she noticed the barnyard cats. They were sitting on the fence, stalking around the barn animals, and perched on the rooftops. As Dog led them through the courtyard, she heard their conversations.

"God is it cold! That blizzard last night sure was somethin'."

"Yeah, thankfully that barn is nice and cozy."

"You read the new chapter on My Very First Family? You know, by Dragonfire75? So awesome."

"Shh! No fourth wall breaks on my watch. Cats can't read, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"I hear there's some new cats here."

"Word spreads fast around here," Dog explained. "Can't keep things a secret for long."

"I noticed," Cheetah snorted. She was glaring at three young barnyard cats who were staring at her. They quickly turned their gaze away, but returned to staring when Cheetah looked away. Lion flicked her tail tip nervously.

"What are those animals?" Lion inquired, gesturing to the strange beasts.

"Oh those? Well, those are pigs," Dog pointed out the pink animals with stubby legs, "Those are sheep, those are cows, those are chickens, that is a big dog, and the large ones in the stables are horses," he finished, pointing to each one in turn.

Lion's head swirled. "Wait, did you say 'big dog'?!"

As if on cue, the dog's ears pricked, turning towards Lion and her friends. It was a large gray and white dog with a sharp pointed muzzle and triangular ears. She gulped as the dog bounded over, its ice-blue eyes fixed on Lion.

"It's okay. Frost is nice. She just doesn't know you yet," Dog reassured. It still wasn't comforting to have a dog poking its muzzle at her. It was worse for Magpie, who stood rigid, the only noise escaping him a terrified whimper. Finally, the dog huffed, and bounded away.

"Frost is a husky. A strange dog to have on a farm, but surprisingly useful. She has a mate, Brak. He's a black and white husky." Dog stared around the farm, as if deciding where to go. "How about the stables?" He asked Lion. Lion numbly nodded, looking back to check on Cheetah and Magpie.

"In that case, follow me!" Dog called, dashing away. He led them through the legs of sheep, weaving through cows, and finally, into the stables.

"This is where the horses are. Nightingale just had a beautiful foal, you have to see her!" Dog dashed up a wooden door, perching on the top. The trio followed him. Here, they could glance into the stall.

In the stall, a beautiful black mare was nurturing a small foal. The foal was as dark as night, with darker black spots.

"Wow," Magpie breathed. Lion looked at him, surprised. "What's the foal's name?"

"His name's Smoke. He was born about a quarter-moon ago. Usually, Nightingale is nice and sweet, but she's protecting her foal now." Dog stared at Nightingale affectionately for a few more seconds before whirling around and leaping to another stall.

"Here's Amanda. She's nice, but don't get on her bad side." Lion, Magpie, and Cheetah followed Dog to the other stall. In this stall, a beautiful reddish horse stood. On her haunches, there was a white patch dotted with black. The horse whinnied a greeting. Dog waved his tail in response.

"There are lots of other horses, but I should show you other parts of the farm." He leaped down to the ground and itched his ear, eyes lost in thought. Then they brightened. "Oh! I need to show you the chicken coop, and the twoleg house!" He leaped up and dashed out of the stables, leaving the trio to scramble after him.

When they caught up to him, he was standing outside the chicken coop.

"This is the chicken coop," he said triumphantly. Cheetah and Lion exchanged amused glances. "This is where the chickens go at night."

He then looked to his right. "Over there is the twoleg nest. Just stay away from that, and you'll do fine." Dog sat down and scratched his ear in a dog-like way. "Well... That's it."

"I like it," Cheetah commented. "We could definitely settle here."

Magpie nodded agreement. The two turned their eyes to Lion, who sighed.

"Alright. We're in."

<|.......|>

Fox returned to his and Tiger's sleeping hollow after an afternoon of underground fishing. Tiger had also shown him how to scrape the moss off of the river rocks to go in their nests.

Belly comfortably full, Fox pressed the new moss into his nest, Tiger doing the same for hers. He curled up into his new nest, and sighed contently.

"Good night Tiger," He murmured.

"Night, Fox," She whispered back.

Fox slipped easily into sleep.

The night was dark. Fox was walking along a pathway in... somewhere. The night was pitch black, too dark to see. Fox shivered, ruffling his short red fur. He felt a large, malicious force surrounding him. It was closing in, preparing for a kill. Fox flattened his ears, pressing himself to the ground. He screwed his eyes shut, as he felt the presence getting closer, ready to pounce...

When the presence was about to attack, a blinding light suddenly went off. Fox opened his eyes and stared at it. It was the rising of the sun, driving the night away.

He felt another presence driving the evil one away. This one was driving it away, keeping him safe. Then, it appeared, in a flash of light.

It was his mother, Hyena, and Scarlet. They stared at him gravely as more cats appeared, cats Fox didn't recognize. They opened their mouths and spoke as one.

"The way of the stars is threatened. The night will attempt to overthrow the stars. But the dawn will break, led by the thundering fox and roaring lion. The darkness will join, and the war will have no peace."

As soon as they appeared, they disappeared. Fox cried out for them to wait, to explain this new prophecy. But the light faded, leaving him in darkness once again.

Fox awoke, gasping for breath. He frowned, trying to remember what woke him up. A dream maybe? Or the dripping of water? Fox shrugged, curling up again, slipping back into sleep, no recollection of the dream whatsoever.