A Hissmas Carol

Chapter 1

It is a bleak, cold night in QueerClan. A heavy fog blankets the camp, but none of the cats' moods are dampened. None of them, that is, except for Straightfur and Transpants. No one is surprised by Transpants, since he has never liked Christmas as much as the others. However, Straightfur is moodier than normal. This worries Aceface and Gayday, who, despite their constant annoyance of Straightfur, do care about him. So, as the others are sleeping, they are meeting in the medicine cat den to come up with a plan.

Aceface holds up a lily, with pink-tipped petals and black spots around the center. When eaten, it can be poisonous to cats. But it has other effects, one of which might be the only thing to help Straightfur.

"Do you remember this, Gayday? It's a dream lily," she mews. The brown tabby tom nods, and sits down in front of her.

"Are you sure about this, Aceface? Last time we did this, with Transpants, he was obsessed with oranges for a moon," Gayday warns. Aceface sets the lily down in front of him, and nods once.

"This time will be different, Gayday. Remember, you have to whisper 'Christmas' in his ear, not 'citrus', or any other word. Otherwise, his dreams won't be focused on the magic of Christmas," Aceface replies. Gayday nods seriously, and takes the lily. Then he pads out of the medicine cat den, and through the chilling fog towards the warriors den.

When he arrives, Gayday stops in front of Straightfur's nest. The black and white tom is sleeping peacefully, and is undisturbed by Gayday's presence. Gayday sets the lily down in front of his nose, and bends down so his muzzle is hovering over the other tom's ear.

"Hissmas. No, wait, that's wrong! Christmas. Yes, Christmas," Gayday whispers. "There we go. Just a minor slip up. What could possibly go wrong?" Then he settles down in his nest, and falls asleep. Moments later, Straightfur's ear begins to twitch. Then, he begins to dream.

The environment of the dream created by the dream lily is almost exactly the same as the one in reality. The only difference is that the fog is thicker, and the camp is arranged differently as well. Straightfur wakes up in the same place that the warriors den was in, except a new den has taken its place. The den has two rooms, the larger one containing his nest. When he looks into the smaller room, he only sees a dark brown tabby tail twitching back and forth. An odd clicking sound can be heard, which confuses Straightfur. He stands up and pads into the second room, only to see Queerdeer sitting on the floor, sorting rainbow colored shells.

"Queerdeer? What in StarClan are you doing?" he asks. The tabby tom looks up from his shells, and sets one aside.

"I'm organizing your shells, Straightfur. Flagswag just dropped off her latest payment," Queerdeer explains. Straightfur walks over to the pile of shells on the floor, and examines them. They're extremely vibrant, and Straightfur is immediately overcome with a sense of joy at seeing them.

"They are quite beautiful, Queerdeer, although I have no clue why you're doing this. And why is the den like this? Where is everyone?" Straightfur asks. Queerdeer opens his mouth to respond, but is cut off by a familiar orange tabby walking towards the den through the fog.

"Merry Christmas, Straightfur!" Arosparrow calls, as he sticks his head into the den. "Isn't it a beautiful day today? I love Christmas Eve!" Straightfur is confused by this. He had gone to sleep on Christmas Eve, so shouldn't it be Christmas Morning? He looks around at the foggy, bleak landscape, then turns back to Arosparrow.

"Not really, Arosparrow. But I guess it's different for cats who are looking forward to Christmas," Straightfur replies gloomily. Arosparrow takes no note of his comment, and remains cheerful.

"It sure is, Straightfur! Anyways, I was wondering if you'd want to come share prey with me and my mate tonight. It is Christmas Eve, after all," Arosparrow mews. Straightfur gapes at his friend, completely and utterly shocked.