Sandstrike's Curse

- 9 -

Sandstrike slips into the warriors' den and pads towards his nest. Tulipblossom is sleeping in her nest, which is right beside his. He lets out a yawn and plops down in his nest. He gives his chest fur a few licks before resting his chin on his front paws. He closes his eyes and quickly drifts off to sleep.

He opens his eyes to find himself in a strange place he's never seen before. A dark, shadowy, and foggy forest. He looks around, looking for any signs of danger. His fur begins to stand on its end as he spots a dark figure heading in his direction. He begins to growl and arch his back, ready to defend himself against whatever it is.

"Don't be afraid," the figure meows as it comes closer to him. The figure's voice sounded like the voice of a she-cat. As the figure got closer and got into more light, he realized that it was a she-cat indeed, and she seemed friendly too. He blinked, taking a moment to admire the she-cat. She is large, larger than him in fact and even Fawnbriar, and very muscular. Her dark gray tabby fur shines a bit in the small amount of light and her blue eyes seemed to glow.

"Who are you?" Sandstrike asks the she-cat. "And where am I?"

"I am Fallenstar, a former leader of ShadowClan, and you have arrived in the Place of No Stars. Don't worry, you're not dead, just asleep," Fallenstar responds. "You haven't heard about The Place of No Stars, also called the dark forest, haven't you?"

"No, I haven't," Sandstrike responds groggily. "If you're a former leader of ShadowClan, then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in StarClan or something?"

"Ha, funny question," Fallenstar responds. "That's a looong story, which I'd rather not tell," she meows as she comes closer to him. "I've just decided I might as well meet my lovely descendent."

"Descendent?" Sandstrike questions. "So we're kin?"

"Yes," Fallenstar responds. "I had a daughter named Flintflower, who had a daughter named Silentstream, who had a son named Lizardtail, who had a daughter named Hawkstar, who had a son named Addertooth, who had a son named Tigerstripe, who had a daughter named Sagepool, who had a daughter named Fawnbriar, who had you."

"That's a lot of cats," Sandstrike responds, a little dazed. "So why exactly did you want to visit me in my dream? Just to say hello?!" He questions, his words getting a little aggressive with the last question.

"Wow, you're a snappy one, aren't you?" Fallenstar meows in response. "A lot like your mother."

"You didn't answer my question," Sandstrike growls, getting a little frustrated.

"Oh, sorry!" Fallenstar responds. "Well I'd like to give you some training."

"Do I look like an apprentice? I've been trained moons ago! I don't need anymore training!" Sandstrike snaps, his fur standing up again.

"But you aren't on my level, aren't you?" Fallenstar questions. "You may think you're strong, but the only cats you've defeated in a real battle were weak SkyClan cats. You have a massive ego for a weak tom."

"I'm the strongest cat in ShadowClan!" Sandstrike hisses, arching his back and tucking his tail below him. He then leaps for the shadowy she-cat, but with one slam of her front paws, she bashes his head against the dark ground and pins it down. She puts the weight of one paw down on his neck, making him release choking sounds. She leans down and meows loudly directly in his ears.

"By today's ShadowClan standards you are. ShadowClan has grown soft and I trust you to help bring ShadowClan back to its prime. No cat in the current ShadowClan can take down even the weakest warriors from my days," Fallenstar meows. "When I was a warrior, there were thirty-three cats in ShadowClan, almost all with pure ShadowClan blood. Now, there are twenty-one, the majority having the blood of another Clan, kittypet blood, or rogue blood. Even though you have RiverClan and rogue blood, I believe you are the best and most capable of the bunch. You should take it as a compliment," she finishes, then letting him go.

Sandstrike gasps for air, breathing heavily. He could feel his heart pounding fast in his chest. He slowly gets back up to his paws.

"Alright fine," Sandstrike gives in once he finally has caught his breath. "Train me. Teach me how to be on your level."

"That's what I like to hear," Fallenstar responds. "Besides, wouldn't you want to be able to fight even better than you already do? You know, to help protect you and your kin from that curse?"

"You know about the curse?" Sandstrike asks Fallenstar, looking up at her.

"Of course I do, it involves my kin after all," Fallenstar meows. "I have a lovely spy that comes back and forth between here and StarClan from time to time and she has kept me up to date. It involves her as well, of course. I'm actually surprised you know."

"Sagepool told me about it before she joined StarClan," Sandstrike responds. "What do you know about it?" He then asks.

"Well, I know that it's a punishment for Sagepool, a medicine cat, falling in love with a RiverClan tom, which is fair. My mate cheated on me for a SkyClan cat, after all. But I don't understand why the whole lineage has to be punished, why not just Sagepool?"

"Right!" Sandstrike responds. "I did nothing to deserve this!"

"That's pretty much all I know about it though," Fallenstar responds. "I just hope some cat somehow realizes how corrupt StarClan actually is," she meows with a sigh. "It's a huge mess."

"Now that I think about it, StarClan is very corrupt..." Sandstrike responds. "Why do we have to listen to a bunch of dead cats anyways?"

"Exactly," Fallenstar responds. "I got it when I was a warrior, but I was brainwashed then. Now, I know the hard truth. So does my spy, which is why she keeps switching between the two," she meows.

"Can I talk to your spy?" Sandstrike asks. "I want to see if she knows more about what's going on."

"She's in StarClan right now, but you can probably meet her tomorrow night. You'll be surprised," Fallenstar responds. "Well, see you tomorrow Sandstrike," she is quick to meow as Sandstrike suddenly wakes up from his dream. His eyes flutter open and he spots Tulipblossom looking down at him.

"Are you alright? You were moving around like you were having a bad dream," Tulipblossom asks him as she looks down at him lovingly.

"I'm fine," Sandstrike responds. "I was having a bad dream, thanks for waking me up from it," he lies.

"Well, I'm going to go head out for the dawn patrol," Tulipblossom meows. "See you later," she adds, giving his head a lick before exiting the warriors' den.