Curled Silence *Completed*

Chapter Twelve

I slowly opened my eyes, crust encrusting them shut. I was in a forest, filled with the bright green plants and undergrowth of greenleaf, dappled sun wavering on the grassy forest floor. It looked so peaceful, so different from the vicious battle that had just took place. But something was different . . . almost as if this was a dream.

I tried to remember what happened last before I blacked out. I shut my eyes. White flashed before them, cold as ice. Screeching and yowling echoed in my ears, and I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. It got louder and louder, so loud I felt as if I wanted to scream. Finally it stopped abruptly. I carefully opened my eyes and now found my self on the battlefield. I looked around, a loud ringing sounding in my ears. Suddenly there was a fierce yowl behind me, which drew my attention. I whipped around to see an orange tom, with large green eyes staring into mine. His pelt was the color of fire, and it glinted off the rays of sun catching on it. I knew immidiately the moment my eyes set on him this was the great leader Firestar, even though I had never seen him before in my life. How I knew that, I did not know.

The orange cat's fur was waving, as if in water and he seemed almost blurry in a way. A scared glint flashed in his eyes. "Curlpaw," he managed to meow at me. It sounded faint, as if he was communicating from far far away. I cocked my ears up, intent on what the StarClan cat had to tell me. "My time is almost up. The fate of the Clans rests in your paws, be careful who you trust it with . . ." He trailed off and looked around nervously as if he didn't want to say what he was going to, almost like he was hiding a secret.

"What is it Firestar?"

He looked at me straight in my eyes and meowed, "Curlpaw, this is a lot to take in for such a young cat like you, but every cat is endanger from the Dark Forest. They have been taking cats who were meant to go to StarClan and recruiting them to their force . . ." His voice was getting weaker by the second. "Any cat who tries to leave is punished. Killed in more brutal ways than you could imagine. And it's not just the Clans their taking cats in from, it's all around the lake and beyond, including rogues and kittypets. StarClan is no more. No cat is safe from . . ." Now his voice was completely faded away, less than a whisper on the wind. Firestar's mouth was still moving, but just barely.

Suddenly, the leader's paws started discintigrating into tiny particles, as if he was made from sand. The wind picked up, and more of him started to dissolve. I looked to the source of the wind and saw a great black and gray swirling mass of wind coming from the clouds. I knew exactly what it was too. The Great Wind. I was frozen to the spot as images swirled past my eyelids and danced away into the wind. A barn. A fire sweeping through a forest. A tabby tom with curled ears like mine rushing across a grassy field. A swelling river shown from above. After that they went by too fast to recognize. I was rooted to the spot as the swirling mass came closer and closer, threatening to engulf me.

I heard a screech and a thump and a crack, and I had no idea if they were my screams or not. "Curl!" I heard the name yowled in my ears, echoing over and over again until they stopped. The all noises were cut off and my vision went blank, streaked of all color.

Battles will rage, cats will die, but in the end, curled silence will rise.

***

"Is he dead?" I heard the patter of paws and the scritch of claws on stone as small kit paws ran. I lifted my head and opened my eyes. This time for sure, it was not a dream. I was staring into deep blue eyes, only a mouse-length away from me. I groaned.

"Dewkit! Stay away from Curlpaw, he was badly injured in the battle and he needs to rest." That was Brightheart, I was guessing. Dewkit scampered away, his gray pelt standing on end.

The kit's small face was replaced with Jayfeather's blind blue eyes staring unfocuedly at me. "You're awake, I see." The small gray tabby was sorting herbs into piles, as all medicine cats do after a battle. "I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up. Your heart actually stopped for some time, you know." I was surprised by this, but I had other things to worry about. I was dying to tell Jayfeather about my dream, but with Brightheart here . . .

Jayfeather seemed to sense that I had something to tell him in private, so he shooed the queen and her kits out of the medicine cats' den. he turned his blind blue eyes on me, wondering what I had to say. I gulped. "Well, I had this dream . . ." I told him about it in detail, and when I had finished, Jayfeather hadn't moved. "Do you believe me?"

Finally the gray tabby turned slowly, as if taking all of what I just said in. "Yes, of course. You are the prophecized cat." I was surprised he didn't even seemed shocked.

"A-aren't we going to do something about it?"

Jayfeather shoved his face a mouse-length in front of my own. "What can we do, Curlpaw?" I leaped back at Jayfeather's outrage. "We just have to see what happens, and take it from there," he went on more calmly.

I nodded and lay down again. My stomach was starting to hurt. Suddenly, I remembered something. "Stormpaw! Is he okay?" To my relief, the medicine cat nodded.

"He was in worse condition than you, but he just barely pulled through. Honestly, I thought he wasn't going to make it throught the night, but he's a fighter." He pointed with his slender tail to behind me. "He's over there, but try not to disturb him too much, he needs all the rest he can get." Before Jayfeather finished his sentence, I was on my feet. Stormpaw was stretched out on his side revealing a long scar on his flank that looked deep, but had healed over time. One of his ears was ripped badly and I could tell a claw or two had ripped from his paw, because of the dried blood on it. Not only that, but there was multiple wounds on his belly that were patched in cobwebs and smeared with some herb mixture. Whoever Stormpaw had been fighting had been quite a seasoned warrior.

To my surprise, the gray tabby lifted his head and purred at the sight of me. "Curlpaw!" He noticed my belly wounds and meowed, "Who did that to you? He must have very viscous."

I purred. "You don't look in too well of shape either, Stormpaw. I see that Lionblaze's powers haven't exactly been passed down from me too to apprentice." Stormpaw chuckled weakly, then the laugh turned into a cough.

"I'd better leave you to rest. Want some prey?" He shook his head.

"I'm not hungry, but maybe later though." I mewed in agreement and left him to his much-needed sleep. I grabbed a sparrow from the pile and settled down. It was stringy all right, but it was leaf-bare. I figured I needed all the strength I could get.

Looking around the clearing, I couldn't help wondering: Will the Dark Forest recruit enough cats to assemble an army big enough to take out the Clans? Once and for all?