Delirious: A Warrior Cats' Mind Games Story

5

Silence echoed through the forest. Marmotwhisper layed in his nest, his body wrapped protectively around his lovely mate. Even though Cinderswan had recovered many moons ago from the terrible wounds she had received from kit-birth, he still refused to let anything hurt her.

It wasn't that fear that kept him awake, however. The strong young hunter had stirrings in his stomach, the fear of the rest of his family being targets of murder.

He remembered with grief Gullswoop's death, his own sister barely getting the chance to be a full hunter before she had fallen victim to a gruesome death. Marmotwhisper still remembered the blood that had spilled out and clotted around her white throat, and shuddered.

Shifting a little in his nest, Marmotwhisper decided enough was enough and carefully got up, trying not to wake up his companion. Cinderswan stirred a little, but did not wake up.

He sighed in relief, carefully making his way to the den entrance. He was an unusually large cat for his age and skill, and some cats even compared Marmotwhisper to being nearly as big and strong as the former Seraphim Mistystone.

Marmotwhisper hated that comparison.

It reminded him of his kit hood, being forced to watch Mistystone murder his own mother Cherryfrost in front of the entire group. He was barely able to comprehend what had happened until he had run up with his littermates to the body after her execution, tiny bodies trembling with fear and grief.

"Mama!" Marmotkit had cried, his tiny paws trying to shake Cherryfrost's large body. Beside him, Almondpaw and Brightpaw were doing the same, hoping to wake up the large cream Molly.

Hawksun had quietly padded behind them, her large body trembling as she tried to keep herself calm and brave, for her kit's sake. But even a strong warrior like her could not bare the pain of loosing her beloved.

Marmotkit could hear the muffled voices of Magnoliaspring and Ravenfall trying to shove Hawksun away from the body... something about withholding information, whatever that meant.

Not long after, he saw a dark shadow fall over him, and turned around to see the Seraphim, Mistystone, whomst Marmotkit had seen in the nursery many times, gazing down at him. Her mouth and claws were drenched in the blood of Cherryfrost, and probably others.

"Get back to the nursery," she had growled. "You are far too young to witness something like this. You should be with your mother- she looks like she could use your help,"

Marmotwhisper didn't remember much after that, only blurs of Hawksun and his sisters crying. Only Flintkit had not cried; he had come very close to, but instead just silently kept to himself.

Quietly, he rose from his nest, and made his way out of the den. Outside, the sky was a beautiful dark blue, with little white stars sprinkled around a pale yellow moon. There was always a beauty about night that Marmotwhisper appreciated, but he never quite understood what it was.

By the entrance, he saw Euphoriaflame guarding. The grey and brown tom relaxed; if he wanted to go for a walk to clear his mind, his old mentor would definitely help him.

As he approached, her head turned around, and the reddish she-cat smiled. "What are you doing up so late? Come to help me guard?" She asked, purring.

Out of all the purists, Euphoriaflame was one of his favourites, as long as she was in a good mood. Not only that, but she had been born with hunter blood. At least she understands how much worse it is for us, he thought to himself.

"I can't sleep. My mind's as busy as a beehive," he told her goodheartedly. The purist purred. "Ah, I see. Well, I'll let you go, as long as you let me know if you see any suspicious behaviour. Deal?"

Marmotwhisper nodded, and bade farewell. He trotted cautiously through the forest, letting his mind drift but remaining alert at the same time.

As he surveyed his surroundings, a familiar scent stopped him. He opened his mouth to taste it, only to widen his eyes in concern.

Icicleshard and Pricklestone?

He didn't notice that two of his kits were out of their nests. What are they doing outside camp so late?

As he followed their scent, he picked up the trail of another cat who was with them. Coastmoon is here too?

He dropped to a low position, carefully stalking the scent trail. It wasn't too long before he could make out their voices. "Trust me Pricklestone, you'll like this cat!" Coastmoon was speaking eagerly, her voice getting slightly louder with her excitement.

"Hush!" Icicleshard snapped. "Do you want the whole clan to know where we're going?"

"Maybe this isn't a good idea," Pricklestone pointed out, shuffling his paws. "There's really no reason to be out this late. From what you've told me, this cat doesn't seem to pose any threat to us,"

Marmotwhisper growled to himself. Were his kits really going to act this foolishly? It was if they were apprentices all over again!

Huffing, he stood up. "Pricklestone makes a good point," he spoke, making himself apparent.

The three young cats whipped around to face him. Coastmoon and Pricklestone rightly looked guilty, while Icicleshard simply glared at him. "What are you doing here?" She asked sharply.

"I could ask you the same thing," he narrowed his green eyes. "What are you three, kits? Sneaking out of camp in the dark of night? You should know better! You better hope Twilightfall's kits don't pick up any of your bad behaviour," he warned.

"We didn't mean any harm," Coastmoon spoke up, padding forwards to meet her father. "We wanted to show Pricklestone a kittypet we met on patrol today," she explained.

Marmotwhisper relaxed. Coastmoon had always been closer with her brothers. Of course she'd want to show Pricklestone the kittypet. "May I tag along? If the kittypet tries anything, we can report it back to Magnoliaspring the next morning," he suggested. The idea made him sick to the stomach, but it was the only way to convince his kit's to let him tag along.

Icicleshard scrunched up her nose. "We'll be fine, dad," she informed him, starting to turn around.

As his kits walked away, he caught up to them. "You did say that the cat posed no threat," he pointed out. "So why can't I come?"

Coastmoon and Pricklestone exchanged a glance, their fur rising a little. Marmotwhisper picked up nervousness radiating off them.

"What?"

"Fine, you can come," Icicleshard sighed. "But tell Magnoliaspring and we'll claw your fur off!"

"That's not happening," he replied sternly.

The family walked along in a prickly silence. As they approached a large, wooden fence, Marmotwhisper saw Coastmoon whisper something to Icicleshard. The white tabby had a troubled look on her face, but shook her head.

Icicleshard leaped up onto the fence, her tail steadying herself. "Fred?" She called. "It's me, Icicleshard. I came back,"

Marmotwhisper picked up sounds of scratching from the other side of fence. Suddenly, a long haired grey tabby appeared from the other side. A collar hung around his neck, and some shiny stone hang from it.

"I see you brought some friends," Fred commented. He scanned the group, his green eyes flashing in the moonlight. The tomcat halted, his gaze fixed on Marmotwhisper. The big hunter found that he was stuck in his place, his paws rooted to the ground.

It can't be...

"Marmotpaw?" Fred murmured weakly.

"Flintkit?"

***