Post by rainstorm on Apr 29, 2018 18:07:55 GMT
Mintpaw blinked her eyes open, and looked around.
This is not my nest.
She wasn’t in Blackheart’s den, but...where was she, anyway?
Wait…
She bent down to nip her paw, only to find that it didn’t hurt.
Relief filled her. I must be dreaming…Oh, no! What if-please don’t let it be Voideyes again!
“Hello, Mintpaw,” Said a vaguely familiar looking tom. “My name is Spidershade. This is ShadowClan camp.”
“Eek!” Mintpaw gasped. “I’ll leave! I didn’t mean to cross! I just woke up here, I’m dreaming, please please don’t kill me.”
“Relax,” Spidershade said, looking less and less like the stern tom she’d seen overlooking Hawktalon’s hill on the first couple days of her apprenticeship. “You’re dreaming, aren’t you? This is Dream ShadowClan Camp. Real ShadowClan camp is the one you’re not allowed in. Anyway, this is just your idea of what ShadowClan camp looks like. The real one is probably completely different.”
Mintpaw breathed a sigh, but something still made her uncomfortable.
“Um, Spidershade?” She asked.
The tom glanced at her. “Hmm?”
“What am I doing here?”
“I dunno. This is your dream.”
The two sat in silence.
“Can I ask another question?” Mintpaw asked.
“Yeah?”
“Who killed you?”
Spidershade’s eyes widened with shock. “And just how do you expect me to know that?” He demanded.
Mintpaw winced at his outburst. “Well...uh...nobody else was...there…but you…?”
“But I’m not Spidershade!” Said Spidershade. “I’m just your imagination. You’re scared of real Spidershade, so you made me all laid back in this here dream. I’m just you. Kinda.”
“...Oh…”
“Who do you think killed me?”
Mintpaw glanced around. “I’m not sure…” She sighed. “Mosstail and Redflower were on the other side of the territory, and Badgerpaw said that most of the cats who want to start the war were in camp when she went to get back everybody…”
“Start a war?” Spidershade demanded. “ThunderClan wants to start a war?”
“Hey, you’re me, so you know about all that,” Mintpaw accused.
“Just trying to get in character,” Spidershade answered. “Go on,”
“I don’t think that Thrushfeather could have killed real Spider-I mean, you, and then cleaned up and gotten back to camp in time to run after Badgerpaw,” Mintpaw noted. “I don’t think that any of the cats who were in camp by the time Badgerpaw got there would have done that.”
“Best not elimate them entirely,” Spidershade told her. “Always good to keep an open mind.”
“I know, but I’d like to start somewhere,” Mintpaw said. “Maybe the culprit isn’t someone in the clans at all...there was this awful cat called Brute from the twolegplace-”
“He was a kittypet, right?” Spidershade interjected. “Not even the biggest, strongest, meanest kittypet could stand up to a skilled warrior if they only relied on brute strength like he did. Now what about those rogues Slackfur saw?”
Mintpaw stared at him incredulously. “Those two? I can’t see it. Weren’t those the ‘peace and love’ cats?”
“Yes, but it’s bad to underestimate such cats.”
“I can’t see it.”
“What about Moon and Star?”
“Maybe. Mm...Did Moon catch you trying to kill a mouse and decided to return the favor?”
He shrugged. “Or maybe…” He paused, his dark coat turning stormy gray and his eyes shining pale aqua, a Dove?”
And it was at that moment, all chaos broke loose.
“Mintpaw!” Foxclaw yowled, running into camp. “What are you doing in ShadowClan?”
“This is a dream, Foxclaw! I just woke up here!” Mintpaw yowled frantically.
“Well, listen to your dream deputy and get back to dream ThunderClan camp!” Foxclaw yelled.
“I don’t wanna go! I’m trying to solve a mystery!” Mintpaw gasped at her own words as they came out of her mouth. Foxclaw’s gonna kill me for talking back like that!
Foxclaw growled at her, and promptly transformed into a tall, imposing looking twoleg. “Bad kitty!” He boomed. “To the cage with you!”
“NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!” Mintpaw screeched, running away. “Wait a second...Foxclaw, where are your pants?”
Foxclaw-The-Two-Leg looked around, then screamed. “I’m not wearing pants!”
“What are pants?” Asked Spidershade curiously.
Mintpaw opened her mouth to answer, but then realized she had no clue what pants were. “I’m not sure.” She responded. “I think that they’re sacred to twolegs.”
Mintpaw looked back at Spidershade. The camp was filled with Doves.
“Doves?” Mintpaw asked. “What are they doing here?”
Then she saw Voideyes. In the middle of camp. Sitting on a food bowl.
“I am sitting on a food bowl.” Said Voideyes.
“What do you want, Voideyes?”
Voideyes stared back at her. She was too busy sitting on a food bowl to answer.
“Sorry,” Mintpaw whimpered. “Hey, how are you doing with the camp full of Doves? I thought you didn’t like birds…”
Voideyes stared at her in shock. “How dare you,” They whispered. “Oathbreaker...Oathbreaker….”
“Oathbreaker! Oathbreaker!” Chanted Foxclaw and Spidershade.
“OATHBREAKER! OATHBREAKER!” The food bowl yelled.
“OATHBREAKER! OATHBREAKER!”
Mintpaw screamed. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”
Suddenly she felt something grab her scruff and bear her way.
Mintpaw didn’t dare open her eyes until the chants had faded into silence. When she did, she was met by another familiar looking cat.
“Thrushfeather?”
“No, I’m Thornstep.” Said the she-cat. “I’ve been wanting to meet you. You were my sister’s apprentice before you were Blackheart’s.”
“Thrushfeather is your sister?”
“Yes. Were you listening to her?”
Mintpaw nodded. “I didn’t know…”
“And Nettleclaw...she is a warrior now.” Thornstep mused. “I’ve missed so much.”
“Thornstep…?”
Thornstep glanced at her. “Yes?”
“Do you mind if I ask what happened to you?”
“Mintpaw, the sun will return soon, and I’m afraid the story would take too long.”
Thornstep told her. “But know this. Mintpaw, look around you, what do you see?”
“ShadowClan territory…?”
“Yes. And what do you not see?”
“I don’t know.”
“Precisely. We do not know what we do not see, and thus, anything is possible.”
“That’s...very...wise.”
Thornstep gave her a wry smile. “Dying does that to you. If I were in your position, I would be equally confused. Now look over there, and tell me what you see.”
“WindClan territory.”
Thornstep nodded grimly. “And what do you not see?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mintpaw, the stories of the elders are filled with such fantastic things. Cats with powers, Prophecies, the border between the dead and the living growing blurred, things that no cat would ever dream of seeing.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“But if they didn’t come from dreams, where did they come from?” Thornstep asked. “Mintpaw, how did you dream of Voideyes? How could you, a young, naive apprentice, have thought up such a horror?”
Mintpaw stared back wordlessly as she pondered the question.
“A difficult season is coming, Mintpaw. A Stormy Season. Such a season will test you beyond your greatest imaginings. Be ready.”
“I will.” Mintpaw dipped her head.
“Mintpaw, you cannot comprehend how much I mean this. Be ready. Trust nobody. Keep your mind open and your head clear. The fate of many may depend on it.”
The tawny she-cat faded, leaving only her cool, earthy scent.
“The fate of many may depend on it...depend on it...on it…”
Mintpaw awoke.
***
“Blackheart?”
“Uh-guh,” Blackheart rolled over. “Wha..?”
“Blackheart, I had a dream,” Mintpaw whispered.
Her mentor fixed her with a glare. “So did I,” He grumbled. “I dreamt that I was having a nice chat with a Dove negotiating our joint rulership of the clans.”
“I was talking to Spidershade.”
Blackheart cocked his head, looking a tad interested. “Really? Was it Dream Spidershade or StarClan Spidershade?”
“Ummm...Dream.” Mintpaw responded, remembering what he’d told her.
Blackheart sighed, sounding a bit disappointed. “Well, then that’s that. Good night. We have to go collect catmint tomorrow, and I won’t go easy on you.” With that he lay back down and turned his back to Mintpaw.
“I talked to Thornstep too,” Mintpaw continued. “But she never told me whether she was a spirit or not. She said something about how I needed to be ready for something…”
“Why yes, Dove,” Blackheart muttered. “I’d like that piece of territory over there, thank you very much.”
“Blackheart, I know you’re still awake.” Mintpaw insisted. “You never go asleep that quickly.”
“Certainly you can have the Sky Oak,” Blackheart muttered a bit more loudly, “In exchange for some death berries for my annoying apprentice…”
“Good night, Blackheart,” Mintpaw mewed resignedly, and curled up in her own nest, thinking thoughts.