Warriors on the Prowl: Tumbling Shadows

Chapter 2: Star Scales and Glowing Moss?

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"They need you buried deep, The secrets that you keep are ever ready. Are you ready?... What if I say that I will never surrender?" -Foo Fighters

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    Unsheathed claws flashed in a silver daze through the pitch blackness of the night. Pain-driven wails echoed eerily, only to be ultimately drowned out in the chaos that was a fierce battle. Uninvolved felines fled from their resting places, leaving their Dens to be torn down and trampled by the blood stained paws of the rival Clan. 

    Miragestorm, the TidalClan Herbal Paw, stood unmarked amongst the chaos, watching the scene with storming orange eyes that revealed a spark of intermixed anger and confusion. 

    "Shatter!" a voice yowled enraged, barely breaking through the roar of bloodshed. The mass of writhing cats parted in a path to reveal two cats standing off against each other- One an impressively tall Ashera tomcat with glowing green eyes, and the other a massive silver Mokave she-cat with sterling silver colored eyes and a gash that sliced through the fur on her forehead and dripped blood into her otherwise yellow eyes.

    The Ashera, presumably Shatter, lowered into a Hunter's Crouch and snapped his jaws tauntingly at the dwarfed leader, "Are you scared? You of all cats should have seen this coming Tornadostar."

    Tornadostar gritted her teeth in anger. "Silence! This is my Clan and I'm not going to let you take it from me!" the fierce she-cat spat despite the fact that her comrades were dropping left and right like flies. She leaned back on her hind legs and with a growl leapt towards the tom.

    He was clearly more experienced than her and in a matter of moments had overtaken her and tossed her to the ground in a bloody, twisted heap. Shatter rested a paw on Tornadostar's shallowly breathing chest, "It's my Clan now. But, as you know, I'm quite generous, so I will let you keep the weak fleabags that are dying already and allow you to live one more meaningless life." He drew his paw up higher, unsheathing his terrifying long talon like claws, and swiped them across her neck. The blow was enough to make the leader lose her second to last life and go unconscious.

    The burly tom removed his paw and was about to walk away when he felt tiny claws drag down his backleg. "Give up already Tor-" he whipped around to see a young kit at his paws, mewling and attacking his leg bravely.

    "Tornadostar won't let you get away this!" the fluffball cried, dropping down onto his stomach in exhaustion as though the attack had taken a lot out of him. Shatter wondered how he had managed to stay hidden during the fight. 

    "But you see, I already have." Shatter chuckled, raising his paw over the kit's head, the shadow of it covering the kit entirely.

    "Dear StarClan please no!" Miragestorm yowled even though this was a dream and she knew she could do nothing to save the kit. Shatter slammed his paw down and the Herbal Paw clamped her eyes shut.

    The cats that had managed to survive the onslaught along with the kits, queens, apprentices, and warriors from Tornadostar's Clan, followed Shatter out of the lifeless body strewn camp and into the darkness of the night encovered forest.

    "Miragestorm." a frail voice coughed, forcing the she-cat to open her eyes once again reluctantly. Tornadostar stood in front of her, though the scenery had changed from the gore of the camp to a starry landscape. "I'm sorry I had to show you that before I tell you the prophecy, but it was necesarry to show you how heartless the leader of the rival Clan is. Now listen, for you are the only cat of both RowanClan and TidalClan who will know the severity of the prophecy."