Warriors: Pebblescar's Reality

Prologue

This is our serious fanfic that we have been promising! Prologue written by Crazystar! Edited by Lightning.

A few clear droplets of rain hit Pebblescar on the head, distracting him as he tried to focus on catching fish. The RiverClan warrior shook his head with frustration, then stared at the water. The dark gray tom's green eyes spotted a sleek shape in the water, but as his paw flashed out to make the kill, thunder crackled behind him. Startled, he lost his balance and tumbled into the stream.

The icy chill of the water penetrated through to his bones. With a few strong, experienced strokes, he began to ascend. He surfaced, spluttering, and paddled his way to shore. A soaked Pebblescar hauled himself back onto dry land and shivered. As he sat on the bank, panting, he heard laughter behind him. Pebblescar whipped around to see none other than the arrogant, new warrior, Cinderclaw.

"What are you trying to do, catch greencough? As if sitting out in the rain was not mouse-brained enough, you take a swim in the river at the end of leaf-fall? Even the kits in the nursery have more common sense!" Cinderclaw hissed.

"Who do you think you are, my mother?" Pebblescar snarled. "I fell in the river by accident, and I'm out in the rain because, well . . ."

Cinderclaw rolled his eyes. "Because you were too incompetent to catch any fish while it was sunny. You had plenty of time before it started raining, yet you caught nothing. Care to explain?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you!" Pebblescar huffed.

Cinderclaw chuckled. "You don't need to. I can figure out why."

Pebblescar glared at the new warrior. "Then why?"

"Because you were daydreaming about Minnowfrost again," Cinderclaw replied. "So while you were staring off into space being useless, you wasted perfectly good sunshine. And now it's nearly sundown, and it's raining, and you still have absolutely nothing!"

Pebblescar's neck fur bristled. "Yeah, and what did you do today that was so great?"

Cinderclaw lifted his chin with pride. "I led the dawn patrol along the ShadowClan border, and fought off some of those fox-hearted thieves who call themselves warriors. They were hunting on our side of the border, but we drove them off!"

Pebblescar sighed. "Good for you, Cinderclaw, that's good for you."

"Considering that the kits in the nursery can contribute more to this Clan than you, I'm pretty sure you don't stand a chance with Minnowfrost. Now me, I'm a different story!" Cinderclaw remarked.

Rage burned in Pebblescar's stomach. A red haze flashed in front of his eyes as he lashed out with his claws. He felt himself slice through the soft flesh on Cinderclaw's throat, and then, still seething with fury, he shoved Cinderclaw's body into the river and watched it float away.

As the anger subsided, it was quickly replaced by horror. "What have I done?" Pebblescar muttered to himself. Then, he shook his head swiftly. It was what that nasty Cinderclaw deserved! The thought of Minnowfrost falling for that arrogant tom made him angry, especially since he boasted too much.

Pebblescar blinked a few times, washed his claws in the river, and padded back into camp.

"Where's your prey, Pebblescar?" asked Troutpool, the RiverClan deputy. "You've been gone all day!"

Pebblescar shook his head, still feeling dazed. "I just couldn't focus today, I'm sorry. I didn't catch anything."

"That's ridiculous!" Troutpool hissed. "I'm going to put you back on apprentice duties for a quarter-moon! This better not happen again!"

Pebblescar nodded, too astonished that he had murdered a cat from his own Clan to argue with the deputy. He made his way into the warriors den and somehow drifted off into sleep. The last thing he saw was the pounding rain.

"Hey, Pebblescar, you're on the dawn patrol! Wake up!" a familiar, irritating voice called from the outside of the warriors den.

Pebblescar scrambled out of his nest, unable to believe what he was hearing. It was Cinderclaw, waiting impatiently for him in the center of the camp! "Hurry up, or it'll be moonhigh by the time we get there!" the new warrior called.

It took a few moments for Pebblescar to process things as he blinked the sunlight out of his eyes. Then he gasped, staring at the tom in disbelief. "Cinderclaw!"

Cinderclaw sighed in frustration. "No, it's your mother. Yes, it's me! What's wrong with you, Pebblescar?"

Was murdering Cinderclaw . . . a dream?