Warrior Cats: Spider

Chapter Seven

Seedscatter ran. He ran until his muscles burned. He ran until his sides heaved up the scarce contents of his stomach. He ran until his paws bled. He ran until the horror of that day caught up to him and dragged him down.

Beside him, the remaining members of the patrol were feeling the effects, as well. Though Beetlefang was in better condition than the others, Owltail was bleeding profusely from the wound on her shoulder, her small frame wracked with sobs. Emotion clung fiercely to her dark-furred body, contrasting the lack of feeling in her teary eyes, staring blindly at a point in the distance that only she could see. It wasn't official, but most could tell that the two had been close - Yellowfeather and Owltail, that is. She was taking it hard.

Seedscatter staggered on his paws, blinking through a veil of crimson that dribbled relentlessly from his right ear. There would be scarring, he was certain of it. Owltail would also feel the effects of the battle, as would Beetlefang. The small patrol would most likely never shake the sight of Yellowfeather's brutal murder. Seedscatter knew he wouldn't.

A fresh wail of grief slipped off of his tongue like the roll of storm clouds. It died in the air, stagnant to all but his companions.

"We need to keep going," Beetlefang croaked, stumbling his way over to Seedscatter, tone numbed.

"Owltail can't make it," he replied, wincing at the rawness in his own voice.

"She won't make it if we stay," Beetlefang insisted, then, "What if I run ahead?" Though he didn't say it aloud, both toms knew that he was the most put-together of their party.

Seedscatter simply nodded, crashing onto his stomach and letting the ache wash over him in a sick form of comfort. He deserved to hurt. He deserved to feel the pain that Yellowfeather had endured. Why couldn't it have been him?

Owltail trembled, curling up into a tight knot of limbs. Her scratch had begun to clot, at least. But it would need attention. There were no cobwebs around, as far as Seedscatter knew. If Beetlefang didn't hurry...

"Se-Seed..." Owltail coughed. "Why did she h-have to... To..."

Seedscatter shushed her, running a tail over her side. He was never the best at comfort, and he didn't think it was something one could practice. So he did his best, and it wasn't enough.

But that cat... That monstrous cat that had killed Yellowfeather... She was no stranger to Seedscatter.

Only two winters back, the calico had left with a band of loners in the night, steeling away without a second glance, not even stopping to say goodbye. She had seemed in a hurry to leave the clan behind, so why was she back? If she was here to fight, then she was in luck. FieldClan was small in numbers, and there had been at least a dozen or more cats to meet them, all of which were able-bodied.

Exhaustion tugged at Seedscatter's eyelids as her curled up beside Owltail. Blood and fear mingled in the air as one, sour and metallic and bitter and floodeding his senses. For once, his subconscious was quiet. For once, he was allowed to sleep in peace.

_________

Seedscatter awoke in flashes. He watched his body, limp and matted, being dragged through the grass. He listened as faded yowls of shock and grief filled the air. He tasted sharp smells on his tongue, of herbs, of blood, of pain. He lived in a state of darkness and light, flashing in and out of dreary consciousness and suffocating sleep. His senses constantly felt as if they had been flushed with river water, and all directional cues had fled from his mind. Up, down, left, right, forwards, backwards; none of it mattered.

But then he smelled smoke.

And he opened his eyes.

Flames dances across his vision, and he jumped back, startled. Tongues of orange and gold licked at the air, surrounding him in a tight circle. The air stank of charred fur, and he twitched singed whiskers fearfully, eyes wide with a dying hope.

The fire crept closer still, creating an enticing dance in the air. Black plumes of smoke billowed upwards, fogging his vision on the way.

A cough sputtered from his mouth, quickly turning into a hack and then a wheeze. He couldn't breath. Fresh air was only a distant memory in this burning forest, and his chest heaved with the effort it took to inhale and exhale what little oxygen remained.

As he began to back up, a voice took hold with sharp-edged claws.

"Poor dear, I hope you aren't afraid of a little heat."

And suddenly, Seedscatter wasn't there anymore. Heat still radiated off of everything, but it didn't affect him. He just... Didn't care.

His paws found their way along a dark forest path, steps decisive in this strange land. It was an odd feeling, to let instinct take over. He didn't even know he had this instinct.

"Wait up!" He became aware that he wasn't alone. Running alongside him, if a little behind, another shape matched him stride for stride.

She was the spitting image of Silkkit, with tousled white fur and large blue eyes. But there was something missing. The ageless shadow that fell upon her expression was gone, replaced with a youthful sparkle that brightened as she laughed.

"No need to show off, brother," she meowed coyly, breathless in her chase.

"I wasn't showing off. I was simply... Testing you!" But that wasn't Seedscatter. The voice that sped from his lips was much different. A sharp accent rolled from his tongue, and this wasn't his sister...

"I'm sure!" The she-cat teased, panting.

Both cats slowed, and the image became foggy. Static, almost like a blizzard of his earlier dream, rolled over the image, bringing it into and out of focus.

"Stop..."

"STOP."

"I said, S T O P !"

Searing pain wrapped around every part of Seedscatter's being, every particle of matter. Yellow eyes met yellow eyes as both cats gave into the fire.