Permanent Scars

Scratchclaw awoke once more and slipped through the trees, still shaking madly. He leaned against the tree, willing himself to relax. After a few minutes, he padded through the territory. Exploring was the wrong choice for him and he knew it, especially because he didn't know what he might find. "Hmm, what's this?" he asked himself, padding up to a pool of disgusting black-green water with red liquid here and there. He padded up to the water and bent down, carefully sniffing the liquid. He gagged and drew back, holding his head high to get away from the stench. Seeing what looked like a black, white, and golden log, he peered closer. The 'log' was a pile of two dead cats, both rotting and bloody. "Badgerfang and Heatherfrost!" he hissed through gritted teeth, forcing himself not to scream out in frustration, fear, and misery.