October Medicine Cat Meeting

Pricklebush felt... odd. He didn't know why. Ever since he'd woken up this morning, something had felt off. He didn't know what it was. He couldn't name it, couldn't explain it. But he was jumpy- on the walk to the Moonstone, he'd whipped his head around at every strange noise, every cracking branch. His hackles prickled. His nerves itched. So by the time he reached the Moonstone, far slower than usual, he was exhausted and on edge and he didn't know why. He simply offered nods to the other medicine cats, blinked respectfully at Aspenheart's new apprentice, smiled at Mossbloom and Mistlepaw (though his smile was even smaller than usual on his tense face) and then walked into Mothermouth, and wasted no time striding through the tunnels and lying down in the cavern. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend any time with the other medicine cats... he just felt strange. He didn't like it. But he lay on the cold stone floor, touched his nose to the Moonstone's sparkling surface, and was out like the sun behind a cloud.

~

There was no prelude to this revelation, no starry field with Nightfire, no light-speckled void. He was suddenly dropped into his vision, as abruptly as he'd gained his position moons ago. At least he was somewhere familiar. The trees of ThunderClan territory rose above him, grand and tall as always. However, something was off. The feeling of wrongness he'd been plagued by all day intensified, culminating in a sharp scent that tugged at his consciousness and made his hackles raise. His spine arched slightly, his claws unsheathed, his fur stood up- making him look like his name. Something was definitely off here. Fear crept up his neck. Pawsteps- pawsteps- behind him. The medicine cat spun around, high-strung and ready to fight, but there was nothing there. ...What? Then, something dripped on the top of his head. Something foul smelling and disgusting. The feeling of wrongness built to a crescendo as he slowly looked behind him and upwards-

A fox glared down at him with piercing yellow eyes, fangs bared, snarling and drooling all over him.

But even the fox seemed wrong.

Off.

He wasn't questioning it. Somehow, he knew there were cats in danger. Cats other than him. The fox roared at him- he roared back- and with claws unsheathed, leapt for its face. Every second of warrior training came back, and long-buried rage powered his hind legs as he jumped, felt his claws sinking deep into its fur and into its flesh and the blood ran down-

then suddenly, a disorienting shift, and he was on the ground, and the fox jumped at him to bite at his face. Wait, no! He screamed and tried to push the fox off of him, but then there were two, and his claws couldn't reach them, and he felt defenseless. Someone was watching. He had to get them off, had to make them stop, had to save them! There was a blur of ginger fur, clawing and slashing, then it all went black.

~

With his eyes open and horrified, feeling almost as if blood was running down his pelt, Pricklebush jumped up and backed away from the stone. His claws were unsheathed and felt sore, as if they'd been clawing at someone. He glanced quickly at the other medicine cats- just to make sure he hadn't hurt anyone- but no. Thankfully, he'd only been attacking the floor, and the base of the Moonstone. There were rough claw grooves where he'd scratched, and self-consciously he sheathed his claws back in his paws, then got out of Mothermouth as fast as possible, scanning the area for Mistlepaw and Mossbloom. He'd felt off all day... he didn't feel safe. He needed to watch over both of them on their ways back to their Clans.