Yewpaw's Dream

Myrtledove had certainly been rather... distracted for the last few days. It was as if something filled the young tom's mind, pulling him from his work. However, those thoughts would be set aside as he would uphold tradition. The fluffy tom swiftly moved to the apprentice's den, a gentle paw nudging one of the young frames. "Yewpaw, meet me at the medicine den." His hushed words spoke quickly to ensure he didn't rouse any of the other cats.

Once the young tom would arrive, a small smile would rest upon his maw. The fluffy tail curled around his paws, and he motioned to one of the mossy beds. "Tradition says that normally, we would go to the Moonstone, however, instead, you shall rest here. Dream in an attempt to reach our ancestors, and I will let Ashstorm know you are ready to become a warrior." He felt much more comfortable speaking to the deputy, understandably so. He would be there should the young tom need any reassurance, but otherwise... he was free to dream.

He was awake.

For a moment Yewpaw's fur only twitched at Myrtledove's touch as he gathered the will to stand. He knew it was coming. During Leaffall he never would have thought he'd dread this day; he never thought it wouldn't be at the Moonstone either. Perhaps he'd never get to see it. Not even once in his entire life would he set eyes on what others described as a shard of the moon fallen down to earth. Maybe it was better that way. The tuxedo tom stretched and padded quietly into the medicine cat's den.

It smelled strongly in here, but it wasn't bad. It was the one place in camp that wasn't permeated with the stench of death and fear, and as a place he rarely visited, it felt peaceful. Perhaps he could actually find sleep here in this tiny, closed-off world. At Myrtledove's words he gave a quiet nod. He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly found nothing to say, and settled into one of the mossy nests. He took a deep breath, his nose almost tingling from the many various scents. "It smells nice in here," He said softly to no one in particular, before slipping into a deep sleep.

For a very, very long time, nothing came. This was shaping up to be the best sleep of his life, but of course, his mind would not be fooled just by moving a few foxlengths. It began as something innocuous, as another dream where he and Crickethop were out in the territory once again. Eventually they came across Elkpaw and she joined them to go who knows where. They started to run at some point, getting faster and faster until Yewpaw could hardly keep up, up until Elkpaw turned on her heel and sneered at him. "Don't you get the hint?" She hissed, slapping him across the maw, to which he could only stare in surprise. "Get lost, leech." He glanced to Crickethop, only to find him glaring at him in much the same fashion. So he simply stood there and watched them walk away and out of sight.

After an uncertain amount of time he slowly returned to camp by himself, but Elkpaw and Crickethop had gotten there first. Very much dead. But instead of grieving, or offering some sort of condolences, his Clanmates were screeching at him, throwing around all sorts of obscenities that would make a rogue blush. Sniveling, useless thing. Waste of prey. Layabout. Some were getting increasingly close to him, hissing in his face. Why didn't you do anything? Get off your stupid tail and work. We'll throw you out with the crowfood if you keep this up. Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, Bloodstar's shadow loomed tall over him, his eyes and mauled maw glinting in the moonlight. The smaller tom felt a chill of fear go up his spine. Without a word his leader roughly snatched the young tom by the neck and, as this was suddenly taking place over a rubble-strewn cliff in Highstones rather than camp, flung him out over the edge. Yewpaw cried out and swiped his paws towards the cliff wall, trying to find any sort of hold, but it was too late. Every root, every little pawhold, crumbled are twisted away from his claws. He plummeted helplessly. The ground sped closer and closer. His Clanmates didn't find this interesting enough to keep watching.

He woke with a start just before hitting the ground. His heart beat wildly; almost feeling like he was choking. Yewpaw's head whirled around. He was still in the medicine den, with the sky outside as it usually was before dawn. As most dreams are, most of it had already been forgotten, but the terror and anguish in his heart remained. Taking great effort to stifle the cry that threatened to leak from his throat, he curled back in on himself, subtly trembling. And for the first time in many moons, he wept.