Warriors: The Fading Light ~Series 1 Book 5~

Chapter 13

Silverstar's POV:

Silverstar was awoken by Stormflame kicking her in his sleep. She let out a growl before she heard a frightened whimper come from her mate. She lifted her head to see Stormflame writhing and kicking his legs as if he were trying to run away from something. Is he having a bad dream?

The early morning light streamed into the den to reveal Stormflame was... crying?! Tears slipped from his closed eyes as he writhed in his nest. Silverstar nudged him gently to try and wake the black tom but he didn't seem to react to her touch. He was too deep in the nightmare.

Suddenly, Stormflame jolted out of his nest and fell on the ground a tail length away. His hind legs splayed out behind him and he scrambled to his paws, panicked.

"Stormflame calm down!" Silverstar ordered softly and stepped out of her nest and approached the scared tom.

Stormflame stared up at Silverstar and let out a gasp of shock. "B-b-but you w-were d-dea-d.." he whimpered, his tail waving behind him.

"Stormflame it was just a nightmare. I'm safe and okay and so are you." Silverstar meowed and went to lick Stormflame's cheek reassuringly but he reeled backwards and avoided Silverstar's touch. She tried again but got the same response from him so she dipped her head sadly and moved away from Stormflame and back to her nest. She curled her tail around her paws and watched at Stormflame eyed her carefully as if she were an enemy warrior.

Then Silverstar heard Watersplash shift in her nest and Stormflame's gaze snapped to the former Magiclan medicine cat. His gaze scanned her and Silverstar watched the tom's tail as it twitched nervously. He seemed so spooked. Silverstar just wanted to make him feel better but he wouldn't let her get close to him.

As Watersplash let out a soft, peaceful sigh in her sleep Stormflame averted his gaze from her and stared at Silverstar again. This time his gaze was deprived of all emotion. He just stared at her blankly. Then he blinked his ice blue eyes and realisation seemed to dawn on him and he lowered his head slightly. "Silverstar." His voice came out as barely a whisper and he looked back up at Silverstar with a small, hopeful smile.

"Stormflame. What's wrong?" Silverstar stayed in her nest, unsure if Stormflame was in the mood for her at that moment.

"I-I had a nightmare..." The black tom mumbled and lowered his head before trudging back to his nest. He settled down beside Silverstar and she felt his cold nose press against her side. A small cough came from Stormflame as he lay with his nose pressed against Silverstar. His eyes were still open, he didn't seem to want to sleep.

Silverstar lay down and touched her nose to Stormflame's. "It's alright, I'm here for you."

"Not for long." Stormflame whispered.

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Clearlight's POV:

Clearlight spun around and gasped when he saw what must be the lynx. It was definitely big, as Silverstar had said. He felt his fur bristle as the lynx eyed the patrol, sizing them up. Demonpelt hissed and spat at the lynx as she drew closer to it. Whitetail followed Demonpelt's lead and let out a growl of his own. Sunpatch stated silent from behind Rosepaw and Goldpaw. The patrol slowly clustered together, making sure their movements were non-threatening.

Then, without any warning, the lynx burst forwards. Clearlight sprung out of the way and twisted around to see the lynx grab a hold of Whitetail. Clearlight gasped and lunged for the lynx. He scored his claws down the lynx's side and the big cat dropped Whitetail. The white tom scooted away, bleeding heavily from a wound on his back from where the lynx had biten him.