Warriors: Clans of Moonclan: Invasion of the infected: The Blood Moon Rises

Chapter Ten

Brownfur let her muzzle hang over the nest, letting the scent of the nursery fill her nose. Her stomach seemed to grow larger everyday, with the kits inside. Spotheart was curled around her kits, her stomach rising up and down. Brownfur felt restless, for all she had done for the last moon was lounge in the camp, bored. Desperate to stretch her legs, Brownfur got out of the nest and padded to the middle of camp, breathing in the fresh air around her. She tasted the air, wondering what she could do in the middle of the night, until, she caught a strange scent that came from outside of camp. Brownfur wrinkled her nose at the disgusting smell, nearly gagging. Something's rotted. She thought to herself. Brownfur walked to the entrance where Strikebeam was sitting on guard. She nodded to the guard cat and left the camp, following the strange smell. Then bushes behind her rustled and Brownfur whipped around, her back arched. She scanned the bushes for what had made the sound, and saw something moving inside the bushes.

Brownfur curled her lip, baring her teeth. "Show yourself!" She snarled. Silence. Brownfur scented the air again. The stench was stronger there. Suddenly, two glowing green eyes flashed before her, and Brownfur felt as if she was stuck in a trance, for she couldn't tear her gaze away from the two glowing eyes. Before she could react, the creature in the bushes let out a choked sound, and Brownfur realized it was hissing at her. A cat hissing? She thought. Cats don't have green eyes that glow. Fear made her back away and hiss herself. The eyes blinked twice before disappearing completely, fading with the stench. Brownfur swayed on her paws in sick confusion. What was that? She felt as if there was something familiar with the way the eyes had watched her. Nonsense. Brownfur responded to herself. How would I know anything about that creature? Yet there was a tugging feeling in her gut that told her she was wrong. Brownfur shook her head and headed back to camp.

Brownfur sat beside the fresh-kill pile, staring at the vole in front of her, unable to find the urge to eat it. Meanwhile, Crystalstar was watching her from the entrance of her den, and Brownfur wondered why. Finally she sank her teeth into the sweet flesh of the vole, enjoying its taste. The camp entrance rustled as the second hunting patrol came back with a good amount of prey in their jaws. Brownfur watched as they each placed their own prey on the fresh-kill pile, curling her tail neatly around her paws. She licked one paw and drew it over her ear, thinking about what she saw last night. Brownfur remembered the gut feeling she had when the eyes disappeared. But how would I know anything about glowing green eyes? She shuffled her paws, not sure what to think anymore. Should I tell someone? Brownfur sighed and finished the vole, then walked back to the nursery, nearly tripping over Lightningkit and Foxkit wrestling. 

Spotheart was grooming herself outside the nursery, and looked up at Brownfur with curious eyes blue eyes. "What's wrong Brownfur? You look confused."

Brownfur sighed. "Just thinking."

Spotheart gestured for her to sit next to her. "I see. Will you talk to me about it?"

Brownfur sat next to her. "Well... last night I went out into the camp clearing to stretch my legs." Spotheart nodded. "Then, I smelled this awful stench from outside of camp so I went to check it out... an I saw green glowing eyes."

Spotheart seemed astonished. "green glowing eyes?" She mewed. "No cat has green glowing eyes!"

"Well that's what I saw."

"Are you sure it wasn't fireflies?"

"Fireflies aren't green!"

"But... cat eyes only glow in the dark when shown to light!"

"Well I don't know, but I feel like I have seen them before."

"How would you know anything about it though?"

"That's what I keep thinking! But this feeling won't go away!"

Spotheart sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure what you saw Brownfur, but I think you should report it to Crystalstar."

Brownfur nodded. "Thanks for listening Spotheart." She turned and headed towards Crystalstar, who watched her make her way up the path.

Brownfur nodded in respect. "Greetings Crystalstar."

Crystalstar nodded back. "Morning Brownfur. I see something's been disturbing you?" She sat up, curiosity in her eyes.

Brownfur sat beside her, watching the clan rest in the camp clearing, dozing in the sun. "Well... I was a bit restless last night," Brownfur explained how she went out of camp and her encounter with the green eyes.

Crystalstar listened carefully. "I see... are you sure it was green?"

Brownfur nodded. "Yes, and glowing." She watched Seedshine lead Owlpaw back into the camp from their training and got up to stretch. "I should head down now, I don't belong here." Brownfur meowed, aware of the confused glance cats were throwing her.

Crystalstar shook her head. "Don't mind them, other cats come up here plenty of times as well, but thank you for telling me, you are dismissed." Brownfur dipped her head and padded down the path towards Seedshine.

Seedshine touched noses with her. "Hi Brownfur! How are you doing today?"

Brownfur purred, happy to see him. "I'm ok. How about you?"

Seedshine nuzzled her. "I'm fine as well, even better to see you now!" Owlpaw was by the fresh-kill pile eating a rabbit, and Brownfur's gaze drifted to her. "I'm glad the prey is finally coming back." She mewed, watching her little sister eating the rabbit. Brownfur scented the air in case the bad scent was still in here, but the only scent was the cats in camp. She pressed her muzzle against Seedshine's and purred loudly, twining her tail with his. "I love you." Brownfur mewed.

Seedshine purred back. "I love you too." For a moment, Brownfur thought that nothing had happened to her, and it was just her and Seedshine. She was snapped back to reality with a sharp pain at her stomach. Brownfur wince and crouched on the ground.

She saw panic in Seedshine's eyes. "Are you ok Brownfur?" he mewed.

Brownfur nodded, and sighed as the pain disappeared. "Yes. Just a short pain." She assured her mate. Seedshine purred in relief and padded back towards the nursery, where Spotheart was dozing in the sun.

She looked up as Brownfur approached. "How did it go?" Spotheart asked.

Brownfur shrugged. "Like any other meeting would go."

"I saw you were in pain for a bit over there, you alright?" Spotheart asked. Brownfur nodded, and padded into the nursery, hoping that whatever she saw out there, would be gone.