Venom Within - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 3

"She was too young to ever hear of what that cat did."

A shadow blocked the entrance to the den. Foxshadow stood, chin raised, eyes flashing defiantly. Flamekit, his smoky grey pelt fluffed up, stood behind her. Emeraldpaw glanced between us, then scampered over to me.

"Are you okay?" she nosed my half-fallen-off poultice.

Foxshadow glanced over at me. "Glad you're okay, Pyth-Rustkit-" she said. "I'm sorry about Burrowpaw. He will be missed." Foxshadow coughed, and turned to Emeraldpaw. "Think she'll be ready for the ceremony tonight?"

"It's Rustkit's choice," Emeraldpaw replied.

What ceremony? I thought. But then I remembered. An apprentice... If I've been asleep for nearly a half moon... I'm soon going to become an apprentice... I lifted my chin. Then I'll find Burrowpaw! If he's 'missing,' then that means he needs to be found... Right?

I imagined the moment I reunited with my brother. Perhaps I would be as tall and strong as him now. We might even get out warrior names together. I might get mine early for being such a brave, DuneClan cat.

Rustheart. Rustember. Ruststar.

The sudden throbbing as I shifted my forepaw brought me back into reality.

Foxshadow stood awkwardly in front of the medicine den for several more moments, before striding back into the maze of tunnels that made up DuneClan camp. Flamekit hesitated for several heartbeats, then my brother padded over to me.

"Hey," he mumbled, not meeting my eyes.

"Hey," I echoed. "It's been a while. Are we actually half-SnakeClan?"

Flamekit shrugged, glancing at Nightsight. "I don't believe anything a medicine cat says!" he announced in his still high-pitched kit voice. "Besides, I'm gonna be a full DuneClan warrior, and nothing's gonna stand in my way, then!"

"I believe it," I purred, as Emeraldpaw helped me sink back into my nest.

It felt good to talk to Flamekit. I kept trying to convince myself that this was but a little blip in my path to becoming a strong DuneClan warrior. It helped the fear of where Burrowpaw was, and the pain of my forepaw dull a bit.

"We're gonna be the strongest warriors in the clan one day," I meowed, gazing into my brother's blood-red eyes, the same striking colour as my own.

Flamekit looked away. He mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath.

"What?" I asked.

Flamekit's gaze darkened as he stood above me. I was aware of how his coal grey pelt cast a shadow over my wounded body. His eyes looked almost as cold as Foxshadow's, when he growled.

"Burrowpaw is dead and it's all your  fault. He was the only one who understood me!" I saw a flash of guilt creep across his face, but he quickly let out a snarl. "It's almost a good thing, really, what Pricklestar decided to do with you."

His eyes were trained on my wounded paw. The poultice was quickly slipping off, revealing a raw wound, a mark that would forever be there. I stared at the puncture marks, the fang marks, of where the snake's venom had struck me.

"What is going on?" my horrified voice was scarcely a whisper.

Flamekit's ears were laid back against his skull as he stared at me. He had the same powerful build as Burrowpaw had yet he somehow looked far more menacing. The cavern surrounding me felt suddenly cold and stuffy as I stared up at Flamekit. Why wasn't the air coming to my lungs?