WattyWarriors Fan Magazine 6.0

SCA | Antpelt

Antpelt coughed up a spout of blood. He laid quietly close to the heap of logs, one of the many obstacles used in the warriors' training.

He willed himself to close his eyes and sleep, to escape from Thistleclaw's merciless claws. Yet he wasn't able to, the agony of his wounds rang savagely throughout his small body, disabling him from being able to sleep easily.

The WindClan warrior watched as Ivypool, a silver tabby from ThunderClan, approached him cautiously as Thistleclaw paced angrily nearby.

"You need to go!" The she-cat whispered hurriedly, "Come on! Thistleclaw is coming... Quick!" Ivypool said as she casted a worried glance over her shoulder.

Antpelt groaned in pain and he let his eye lids close, already heavy with exhaustion. Right as he began to fade from the clearing, he heard Thistleclaw hiss in anger.

"I always knew he was a mouse-heart!"

Antpelt felt a rush of anger at the warrior's words, how dare he, when suddenly he was back in his own nest. The brown tom stifled a yowl as he realized his wounds were even worst out of the dream state he was just previously in.

He recognized Whitestorm sitting in her nest, grooming herself, completely unaware of his injuries.

"Whitestorm..." Antpelt groaned, "Can–Can you get Kestrelflight?" He hissed in pain through clenched teeth.

Whitestorm glanced up in mid-lick, her tongue sticking out. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of him.

"What–?" The white she-cat marveled, "Kestrelflight come quick!" Whitestorm screeched, running out of the den.

Antpelt squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he began to feel numb. Why? He questioned in his head, What is happening to me?

Kestrelflight suddenly burst into the den with Whitestorm and Onestar close behind him.

"What in the name of StarClan happened?" Onestar demanded.

Antpelt slowly opened his jaws to reply right before Kestrelflight cut him off, "Ask questions later!" He mewed quickly, parting Antpelt's fur in attempts to find where the bleeding was coming from.

"Well–" Onestar started before Kestrelflight frantically shook his head.

"All this blood! I can't find where it's coming from..." Kestrelflight hissed, his paws a blur as he placed a mass of cobwebs along Antpelt's fur.

Whitestorm whispered, "A dog must've got him..."

Antpelt felt himself slipping away and he let out a quiet groan, trying helplessly to grasp onto his last few strands of life, when all of a sudden he was in an entirely different place.

The land was split. One side seemed to have endless fields of long grass and flowers. And the sky was becoming a gentle hue of orange as the sun began to rise over the horizon.

It was so very tempting... but suddenly a sharp caw of a crow could be heard from the other side, and Antpelt swung his head back around.

This side had looming, leafless trees, and the grass was blackened by rot and fungi, and the sky was darkened, without any stars. It was all very familiar to Antpelt, as he had been there several times before.

"Antpelt! Antpelt..." A voice called in the distance and the tom turned back to look towards the lively side of the terrain. He saw a pretty calico bounding over the tall grass.

Antpelt was even more drawn to the beautiful clearing by the she-cat and he began to set paw on the bright grass. An electrifying jolt erupted throughout him as he stood on the soft ground. The morning dew wetted the pads of his paws and he sighed in pleasure, wiggling his toes through the thin strands of grass. He hadn't felt this good in moons. Such calm...

As Antpelt listened to the quiet birdsong, he hadn't even realized that the she-cat had been in front of him for several moments now.

"Wha–What?" Antpelt stuttered in embarrassment, "Sorry... I didn't see you there." He mumbled in a flustered manner.

The beautiful she-cat broke out into a purr, "It's quite alright. It seems all of the newcomers have the same reaction to StarClan's hunting grounds."

Antpelt nodded, "It's very pretty here and–" He paused abruptly, "Wait... did you just say StarClan?" He breathed.

The calico looked confused, "Why, of course. Didn't you know that you..."

Died. Antpelt frowned, letting out a shaky breath. Of course he did. He couldn't have possibly expected himself to survive Thistleclaw.

"Who are you?" Antpelt quietly asked.

The she-cat rumbled a gentle purr, "I'm Spottedleaf."

Antpelt nodded, the name sounded familiar to to him. He recognized her as one of the former ThunderClan medicine cats. The WindClan elders would used to tell stories of her, she was very well known to the Clans.

"I'm sorry, I just–" Antpelt cut off as he heard paw steps behind them. He whipped around to see a large brown tabby tom standing at the edge of the darkened side of the land. "What– Tigerstar?"

"Tigerstar." Spottedleaf meowed, her voice icy. Antpelt noticed her eyes darkened, and her bubbly personality was replaced with a hardened, more cold exterior.

"Antpelt, come with me." Tigerstar growled, completely ignoring Spottedleaf. Antpelt's tail dropped, he had wanted to spend more time with Spottedleaf! But... he couldn't defy Tigerstar.

Casting an apologetic glance towards Spottedleaf, Antpelt quickly scrambled over to stand beside the Dark Forest warrior.

"If you go with him, you can't come back here." Spottedleaf meowed, an edge to her voice could be heard.

Tigerstar let out a purr, "Don't worry. We won't be coming back to this flea-ridden place." He nodded at StarClan's territory before beckoning to Antpelt with his tail to follow.

Antpelt furrowed his brows together and glanced apologetically at Spottedleaf, "Sorry..." Before running after Tigerstar.

"Tigerstar? Why couldn't we stay a little longer with Spottedleaf?" Antpelt asked, his tail twitching nervously.

Tigerstar eyed Antpelt but kept walking, "Because this," He waved his tail around at the rotted forest, "Is your home now..."

Antpelt nodded slowly in understanding but he inwardly shuddered in fear at the look of malice Tigerstar gave him.

"...And don't you forget it."

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