Chapter Text
Rain pelted heavily down onto the derelict hangar. Pools of rainwater formed on the floor, reflecting the grey sky above, as well as the broken roof. Drops of water dripped steadily from the vines and leaves that littered the walls of the area.
Cats were huddled inside crates, or anywhere there was decent warmth of shelter.
“Why has it always got to rain!” A voice hissed “I hate getting my paws wet…”
“It’s just water, Ghoststem…” A quiet voice murmured “It’s not like it’s fire.”
A large cat crossed the area, its fluffy tail lifted from the ground to keep it from getting soaked.
“We’ll start a patrol once the weather clears.” The cat meowed “The rain cannot last much longer.”
“Exactly!” The smaller cat chirped “It’ll be sunny again before we know it!”
“How can you stay so optimistic, Beetlecloud…” Ghoststem sighed before shaking his head. “I suppose you’re right, Boulderfang…” he muttered, he stood up and stretched, puffing out his thick brown fur. “Either way. Any sign of rain while we’re on patrol, I’m heading back.”
“Fine by me.” Boulderfang murmured “But I’ll tell Houndcall and you’ll be cleaning the camp.”
Ghoststem stopped stretching and stood there, jaw agape as Boulderfang slowly trotted away. “You wouldn’t!” he called after the large cat.
“Wouldn’t I?” he asked with a smirk. With that, he broke into a run, with Ghoststem chasing after him.
“BOULDERFANG I SWEAR I WILL FLAY YOU!” Ghoststem screeched.
Beetlecloud watched the two cats sprint away and laughed softly to himself, before padding after them. He rounded a corner of pile crates and saw them tussling on the ground, with a mixture of insults and hissing.
“Come on guys, before Houndcall sees you and puts you on flea duty or something” Beetlecloud meowed, nosing the two cats away from one another.
The two cats stood up, and shook out their fur.
Ghoststem looked down at Beetlecloud and gave a soft purr. “Trust you to keep breaking up fights, hm?” he meowed.
Beetlecloud gave a toothy grin, which got Ghoststem to nuzzle the top of the short tom’s head.
“Well isn’t that adorable” Boulderfang purred “I won’t tell Hickorygaze. He might feel a little left out.”
“Oh be quiet.” Ghoststem snorted “Besides, Hickorygaze is too busy for snuggles” he shrugged.
“Fair enough.” Boulderfang grunted.
“Hey guys, look!” Beetlecloud purred as he looked outside “It’s stopped raining!”
“Well, let’s get going. We have prey to catch” Boulderfang said as he rose to his paws. He swished his tail to get the two cats to follow, which they did as he walked out of the den, and out of the camp.
The three cats walked through the damp wetland that surrounded the camp. It was oddly quiet. There was no scent of prey, and there was barely any birdsong.
“Something feels off” Ghoststem commented as he padded onwards. “It’s too quiet.”
“It’s only just rained. Maybe the prey doesn’t want to come out yet? You’re too paranoid.” Beetlecloud meowed
“Gee, I wonder why. Who taught me to be paranoid?” Ghoststem snorted and looked at Beetlecloud.
“No, he’s right.” Boulderfang stopped. “It is too quiet.. It feels very…off” Boulderfang meowed, as he sniffed the area.
“Yeah well, an off feeling catches no food.” Beetlecloud padded onwards for a bit, before catching a scent of mouse.
He instantly dropped into a well formed hunters crouch, and crept forwards. He was about to pounce on the small rodent in front of him, before he smelt something off about it. Sickness.
Beetlecloud drew back and scrunched up his nose. He stood up, and walked over.
A mouse was huddled under a fungi, breathing rapidly. The mouse’s eyes were wide, and its body tensed and jerked around involuntarily. A black ooze dripped from its eyes and mouth, and more of the ooze dripped onto the mouse from the fungi, and pooled around its small body.
“That’s got to be a bad omen…” Boulderfang said as he walked up next to Beetlecloud.
“Is it still edible?” Ghoststem asked.
“Doubt it. I wouldn’t want to touch it.” Boulderfang responded. “Alright. I’m going to block this area off with those brambles. We need to tell Houndcall that there’s a sick mouse in the forest. Where there’s one, there’s more” he continued.
As Ghoststem and Beetlecloud slowly walked away, Boulderfang grabbed some brambles and dragged them over to the area, before padding quickly to catch up to the two cats. He looked down at Beetlecloud and noticed that his scars looked raw and uncomfortable. He made a note to send him to the Medicine Cat den when they got back.
It was sun-high when they made it back to camp. They stopped just inside of the hangar.
“Right. Me and Ghoststem will go and tell Houndcall what we saw.” Boulderfang meowed. “Beetlecloud, I want you to go and seek Wrencreek. Those scars look sore again.”
“I’m fine.” Beetlecloud meowed and began to walk towards Houndcall’s den, but he was intercepted by Ghoststem.
“Do as he says. Me and Hickorygaze will catch up with you later.” He bent down and nuzzled the smaller toms head.
Beetlecloud sniffed and muttered. “Alright. Fine.” before walking away.
Ghoststem and Boulderfang shared an amused glance before they walked to Houndcall’s den.
Beetlecloud made his way to a large metallic crate and poked his head through the entrance.
“Wrencreek, you in here?” he meowed a little too loudly.
A shriek of surprise was heard and a hiss.
“Beetlecloud! For StarClan’s sake, don’t raise your voice like that!”
A cat walked into the light. It was Wrencreek. His ragged fur puffed out, and his tattered ears were flattened. When he saw Beetlecloud looking a bit sheepish, he sighed. “Sorry. Had a bad day.” he cleared his throat. “What can I do for you?”
“Boulderfang wanted you to check on my scars. They’re fine, but he’s worried.” Beetlecloud shrugged as he walked further into the den.
Wrencreek nodded and tugged at a vine, which loosened something at the top of the den to let more light in. He walked to Beetlecloud and examined the scars. “Yeah, they do look sore. Have you snagged it on anything?”
“Not that I can remember. But that fight we participated in did hurt it a bit more than intended.” Beetlecloud mumbled awkwardly.
“Hm. Go figure.” he nudged the wound, apologising quietly whenever Beetlecloud flinched or winced.
“Right. I’m keeping you here overnight. I want to make sure the soreness and rawness doesn’t spread.” Wrencreek meowed with quiet authority.
“What? But it’s fine!” Beetlecloud protested.
“It’s fine when I say it’s fine. Come on, I got a nest for you prepared.”
Wrencreek guided Beetlecloud to a very soft looking nest, lined with feathers. “Lay down, I’ll make a poultice.”
Beetlecloud snorted before settling down into the nest. He was surprised by how soft it felt.
After a few moments, Wrencreek came back with a poultice, and began to gently apply it to the scars. “I think this weather may also be making it sore. It’s drier in here than your den.” he commented.
“Fair enough.” Beetlecloud mumbled.
“Have you been sleeping alright?” Wrencreek asked.
“...Not really, no…” Beetlecloud quietly admitted. “Nightmares…”
“Needlestar?” Wrencreek guessed.
“Yeah…” Beetlecloud puffed out his fur momentarily. “I assume you have nightmares about Makarov?”
“Every night. But that cat is dead. He won’t hurt any of us again.” Wrencreek meowed, before sighing. “Though…the scars remain.”
Beetlecloud looked at the scars that littered Wrencreek’s body. “Yeah…they remain.” he sighed.
“Do you want some poppy seeds?” Wrencreek asked. “They’ll help keep you asleep even during a nightmare.”
“That’d be great. Thanks, Wrencreek.”
Wrencreek nodded and went to the herb store. He pawed out a couple of poppy seeds, and brought them back over and laid them both in front of Beetlecloud, who lapped it up.
“Thanks…” Beetlecloud murmured as he began to feel the effects.
“Anytime. Sleep tight, you little bug.” Wrencreek purred and nudged the moss closer against Beetlecloud.
He kept watch before hearing Houndcall’s yowl.
“Let all cats old enough to hunt and fight, gather beneath the ivy crate for a clan meeting!”
Wrencreek glanced back at Beetlecloud before padding outside. He could see cats gathering around a large wooden box that was wrapped with thick ivy. On top, was Houndcall, and beside him was Boulderfang, and Houndcall’s deputy, Hickorygaze.
Once all the cats were gathered, Houndcall began the meeting.
“Boulderfang, Ghoststem and Beetlecloud went on a hunting patrol this morning, and found sick prey. It has been sectioned off with brambles, but that doesn’t mean it’s contained.” he meowed in a raised, clear voice. “If you see any prey exhibiting behaviours of sickness, don’t go near it. Section it off with anything you find, and move on.”
“What are we going to do about prey? It’s scarce right now” a cat yowled out. Wrencreek looked towards the cat, and recognised Brackenstep.
“We’ll hunt as usual, avoiding sick prey. However, if it does get out of control, we may need to ask DesertClan for help with prey.” he meowed. “They’re still our allies, and they may be willing to help.”
Houndcall took a breath before continuing “Me and Wrencreek will go out tomorrow morning, and investigate the area that Boulderfang and his patrol hunted at, and see what sort of sickness we are dealing with. Clan dismissed.”
The cats began to move away and return to their duties. Wrencreek sighed and waved his tail towards Ghoststem and Hickorygaze. The two toms walked over to him.
“Beetlecloud will be staying in my den for tonight.” Wrencreek meowed. “His scars needed some poultice, and I don’t want you two ruffians rubbing it off him.”
“Will he be alright?” Hickorygaze asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, he’ll be okay. He’s asleep right now. You can come see him when he awakens. For now, you two get some rest. I bet tomorrow is going to be a mess.” Wrencreek sighed.
As Ghoststem and Hickorygaze slowly wandered away with worry in their step, Wrencreek went back into the Medicine Cat den and looked down at the sleeping Beetlecloud. He smiled slightly, before going to the herb stores to sort them.
Night slowly crept up on him, and made him tired, so he went to his nest, and settled down for the night.
He woke up suddenly. It was dark.
Wrencreek looked around, and noticed Beetlecloud’s nest was empty.
“Beetlecloud?” he called out with confusion.
He got up and sniffed the air. Beetlecloud’s scent was stale.
Cautiously, he crept outside, and blinked his eyes to get used to the darkness of the hangar, and was horrified with the sight before him.
Cat’s wandered around aimlessly, choking out horribly. Black ooze dripped from their eyes and mouths, and their voices were garbled and unclear. In the middle, Beetlecloud laid on the ground, his limbs jerking, and his eyes wide. Black tendril-like patterns were in his eyes as he coughed up the black ooze.
Wrencreek backed away in fear, but something blocked his way.
“Hello, Yuri.”
Wrencreek whirled around and screeched in terror.
The cat that stood before him, was none other than Makarov. At least that’s what he assumed.
Makarov looked terrible. One eye was completely black, and the other had the tendril patterns. Ooze dripped from the black eye, and from his nose and mouth. His head lolled to the side and his neck looked twisted.
“Your end will come soon. Traitor” Makarov’s wheezy voice came out, before he lunged at the terrified Wrencreek.
Wrencreek screeched himself awake into the living world. He stood up and ran out of the den. The camp looked normal. He looked back, and saw Beetlecloud still asleep.
He panted heavily and shook out his fur and shook his head. “What the…” he whispered. He looked up through the broken hangar roof and saw it was just moonhigh. He wouldn’t be able to sleep any more tonight. It all felt so real. Unless…
It was an omen. A terrifying omen.