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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 17, 2019 14:59:04 GMT -5
Splashpelt blinked at him, clearly caught off guard both by the comment and the morbid question. He didn’t have time to answer it though, and he couldn’t have been more relieved as Nightpaw stole his apprentice’s attention. “Nightpaw, hello, what happened t-“ He broke off, startled as Spiderpaw answered his question before he’d finished asking it. He raised his eyebrows. “How do you know that?”
Nightpaw’s ears went back in surprise as Spiderpaw seemed to read his mind. “That’s right.” He answered, leaving it at that. Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t get chewed out for leaving the camp at night. “Blazeclaw made me come to get it looked at, but it really isn’t that bad. I barely even got nicked.”
Catchpaw’s eyes moved one side of his brother’s face to the other, but otherwise, he didn’t react to the request. From the rest of these strangers, sure, but from Firepaw? He didn’t like that. She was small, sure, but she wasn’t really that much younger than they were, and he trusted. Then again, it wasn’t his secret to tell. He swallowed, then gave a little nod, looking Sootpaw in the eye. “I promise I won’t tell anyone, even Firepaw.” He repeated.
Otterfrost looked up, his eyes widening a little as he suddenly realized how late it was. So that’s why she was so mad at him. He usually slept in, it hadn’t even occurred to him that she might actually mean ‘when the sun came up’ by sunrise, although now that seemed like a really stupid thing to have missed. “Wait, you gave me an apprentice?” Shock tore through him as he looked back up at her, his attempt to not make her mad forgotten. “Really? Where is he?” He turned a full circle, looking for this phantom apprentice of his, before the last words made it through to him and he looked back at Cowstar. “I’m super serious about this, scout’s honor.” He told her seriously. “Can I meet him?”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 17, 2019 19:31:10 GMT -5
“Hold on,” said Cowstar sternly, as he scrambled to locate his new apprentice. “You say you’re serious, but I want to make it clear that you’re going to have to prove that. This was strike one. Don’t make me label a strike two.”
Spiderpaw’s ears were pricked sharply forward, his attention drawn fully towards Nightpaw now that he has his first actual patient. “The owls around here kill cats,” he explained. “We’ve seen those marks before, on dead and injured cats my age and younger. That’s why kits and apprentice-aged cats aren’t allowed to leave camp at night alone, even for patrols. Lionstrike told Cowstar about it.”
Sootpaw nodded, and he could see Catchpaw’s hesitation over not telling anyone. But this was important...Firepaw didn’t suspect anything, but since Catchpaw had flat+out asked him to explain his behavior, he wasn’t going to lie. But the fewer cats who knew, the better. “I came from a place like this,” he said at last, voice hushed. “A Clan. That’s why I know my way around - and it’s why I want to stay. Clans are safe. Safer than being alone.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 17, 2019 20:51:08 GMT -5
That didn’t seem quite fair. Okay, maybe he should have guessed that “sunrise” meant “when the sun rises”, but no one had actually told him he specifically needed to be there, had they? She hadn’t told him he was going to be actually getting an apprentice, or that he was supposed to be involved in the ceremony, so it felt a little bit harsh to mark this one completely his fault. “Okay, okay, strike one.” He muttered, retraining himself from saying any of his thoughts in case they made her revoke his apprentice. “So do I get three strikes like in baseball or more that that? And is there anything else I should definitely not do ever?”
That makes a lot of sense, Nightpaw thought, the cuts on his back still stinging more than he really cared to admit. The fact that they knew it had been an owl meant they knew he’d been outside at night, but he wasn’t telling them what he’d seen. He wasn’t completely sure he was going to tell anyone yet, and if he was, it was going to be the only other cat here who deserved to know. “It really isn’t that bad.” He said again, searching for something that would get him out of there so he could think. “It probably just needs to be cleaned, and I can do that.”
Splashpelt realized what the marks meant, but he didn’t say it. It seemed like everyone in the den knew already, and if Nightpaw didn’t want to tell him what he’d been doing out of camp at night, the medicine cat probably couldn’t make him. He would be keeping a good eye on him from now on, though. “Come on, its good practice for Spiderpaw.” He moved forward, flicking an ear for his apprentice to follow him. “Especially since he knows what they are, he can probably teach me how to recognize them, and we’ll both learn something.”
Catchpaw’s eyes widened. A place like this? He couldn’t mean there was another Clan somewhere close enough for a kit to have walked from. But that’s exactly what he meant, wasn’t it? His eyes moved to the scar across Sootpaw’s face, and suddenly he thought he understood where it had come from, and why it looked so much like a cat’s claw. “But you didn’t stay. They threw you out, didn’t they?” He said just as quietly, glancing quickly around to make sure no one was listening in. “How do you know this one is any better?”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 18, 2019 22:23:20 GMT -5
Cowstar didn’t know what ‘baseball’ was, so she skipped over that part and answered his second question. “Think that about covers it,” she told him, sitting down and taking a breath as she tried to look past how much this cat frustrated her. Surely, somewhere in there was a decent work ethic. There had to be. “Just...don’t be late, and don’t bail on your apprentice.”
“It needs to be cleaned right,” Spiderpaw countered, as Nightpaw offered to vacate the premises and care for the wounds himself. “Owl claws can have bits of rotting flesh and other things on them that cause infection. We’ve had cats die from that weeks after they were attacked.” He glanced over at Splashpaw, puffing out his chest a little as he told him to practice. That, he could do. “Okay, so you can tell they’re from an owl because of how deep and sharp they are. Cat claws aren’t that long, and neither are coyote or fox teeth,” he explained, rattling off the information that was still safely stowed away in his brain from when he’d learned it, months ago. “The depth and length of the scratches should be about the length of a mouse, from head to tail, if it’s an owl. Also, the scratches will be on top of the shoulders, back, and nape of the neck, because they strike from above.”
Sootpaw looked away, almost instinctively trying to hide the scar as Catchpaw looked at it. Looked at it like that...like the mark that it was. The mark that meant he was a mistake - someone who was never meant to exist. “If it was like my Clan, they wouldn’t have let us in,” he said softly. “Not just like that, anyway. I...I don’t know that it’s better, but having a Clan is being safe. And I want you and Firepaw to be safe, for once.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 20, 2019 17:03:22 GMT -5
Catchpaw looked away from the scar, meeting Sootpaw’s eyes instead. “So that’s why you’re acting so weird around these strangers.” He murmured, and some of the tension went out of him now that he had an explanation. “It’s like, all the good parts of your clan and non of the bad, at least so far.l He offered his brother a crooked smile at that. “Safe? If I ever say I'm safe, give me a good cuff around the ears, alright?” He said it like a joke, but he meant it. “Can’t be safe, Sootpaw. But you can be alive, and you can be not starving to death, so I guess if that’s what you mean then yeah, we’re safe.” Assuming they could work hard enough to earn their meals. Assuming they didn’t break any unspoken rules. There was a lot he was assuming, but at least he knew what he didn’t know and he wouldn’t be surprised if it came back to bite him.
“Of course.” Otterfrost felt like he could have flopped over right there from relief, as her anger seemed to fade a little bit. “Soo......where is he? Can I please meet him if I promise not to sleep past sunrise ever again? Please?”
Several sterns instructions from Splashpelt and deep, incredibly meticulous cleaning from Spiderpaw later, Nightpaw stalked out of the medicine den with leaves and green slime covering the deep cuts in his shoulders. He needed to find his brother. He turned, looking around the camp for him.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 20, 2019 17:31:13 GMT -5
Rainpaw was sitting at edge of the camp, ears pricked forward, blue eyes trained on some invisible thing deep in the forest. He seemed to be deep in thought, but one of his long ears did turn slightly, signaling that he had heard Nightpaw’s approach. “Why aren’t you out with Blazeclaw?” he asked simply, turning his head to look at his brother.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 20, 2019 17:51:10 GMT -5
Nightpaw stopped as Rainpaw turned to face him, his fur prickling the way it always did when he spoke to his brother now. “I got attacked. It’s not important. Can we go somewhere a little more private?” He answered, deciding quickly that it was best to get right to the heart of whatever this was. “I need to tell you something very serious and I need you to listen to me.”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 20, 2019 18:03:09 GMT -5
Rainpaw narrowed his eyes at his brother, ears angled slightly backwards as he processed what it was he had to say. “Alright,” he said, finally, and turned, walking towards the apprentices’ den. Once inside, he turned and sat. “No one else should be in here for a while. They’re all training,” he said, flicking his tail. “What is it?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 20, 2019 19:28:38 GMT -5
Nightpaw followed him in and sat down, taking a deep breath. “I saw Thornpaw last night.” He announced, without giving himself time to back out of it or decide to make it any less than it was. “I was asleep, but I wasn’t dreaming. There was blood everywhere and crows and then her, and she wanted me to follow her because she needed to show me something.” Just tell it like it happened, and Rainpaw had to understand. He had to feel the way Nightpaw had felt: knowing it wasn’t a dream with no doubt. Knowing what it was. “She was warning us about something. Something bad.” He pushed on. He wanted to say everything before Rainpaw had a chance to reply. “I don’t know what, but something really, really bad is going to happen unless we can figure it out and stop it.”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 21, 2019 9:25:04 GMT -5
Rainpaw’s face, however, did not give the impression of understanding. At first, as Nightpaw began to speak, it seemed like he was almost, against his will, hopeful, but then as his brother went on, his ears angled further and further backwards, until they were angled at a neat angle to his skull, about a quarter of an inch from touching his head. He looked down at the ground, eyes narrowed to slits. “Stop it,” he said at last, in a hiss that was deceptively calm. “Just...stop. Do you think doing...whatever this is is helping?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 21, 2019 9:41:49 GMT -5
Nightpaw’s ears flicked back, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly as his brother answered. It felt like a claw had pierced his chest, all the way to his heart. The chasm that had opened when Thornpaw died gaped between them, and for the first time he really understood just how deep it had gotten in the months since. If Nightpaw had felt different since it happened, Rainpaw simply was different. The Rainpaw he desperately missed would have listened, asked him to explain what he meant, how he knew it was really her. This cat...this fiercely angry cat didn’t want an explanation. He was going to set one anyway. “I’m not lying.” He answered, his voice strained as though he couldn’t get enough air. “It wasn’t a dream. I don’t know how I know that, but I do, and if you’d seen it you would too. I’m your brother, Rainpaw. You have to believe that I’m telling you the truth, if you trust me at all anymore.” That was it. He realized, with a sick jolt in his gut, that he’d been mourning not one but two of his siblings since the day everything had changed.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 21, 2019 11:12:58 GMT -5
Rainpaw’s world had changed since Thornpaw had died, and it was through that lens he now saw his brother, pleading with him to understand, in a cold, bluish light, as if he was behind a sheet of ice. “I don’t believe you,” he said dismissively, turning away from the desperate cat in front of him. “It was just a stupid dream that you’re taking way too seriously.”
Suddenly, from just above them, where vines and boulders made up the roof of the den, came a yelp, and a crash, and down from the ceiling game Sootpaw, landing in a dusty heap with broken vibes and a few small rocks coating his black fur. “Oh...” he said in a small voice. Then, he sneezed.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 21, 2019 13:40:57 GMT -5
He might as well have clawed Nightpaw’s eyes out. It would have hurt less, he thought in the vaguely surreal aftermath of his brother turning coldly away from him. “Rain...paw....” he tried to say something, anything that would make the other cat turn around and look at him and listen to him, really, really listen, but there was nothing. He closed his eyes against the sight of Rainpaw walking away. His eyes snapped open as the ceiling cracked and he reared back, narrowly avoiding the small black cat that came tumbling down in a pile of loose dirt. He didn’t understand what had just happened in the few seconds afterward, but the sneeze brought him back and he glared at the newer apprentice. “What did you hear?” He demanded, his tail lashing angrily. Eavesdropping, first day at their new home. Not the best start ever.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 21, 2019 20:01:35 GMT -5
“Ohh....hey, guys,” said Sootpaw, slowly getting to his feet and curling his tail around his paws. “How’s it going, I was just - ahh, practicing my climbing skills. Y’know, now that I’m an official apprentice.”
“That wasn’t the question he asked,” said Rainpaw impatiently. “What did you hear?”
Sootpaw sat still for another moment, shifting his paws as he glanced between the two of them. “Okay, so, pretty much everything. But, uh, the important part is that I’m not the tattling type, so we can all just walk away and pretend like this never happened, right?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 22, 2019 14:46:10 GMT -5
On a good day, maybe, Nightpaw would have been able to put up with this version of his brother and Sootpaw’s newfound mischievous streak. This did not count as a good day under any possible definition of the term. His tail lashed two more times for good measure before he gave it up. “And you’re not at worried about pretending you never heard any of that?” He asked, letting how tired he was seep into his tone. “You’re fine with the idea that either I’m insane or we might all die?”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 22, 2019 18:33:06 GMT -5
Sootpaw glanced between Nightpaw and his brother, calculating the risks. If he lied...he risked being found out, but if he told the truth, he risked being kicked out. Mouse dung. “Look, it’s none of my business,” he said at last, flicking his tail cagily. “I don’t wanna get involved in anything but what I’m supposed to - staying here is important. To me, and to my family.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 23, 2019 12:37:11 GMT -5
“If you didn’t want to be involved, you shouldn’t have tried to listen in on conversations that weren’t about you.” Nightpaw pointed out, somehow not unkindly. “Look, I know what I saw, and I know it wasn’t a dream. And since that means something really, really bad is coming whether we like it or not, I think we could use all the help we can get to try and figure it out and stop it. You seem really cool, and I get that family is everything.” A big brother and a little sister. It was almost too similar, too easy for him to understand exactly the position Sootpaw was in, caught between them and willing to do anything to keep them safe. Only he hadn’t actually failed yet. “If we don’t stop this, your family is going to get hurt. Are you in?”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 23, 2019 16:23:53 GMT -5
He’d heard enough. Rainpaw turned around and began to stalk out of the cave, lean shoulders rotating with his stiff, tense stride. “You don’t have to get involved in this,” he said, turning over his shoulder to address Sootpaw. “It’s none of your business, anyway.” And with that, he was gone.
Sootpaw shifted his paws nervously, now that he was left with the cat who, though he was the nicer of the two, he couldn’t help but contradict to his face. “I...” He paused, uncomfortable with all of this. “Look, I’m sorry for whatever happened...but this really isn’t my business. I can’t just...jump into whatever’s happening here, like you’re asking. I’m sorry.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 23, 2019 17:00:08 GMT -5
Nightpaw’s tail dropped until the tip rested on the floor as a Rainpaw stalked away, taking with him any hope of them working together. His hopes plummeted even further as Sootpaw turned him down next. He barely knew the other apprentice, sure, but...well, maybe he’d hoped that would help. For someone who wasn’t already so twisted up in this that they could barely see straight on the team. “It’s okay.” He said, studying his paws in order to not see whatever expression was on Sootpaw’s face right then. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have tried to drag you into this when you just want to be left alone. I can do it alone.” They better hope he could, anyway. I’m sorry for failing you yet again, Thornpaw.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 23, 2019 21:05:30 GMT -5
(Skip to morning)
Prod. Prod. Prod. Another prod, but with the sharp needling of claws through fur this time. Someone was trying to wake Nightpaw.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 23, 2019 21:15:50 GMT -5
Nightoaw’s eyes squinted at first, as though trying to do the opposite of opening. Which is what they did next, slowly and blinking sleep away. “Wha...who...what?”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 23, 2019 21:20:02 GMT -5
Staring at him, sitting directly over him as he slowly opened his eyes, was Rainpaw. “The new ones are here,” he said simply, once he saw his eyes open, and backed up several steps.
Crouched in a circle around Nightpaw were four young cats - Sootpaw, Firepaw, Catchpaw, and Rainpaw. Spiderpaw, conspicuously, was absent. Rainpaw looked cold and distant, as usual, but the other three looked positively shaken.
Sootpaw straightened up, trying to take the lead, and then shuddered, his tongue caught in his throat.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 23, 2019 21:27:09 GMT -5
Nightpaw sat up, blinking more from bewilderment now than sleep. “Hey, guys.” He said nervously, trying hard to read their expressions. We’re they angry with him? Had something unspeakably terrible happened? Oh StarClan. Something unspeakably terrible had happened. “What’s up?” He continued, his attempt at his normal casual everyday tone failing as his mouth suddenly tasted like rabbit fur.
Firepaw and Catchpaw looked at Sootpaw at the same time, although their expressions were quite different. Firepaw”s brown eyes were wide, still steeped in the terror of what she’d dreamed - or not dreamed - seen. Catchpaw's face was a mask, but his eyes were bright with some deep, unreadable expression.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 23, 2019 21:33:56 GMT -5
No one spoke for a long moment - Sootpaw had shrunk down into a crouch and was licking his lips, nauseous.
“You were right,” said Rainpaw simply, breaking the silence without looking directly at Nightpaw. His face gave no hints as to how he was feeling - not even his long tail twitched. “Everyone here had the dream last night.”
Meanwhile, in the medicine den, Spiderpaw was still and silent, eyes closed, breaths coming in a slow, automatic rhythm. Which would be normal, except he normally would’ve been up hours ago, and he hadn’t so much as twitched since the sun came up.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 23, 2019 21:41:19 GMT -5
Nightpaw’s eyes went slowly wider and wider, until it seemed impossible that they could stretch any more. Then they went just a little bit wider. He hadn’t ever doubted it. But seeing them all here, all of them having experienced the horror of it too, it was something deeper and more important than just knowing he had been right. “So I have no idea what to do about it.” He admitted to them in a rush. “Do you?”
Splashpelt padded over, worry creasing his features. “Spiderpaw?” He asked, gently prodding his apprentice’ side.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 23, 2019 21:46:11 GMT -5
“What are we even supposed to...” Sootpaw finally spoke, then seemed to get the nerve to pull his belly off the stone floor. He shuddered. “What does it even mean? Who was the she-cat in the dream?”
“Our sister,” said Rainpaw, eyes narrowed even tighter than usual. “She’s dead.”
Spiderpaw didn’t stir - didn’t even twitch. He just stayed there, still and quiet, curled in his nest in the same position he’d gone to sleep in.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 23, 2019 21:53:08 GMT -5
“Thornpaw.” Nightpaw said, at the same time Rainpaw answered. He glanced at his brother, then wished he hadn’t and looked away.
“Is it...going to happen?” Firepaw spoke up tentatively, her voice even smaller than usual. “I mean...all the blood and....stuff....”
“Come on.” Splashpelt muttered. Her chewed his lower lip, a habit he’d managed to abandon months ago. Anyone else? Sleeping in, probably stayed up late. Spiderpaw? The medicine found he was genuinely worried he’d lost his new apprentice to a deep coma. He sighed and ducked out, returning a moment later with the strongest smelling herbs he could find, which he shoved under Spiderpaw’s nose.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 23, 2019 22:03:57 GMT -5
Spiderpaw woke up. The instant the scent reached his nose, his eyes flew open, and all of his muscles went rigid, legs splaying our at hideous angles as his whole body locked up and began to tremble violently. “H...he...lp.....m...e.....”
“I mean, not all of it,” said Sootpaw quickly. “No way. Like, that symbol...that wasn’t even from anywhere near here. The dirt was different.”
“It seems like that’s what she’s asking us to stop,” said Rainpaw, tail tip flicking slowly back and forth. “Nightpaw. Did you have that same thought?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 23, 2019 22:14:47 GMT -5
“Yes.” Nightpaw said immediately, relief flooding him as Rainpaw voiced his own thoughts. “She’s warning us about something that’s coming unless we stop it. We just don’t know what it is or anything about what to do about it.”
“I’m sorry, but someone has to say it.” Catchpaw spoke for the first time. His tail flicked restlessly back and forth and his ears were back but not quite flat. “Why are we all assuming this is a mythical message from your dead sister? Sootpaw told us about your dream, it’d be easy for us all to have dreamed up our own super scary versions of it from that. And no one who didn’t hear about it saw anything, unless the adults are just all fine with it.”
Splashpelt kicked the herbs away and lay down, pressing his soft pelt up against his apprentice’s coarser one. “You’re okay.” He murmured, as soothing as he could. His heart was racing and he focused on it, trying to bring it down slowly in the hope of Spiderpaw’s doing the same. “You’re okay. You’re in your nest. Just breath, in, and out, okay? You’re safe.”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Jun 23, 2019 22:20:13 GMT -5
But whatever was happening to Spiderpaw was only worsening by the second. Rigidity turned to thrashing, which soon turned so violent that he slashed at Splashpelt with all four feet, tearing up his nest until finally... He had his footing, and like a ghost, suddenly, he was right in front of Splashpelt, his eyes wide and blank. The edges of his pupils seemed to be clouding over second by second, their insides growing white and milky. “He...is...coming...” he said, in a voice that sounded very unlike his own. “He...found...a way out.”
“There were things in there I didn’t know about,” said Sootpaw, turning to his brother. “Stuff I didn’t get told. And did it really feel like just a dream to you? Cause...” He shuddered, the motion extending from his ears to the tip of his tail. “It didn’t to me.”
“Do we tell the others?” wondered Rainpaw out loud, still thinking.
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