Dusk's Omen

Episode One of Twilight Blue. Enjoy~

Omen
The smears of orange and red were painted beautifully in the sky. The sun was but a faint glowing light shimmering over the horizon, outlining the smooth rocks that stretched over the ground and the tall grasses that swayed in the gentlest of breezes. Everything was calm and quiet, with only the crickets' songs and the sluggishly-flowing stream cutting through the silence.

A shriek sliced into the peace. "An omen! An omen from StarClan!" A soft-furred tortoiseshell's tail lashed back and forth. The she-cat's amber eyes were wide with terror, and her paw was raised to indicate what she was so horrified at. Before anyone could ask, she cried out, "Destruction! The Clan will be destroyed!"

As a small group of GorseClan cats gathered around her, muttering amongst themselves. One cat called out, "What is it this time, O great medicine cat?" His voice was sarcastic, and a few of the cats snickered at his call.

The medicine cat's eyes darted to the speaker, a relatively young golden-furred warrior. "An omen!" she repeated, her voice louder this time. "An omen of destruction!" She didn't let anyone reply, though one cat opened their mouth to say something. She droned on, "StarClan has spoken to me! They have said that our Clan will be annihilated by a dark force.

"And that dark force is none other than a cat in this Clan." The medicine cat's voice was dramatic, and a hushed silence met her words. She swished her tail away from an object she was hiding from her Clanmates' sight. It was a blue berry sitting on a tuft of black fur. A small shred of catmint lay under the tuft.

The GorseClan cats were silent. The golden-brown warrior from before meowed, "Wow, a berry. Sooo scary. Thanks for waking me up for nothing, Leafswirl." With that he stood, stretched, and padded back to the warriors' den, his golden tail disappearing into the opening.

The medicine cat, Leafswirl, glared at him through narrowed eyes before turning her attention back to her omen. "The catmint represents the purity and stability of our Clan," she explained, her eyes locked on the three small items making up the omen. "The tuft of fur respresents darkness, the darkness of the night of the new moon and the shadows that stretch toward camp.

"And the berry," she hissed, her voice low, "represents a cat in this Clan." She turned her amber gaze to a very young she-cat, apprenticed earlier that day. The she-cat's pale, fluffy blue fur was less vivid, yes, but still matched the berry's color. "Her." she growled.

"Her?"

"She's an apprentice!"

"You're crazy, Leafswirl."

"This is so stupid."

One by one, the cats dispersed into small groups, some heading to the warriors' den and some lingering in the clearing in small clusters. The blue she-cat was left, her ears perked curiously and her soft turquoise eyes trained on the 'omen.' When she stepped forward to look closer at the items, Leafswirl snarled at her, lashing out at the young apprentice with her thorn-sharp claws.

The apprentice flinched away, looking up at Leafswirl with her scared blue eyes. When Leafswirl bared her teeth, the apprentice stepped back, then retreated, scrambling back to the apprentices' den. She disappeared into it, and Leafswirl narrowed her amber eyes. "Serves you right." she mumbed in a low voice.

Glaring at her omen, she added, "None of them believe me. Do they doubt the word of StarClan?" The tortoiseshell spat something in the direction of the warriors' den, then gingerly lifted the items from the grass and turned to walk back into her den.

"Leafswirl." a voice rumbled, and she turned to see Froststar, the Clan leader and her father. "I'd like to speak to you."

-tbc