Better World

 by Miststream 

 better world  ~  against the sun  ~  hero  ~  follow you  ~  hummingbird  ~  dots  ~  hunted  ~  the fire

  ~ 

 Look to the sky 

 Out to the stars 

We're in danger.

I stared up at the fading dusk, hoping for some reply, some glimmer of hope to keep me going.

No reply. No hope.

The moon glowered coldly down on me.

I ran back to camp, trying to make them believe.

''We're in danger. We'll be destroyed if we don't defend ourselves!'' I shouted from the center of camp. The cats of the Clan sat around me, looking annoyed.

"Moonpaw!" I recognized my mentor, looking immensely embarrased, stride up to me. "Stop this immediately. You are no help to the Clan, you hear me?" She put her face a mere whisker-length in front of mine. "No one believes you. Stop this attitude."

 Believe what you find 

 No matter where you are 

I pushed past her and the other cats, closing my ears to the growing clamor around me.

"Come back at once, Moonpaw!"

I turned around, forgetting where I was, and dug my paws into the ground, sinking my long claws so they caught the moonlight, making them glint. I let all the fury pour into my eyes, and screeched at the semicircle of cats around me.

They backed away, eyes wide.

You're wrong, I yowled. The rogues are coming!

And I ripped free from my mentor's grip and rushed to the entrance in front of me.

 You can go on 

 And make this world 

 A better one... 

Stormstar, I gasped as I broke in. Time's—running—out...

Stormstar broke away from consulting with the Clan deputy.

Moonpaw, this is no time for one of your apprentice jokes, Skyheart hissed savagely. ''You have spent the past moon screeching about these rogues attacking. They have declared peace with us. They would do no such thing.''

You're all wrong, I yowled. ''I heard them, after leaving the Gathering. They want our land.''

Skyheart is right, Stormstar intervened, keeping his cool, though looking distressed. ''I do not know what has gotten into you, but it is not of the warrior code to back on a promise. The rogues have made an oath of peace, and they shall not break it.''

Skyheart shoved me outside into the blithering rain before I could shout:

They are not warriors

They are rogues

and they do not follow the warrior code

 Days come and gone 

 Feeling undone 

My eyes wide, I stared blankly on the top of the rock, pushed out of the den. The Clan stared up at me from the ground, tongues in the frozen state of grooming.

You are no apprentice of mine, my mentor hissed from below, to be doing without order.

I don't follow orders that aren't right, I hissed back.

She stared.

Then she leaped.

I dodged.

Her claws came down on my face. I retaliated, kicking up with my hind legs, gaining advantage. She flipped in midair, bringing her front paws down, and we were rolling, a ball of scratching and hissing.

Stop this, Mintwhisker, I heard the medicine cat holler. ''That cat is your apprentice! You are hurting her!''

Mintwhisker, I noticed, ignored him.

Finally we lay panting, me underneath my mentor's claws. She stared at me, breathing hard, us nose to nose.

 Shattered and torn 

 How will we belong~ 

 Again? 

My flank stung with scratches. Instead of struggling, I turned my face to the camp entrance, my cheek under Mintwhisker's paw.

The...entrance... I whispered weakly.

Paws pounded against the ground.

Cats screeched.

The ground turned slick with blood.

In the midst of the battle, I was flung aside into the bushes. Pain shooting against my leg, I lay there panting, not having energy to get up, but not wanting to get up either—not wanting to see the horrors outside of my confinement.

I closed my eyes, my lip trembling.

 We stand in line 

 And we amend.... 

I scrabbled at the ground, trying to heave myself up, and squeezed through the bushes, my heart catching at what I saw.

Stormstar sat on the leader's rock, gazing out at the wreckage. Unbelievable, he seemed to say. Then he caught sight of me.

Moonpaw, he murmured. I am so sorry, I—

I warned you, I whispered.

 ....for a better time....