Pebblestream's POV

I looked up from my frog and saw Antfur looming angrily.

"So?" I said with a smirk. "Don't tell me you're still crying over that little sparrow I caught before you?"

"You got lucky," he sniffed disdainfully.

"Ah, the classic excuse of a sore loser," I chuckled. "I guess the prey just loves me more than you, Antfur."

He scowled at me. "You stole it," he corrected with a growl.

"Oh, come on!" I laughed. "I caught it fair and square. Besides, you know what they say, 'the faster cats get more things done.' Perhaps you should work on your speed, Antfur. I thought you were taught that when you were a kit!"

Before I could defeat him in conversation anymore, Waterripple appeared, dropping his fresh kill on the pile.

"'Ello, Pebblestream!" he greeted me with a grin. "'At Antfur 'othering ya again?"

"No, no," I purred. "More like I'm bothering him."

Antfur snarled and walked away, his tail lashing in annoyance. 

I chuckled, finishing my frog just as Shadowmoon came and sat by me. 

"Are the borders all fine?" I asked him. 

He nodded. "I saw OakClan patrols."

I perked up. "Really? Did you see Smallpaw, Slimefoot, or Petalpaw?"

He snorted. "They hardly let she-cats out of camp, and I heard Smallpaw was getting treated just like a she-cat."

I sighed. "You're right. I just want to see them again someday."

"Do you regret leaving Oakclan?" Shadowmoon asked suddenly, meeting my eyes.

I froze for a moment.

Did I?

"No, I don't," I finally said. "But I do wish I could save every poor she-cat from that terrible clan. Perhaps if I had stayed-"

"No, no," he interrupted. "You couldn't have done anything. If you had stayed, you would've just sealed your terrible fate. And besides, if you hadn't left, we probably wouldn't be here right now."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose."

"In hindsight, I don't know why I didn't want to leave," Shadowmoon mused. "It's just so good to be free."

"How did the two legs- I mean Furheads treat you?"

He shrugged. "Fine, I guess. But they'd never let us outside much. And when we were outside, there was always this wall."

I yawned. "Man, I am worn out from that hunt. Mind if I go to sleep?"

"No, no I don't mind," Shadowmoon sighed. "Go ahead."

I nodded gratefully and padded to the warrior's den, sinking into the soft moss.

All I needed was a restful sleep.

A vast field surrounded me, the ferns tickling my paws. The sun shone brightly above me, warming my pelt pleasantly as I looked at the cloudless sky.

As I turned, Muckpelt appeared before me, a smile etched on her face. "Hello, warrior."

"Warrior..." I tasted the word in my mouth. "Not just an ugly she-cat."

"You weren't even ugly when you were in OakClan," Muckpelt said gently. "All cats are beautiful."

I shrugged. "And how are you?"

Muckpelt hesitated.

"I'm getting weird signals," she mewed. "Like... he isn't gone."

"But how?" I exclaimed in a panic. "Midnighteyes got rid of him!"

"Calm down!" Muckpelt said loudly. "It's just faint signals. It might just be his way of warning us that 'he's not gone' or something."

"Yes..."

We both froze, our ears pricked up at the sound of a familiar voice.

"What you said, just without the contempt."

We turned slowly, our hearts beating faster as we saw who it was.

"Yes, it's me. Owlglide," his voice boomed through the field, his eyes glowing with a sinister light. "I expected quite a warm welcome!"

"How?!" Muckpelt demanded. "Midnighteyes-"

"That puny she-cat?" he scoffed. "She can't even make a dent in me. All she did was transfer her power to me."

As if to demonstrate, the sunny field suddenly became misty and full of fog, altering their view.

"Cool, isn't it?" he smirked. "I get the power of whoever tries to defeat me, whether they are willing or not."

"So you have my powers?" Muckpelt demanded.

I paused.

What powers?

"Yes, I do," Owlglide said with a laugh.

Muckpelt growled, her claws sliding out of their sheath.

"Don't!" I cried out, not being able to take it anymore. "You can't fight him!"

"Your little friend is wise!" he smiled with glinting eyes. "Unless you still want to try?"

Muckpelt looked away and sheathed her claws.

Owlglide grinned. "That's right, coward. You always back away from a fight. You know you're too weak to win anything. You're gutless, easily intimidated, and mouse-hearted."

"No!" I yowled, stepping up. "She's brave! She can endure pain like no one else has before!"

"And you," Owlglide snapped to me, "You're just a stupid, ugly, meaningless she-cat who was too cowardly to try to save your friends. They're back there suffering because you were too selfish to take them with you. Did you know Petalpaw was killed? Smallpaw was blinded and he has a trained assassin after him? Slimefoot has kits she didn't want and now she's being tortured every moon?"

My breath hitched as I listened to his every word.

I could've stopped that?

"And it's all of your doing!" Muckpelt choked.

"No, no," Owlglide said carelessly. "I can't fully control reality. Nobody has that power, not even StarClan. But it's possible to be stopped, but Pebblestream here didn't."

My mind whirled with terrible thoughts.

Petalpaw was dead?

Slimefoot was being tortured?

She had more kits she didn't want?

Smallpaw was blinded?

He was going to be killed by an assassin?

And I could've stopped this?

"Yes..." Owlglide purred. "I feel your thoughts swarming in your head. It's all true."

I choked, turning away and running.

All I wanted to do was run and leave everything behind.

A.G.H

(amazingly great hatred)

That went from 0 to 100 real quick-

SO

I'm actually so excited because I have SO many plot twists for you guys!

Get read for a rough ride.

"𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓷 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸𝔂 𝓪 𝓬𝓾𝓵𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮. 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶."–𝓡𝓪𝔂 𝓑𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓫𝓾𝓻𝔂, 𝓕𝓪𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓽 451