Ethereally Delusion
word limit - 2000
points earned - 8

Darkness. Pure darkness. Inky black surrounded the cave, invading every crevice; blanketing the granite walls. Liquorice colours swirled in the musky cavern, their pitch hues obscuring all sight. No visible light was present, neither sun nor moon could mould its rays to fit in the compact cave. The dank air was motionless, it's ambrosial fragrance wafting throughout the stone walls. Muteness of onyx darkness was almost deafening. After a few long moments, loud thumping filled the silence, the methodical pumping filled the void of calm. Like blood pumping in excited veins, the beat became faster and faster, growing louder with each passing second. Materialising out of the darkness, swirls of flames grew from the dusty ground, each tendril of fire latching onto each other. The embers grew, forming the shape of an inferno tiger, with each detail and stripe covered with specks of fiery light. Snarling, the blazing tiger spat out ashes and opened his scorching wide jaws. Without warning, it lunged, it's fire ready to devour the cave whole...

Koisplash woke up in cold sweat. Her sleek calico fur was drenched in bodily fluids; her vibrant sapphire eyes wide with shock. Scrambling onto her dainty paws, the tri-colour she-cat whipped her head back and forward, searching for the phantom beast in her dreams. The nightmare, it was too realistic, the young warrior could almost feel the burning inferno prickle at her skin. Panting heavily, the she-cat sat down and drew her paw over her white ears in an attempt to calm her raging nerves. It took a few minutes for the feminine cat to compose herself, to soothe her erratic heart and pulse. Flecks of light seeped in the den, creating an ethereal misty effect in the cave's atmosphere. Why was this dream affecting her so much? Something about it felt dangerous, almost forewarning. Standing up again to shake her pelt from the night's perspiration, Koisplash felt a wave of nausea crash down, dropping a huge force onto her forehead. The granite cavern felt off, like something was missing.

Egyptian blue eyes widening, a small gasp escaped the she-cat's throat. The stone cave in which she and her clanmates were trapped in was empty. The hollow was devoid of life, mammal and organic. All crevices had been cleaned, the saccharine berries and foul herbs were absent from their shelves. The small mound of stale prey that once lay behind her nest was swept clean, with an exception of the used chalky bones. At the blocked entrance, the ginormous fallen redwood tree had disappeared, replaced with a slate boulder. Koisplash's dappled fur stood on end, her flint claws unsheathed. What had happened?! Where were her companions and friends? The lithe calico took a shaky step towards the scattered bones, hoping that perhaps of them could give any clues to what took place when she was in her restless slumber. Stalking near the mound of alabaster remains, the trapped feline could only just make out a shape of the bones in the dim light.

Right as the she-cat got remote close to the pile, the porcelain bones began to shudder and move, forming a circular shape of the cave's basalt floor. Koisplash jumped, hissing in surprise. Confusion spread like wildfire in her mind as she stared at the cavern's mysterious prey remains. The circle was too perfect; each bone spread evenly apart. The possibility of the inanimate objects moving to such shape without help stunned the multicolour warrior. Curiosity bubbled at the young cat's belly as she sluggishly inched towards the ring, her interest getting the better of her judgement. Inwardly, Koisplash tried to stop her white paws from edging towards the formation, yet somehow, she was compelled to shuffle forwards. As the marmalade, black, and white feline was only a whisker from the circle of bones, her legs grew unstable, and she was sent flying right through the centre of the ring, and straight through the basalt cave-floor.

The wind rushed at the warrior's chiffon face as she plummeted through the charcoal darkness. For what seemed like forever, Koisplash descended through the midnight oblivion, falling paws-first into the abyss of darkness. Soggy, bitter air pierced the tumbling warrior's skin like thousands of little rose thorns. Gravity seemed to catch up with the she-cat as her limber body slammed into the ground, a large 'thud' echoing throughout the pitch-black gloom. The mottled feline lay on the hickory ground, her hindlegs sprawled out beneath her while her forelegs were tucked safely in her chocolate-coloured chest. Loud sirens rung in her ears; the impact of the fall taking its toll on her bodily functions. For many prolonged, painful moments, the young warrior faded in and out of consciousness, inky clouds drifting across her vision. Koisplash could only moan slightly as the agony from the collision blurred the she-cat's control over her broken body. Seconds trickled by like water in a light drizzle, the ache dulling as the molly lay on the floor.

Gently, function returned to Koisplash, her mind leisurely gaining control over her lean limbs and limber body. Time was no construct in whatever place the calico-and-white she-cat had ended up in. Minutes seemed to travel slower than hours, yet hours were faster than seconds. The onyx clouds obstructing the warrior's vision dissipated as she finally realised that she had control over all her senses. Muscles tender and throbbing with pain, the AsterClan molly uncomfortably sat up and skimmed her surroundings, searching for any kind of physical danger. Everywhere around her were dusky cedar trees, shrivelled, wilted grass and an eerie, constant could of ethereal mist that appeared to glow ever so faintly. The nutrient-poor dirt around her was covered in a slick, shiny lacquer, giving the dying shrubs a glossy outline. Koisplash's brain was too numb to comprehend the events that had just taken place. The incidents seemed realistic, yet dream-like in a sort of fashion. Unable to process any emotion aside from shock, the multicoloured feline decided to scout out the unearthly biome that she was stuck in.

Each step taken sent jolts of electric torture through Koispash's bones. Humidity clung to the tri-coloured feline's short fur, weighing down each trudge with extra bulk. A knowing sense of fear scraped at her stomach, allowing dread and bile to crawl up the she-cat's ivory throat. She had only taken a tree-lengths worth of walking when an odorous gas filled the air, wafting into her pink nose. Noxious smoke filled the air, weaving in and out of the unkempt shrubbery. Smoky tendrils of ash wrapped around thick, kobicha trees, drenching them in soot and dust. Bronze and apricot fire blazed through the dry grass, obscuring and puny organic life in its way. Fiery rage crackled through the air, fuelling destruction and chaos. Charred roots crumbled left and right, their once-vital strength giving up and letting their precious trunks fall to the ground. Vibrant, yellow and black bees desperately flew from their feeble nests, their hopeless attempts to rescue the young obstructed by the flames. Clusters of ignited flora crying to the sky could be heard, their desperate plea for life. As the embers and blazes ignited every cedar tree, one by one, it was clear that such a disaster could not be stopped.

Where had the fire come from?! The question replayed in the feline's mind as the flames burned behind her. Koisplash begged her agile legs to run, yet they felt like boulders, and could not be moved. The inferno swiftly caught up and surround the calico warrior, their scorching growing larger as they approached her. Frantically looking around her, the she-cat saw no escape from the fast-growing lethal firestorm. Out of her peripheral vision, she spotted a cloud-shaped teal pond directly behind her position. The young she-cat's brows furrowed together; she had never seen the ocean-blue pool before. How was it possible that is just... appeared? An idea of sheltering within the pond's watery depths crossed Koisplash's mind, yet the plan's foolishness and improbability made her masked eyes cringe. The blazes burned ever more fiercely now as they channelled rage into blistering heat; the moistness of the multi-hued she-cat's mouth evaporated instantly. Before the trapped wildcat had any chance to preach her last words, a humungous mammal formed from outside the fire and gracefully sprung into the flames, over the she-cat's head and into the translucent teal pond, both disappearing into the scorched ground.

A clear path from the surrounding flames emerged, allowing for a safe getaway. Taking her chances, Koisplash sprinted through the opening, her legs now feeling lighter than a butterfly. The juvenile clan-cat gasped as her lanky legs carried her away using some unknown newfound energy. Flames and embers seemed to stay behind her as the dappled calico she-cat felt her internal body temperature cool the further she hurried away. Swirls of foggy clouds became denser as she raced beyond the fiery destruction, to the point where she could not see farther than her own cream whiskers. Stopping her frantic escape, Koisplash stood amid the fog, searching for a clear direction. The haze was tinged crimson, and it's perfumed odour reeked of blossoms and citrus. An airy, spectral hum glided through the thick mist, constructing a spiritly hymn. Spooked, the tri-colour clan-cat hissed slightly as her fur stood upright along her spine. A foreshadowing impression compelled the agile molly to frown.

Koisplash widened her blue-slate eyes as reflections appeared in the opaque scarlet fog, the structural imprints of felines circled the warrior like prey. Cats of radiant, transparent colours swarmed as a pack, each soul indistinguishable. Through the vapour and mobs familiar pelt caught the divided attention of the marmalade, black and white she-cat. With fur as black as oil, and eyes greener than an oak tree's leaves, a pang of horror struck the young molly like lightning. Heaving hard, laboured breaths, Koisplash tried to back away from the etherous tom-cat. The spirit walled towards her, revealing savage, unhealed burn wounds plastered throughout half his body. Rank, Dijon-yellow pus seeped through cheery-rose abrasions, the stench of burning flesh invaded the surrounding air. All other phantoms faded back to the tangy citrus fog, forcing the speckled feline to stare at the horrible wounds. Thick, bubbling blood plastered the tom-cat's whole side of his body; his emerald eyes vacant and watery. With a small shudder, the midnight-black cat collapsed into the ground.

"Sablefur! No!" Rushing forward, Koisplash brought her alabaster paw to the translucent cat's flank, frantically checking for any pulse. The vacancy of the usual throbbing beat unnerved the young warrior. The dead tom-cat had landed on his side, his many burn wounds facing the foggy ground. Shaken, the wide-eyed calico molly took a step back from the misty spirit, her thoughts whirring around her head. Shamrock green tendrils of light erratically flowed from the oil-black tom-cat and into the ground, creating an almost root-like effect. Holding in a gasp, the sapphire-eyed feline stepped towards Sablefur again; this time she gently pushed his body so that both halves of his face could be revealed. What Koisplah expected was to see the grotesque lesions with plagued his blush-pink fur, and the bubbling sound of miniature flux bubbles popping, yet the image she was greeted by was far more shocking than any of the twisted reality had given the poor she-cat. Completely shrouding the wounds were thousands of honey-gold asters, each soaked in thick, syrupy-sweet currant liquid, along with tufts of golden fur and broken insect wings.

Awoken with an abrupt lurch, Koisplash woke again, covered in a mixture of her own urine and other bodily fluids. Dozens of images of the nightmare's traumas flashed in the dappled she-cat's scared orbs. Her eyes desperately searched the cave, spotting everything in its usual place. Heaving a relieved sigh, the lithe feline turned to face her fellow trapped cats and friends.

"Lynxpaw, I think StarClan sent me a vision..."