> An Experiment Gone Wrong... With Better Results? > by Star Plasma > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A Day In the World of a Warrior > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Alex, get out of here!" Thomas yelled at his sister. "Why don't you watch TV in the living room?" Alex made a disdainful face at her brother. "Mom and Dad are watching the news!" Thomas sighed. There was no point in arguing with his sister. She was the baby, therefore, their parents would always sympathize with Alex. "Fine. But don't get in my way!" "Okay." Alex replied. She then ran over to the recliner and plopped herself down. She reached for the remote, and turned on the TV. Thomas turned back to his current project, the Literary-Life bringer. He turned on the welder, and began to seal the jagged steel edges to the main frame. That's when his ears were invaded by a very childish song. "My Little Pony! My Little Pony... My-y-y-y...." Thomas quickly flipped his welding mask back down, and began to continue working on his invention. It was nearly complete. Just a little weld here, and maybe a screw over there... "What's this?" Alex's voice interrupted his thoughts. Thomas turned off the welder, and took off the mask. Alex was holding his only other invention that had been a success, the TV-Brain mixer. It allowed you to scan a TV show, or movie, for the desired amount of time. Then you would attach the helmet, and press 'MIX'. This allowed you to watch TV anywhere you wanted! "Alex! Put that down!" Thomas yelled at his sister. Thomas didn't want all of his hard work to be lost to his sister's filthy little hands. "No." she said. Thomas narrowed his eyes dangerously. Alex put the device down, and went back to watching My Little Pony. Thomas sighed again. Why did there have to be little sisters? It was like some kind of cruel joke. Thomas finished welding the edges of the Literary-Life bringer, and added the screws in the needed areas. Complete! Thomas thought joyfully. Two years hard work had finally paid off! Rather, he hoped it had. He had yet to actually test the device. "Hey Alex, I'm going upstairs." Thomas told his younger sister. Alex had gone back to messing around with the TV-Brain mixer. "Would you STOP that?!" Thomas yelled, exasperated. Alex thought about this for a minute. "Hmm... only if you tell me how to use this thing." "Fine." Thomas responded, just wanting to test out his latest invention. "You point this lens at the TV, hit record, then press stop when you're done." "What's this big button for?" Alex questioned, pointing to the 'MIX' button. "You put this helmet on your head when you're done, then you press this button when you're ready to watch the show." Thomas replied, irritated. Alex looked dumbfounded for a minute. "You made this all by yourself?" she asked, impressed. Thomas couldn't help but boast a little. "Yep! Maybe one day, when you're all grown up, you might be as smart as your big brother!" Thomas teased, ruffling Alex's hair. Thomas headed to his bedroom upstairs while Alex walked back over to the TV, and started to record My Little Pony. * * * Thomas closed his door quietly, eager to start his testing. He quickly ran over to his bookshelf, and grabbed the last book of his favorite series, Warriors: The Darkest Hour. He then walked over to his bed, sat down, and began scanning the pages. * * * Alex's episode of My Little Pony had ended, and she had recorded the last fifteen minutes of it. She was eager to re-watch it, but it was probably a bit too soon to be watching it again. Alex wanted to thank her brother for telling her how to use the strange experiment thingy. She decided to find out where he was at. Alex hopped up the basement stairs, and into the living room. "Have you seen Tommy mom?" Alex asked her mother. "No sweetie, I haven't." Alex's mom told her. "Have you checked his room?" "Nope! I'll do that right now!" Alex responded enthusiastically, heading for the staircase. Alex hopped up the steps two at a time. "Tommy?" Alex called, knocking on Thomas's door. "Tommy!" she called again. Still no answer. Alex knocked again, a lot louder this time. "TOMMY!" she shouted. Still no answer. Alex was pretty freaked out by now, but then remembered that her big brother used to take something called 'naps'. Alex's mother had told her that when she was a teenager, she would start taking naps too. Alex shuddered. Who sleeps during the day? There's so much to do! Alex went into Thomas's room regardless, figuring that maybe she could read one off those books Thomas talked about so much. She took a step inside, and saw her brother fast asleep on the bed. He had a book next to him, and his weird invention thing was by his side too. He had some strange wires in his ears too. Alex walked up to the bed. "Wake up." No response. "WAKE UP BIG BROTHER!" Alex yelled. Still no response. Alex thought for a minute. She giggled to herself. She had thought of a genius way to wake her brother up. * * * "Ungh..." Thomas groaned. He had a massive headache. He opened his eyes. No longer was he in his bedroom, but he was now in a lush forest. Thomas sprang to his... paws? "YES!" Thomas shouted. "It worked!" He was eager to explore this new place, so he took a step forward, just to fall flat on his face. He growled with impatience. This being a cat business was going to take some getting used to. * * * Firestar and the rest of ThunderClan were on their way back to camp after the battle with BloodClan. Firestar had lost one of his nine lives in a face-off with BloodClan's leader, Scourge. Firestar shuddered as he remembered how it had felt to lose a life. He was one step closer to hunting with StarClan now. "Are you okay Firestar?" asked Firestar's mate, Sandstorm. Firestar looked at Sandstorm. She had a long wound gashed across the side of her pelt. It was swathed in cob-webs, they helped stop the bleeding. The only one who wouldn't recover from the battle was Whitestorm. Firestar's deputy had died in a battle with BloodClan's deputy, Bone. Firestar sighed. "Yeah Sandstorm, I'm fine, I just keep thinking about Whitestorm." Sandstorm licked his ear in a gesture of comfort. "Firestar, because of you, that's the only loss ThunderClan has suffered." Firestar had managed to gather the four clans of the forest to deal with the threat of BloodClan once and for all. It had been he who had defeated Scourge in the final battle. "I know." Firestar replied. "But I can't help but feel that the danger isn't over." * * * "This SUCKS!" Thomas cried, still not being able to walk very well. He had only walked a few fox-lengths before he fell again. It was already night-fall, and he was starting to feel hungry. "Freaking Anatomy class! Telling us that humans and cats have similar bone structures. It's a bunch of bull-" Thomas fell into silence when a badger lumbered out of the brush. For a human, a badger may appear cute and cuddly, but if you were a cat, you would find them rather intimidating. The badger had caught sight of Thomas, and started to lumber towards him. "Of all the-" Thomas scrambled to his paws, finding that using them was a lot easier when you were about to run for your life. Thomas stopped in his tracks as he heard a loud screeching from the bushes. The badger looked around, confused, as a patrol of ThunderClan warriors darted in from the bushes. Thomas recognized Dustpelt, Cloudtail, Graystripe, and Bramblepaw from their descriptions in the Warriors books. Dustpelt launched the first attack, jumping on the badger's back and sinking his fangs into it's neck. Cloudtail followed, slashing at the badger's legs with lightning speed. The other warriors joined in, Graystripe going for the badger's eyes, and Bramblepaw biting it's tail. The badger howled with rage as it tried to throw off Dustpelt. The badger quickly swung around to swipe a massive paw at Cloudtail. Cloudtail quickly rolled under the attack, and sprang up to bite the badger's ear. The badger then realized that it was badly outnumbered, and quickly backed away into the brush. Thomas sighed with relief, only to be bowled over as a fifth ThunderClan cat barreled into his side, pinning him down. "Who are you?!" asked the cat, who Thomas recognized as Longtail. Thomas could only lie there and struggle; he was too scared to speak. "Your fear scent is overwhelming." Longtail said. "The others can smell your fear too. Graystripe!" Longtail called. Graystripe came up to the pair, and looked down on Thomas. "What do you suppose we do with this one?" Longtail asked Graystripe, not taking his eyes off Thomas for a moment. "We'll take him back to camp, and have him explain himself to Firestar." Graystripe answered. He turned around and summoned the Thunderclan warriors with a flick of his tail. The ThunderClan warriors made a circle around Thomas, to prevent an attempted escape. Thomas sighed. What can I do now? * * * Firestar sat in Cinderpelt's den, waiting for his wounds to have a poultice put on them. There were quite a few other cats inside the den too. Cinderpelt approached Firestar for a third time. "Cinderpelt, tend to the others' wounds first." he ordered. She nodded, and limped off, due to an old injury on the Thunderpath. After Cinderpelt had helped the others, she limped back over to Firestar. She spat out the juice of a marigold poultice onto his wounds. "You fought well today Firestar." Cinderpelt said, keeping her eyes on Firestar's wounds. Firestar shifted on his paws uncomfortably. "All of the clans fought well today. If LionClan hadn't come together, all of the forest clans would have been driven off or killed." Firestar replied. "Bluestar made a good choice in making you her deputy." Cinderpelt said, seemingly oblivious to Firestar's last comment. Firestar felt a pang as he remembered ThunderClan's previous leader, Bluestar. She had sacrificed her own life to save Firestar from a pack of ravenous dogs Tigerstar had used to try and destroy ThunderClan. She had taken the dog pack over the gorge on RiverClan's side of the border. Unfortunately, Bluestar had fallen into the river too. The current had been too strong, and the old ThunderClan leader had died on the riverbank. From the first day Firestar had arrived in ThunderClan as a kittypet, Bluestar had known he had a special destiny. Spottedleaf, the medicine cat before the last, had received a prophecy from StarClan. Fire will save the clan. * * * Thomas padded in the center of the other cats on the way to the ThunderClan camp. Even though he was currently a prisoner, he couldn't help but anticipate the arrival at the ThunderClan camp. Everything looked so different through the eyes of a cat. The trees looked a hundred times bigger than through a humans eyes, and Thomas couldn't suppress the urge to climb one. Thomas's thoughts were quickly interrupted when he stumbled over a rock. "Eyes ahead mouse-brain!" Dustpelt growled. Ugh, Thomas thought. This is going to be worse than I thought. After a few more minutes, they had arrived at the ravine leading down to the ThunderClan camp. As they descended, Thomas recognized the entrance to the ThunderClan camp, the gorse-tunnel. "Move." Longtail meowed, prodding Thomas in the side. The cats made their way into the gorse-tunnel, and into the heart of the ThunderClan camp. A few cats were still up this late; some socializing, others sharing tongues (1), and a few were in the medicine cat's clearing. The fresh-kill pile lay on the side of the clearing. A cat was heading towards it. "Brackenfur!" Graystripe called. The cat plodded over. "Fetch Firestar." Graystripe ordered. * * * After Firestar received treatment for his wounds, he had went straight to his den to call it a night. The leaf-fall weather offered no remorse, it's harsh wind blowing in the hollow under the Highrock. Firestar fell asleep as soon as his eyes shut. Firestar opened his eyes to see a green, grassy clearing. There was a strange shiny object in the middle of the clearing. Next to the strange-looking object was a cream colored tom. A few fox-lengths away lay another shiny object. This one was surrounded by twelve odd-colored cats. Suddenly, Firestar became aware of Spottedleaf's scent. "Take heed of what you have seen Firestar, for thi-" Spottedleaf began. "FIRESTAR!" Firestar sprang to his paws panting heavily. He was aware of Brackenfur staring at him quizzically. "Graystripe called for you." Brackenfur said, bowing his head then retreating from the den. Firestar padded out of his den to see what ThunderClan's new deputy wanted. His jaw dropped when he saw a circle of his warriors surrounding the same tom from his dream. "Graystripe!" called Firestar. Graystripe padded over to Firestar, beckoning for the prisoner to follow. The tom looked nervous about being under the hostile gazes from the rest of the clan members. His fear scent was quite powerful. Firestar looked around him, taking note of all the cats that had gathered in the center of the clearing. "Back to your dens!" he ordered "The prisoner shall join Graystripe and I in my den." Turning back towards his den, Firestar motioned for the others to follow. Once they were in his den, Firestar spoke. "Make yourself comfortable." he told the prisoner. Thomas gladly accepted the offer; laying down on the soft dirt floor. "Graystripe, report what happened." Firestar ordered. "We were going alongside the ShadowClan border when Dustpelt heard some lumbering through the undergrowth. We went to investigate, and caught sight of a badger." "Go on." Firestar said. Badgers were very dangerous if provoked, and the odds of beating one in a one on one fight wasn't very likely. "Myself and the rest of the night patrol quickly drove it off. Longtail was in the bushes, keeping an eye out for any ShadowClan cats, when he caught sight of this one." he said, flicking his tail towards Thomas. Thomas dropped his ears nervously as Firestar turned to him. "What is your name?" Firestar asked. Thomas had always wanted to come up with a warrior name. "Irontooth" he said. Firestar and Graystripe stared at each-other questioningly. "What is this 'iron' you speak of?" Graystripe finally asked. Dammit. Thomas sighed. "The name's Thomas." he said. Firestar wasn't surprised by the kittypet name. This cat reeked strongly of Twolegs. "Are you a kittypet?" asked Firestar. "Yeah." Thomas replied, not wanting to say anything else totally stupid. "What are you doing in the forest?" Firestar asked, turning away for a moment. Thomas wondered why, but then remembered that Firestar himself had been a kittypet a long time ago. "Uh, yeah... about that." Thomas said, flicking his eyes towards Graystripe. Firestar sighed. "Graystripe is my closest friend; he can hear anything you have to tell me." Firestar told Thomas, narrowing his eyes. "Can I tell you tomorrow?" asked Thomas suddenly. He didn't want to make things awkward before he tested out his invention's exit process. It was quite simple actually; all you had to do was fall asleep, and then Voila! You were back in the real world. Firestar hesitated for a moment, but then sighed in resignation. "Fine. At dawn tomorrow, no later." "Thanks Firestar." Thomas said, bowing his head. Graystripe led him out of the den. Firestar stayed up for a while longer, wondering what Spottedleaf had tried to warn him about. * * * Graystripe took Thomas over to a warrior called Thornclaw. "Show him the prisoner's nest. And keep guards posted.I wouldn't trust this one for a second." Graystripe said. Thornclaw bowed his head, acknowledging the deputy's order. "Follow me." Thornclaw ordered Thomas. Thomas followed the warrior over to a fallen tree that appeared to be hollowed out. "This is where you'll sleep." Thornclaw said, nodding his head at a pile of wet moss on the ground. "Okay." Thomas responded, to tired to argue about the wet moss. "And I wouldn't try anything if I were you." Thornclaw added before turning away. "There will be guards posted all night. They'll have you pinned down before you can say 'mouse'" Thornclaw warned. After Thornclaw had retired to his nest, a white warrior padded outside to keep watch on Thomas. The warrior, who Thomas knew was Cloudtail, stared down at him with a cold gaze. Whatever, Thomas thought, laying down in the moss to catch some sleep. No matter how hard he tried, Thomas could not fall asleep. Every time he felt as if he was going into REM, scenes of My Little Pony kept going through his mind. Again, and again, and again. Eventually, Thomas finally decided to deal with the colorful scenes and childish speech, and just went to sleep. Eventually, the scenes came to a part where the ponies had turned into cats. What the hell? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder... Thomas thought, wondering if he would ever wake up as Thomas(human) again. (1): As one of my viewers brought up, for those of you who haven't read Warriors, 'sharing tongues' means cleaning each other's fur; NOT a sexual term. > My Little Warriors > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ugh...my head..." Twilight groaned, opening her eyes slightly. She was looking up at the sky, and as her eyes slowly came into focus, fluffy white clouds drew her attention. "Pretty..." she mumbled, rolling over onto her side. The soft springy grass felt good on her back as she wiggled around, basking in it. Twilight let her head fall to the left, ready for a nap. Her droopy eyelids instantly shot open as she saw what lay before her eyes. Six furry cats lay all around her, snoozing softly as they slept. Their slender bodies' flanks rose up and down with each breath they took. Their pelts matched the colors of her friends. Twilight suppressed a scream as she struggled to her...paws? What in the name of Celestia is going on? Speaking of Celestia, there was a cat that was pure white with a slightly pinkish-bluish hue to her. This was obviously the sun princess. Another dead giveaway was the cutie mark. Princess Celestia's cutie mark, along with the others' was still there. There was just one thing that was really unsettling. The royal alicorn didn't have her horn or wings. Twilight glanced at the rest of the cats too. She could tell who each cat was; their colors were distinctly different. Rarity didn't have her horn, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash didn't have their wings. Of course, Pinkie and Applejack would be the same, despite the fact that they were now cats. This could only mean one thing for Twilight. MY HORN! Twilight reached up with her paw to feel her head. Nope, no horn there. "GREETINGS, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" boomed a voice from behind Twilight. Twilight sprang into the air, spinning around so she faced the speaker. Twilight's back was arched, and she let out an involuntary hiss. Luna tilted her head at Twilight's odd behavior. Twilight could've face-hoofed, but she lacked the latter. "Is something the matter Twilight? Look! I got a friend!" Luna exclaimed, holding up a small mouse. So many things were going through Twilight's head, but she was now focused on the mouse that Luna had started to toss into the air. Food, Twilight thought. No Twilight! You are a pony! You eat vegetables and fruit! Not meat! Luna's mouse had landed on the ground, and now struggled to get away. Luna smiled gleefully as she levitated the mouse back to her paws. "How did you do that, princess?" Twilight asked Luna. "Easy! It's just like using your magic, but without a horn!" Luna responded, letting the mouse scamper a little ways away before bringing it back to her paws. "Do you mind if I try?" Twilight asked Luna. "Go ahead!" Luna put the mouse on top of the grass. It ran for a tree, but before it got there, Twilight already had it in her magic's grasp. "Phew! That's a relief. I thought I wouldn't be able to use my magic!" Twilight said, letting the mouse go now that it had served it's purpose. Luna watched the mouse go. "Say, Princess, when did you get up, and what was your initial reaction to being turned into a cat?" Twilight asked the dark she-cat. "I woke up several hours prior to your own awakening, Twilight Sparkle. When I did, I was shocked to feel not the soft, springy mattress that is mine, but rather the soft, springy bed of pine needles instead. When I saw all of the cats surrounding me, I knew it was us. Do you remember being in the Canterlot library with my sister and your friends? The last thing I remember is...fainting. When I woke up, I kind of freaked out at first. Then I stood up, and realized that I too, was a cat. So I decided to take a stroll, thinking maybe I could come up with a solution to our strange transformation and our current location, as well as adapting to this new, feline body. Of course, I had realized right away that my horn and wings were missing. When I encountered the mouse, I decided to try to speak to it. I forgot that I was a mouse's worst enemy, and tried to approach it. When it tried to run, I cast out a spell to keep it in place, hoping it would heed my words." Luna finished. "So what do you think the other ponies' reactions will be?" Twilight asked Luna. Twilight's question was answered quite quickly as Rarity had awoken from her slumber. "AAAAAHHH!" Rarity shrieked shrilly. This caused the other ponies to awaken as well. Twilight face-pawed as Rarity finished speaking. "Of all the things that could happen, this is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" then promptly fainted on a nest of patchy grass. Meanwhile, Princess Celestia had gotten to her paws, and stared down at one. Fluttershy swung her head to and fro, trying to figure out which cat she should hug first. Fluttershy wasn't ashamed to say that her friends were the most adorable things she had ever laid her eyes on. Before she could decide, Celestia spoke. "Sister? What is the meaning of this?" Celestia asked her sister. Luna shrugged. "Why do you ask as if I know? It is quite infuriating!" Luna pouted. Being blamed for stuff she didn't do was Luna's pet peeve. It happened quite often too, with her being the younger sister and all. "Twilight Sparkle! Do you know anything of this?" Princess Celestia asked. Just as Twilight was about to shake her head and offer an intelligent explanation, rustling was heard from the bushes. * * * "Shh! Do you hear that?" Sandstorm asked the rest of the dusk patrol. The rest of the patrol ceased their conversations as they listened for noises in the forest's growth. "It sounded like it came from over there!" a she-cat's voice called out, and fronds of grass were parted as the speaker moved towards the warriors' place. Sandstorm flicked her tail as a signal for the rest of her patrol to get down. The cats expertly flattened themselves against the ground as they waited for the potential trespasser to show herself. As soon as the grass in the patrol's clearing parted, a pink nose with black fur around it poked it's way out from behind some fronds. Sandstorm gave the battle cry as she leapt at the intruder. Luna's eyes widened in shock as she saw the ginger she-cat leaping at her. Of course, her natural reaction was to use her magic to deal with a threat such as this. Sandstorm stared at the ground in shock as she was suspended a few mouse-lengths in the air. The other warriors stared in shock as Sandstorm was enveloped by a black aura. "HOW DARE YOU TRY TO ATTACK US! WE ARE ROYALTY! YOU SHALL PAY!" Luna shrieked at the cat who was suspended in the air. Sandstorm struggled to get out of Luna's magic's hold, but with no avail. "Fetch Firestar! Now!" Dustpelt yelled at Bramblepaw. Bramblepaw immediately dashed into the undergrowth. Twilight Sparkle took a step after him, but Celestia intervened. "I'll take care of this." Princess Celestia closed her eyes and was surrounded by her magic's aura. Next thing she was gone. Bramblepaw ran faster than he ever had before in an effort to alert Firestar about this new threat to ThunderClan. Suddenly, he was blinded by a bright flash. A large white she-cat now stood in his path. "Stop right there small one!" Princess Celestia bellowed, towering over the shaking Bramblepaw. This she-cat was big, probably even bigger than Firestar. Bramblepaw couldn't ignore Dustpelt's orders, but this cat was the very definition of intimidating. Her fur was pretty oddly colored too... "Hey! You're a kittypet, aren't you?" Bramblepaw asked Celestia. Bramblepaw knew that only a Twoleg would be cruel enough to color their pet's fur. He defiantly stood up to Princess Celestia. This she-cat was big, but Bramblepaw knew that kittypets had no skill in combat. "What?" Celestia asked, confused. "What is a Twoleg? What is a kittypet?" Celestia asked, angry that she had to do so. She was the all knowing Sun Princess! She should not have to learn these new words from a mere, mortal cat! Bramblepaw mewled with laughter. "You can't fool me, kittypet! Why don't you go back to Twolegplace and save me the time of dealing with you?" The look Celestia gave Bramblepaw was worse than that of a cockatrice. Luckily for Bramblepaw, warriors were not the same as ponies. He was still scared out of his pelt though. Bramblepaw was saved by a voice from behind him. "Bramblepaw? What's going on? Who is this cat?" Firestar asked, coming out from behind a tree with Cinderpelt walking out from behind him. Celestia looked at the dark ginger cat behind Bramblepaw's head. Celestia was surprised by what she saw in Firestar's eyes. There was wisdom there, far beyond that of any mortal being of his age. There was a fire that burned in his eyes, a look of determination on his face, and utter confidence in himself. Celestia looked to the gray she-cat standing next to Firestar. She saw knowledge glimmering in this cat's eyes; even more than that of Firestar himself. Celestia also saw pain in this cat's eyes. Celestia had noticed the way this cat limped. Her hind leg was twisted critically. This bone would never heal. But this wasn't the pain Celestia saw, no it was not. The pain Celestia saw was a dream; a crushed dream. This cat would never be what she wanted to be; instead following a destiny that wasn't meant for her. Celestia realized that these cats were not what she had thought they were. These cats showed intelligence and promise. Not like the cat that attacked Luna. "You there! You are trespassing on ThunderClan territory! What do you have to say for yourself? Don't you know about the forest clans, kittypet?" Firestar yelled, rage smoldering in his eyes. Firestar remembered the first time he had entered the forest from his kittypet home. The day he finally decided to gather up the courage to cross the border of his fence and the forest. That was where he had first met Bluestar. Firestar missed the majestic she-cat greatly. "Firestar! Do you need help dealing with this intruder?" Thornclaw called, padding up from behind some ferns. Firestar kept his gaze on Celestia as he answered Thornclaw. "No. Go find Sandstorm's patrol and tell them to return to camp immediately. I wish to speak with this intruder there. We have left the camp unguarded for too long. The threat of BloodClan still hasn't been scourged from the forest. We head back at once!" Firestar finished. Firestar began to pad off, then turned around as he realized only one cat was following him. Celestia remained in the same spot. "Follow us!" Firestar said, turning back to the direction of the camp. Celestia was reluctant to follow, but maybe she could clear some things up with this cat. So Celestia followed the two cats to the ThunderClan camp. * * * Thomas woke up in the middle of the night. His dreams had ceased, but now the whole ThunderClan camp was in a commotion. Thomas stood up and stretched his muscles. Cloudtail sat a fox-length in front of him, looking very tired. His eyelids were drooping, and he kept letting his head touch the ground. "Cloudtail! Go get some rest! You obviously need it!" Graystripe said, padding up to the white warrior. Cloudtail stood up, nodded his head in respect, then retreated to his den. Graystripe walked towards Thomas. "Hungry?" he asked. Thomas looked up at the broad-shouldered gray warrior. He saw no malice there, only concern. "Yeah." Thomas replied. Graystripe nodded, and left Thomas to stare in horror as he padded off to the fresh-kill pile. There wasn't much there that appealed to Thomas's stomach, but if anything, a bird would definitely be the best thing. Thomas let out a sigh of relief as Graystripe grabbed a magpie off of the pile. He brought it to Thomas, stood back, and stared expectantly at him. Thomas made a disgusted face at the magpie. How bad can it be? Thomas asked himself. He found out as soon as he bit into it. It tasted...like chicken actually. An uncooked, bloody chicken. Thomas didn't care. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, and anything would do. Thomas devoured the magpie quickly, and felt very cat-like afterwards. I just ate a freaking raw magpie... like a boss, Thomas thought, pleased that he had actually been able to stomach something that he would have totally rejected the day before. Suddenly Graystripe's ears perked up. "Do you smell that?" he asked Thomas, parting his jaw a little to let the scent pass over his glands better. "No." Thomas replied, trying to open his jaw in the same fashion Graystripe did. He then realized what a tard that made him look like, and shut his mouth. The other cats who were still up had their ears perked up as well. Thomas wondered what the warriors were so hyped up about. All of the warriors were heading for the gorse tunnel. Graystripe remained where he was though, keeping a watchful eye on Thomas. Thomas gave Graystripe a 'come on' look. "Do you really think I'm going to try and escape?" Thomas asked Graystripe. Graystripe looked at Thomas doubtfully, but his curiosity was too much for him to bear. "Fine." Graystripe said, and quickly sprinted to where the other cats were gathered. Yes! Time to get outta here! Thomas thought. Let's see... what's the best way to get out of this place? Aha! Behind the nursery! Thomas was about to make his escape, but turned around when a series of gasps was heard. Thomas's jaw dropped when he saw what came through the gorse tunnel. A patrol of warriors, headed by Firestar, came in single file through the ThunderClan camp's entrance. Thomas counted eight warriors that entered the camp; and in the middle of those cats were eight more cats. These were the cats from his dream, from the show his little sister was watching earlier that day. The marks by their butts were unmistakable. Oh. My. Gosh. Thomas thought. These were the ponies, warrior form.