Flakefrost's Phobia

Artwork by Spec

# Allegiances

## SkyClan:

**Leader:** Tumblestar - dusty brown tabby tom with spiky fur and amber eyes.

**Deputy:** Needlebriar - brown tabby she-cat with spiky head fur.

**Apprentice:** Ivypaw

**Medicine-cat:** Beetlefoot - brown tom with dark ginger legs.

**Mediator:** None

**Warriors:**

Sandfoot - Plump cream she-cat with a speckled nose bridge.

Hailsplash - cream tom with small, blue-grey patches.

Magpieskitter - black-and-white she-cat.

**Apprentice:** Brindlepaw

Snowyflutter - white she-cat with a bright blue eye and a pale amber eye.

Willowbush - fluffy light grey tabby tom with brown points and green eyes.

Nectardrizzle - young, light golden tom with shining amber eyes.

Dewsparkle - cream she-cat with ginger and grey dapples.

Poolshine - dull brown she-cat with heather-blue eyes.

**Apprentice:** Applepaw

Toadspeckle - brown she-cat with a ringed tail, white paws, and yellow eyes.

Frogdapple - brown tom with a spiky tail and white legs, amber eyes.

Riftfeather - grey tabby tom with a puffy tail and bright hazel eyes.

**Apprentices:**

Brindlepaw - white and grey brindled tom with amber eyes. Shy and nervous.

Applepaw - reddish she-cat with a cream underbelly.

Ivypaw - light brown she-cat with a swirled tabby pelt.

**Queens, Kits, and Nursery Caretakers:**

Frostshimmer - white she-cat with gold eyes; mother to Flakekit - white tom with a blue eyes and a gold eye.

Alderkit - brown tom with lighter speckles and green eyes.

**Elders:**

Stormspark - large grey tom with static-y fur.

Whitewhisker - Large white tom with blue eyes, missing a hind leg.

Nightpad - very old black she-cat with a white tail and speckled white cheeks.

# HiveMind: Flakefrost's Phobia

## Prologue

Flakefrost picked at the moss in his nest, tail curled around his paws and flanks. Sun filtered through the mouth of the medicine den, providing warmth.

A silhouette began to loom over him, casting a shadow that made the shining rays withdraw from their placement and seek shelter away from Flakefrost and the other.

***Scratch, Scratch...***

The other seized him, pounding him onto the cold stone floor with force.

*"S- S- Snailswirl? W- What're you d- doing?"* he squeaked, terror starting a race in his mind. *Does he need herbs? Help? Why'd he d- throw me? Do that?*

Snailswirl said not a word, instead grinning sadistically, snickering an evil, horrifying laugh. It was only a moment of fear before he lunged forward, grabbing Flakefrost by the face.

The small white tom squirmed and whimpered and squeaked in his grasp, attempting an escape. It failed miserably, unfortunate for Flakefrost, fortunate for Snailswirl.

He pricked his ears, pawsteps slowly growing closer and closer.

"What's going on!"

Beetlefoot.

Flakefrost whimpering, squirming and squirming.

Snailswirl unsheathed his sharp, yellowish claws, curling them around Flakefrost's quivering face. "If you try anything, your kid's gonna get *hurt."* He snickered, lightly running his claws over in the motion of cutting the fuzzy white tom's throat open, watching as blood began pouring and pouring down his neck, streaming through his chest fur, until his lifeless body slumped to the ground. Good thing it was only imaginary.

Beetlefoot's fur bristled, and he unsheathed his claws. "Don't hurt him!" he hissed, claws pulsing inside his thin skin.

Flakefrost tried to resist against Snailswirl's strong grasp.

Snailswirl lets out a sadistic snicker, regarding Flakefrost's struggles and subsequently tightening his grip. "What are you gonna do about it? Fight me? Don't kid yourself. You'll *both* be dead before the sun rises tomorrow!'

Beetlefoot wheezes, staying silent for a moment as he gathers himself. "...What- what do you want me to do?"

Snailswirl taps his claws around Flakefrost's eyes, causing the feathery white tom to recoil a bit in fear. "Say, I wonder how useful a *blind* apprentice is...." He smirks. "Support me on Alderbark's wounds, and he'll get out alive."

Beetlefoot shifts his paws. "V- very well...."

Flakefrost let his pupils dilate in fear, stretching out a forepaw with a muffled sob.

"Such a shame that Magpiestar is hurting Alderbark so much, isn't it?" He clenched his jaws, hitting Flakefrost harshly across the face. "Don't move or else I'm ripping your eyes out, rat!"

The named tom squeaked in horror, going limp.

Beetlefoot exhales sharply. "I agreed to your plan... let him go."

Snailswirl snorts, removing his paw from Flakefrost's face and shoving his haunch. "If it turns out what you said was false, I will come back and finish what we've started...." He slipped out of the medicine den, squishing a rogue juniper berry with his paw.

Flakefrost's scrambled over to Beetlefoot, cowering behind him.

Beetlefoot curls his tail around Flakefrost, crouching protectively over him.

Snailswirl sticks his head back into the medicine den. "When the time comes, you *will* tell that Magpiestar has been hurting Alderbark." He glares fiercely at Beetlefoot. "Or *else."*