This Is Only The Beginning.

[steps `]

Freedom. This was what it felt like. The delicious feeling of cool, loamy soil beneath his scales, a feeling he had all but forgotten in the endless days behind bars with only the frigid touch of human steel to tempt him. It was wonderful, this freedom, and he shivered with delight, malicious obsidian orbs glittering in the semi-darkness of the forest shadows, hiding him in their sightless clutches. Those imbeciles were the ones he should thank, stupid humans who had left his cage door open, open to the world where he would once rule again. He should remember to thank them for their idiocy, should he meet them again, but this time, the tables would be turned. O, the days of their reign were over! No longer would he feel the harsh stabs of metal prongs digging into his flesh, no longer would he have to taste the foul flesh of long-dead prey, he was the one they should fear now, and fear him they would. He had often seen it with him onyx orbs, seen it many times, the terror that glimmered deep in their eyes as they approached him, using a material he could not penetrate to cover their weak, frail appendages, and metal he could not break no matter how hard he would constrict. But he knew, O how well he knew, how easily he could break their soft, malleable bones had he the chance, how he would feel their weakening struggle turn still as their soft, warm flesh passed down his gullet. Vengeance would be his, one long awaited since he had been taken from his home, and he would reign once again in this new land as his name would ring about the lands for all to hear, “Balissssssssss!”.

...

Nettlepaw growled menacingly and pounced forward, a squeak escaping from her muzzle as she was easily batted away by her mentor, Riddlewing, a muscular, handsome tom who laughed good-naturedly, sharp azure orbs turning to slits. She was annoyed, it felt like the hundredth time that she had failed to get past his iron defences, and her muscles ached and her paws were raw and she was so darn tired. Lying on the pillowy soil that covered the ground, the young apprentice feigned death as she breathed in the musky scent that filled the air of the pine grove, a relatively far distance away from camp, that her mentor had chosen to practice her battle moves. She had been fairly confident in her skills, and had left in a huff, irritated that they couldn’t do some other kind of training since she was already so good. But Riddlewing had completely crushed whatever ego she had built and here she was. Speaking of Riddlewing, her ears pricked at the sound of his deep, calm voice ringing about the clearing. “Come on, don’t give up! You’ve got it, you just need to practice.” The she-cat groaned and raised her small, delicate paws to her eyes, “I don’t wanna! You’re so much stronger, it’s unfair. I always win with the other apprentices but you’re, like, double my size!” She squealed as she felt him prod her belly with his paw and struggled to her paws, irritated. Muttering to herself, Nettlepaw glared at the ginger tabby warrior as he took his place just a few tail lengths opposite her, beside a thick, mottled branch, a gentle smile lacing his scarred muzzle. “Okay, now try-“

He had barely finished his sentence when the branch twitched, moving at lightning speed to wrap and coiled around his muscular body. Nettlepaw froze, her bright amber eyes wide with horror as her mentor’s scream pierced the air, ringing deep inside her eardrums. It was not a branch but a massive snake, unlike any she had seen before with dark sienna markings scorched upon its pale body and the length of more than eight cats stood muzzle to tail. It’s eyes were like endless pits, leading to oblivion, and she couldn’t move, not one muscle obeyed her commands to run, run as fast as she could away, as her mind was rendered blank by its enrapturing glare. Sinewy scaled coils curled mercilessly around the tom’s body, constricting ruthlessly and rapidly with no hesitation as the sound of bones snapping, as easily as twigs in a hurricane, filled the empty, stagnant air. It killed Riddlewing swiftly, and she watched as her mentor’s once bright eyes turned dull, his body limp and broken in the snake’s clutches.

And the next thing she heard would haunt her, echoing deep inside her mind, instilling terror with the soft hiss that appeared suddenly beside her, even in the many moons after that she would walk in StarClan.

“Balissssssssssss!”