"Junco..."

"Open your eyes..." a soft voice whispered in her ear.

Junco rolled over and curled her head in.

"Junco..."

"My love, open your eyes..."

Junco's eyes shot open. "Oriole! Where are you?"

The dream she appeared in was beautiful. Hills covered in flowers rolled across the landscape. To either side of her, forests with giant trees sprung from the grass. A sweet breeze drifted through the clear air. As she watched, the hills shifted, slightly.

The sky was colored beautifully, set in a perpetual sunrise. Brilliant reds, oranges, pinks, and so many more colors. Wisps of clouds floated across the painted hues.

In the distance, she could see the shapes of hundreds of cats, pelts dappled with stars. She turned to take it all in and saw the spirit.

"You can't be here for long, the place you sleep is no good. Pay attention, I need to tell you something."

"Oriole! I missed you so much! You're an Ancestor now! Is this the afterlife?"

"Yes, I missed you too, you have to listen, I need to be fast!" Oriole's tone showed clearly how urgent it was so Junco shut up.

"We both were killed, Branch and I," as she said his name, Branch's spirit ran over.

"Yes, while the trap could have been framed as an accident, I can tell you with full certainty, I was murdered." The tortoiseshell tom was just as serious as Oriole.

"What? By the same cat?"

"Yes," Oriole mewed, "Junco, we have to tell you, we were both..."

The world faded out for a second before coming back into focus.

"Time is running out! Junco, we were both murdered by..."

Again, the starry fields faded and came back, still slightly blurry.

"Static! We were killed by Static!"

Junco woke up with a start. Static? My own sister?

I should have known.

Distaste creeped over Junco. Of course it was her, that's always something she would have done. How did I not suspect? She's sneaky, especially with the trap, but she didn't count on the Ancestors.

Hatred for Static burned in her chest, as she stared at her sleeping form. She killed my love, she killed Branch, she was going to keep killing until she got what she wanted.

She must have wanted to be leader, she only killed the leaders in her way. If they hadn't told me, she probably would be voted in tomorrow. I have to tell the rest of the Wanderers. I have to save us all.

"Llano! Estacado!" Junco whispered in the ears of the sleeping cats, "Snapdragon! Blizzard!"
She had woken everyone up, except for Static, to tell them about the treachery. She motioned with her tail for the bleary-eyed cats to follow her into the woods. So Static can't hear us.

"I know who killed Oriole and Branch," she announced.

Everyone instantly shot up, no longer grasped by sleep. They could feel the intensity of her statement.

"They weren't murdered, right?" Llano questioned.

"Yeah, he slipped and broke his neck, and Oriole was caught in the trap," Snapdragon mewed, sounding concerned, "Junco are you okay? I know grief can do terrible things–"

"No, the Ancestors visited me, I know they were both killed!" They have to believe me! We need to kick her out, before she can do something worse!

"By who?"

"Yes Junco, by who?" Static met her eye, fake concern plastered across her face.

Fox dung.

Should Have Known
By KittyPeep on deviantART (me)