The smell of soggy, stale moss underpaw, the haunting yellow walls, to perfect to be nature. The Dark Forest was said to be a starless place. They've never been here.
My eyes open to the sickeningly familiar yellow. I swear to myself, if I ever have kits, they'll never even see this retched colour. Airstar walks over to me, swaying her slender tail.
"Rowanfall, have you sensed any cats today?" She asked. If I had, I would probably already be bringing them back to camp.
"No, not today," I sighed.
"I see. The new arrival was a pleasant surprise for us all. Though..." her claws dug into the floor, piercing through the compacted mossy ground. "I can hardly bear seeing more cats end up here."
"We'll get out," I rub my tail along her spine, letting it slowly drift back to my own body. Truthfully, I share her frustrations, every day spent here, rotting away and withering into a soil far from home makes me long for even the simplest pleasantries of nature.
"Would you like to go on patrol with me?" Airstar blinks her ice coloured eyes at me, putting in her best efforts to spark a smile. "Your ability to sense others is needed in these endless, empty twoleg dens."
"Of course I'll come." I purred proudly
We followed the arrows and symbols until we had reached the end of where they go. I was one of the cats who suggested we add symbols to the arrows. They are great pointers on their own, however, it gets rather confusing trying to figure out which path you're on.
"How many moons has it been since you got here, Rowanfall?" Airstar tilts her head.
"... 4 moons," I replied after a moment. "But I'm already beginning to forget small things about those I love. Eyecolour, fur patterns, some of it is a different shade or shape."
"I see." She nodded, "I've been suffering with the same. I would trade my life as a leader to get out and see anyone again."
"Well, pardon me, but it's not much of a leader's life to be in charge of only 5 cats." I brushed against her. I do like her, afterall, and I'd rather not lose her favour.
Airstar chuckled, her laugh sounding sweet despite our sour circumstances, "Yes, I don't have many cats, but... I will defend them as any leader would their own." Her ambitions are truly admirable.
We'd only been travelling for a moment, but my pawpads were aching and my fur stood on end. Something was off. I put my tail in front of Airstar, halting her. A putrid scent entered my nose and mouth. I could feel my throat water as I tried not to gag. I poked my head around the yellow wall and saw something lurking far in the distance. It hunched over to fit inside the roof. The figure had no distinguishable features, it's very being seemingly made out of thin shadows and sticks. The floor creaked and groaned below it, and a vile hiss released from thin slits around where it's snout would be. To have such an effect on my body despite being so far... I blinked at Airstar, as I started padding backwards, asking, "Did you see it?"
She lowers her head, "I did."
I kept my tail around Airstars legs, but as I stepped back, my tail caught on her blue fur. Airstar wasn't moving. My tail gently thuds into her as I try encouraging her to move. My body moved away from the wall, yet she was as cold and motionless as a stone. Just as I thought she might be scared, she steps one paw forward.
"I'm going to investigate." she whispered, and my heart leapt into my throat. There's something else. My paws buckle beneath me as my eyes fixate on the wall. Airstar stepped fearlessly forward, as she went around the corner. My breathing shakes as I race after her, screaming as quietly as I can.
"Airstar!" My paws reach out as my fumbling figure outpaces my own body. My teeth sink into the back of her neck as I jerk her back. "There's one waiting behind the wall!"
As I shouted, it leapt out of the other side wall we were leaning on a moment ago. It slammed into the opposing den, causing cracks in the formation. Like a river changing course, it swayed as it got back onto it's claws. The creature hunkered after us, it's warm breath moistening my coat. I throw Airstar onto her heels as we both began to run, turning and twisting to loose sight of the starless spawn following us.
Airstar took the lead. She skidded left and right, cutting through every den we found.
"We can go through the back escape!" She raised her voice. I snarled back.
"What about the clan?"
"There's enough space between where we enter and where the other three entrances are, it'll lose us." I glanced back, and wish that I hadn't. It was barely a fox length away. It's grotesque proportions entangled my gaze, and as I locked eyes with it's face, I could feel every bone in my body screaming at me to run. I snapped my neck back to the front of me. I could see the small hole. My pace quickened, and I followed Airstar through the back escape of the clan, tumbling into Verbenachasm and her.
Verbenachasm opened his mouth in preparation to complain, but I slammed his jaw shut. My breathing was too loud. I could barely focus my thoughts. My only reassurance was that I may escape here if I did die.
But alas, today was not my day to go. The pain in my body subsided, and I felt the rush in my body calm. I finally let my paw fall from Verbenachasm's mouth, noticing a drop of red on my pawpads.
"Care to tell me what in Starclan's name is going on?" He screamed in a whisper. He may be rather bold, but atleast he understands the situation was dire. Airstar groomed back her spiked fur. "I'm going to inform everyone, so please, give me a moment."
I stretched as far as my claws physically could and felt the life come back into my bones. Call me a squirrel all you want, but, damn, that nutty prey was good. As I padded out of the den, Verbenachasm went into it, yawning loudly as he passed by. The kitten I saw yesterday was dozing in a smaller, kitten sized den.
"Airstar built a den just for Heatherkit." Doveflick trodded over to me. Must've noticed my staring. "She said it was important that whatever kittens end up here sleep well."
"Well, she's right. I wouldn't want to deal with whining kittens either." Doveflick laughed, and I felt my fur prickle. Now the whole clan thought I was either a funny guy, or stupid.
"Come on, I'll teach you how to navigate the halls."
I followed Doveflick outside of the camp area.
"So, what makes our camp so safe, anyway?"
"Honestly? Not much" he admitted, dampening whatever spark of hope I had. "However, it has a good amount of exits. There's a wall to our backs, and entrances out front, to the left, and to the right."
"Okay, I have eyes, y'know," I retorted. "And surely that just means we can be surrounded."
"True, but, you didn't see the back of the den." I tilt my head. "At the back of the den, we've dug a small hole. It's our emergency escape." I bit my tongue. Maybe I should wait before I speak sometimes.
Doveflick pointed out symbols to show where prey could spawn and arrows to show how to get to camp, but I couldn't properly focus. My head felt like it was filled with bees, and the seemingly pointless sound of dripping liquid didn't help. Where was it coming from, anyway? Am I losing it? I bury the thought. Our pawsteps stopped, and for a moment I feared we had been found by some yellow, starless beast. Instead, my eyes lifted to see a puddle. I guess I wasn't just hearing things! I glanced from Doveflick to the water in disbelief. He simply nodded, and I dashed over to take a drink. He padded alongside me and lay down.
"This is my favourite spot. I call it the Water Den," Doveflick purred as he grooms himself. "Some places here have slight variations to them. This one has water dripping from the ceiling." He put his head under a falling drop and shook it, smiling. "It reminds me of the dew falling from trees back home."
"I'm guessing you're not from Windclan, then."
"You'd know me if I was," he teased.
"Hmmm..." I go silent for a moment, thinking. If he was Shadowclan, maybe Rowanfall would've said something. Riverclan? He did like the water. No. If he was Riverclan, then he'd have more to say than just dew. My eyes lit up as I exclaimed, "Thunderclan!"
"Yeah! I'm from Thunderclan!" His eyes lit up too, with excitement. "It may be hard to smell the difference between any of us anymore, but, I grew up with the proudest cats I've ever known under tall, towering oaks that gave us lots of prey."
"Did you really climb trees?" I asked, curious about their way of life. I had so many questions I wanted to ask other clans, but... I never got to go to a gathering.
"Yeah, I could climb trees," Doveflick flicked his ears dovely. "But, when I first became an apprentice, I wasn't the greatest at it."
I sat down to listen, grooming my fur. The mix of white and brown helped calm me during my endless days of roaming the halls before I met Hopeclan. Honestly, the colour of my fur still helps. Oh right, Doveflick's story!
"I was so excited to be an apprentice, so I ran straight outside on my first patrol. I wanted to get a better view of all the clans, so I ran up a tree faster than a squirrel!" Doveflick reenacted the events with his paw as himself and his tail as the tree. It was pretty amusing. "I got up there, and for a moment, it was beautiful. Then. I looked down, and my body froze. They kept trying to call me down, and I had to shamefully scurry down a branch. Thing is," he unsheathed his claws, and one was visibly, well, not visible, "I lost a claw on one of the first branches I climbed, so I had to wait for the leader to come rescue me." He laughed, ears flattening in embarrassment. "I was stuck cleaning the elders beds for an entire moon."
"And?"
"And I don't regret it." He stretched and got up. "It was a mistake that cost me a claw, but I learned from it. Apprenticehood is for making mistakes, being a warrior is when you learn from them." Those words echoed in my head as we returned to camp. Maybe this weird experience would just be a learning experience for life in the clans. Maybe Starclan wanted this for my sake, not against it. I hang onto that thought.
It's been what's felt like days of wandering. This place was so yellow and angular, without a single cat in sight. I called out tirelessly day and night
And day
And night
Day
Night
Day
Day
Night
Night?
Night
Day?
Night?
Day?
Time, anyway,
until finally, voices replied. I saw two cats beckoning me with their tails. I opened my mouth, but a cat hissed and put his tail over his lips. His fur practically cut down the middle, half of him was white as snow, the other half a ginger tabby. I took his actions as warning and crouched down as I skidded towards them as quick as I could. I hoped I'd trip, to be honest. Maybe then I'd wake up from this dream. Maybe I'd actually know if I'm dead.
"You're lucky we found you." Half and half cat explained, "We've been here a while, and without us, you might not last long." Ominous. And cocky. You'd think they'd be glad to see another cat here, but nooooo they have to scold me first thing. My stomach gnawed at me and I was too tired to argue. Half and half cat introduced himself as Verbenachasm as we walked, making sure to whisper. The other one was called Rowanfall. She was nicer to me than Verbenachasm, though that was probably because didn't brag.
"I knew you'd be in that area." Rowanfall explained. "Whenever cats come in, I feel it in a way." Her amber eyes glistened with regret, perhaps missing her past life too. She flicked her chesnut colour tail as she pushed onwards.
"Like, a vision from Starclan?" I asked, because, damm, she was being vague.
"Well, I was quite the spiritual one back in Shadowclan. They offered to make me a medicine cat, but I declined. I wanted to help people, but, I couldn't be tied up in the medicine cat laws." She chuckled forlornly, "Maybe rejecting what could've been Starclan's wish led me here. We'll never know. But they must like me somewhat if they give me these aches in my bones to tell me who's around." I must've been frowning at her, because she changed her tune. Besides..." her tone shifted as a grin snuck onto her face. "I'll make a cat out of me yet." She stared ahead, gazing at some imaginary future.
Oh cool! A harebrain and an evil mastermind. What nice company.
As we walked, they pointed out scratch marks on the floor or walls, signs, all of which I would probably have to learn. If not for my dire circumstances I would be groaning and moaning. I just became an apprentice, and instead of training with my friends, I get stuck in yellow square world. My mom, my dad, the rest of windclan probably think I left them. Now, I'm alone. Lonely, alone loner with nobody! When we reached their settlement, the rest of the cats I saw were quite blurry- Oh. No, stupid eyes don't you dare start crying. So what if you're not going home just don't cry first thing!
"Oh dear, "a gentle voice spoke pitifully. It came from a white cat.Well, almost a white cat. He had one patch of brown on his thigh. Does this place strip your colour from you? Another reason for me to hate this place. "It's alright. You're safe now. Hopeclan has you." He rubbed into me, drying my tears- I mean my non-existent tears, with his face. Because I'm not crying. "I'm Doveflick," He smiled at me. "I'll make sure you're looked after, okay?"
He took me to a blue speckled tabby. Maybe the yellow has tainted my vision, but she definitely seemed bluer than most blue cats.
"I'm sorry you've found yourself here," she opened with an apology, "My name is Airstar. I'm the leader of this clan. What's yours?"
"I'm..." I hesitated, the words feeling foreign on my tongue. Has it been that long? "Frecklepaw."
"I knew you seemed young," Verbemachasm solemnly claimed. sitting to the right of Airstar. Presumably the deputy given how close they were. Do you remember anything about how you got here?"
"I was running through the fields of my clan. The smell of rabbit in my nose, the feeling of the breeze," I prolonged my speech just to remember what life felt like. "My catch ran into the forest. I knew I shouldn't go into Thunderclan territory, but it was barely over the border." Admitting that got me some glances, but I hardly believed they'd cause a fuss over it in a situation like this. I looked at all the figures around me, thin and dishearted. "But I did. I tripped and fell into a tree. I guess Starclan's punishing me for that now..."
"Starclans not punishing you." The ginger Tabby interjected, his rust coloured eyes staring through me. "They're barely even here. Unable to reach here. Unable to find you." His phrasing creeped me out, his tone even more so.
"Logfreeze, stop scaring him, he's had a hard day." Doveflick approached with a kitten on his heel to scold the cat. Logfreeze spoke back, something about harsh truths, but I was zoning out from the bickering. This was all too much. From isolation to 6 cats was making me weary. My knees wanted to fall. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that I found cats, but I haven't talked to anyone in-
Oh.
They're pushing up against my flank?
Ah.
I fell.
Doveflick pushed some food into my mouth. Tastes like the nuts I ate for a dare once. Still, hunger makes any catch a great catch. I couldn't tell what animal it was, partially because I'm flickering back to conscious. They shuffled me into a corner. It looked like it was made of some shed fur and other unique materials. Some bones and hides meshed together to make one dark den. Darkness was practically nonexistent here. It was always too light to sleep, but not light enough to be nice.
"Nice den," I mumble to Airstar as I drink the water she gave me. I thought it was moss, but it just seemed like some of the floor was cut up.
"Thank you. I made it with what we could find. Its our one den." Maybe she said something else. I'm not sure. Exhaustion settled in and I drifted off into sleep.
