Through a ringing in her ears, Darkstar swore she heard someone calling to her. Paws skimming a sea of starlight, disoriented as to her surroundings, she looked back from the shimmering eternal night sky before her to the voice calling to her.
For a moment, she felt it--eyes upon her, studying her, boring down into her pelt as they waited for her decision.
When she looked ahead again, for but a mouse's heartbeat, she saw a familiar ginger outline.
And then all went black.
"Darkstar!"
Like a shock of cold water, Darkstar awoke and nigh scrambled onto her paws, stopped swiftly by a firm paw against her shoulder.
"Easy," Petuniadapple said softly before giving a stern glance to a visibly panicked Boulderfrost who looked twice her size as fluffed out as she was.
"Darkstar... Do you remember what happened?"
Disoriented and bewildered, Darkstar stared for a long, heavy second at Petuniadapple as her scrambled mind tried to wrap itself around his question.
After a beat, she did remember--and looked up.
"I was... hunting a squirrel, up on that branch."
Boulderfrost's ears pinned back, eyes squeezing shut, as if unable to bear to recall it. Petuniadapple gently hummed, nodding.
"And then?"
Darkstar's brow furrowed, confused.
And then... what?
She was hunting the squirrel, what more was there to explain?
Of course, she had no squirrel in her jaws, and she was no longer on the branch, but that...
Suddenly, it came back.
The sea of stars. The endless night sky, unobscured and brilliant. The silhouette of a ginger tom-cat.
Darkstar, stunned in her realization, dropped her head, processing this new information slowly, as if chewing over a tough piece of fresh-kill.
"... I fell," she murmured.
"When Boulderfrost came and got me, I ran here as fast as I could. However, by time I arrived, you were no longer breathing."
Succinct and to the point as ever, while Boulderfrost flinched at these finer, uncomfortable details, Petuniadapple was unwavering as he looked at Darkstar.
"Be honest, Darkstar. What happened while you were unconscious?"
She knew what he was implying.
Horrible and awful as it was, she was reminded, again, that no living creature was immune to it.
Death.
"... I was walking through the stars," she finally confessed, and she heard Boulderfrost suck in a sharp breath.
She didn't look at her, knowing she was likely holding back tears.
Petuniadapple shut his eyes for a moment, visibly collecting his thoughts before they reopened.
"Okay. Let's get you back to camp, and have you looked over. You look okay from my preliminary scan, but it'll be better to do so in detail. Boulderfrost?"
Looking to the deputy, she reigned herself in, found her courage, and nodded, both cats coming to Darkstar to help her up, remaining at her sides to allow her to balance against them.
On the long, slow walk back to camp, a cloud of anxiety slowly choked out every other thought in Darkstar's mind.
Much as she wished to be a courageous example to her clan... She was scared.
DARKSTAR. 75 moons, a fierce and devoted leader and one of the clan founders.
BOULDERFROST. 64 moons, a quick-witted deputy and oneo f the clan founders. retired at 137 moons.
OATBRIGHT. 78 moons, a shameless and quick-witted tabby-tom recently promoted to deputy.
ALDERRUSTLE. 137 moons, a calm and patient medicine cat.
deceased: passed of natural causes.
PETUNIADAPPLE. 52 moons, an intelligent and ambitious medicine cat. a rogue who offered his medicinal skills in exchange for shelter.
GRAYFADE. 23 moons, a newly inducted medicine cat with a faithful heart and quick-wit. brought to the clan by her kittypet father, who also joined.
SLEETPAD. 70 moons, a cold and clinical medicine cat who was booted from his former clan due to his poor bedside manner. his former leader had not appreciated his cold behavior at the stillbirth of her kits.
