A/N: I was really proud when I first wrote it.
Named after March To The Sea by 21 Pilots which is suggested listening.
Hopeful, optimistic piece that, uh, doesn't end that way.
Originally posted on Warriors Amino on
OC named Blazepaw(/sky) belongs to me.
DISCLAIMER: Warriors concept belongs to Erin Hunter.
March To The Sea
The land stretched out before her; a tableau of rolling hills and waving grass. She could feel the trees behind her; there was no need to look back.
Even so, Blazepaw glanced back at the still forest, the only sound the gentle, caressing breeze. She smiled to herself, eyes lighting in delight. This was it! She was finally going on a journey!
And when she came back she was sure she'd have her warrior name.
She padded on through the moor unheeded with danger; there was no one here who'd bother her, after all.
She avoided the mountains; there were other ways to the sea after all. And she wasn't too keen on meeting a Tribe.
There had been many stories about going to the sea - so far back that the cats who had brought the clans to their new home had known it as the sun-drown-place. But since all those moons ago, there had been various excursions there, and they had picked up the word 'sea' from cats in the area. They also called it the ohshin? Or something.
Blazepaw had grown up with the stories, asking her grandfather to tell them again and again. He had obliged of course, old, watery yellow eyes smiling when he saw her excitement.
But then he had died, and her mother had kept a closer eye on her. She never had the chance to travel there.
But now she was gone, and the only other queen had watched her until her apprentice ceremony. But there hadn't been enough cats to mentor her, so she pretty much picked up things from the others.
So when greencough took more warriors, and the other apprentices had either died or had their naming ceremony, she had struck out, eager to find the place she's only heard of in stories, and get her warrior name too, before she was left behind.
She started feeling tired, but that was okay. She's travelled pretty far, she thinks.
She tries to hunt some prey, and ends up going to sleep with an empty stomach.
Blazepaw skirts around the eerie Twoleg place, but can't avoid stepping on harsh stone from an old Thunderpath. She grimaces as it scrapes against her now-worn pawpads. She fluffs her ginger fur at the sensation, but moves on, ignoring the blood left behind.
It takes her a long time to go around.
Blazepaw pads along, this time through a different Twoleg place.
She feels lighter than air today, but it could be the open structure of this place. The nests are more spaced apart, and there's not as many. There's also a tang in the air, and she's seen one or two lone birds that she's never encountered before.
She looks up at the sky that she loves so much, eyes reflecting the light, bright blue back.
After so long, she's almost there.
She feels elated, so much so that the grumbling of her stomach doesn't even hurt anymore.
She's sure she'll find some prey soon. Maybe she'll even hunt one of the few rats she's seen around.
Before her spread the sea; the sun-drown-place. It was bluer than she thought, and grayer and greener. It was foamy and tangled in on itself over and over, while staying smooth in a way the sky couldn't be. . .
She couldn't believe she had finally made it.
The sun was getting low, but she was already exhausted. Blazepaw had travelled pretty far. . .
Would she have time to meet the sea, and feel the sand under her paws? She was determined to do that before she went back home to her family.
. . . Maybe tommarrow.
Blazepaw heaved an elated, tired sigh, a small smile curling on her muzzle. It would take awhile to climb down, although she was sure she could do it before it got dark.
But her legs were beginning to tremble, and she didn't want to risk falling.
She kept her eyes trained on the sea.
Yeah, tommarrow.
The world was alit in orange, as the sun slowly descended beyond the horizon. The sky was clear and ablaze with gold and ochre, the sea a dark not-quite blue and purple, with fiery patches from the burning sky.
And then all too soon it was dark, a few pinpricks of light in the sky and on the water.
When the sun rose the next day, at the time where dawn was not-quite but there was that odd light blue color in the sky, a small, orange body could be seen resting on the slabs of stone above the sand and sea, with a delicate breeze tousling its fur.
END