Silence is Golden
Seeing the future is great, but only if you can tell somebody
My eyes watched the scene play out, the green gaze filled with frustration and sorrow. Heart beating in my chest, I swiftly flicked my red tail back and forth, swishing over pebbles and dirt. "Please, stay here!" I wanted to cry out, but that wasn't possible.
"I don't know, Lionpaw," she sighed, flicking her tail. "Littlebrook will have my tail if I go hunting with you instead of cleaning out the elder's den."
"Aw, come on Goldenpaw! A few pieces of prey certainly couldn't make your mentor that angry," the tomcat pressed.
"I guess you're right. The fresh kill pile is getting low, and she'd love it if I took initiative to fill it," Goldenpaw agreed.
Desperately, I wished with all my heart just for one word, one warning meow to escape my maw. If I let her go out into the forest to hunt, she was going to die a horrible and young death; no doubt about it.
Scenes shifted in my mind, one of a golden she-cat hissing and snarling curses at a wretched fox that owned a ginger pelt riddled with scars and wounds. It barked and growled back before lunging at Goldenpaw, and though she attempted to spring out of the way and twist, the fox's jaws clamped viciously around her tail and tugged her to the ground. Screeching, she toppled over. Her unsheathed claws nicked the creature's cheek. It didn't bat an eye. The fox continuously snapped at her as she struggled, wrapping jaws around her yellow forepaw and tugging. I shook the brutal vision my head, not wanting to see any more.
"Yeah, and it's not like you can't do both," Lionpaw meowed.
Goldenpaw nodded and trotted towards the camp's exit. "Okay, let's go!"
I couldn't loose Goldenpaw, not her. Not the only cat who understood me.
Ω Ω Ω
"Hey, Blazekit!" she exclaimed, eyes bright, "You want to play a game with me and Lionkit?"
I glanced up, only to quickly shift my gaze back down to the ground as a sharp sigh broke through the warm air. "Do we have to play with him?" asked Lionkit in a hushed mew.
Goldenkit tossed her nose into the air. She shot a disapproving glance at the tomcat that shared her golden pelt, and lashed her tail over the mossy surface. "Of course! We can't play hunter and prey with just two of us. And Blazekit is really skilled at hiding; so he'll be really hard to find when he's prey. He's playing," she confirmed.
My heart leaped in my chest at the complement, even if I would've made a better hunter considering my ability, and how determined my denmate seemed at allowing me to participate in the game simply sent a warm, fuzzy feeling spreading through my body. Pushing myself from the moss, I got to my paws.
"Well, okay," Lionkit nodded, not seeming too disappointed he didn't get his way. "I'll be the hunter."
As the kit scampered off to the corner of the den to count to ten heartbeats while I and Goldenkit rushed off to hide, she shot me a blissful glance. "Come on, let's do this!" she mewed softly.
Encouragement like that emitted from that she-cat no matter the situation, even at my apprentice ceremony, she spoke out even against our leader.
It played in my mind even before it happened, preparing me for the question the leader asked in the near future, his challenging gaze sending chills down my spine. Seeing it a daydream didn't help me for it happening for real.
Wide-eyed, I focused my gaze on the boulder Cloudstar perched on, knowing his yellow stare trained on me with the rest of the camp. "Blazekit, talk just one word, and I'll grant you apprenticeship," he had requested. "Will you do it?"
I can't, no matter how much I want to, I wanted to explain, StarClan forbid me to talk or communicate with other cats, and in return I can see what happens in the future.
"Well, Blazekit?" Cloudstar pressed.
"That's not fair!" Goldenpaw, who gained her apprenticeship a moon ago, exclaimed, bounding up next to me, "Just because he doesn't talk doesn't mean he can't become an apprentice!"
"No," Cloudstar's yellow eyes flashed, "but if he's attacked out in the forest and he can't call for help, if he can't inform others of something like this happening to another cat, if he can't ask questions on things he doesn't understand, and if he can't say 'I do' when I ask him to promise to follow the warrior code and protect the Clan even at the cost of his life, we'll have a problem."
Goldenpaw didn't even blink. The golden apprentice stared up at the leader, fur fluffed up and chin raised defiantly as she gazed determinedly at the white cat. "If another Clan attacks and he doesn't know how to fight properly but needs to help, if we're low on prey and don't have enough cats to hunt, if the elders are sore because their moss hasn't been changed because all the apprentices are too busy doing everything else, then we'll a problem," Goldenpaw countered.
Several murmurs of agreement spread through the group of BirchClan warriors gathered around the rock, some even chanting, "Blazepaw! Blazepaw! Blazepaw!"
Cloudstar lashed his tail and the cats fell silent. I continued to stare blankly at the rock he perched on, heart keeping a steady beat despite the a anxiety flaring in my chest and gnawing at my belly like hungry little termites. Much discussion broke out between the senior warriors and the leader till my apprenticeship finally was agreed upon. Amazing how without that one comment from Goldenpaw, I might've been stuck in the nursery all my life.
Life as Blazepaw turned out to prove even more difficult than life as Blazekit as more demands and expectation weighed heavily upon my shoulders, causing me to sink even further down in the quicksand that was my life. Though, that one golden she-cat made all my troubles worth it.
"Do you want a mouse, Blazepaw?" she questioned, eyes bright, "I'll get you one!"
I blinked.
The she-cat's lengthy whiskers twitched and her golden tail, bright as the morning sun, flicked over my ginger pelt. Her voice shifted from her usual peppy and light tone to a more gruff, tom-like voice. "Sure, Goldenpaw. Who doesn't like mice?" A purr followed the words.
StarClan knew how much I yearned to purr with her.
Goldenpaw trotted off towards the fresh kill settled in the heart of camp, where freshly acquired rabbits, squirrels and mice piled on one another. Slowing her pace as she approached the prey, her green gaze flickered over the available meat. With her nose, she nudged a furry rabbit to the side and dipped down her head to collect a mouse with her maw. Bright, twinkling eyes trailed back to me. As if delivering the creature happened to be her sole purpose in life, Goldenpaw rushed swiftly back with a wide gate, nearly colliding with a warrior on the way. She dropped the mouse at my paws. "I think it's the best mouse you'll ever taste!" The golden apprentice chimed.
I glanced away, already knowing just how the rodent tasted. A slightly salty flavor swirled around in my mouth, the memory of it pleasing my taste buds greatly. But it wasn't a memory; it hadn't happened yet. Flattening back my ears, I ducked down my head. My right forepaw pressed on the tail of the mouse, allowing me to sink my teeth into the creature and jerk backwards, the sharp motion tearing flesh from the prey. I opened my mouth quickly and snapped it shut multiple times, tearing the meat apart. A salty flavor met my taste buds.
"Course it is! Do you mind if I have some too? I'm one greedy cat, you know," Goldenpaw commented in a light meow.
Not even nodding, I pushed the mouse ever so slightly towards the she-cat before returning my gaze to the ground. After she swallowed her first bite, she swished her tail over the ground and wrapped it over her white forepaws. "I'm sorry to ask you this, Blazepaw, but why don't you meow, or even make noises and motions at all?" Goldenpaw questioned. "It's completely fine if you don't want to answer; your business, of course. I just always want to know why some cats do things."
My heart thudded in my chest at the inquiry, one I received often. Most of the time it irked me, but Goldenpaw deserved to know, and the apprentice might even understand and provide insight on the situation. "StarClan forbid me to communicate, and in return I can see what happens in the future," I wanted to sigh, "How useless, though, if I can't tell anybody."
That night under the brilliant stars that peeked between the branches of the apprentice's den, I imagined what she'd meow in reply with that peppy voice of hers, how her eyes twinkled as she spun something positive from the peculiar situation.
I sighed, listening to the cicadas and crickets humming to the silver moon, and I pondered if we shared the same feeling of desperation. Unaware whether the moon heard them or not, the crickets continued to chirp and sing with all their hearts, every night the same. They probably wished to know if the moon heard them. Assisting the night creatures, the breeze whistled through leaves and branches, carrying the melodies far across ThunderClan territory.
Shifting in the moss, I rolled onto my back, eyes trained on the Silverpelt. Exhausted and sorrow mingled in my mind, and I closed my tired green eyes where a subtle and welcoming darkness met me. StarClan, I thought as I drifted to sleep, Please, let me speak just once. I have to let Goldenpaw know I care.
Ω Ω Ω
Words caught in my throat as I struggled to push them out, but not if a gurgle or cough escape my maw, just the usual silence that enveloped me. I lowered my head as Goldenpaw ducked out of the exit, Lionpaw following closely behind. Many heartbeats passed, some cats who ambled by me shooting me a glance as if to ask, "What's wrong?"
I couldn't do anything.
As I slouched down outside the apprentice's den, about to admit defeat and sulk back to my nest with sorrow welling in my eyes, a new thought entered my mind, No, not anything.
Jaw tightening, I squeezed my green eyes shut briefly before I unsheathing and sheathing, heartbeats later charging after them in a streak of ginger. No, I couldn't meow or purr, I couldn't share a glance, I couldn't flick my tail across anyone's pelt or twitch my whiskers in amusement, I couldn't even warn my friend of danger. Perhaps all those heartbeats, sunrises and moons that passed by, I focused on what I couldn't do instead of what I could. What I could do was beat that fox's tail to the Dark Forest. StarClan never said I couldn't communicate with foxes.
The forest, flowers and foliage blurred together in a mix of brown, specks of bright, and green, as if staring in a reflection when water rippled and disturbed the picture shimmering back. Birds fell silent as I crashed loudly through the forest, uncaring to twigs I cracked beneath my light paws steps, the leaves clinging to bushes I whipped passed, or even the sound of the moist ground sloshing beneath me.
I'm coming Goldenpaw, I'll be there for you all the times you were there for me.
AN/Amber Note
This is for a challenge at NightClan. We got a cat and a superpower. My cat was Blazepaw, and my superpower was seeing the future. I got the idea for the fic from all of my animals, especially my pitbull, Jeb. He can't talk or communicate, but what if he wants to tell me something? That must be just be frustrating.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading.