AN: I know I didn't update Friday like I promised, but I went to see the play Our Town, and I didn't have the energy to post the first chapter by the time I got home. I'll still update every Friday or Saturday, depending on my schedule. Oh, and this is my first fanfiction, so it may be a little rough around the edges.
She awoke in a warm, green field, the grass caressing her face. A couple of butterflies danced over her head, but her eyes lacked any spark of emotion as she watched them fly by. Her muscles ached; she felt like just lying there, giving herself up to the warm sunlight and the nap that would surely accompany it, but there was a small cat with dense, white fur walking over. The queen heaved herself to her feet, gave her head a swift shake, and blinked a couple of times to give her eyes time to adjust to the glaring light.
The smaller cat stared at her with eyes the color of sunflowers, smiling with a friendly grin. The queen couldn't even open her mouth before the cloud-like kitten began talking.
"You're here! Finally, after all these years, you're here." The kitten stepped forward to nuzzle her companion, but the receiving cat backed away, a little appalled.
"Oh, that's right... You don't remember me." The smaller cat frowned, "Well, let me introduce myself. I'm Airpaw." The queen opened her mouth, but when she tried to reply, no sound came out.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to speak for a while. It's all part of the process."
What process? The temporarily-mute cat thought. She didn't get much time to ponder on it, though, before Airpaw began to speak again.
"Come, we need to get going before dark." Before a very perplexed feline could object, not to say she could've even if she had wanted to, Airpaw suddenly tore off, and her companion followed, although not by her own will.
It's almost like my paws are moving on their own... She thought as she followed the quick little she-cat at remarkable speeds. They ran through a large meadow, the sun dazzling ahead of them. A refreshing breeze ruffled the cats' fur. The grass felt cool under the queen's paws as she sprinted over the sloping hills.
It's been a while, a voice whispered in her head, since you've felt the grass under your paws and the wind in your fur.
The wind rustled the leaves in the trees and the undergrowth. Her ears pricked, and if she listened hard enough, she could hear a soft murmur among the sweeping fronds, greeting her.
Welcome, weloccasional grass turned from a lush, dark green to a dusty yellow, sloping gently into an expanse of fine, rippling sand.
Airpaw slowed her pace, her paws slowly becoming dusted in sand as she walked.
"This is the only sun-drown place we have here. Take a good look at it, we won't be returning." Airpaw slowed her pace enough so the queen could catch up and walk beside her. They trudged over a few small sand dunes, their matching pure white fur becoming clouded with sand, turning a dull tan. The queen stopped a few times to sniff at the rough plant life, thir salty tang making her mouth water. They rustled sharply at her touch.
They stopped a ways from the water, and Airpaw settled into the sand, motioning for the queen to sit beside her. A couple of sandpipers hopped nearby, too preoccupied with filtering out mollusks to notice the two cats sitting by the ocean side. They looked out across the calm water in silence, watching the waves lapping at the shore at a rymthetic pace. The queen took in a long breath, not as tired as she was exhilirated from the run.
The sun began sinking, throwing shadows over the beach, making the sand a dark gray, continuous form. The queen took her eyes off the water, looking up, and was taken aback when she saw such a beautiful sight.
The top of the water reflected the rays of the setting sun, shimmering with silver. The modest waves were a shaded blue with pearl-white caps.
But the sun is the most spectacular, she thought, drawing in her breath, awed at the sight. The sun was a brilliant white, surrounded by a halo of dazzling yellow. The sky beyond that was a mixture of scarlet and orange, with a layer of clouds that separated the reds from the remaining blue.
Soon, though, it was over. The sun set, leaving behind only the echoes of it's radiant beauty.
"I love the sunset. My guide showed me this outlook when I first got here. It can be very calming to watch such a wonder of nature before you start your journey." Airpaw let out a wistful sigh, then continued, "Are you ready to go?" Airpaw got to her paws once the sun disappeared below the horizon. The sky was still lit up, the it was quickly fading into a sickly twilight hue, shaded by the dark clouds.
"Not yet. This is all very confusing." Finally finding her voice, the queen spoke her mind. What Airpaw said was true; she was much more relaxed than she had been when she first arrived here, wherever here is, But she still had no idea where she was or what she was doing there. She didn't even know who she was.
"We must leave while the sun's rays are still lighting the land." Airpaw insisted, clearly not going to accept argument. Airpaw leaped away, heading towards the crashing waves. Before the queen could argue, she found herself following Airpaw.
Wait, stop! I'm going to crash into the water! She thought rantically, realizing that they were running towards the sea, but not able to control her own paws.
Is this the end? Dragged out of StarClan, put in a strange place with a strange cat, just to be drowned by forces she couldn't see? She closed her eyes, waiting for her paws to lead her straight into the ocean and for her lungs to be filled by the salty water.
But this wouldn't happen. She ran and leapt, landed on the water, and continued running like nothing unusual had happened. She looked around in shock as she traveled across the sea, splashing the water lightly as her paws carried her unimaginable distances on top of the sea. She looked ahead to Airpaw, who looked as though she was enjoying herself, without even a thought at the ridiculousness and wonder of it all.
The water gently splashed the queen as she ran, cleaning the irritating sand from her paws. As the water seemed to stretch endlessly at all sides, the queen began to wonder where they were heading. As soon as the thought entered her head, a rocky form came into view at the horizon.
A mountainous island came into view. It was forboding; tall peaks rose through the clouds, and there was a continuous, steep cliff that circled the island, with no apparent gap to use to enter the island.
Airpaw suddeny turned, and the queen followed suit. They ran around a distance of the island, then Airpaw sharply turned and ran in a beeline towards a path that seemed to have been worn down by countless generations of those who had come before.
Airpaw quickly leapt from the ocean, splashing some water onto the queen. Airpaw promptly shook her fur and waited for her companion to join her. The queen blinked the water from her eyes, and then followed Airpaw. The queen also shook her fur, leaving the dusty rocks speckled with droplets.
They ran up the path together, leaving the sea behind, their claws scraping on the smooth stone. The queen could feel her paws slip into the paw prints of those before her, but when she glance down there was only the unceasing rock, only broken by the occasional undergrowth.
Airpaw stopped by one of the cliffs, and began leaping up using the narrow ledges. The queen felt her heart skip a beat as Airpaw slipped, spraying pebbles onto the ground far below, but she quickly righted herself. After a few moments, Airpaw continued her journey upward. The queen paled under her fur as she realized she would have to follow. She tentatively stepped onto the first ledge, but the power that was still controlling her paws made her quickly leap up the cliff side, not waiting for her to get over her fear.
They stopped at a small, rocky clearing a few fox-legths from the top of the cliff. Airpaw let out a small huff, gave her chest a quick lick, then casually commented, "I ran more today than I have my entire stay here!" She walked over to the nearest bush, taking a mouthful of the leaves. She dropped them onto the ground, and proceeded to scrounge up all the plants she could find.
"We'll need to camp here for the night." Airpaw grunted as she pulled up a plant that was growing in a rock crevice.
The queen was sitting on the ground, looking towards the rising moon, which was barely visible among the mountain peaks. She murmured quietly, just loud enough for Airpaw to hear, "Where are we?"
Airpaw looked over in surprise, then answered simply, "Why, we're at the Land of Decisions."
QOTW(Question of the Week): Who do you think Airpaw is in relation to our unnamed protagonist? Do you think Airpaw's her guide, her apprentice (from when she was alive), part of her family, etc.