"No!" A dark silver black she-cat snarled, hissing and spitting. She clawed, leaping upwards and landing on her opponent's shoulders. "I won't let you take him. Not after what you've done to him. He deserves a chance at a normal life." She growled. Her opponent snarled, then slashed at her eyes, then sank his fangs in her throat and ripped it out. I felt a drowning sorrow, a horror in my chest.
"Fallenkit go!" A tomcat whispered to me, his spiked collar prodding me in the side. "Before he comes for you! Go, now! Run!" The tom turned from me, his amber eyes full of rage.
"Too late." A large black tom growled, his eyes full of cruel amusement. A bitter smile curled on his muzzle, his eyes glittering coldly. He had a collar woven of vines with fangs and claws sticking out of it. "You see," He meowed, an ugly sneer curling on his lip. "Nobody escapes me."
With a single swipe of his claws, his long, curved, deadly claws; he had killed the tom protecting me. I stared at him, my eyes horrified. My vision was focused on his blood-soaked, unusually long claws. He stepped forward, into the water. I was on a small rock, suspended in the middle of the water. He leapt at me, and I dodged.
Triumph flared through me, before I realized I had slipped, and crashed into the water. I gasped for breath as I was shoved under, my claws reaching for the stones. The serrated edges of the rocks slashed at my soft pelt, causing deep gashes down my sides. I whimpered in pain. I was swept along.
Fear coursed through my veins as I looked ahead. There was a sheer drop, where the water went downwards. I struggled against the current, but it was no use. I felt myself slide off the edge, and yowled with terror. My vision darkened, and I cried out as I hit the water hard, and I winced as I heard the crack of my head slamming against a rock.
Darkness engulfed my vision, and I saw a terrifying, gruesome hairless cat with bulging, blind eyes approach me in the darkness. He stared at me. After that, it was just emptiness.
I woke up with a gasp, my vision raking the clearing. I wasn't fully awake, and darkness still clouded my vision. There was that cream-furred she-cat again, she was muttering to herself, her tail twitching with worry, I could tell. She was preparing some herbs, I recognized the leaf of the plant: it was feverfew.
Uninterested, I looked around the room. I was in a small room with a small pool of water on the side. There was moss near it, and then a bunch of herbs on one side. Herbs, cobwebs, honey… There were also two nests on the side of the room, neatly next to each other.
I mumbled, and tried to say something. "Thirsty." I groaned, my voice hoarse, it hurting to talk. I felt a scorching pain in my throat, and a gnawing ache in my stomach. The she-cat spun around in surprise, her eyes lighting up.
"You're awake!" She meowed, relief clear on her face. She quickly dabbed the moss in some water, and brought it over to me. I lapped at it gratefully, relaxing slightly as I felt the cool, wetness of the water as it came in contact with my dry throat, quenching my thirst and the scorching pain in my throat. "How are you feeling?" She asked softly, stroking my pelt with her tail.
I flinched away from her touch, my eyes flying wide with alarm. "I'm not a kit." I snapped at her, disguising my shock with annoyance. I slapped her tail away with me. Her eyes stretched wide with hurt, and I felt my heart squeeze slightly. "I'm sorry." I muttered. "I feel fine; confused, a bit drained, but fine." I responded to her question.
"Good. You've been asleep for almost three days." She meowed softly. "We've been feeding you by chewing up the food first, and we've been taking care of you. You had a boiling fever; it was so strong I'm surprised you still had the energy to fight Pinefeather." She looked slightly amused, a small, faint smile curling on her lips. "You're pelt was completely matted in blood, we had to remove some tufts of fur, so your pelt might look more thin. I patched you up."
Unwilling to show just how grateful I really was, I nodded stiffly. "Thanks." I meowed shortly; wiping my face of emotions and making myself look as expressionless as I could. I felt my stomach growl. The she-cat smiled at me, and quickly grabbed me a mouse, pushing it towards me. I sniffed it warily. I wasn't sure why I was so scared of eating it. I nibbled a bit, before starting to eat faster.
"My name's Dawnriver." She meowed brightly, looking cheerful. "What's your name?"
I stopped eating. I had almost forgotten the fact that I had forgotten everything. I lost my memory. I shifted uneasily, averting my gaze. Making sure to speak carefully, without showing how frustrated and confused I was. I thought back to my dream, or nightmare. "Fallen…" I hesitated, unsure of what to say. I wasn't a kit anymore, but that was the name they called me in my dream. "Kit." I meowed. "Fallenkit."
"You look more like an apprentice to me. I was assuming around eight moons?" She asked me, frowning. "Are you sure you weren't called Fallenpaw?" Then she frowned again. "But that's a clan name. I've never seen him around here before." She muttered to herself.
"Fallenpaw." I quickly meowed. "That's what I am, eight moon-old apprentice Fallenpaw." I decided to go along with what she said. She looked as if she knew what she was doing. Truth be told, I didn't even know what an apprentice was. Or how my age had to do with anything. All I wanted to do was recover my memories. I didn't know what it was, but something was pulling me to them. I felt a longing, a fierce longing so strong it took my breath away, for my memories, for my past.
"Oh. So, you're in ThunderClan right now. We don't turn down cats in need, I guess you can say that; but we aren't exactly that welcoming to the cats that attack our warriors. Oh, speaking of which, here comes our leader; Whitestar." A large, broad-shouldered pure-white tomcat padded forward, his icy blue eyes glittering. I knew he was good at hiding his expression, because I couldn't see through his mask.
He smiled warily at me, sitting down and curling his tail over his paws. I shifted my body to look at him. "Oh, please. Finish your mouse." He meowed politely. I had almost forgotten about it, slightly embarrassed I ducked down and finished it quickly, pushing the bones away. A sense of satisfaction came over me. "So, what's your name?"
Although my wounds still hurt, I wasn't sure of who I was, and I was talking to the top-leader of this clan who would decide my fate, I felt a lot better. It wasn't just that, I also felt better, less lonely, and less angry. I felt… calm and satisfied. I glanced at Dawnriver. "Fallenpaw." I meowed, proud that my voice didn't tremble. "I'm an eight moon old apprentice." My voice sounded slightly uncertain, probably because I was. I had run out of things to say, I didn't know anything else.
"It's nice to meet you, Fallenpaw. My name is Whitestar, and this, is my clan: ThunderClan. Judging by your name, I'd say you were part of a clan? So you probably know how it works." He meowed. He opened his mouth to go on.
"Oh, no." I cut in. "I mean, I know how it worked back there, with the systems and everything. It might be different here; maybe you could just brief me?" I asked, as politely as I could.
"Well, we have queens and kits." He meowed. I nodded. "We have apprentices, who are assigned a mentor, someone that will teach them everything they know. We teach to hunt, we teach to fight. After the apprentices are done learning, they have an assessment and then they become warriors. Warriors are our terms for our fully-grown cats that hunt and fight for our clan. We have a medicine cat, Dawnriver, and she heals us when we're wounded. Elders are the cats who served us well, but now are too old to fight. I have a deputy, a cat that will succeed me when I'm gone, and that helps me in my duties."
It was all so much to take in. "Oh, okay." I mumbled.
"So? Did StarClan send you here?" Whitestar asked.
I frowned. Was I supposed to know what StarClan was? I was afraid to ask. "No." I meowed shortly. Whatever this StarClan was, it probably wasn't very significant and wouldn't matter much to my decision.
"Oh." Whitestar meowed. "Well, where did you come from? We noticed by poor Pinefeather that you're quite the fighter." I averted my gaze, shifting my paws nervously.
"Oh, some clans back over there." I meowed evasively, waving my tail in a series of directions.
"Oh? Called?" Whitestar asked, curiosity shining in his eyes.
"Uh…" I meowed, thinking of a random name. My mind was blank. "I don't really remember." Even to myself, my voice sounded slightly strange. "I fell into a river, and I hit my head. Everything is slightly unclear." I admitted; it was half of the truth at least.
"Oh." Dawnriver meowed. "That's why I saw a giant bloody mess on your head. It was a deep cut, and your head was all bruised." She looked relieved.
"You seem so calm now." Whitestar meowed. "Pinefeather said that when you attacked him, you're eyes had a crazy light to them." He tilted his head, curiosity visible in his eyes.
"Yeah… I guess. I was just kind of confused and it was dark, so I thought he was a..." I thought of a forest animal. "Fox, and I got scared." I meowed quickly, nodding. "So I lunged at him, hoping to just scare him off; when I pinned him down I was startled and then I let him go." I offered the white tom a half-hearted smile that I hoped didn't look too forced.
"Well, you're a lot better then you are now. You may rest with us until you are better, and then we will escort you to the border and let you on your way." Whitestar meowed, stretching back and sitting down, curling his tail over his paws.
"Thanks." I meowed, grateful for his protection, although only temporary.
He gave me a quick nod and padded away. I sighed, lying down. Although I knew I couldn't stay here; I had nowhere else to go. I lay down, curling up into a tight ball and squeezing my eyes shut, waiting for sleep to come. Blackness came, but then a flash of brightness.
I felt a pelt brush mine. I flinched away from the touch, scowling. I thought I had told that medicine cat to not touch me. I turned around, prepared to snap at her, only to reel backwards. I was staring into the bulging, blind eyes of a hairless tomcat. "Who are you?" I meowed, confused again.
The tom stared at me, and as he twisted, I stifled a gasp as I realized the disfigured cat was completely bald. "My name is Rock." He introduced himself. His voice was low, gravelly.
"Who are you?" I asked; quickly realizing I was in a dream. I didn't know where, but I had learned long ago, that if someone appeared in your dream, it usually wasn't because they wanted something from you; it was that you want something from them.
Suddenly I felt a flash of recognition, and my brain went back to my dream. The hairless cat with the blind, bulging eyes staring at me… He was here again, staring right at me. That cat, he was Rock. "I see you remember me." His voice rumbled in his throat. "I've been watching over the clans for generations. Not only the clans, but everything else."
"So… your dead." I snorted in disbelief. Who was this tom? Was he playing a prank on me? "Are you playing a joke on me? Because this is a really cruel thing to do, especially because…" I broke off, shuffling my paws awkwardly.
"You lost your memories." The disfigured tom meowed, his face smooth and expressionless. He stared at me, no sympathy in his gaze. "I can help guide you, as long as you help me."
I didn't deny it. I was surprised. How could this cat really know that I lost my memories? Maybe he really were dead… "So, what could you dead cats possibly need me to do for you? If you want me to die, then you'd better ask Dawnriver to stop the medication." I sat down, pulling on a mask of calm, although underneath my calm demeanor I was actually shocked and confused.
"Fallenpaw, I know you're confused, and you're hurting right now because you don't know what's going on." The tom meowed, his bulging, blind eyes boring into my soul. I blinked in surprise; how did he know my name? "You need to stay with ThunderClan." He meowed. I waited for an explanation. Nothing came.
"Why?" I demanded, my nostrils flaring with anger. "You ask this demand of me, don't explain it, and also how do I know you'll fulfill your end of the promise?"
"Time will bring back your memories. Don't expect them to come back all at once. You're safer there with ThunderClan then you are anywhere else." The tom meowed.
"Why is it so important for me to stay? How will ThunderClan help me get my memories? How will you guide me to my memories? What are you talking about?" I was confused. I had recently just figured out what I hoped had been my age, name and role. Now this tomcat was expecting something of me? Expecting something big, something important. I could tell he didn't just visit cats in their dreams per night. My tail twitched uncomfortably.
"I don't have time to answer your questions. You'll figure them out as you go along. Don't let Whitestar take you to the border. Do something, impress him, and force him to give you an invite to the clan." Rock meowed. "I already gave you one memory, it's up for you to find the rest." Strangely, I believed him. He didn't smile, but I could feel he knew that I would do as he said, if not out of belief, but out of gratefulness.
"Okay." I meowed to him. The longing to see my past, the irritable buzz in the back of my head, the strange pull I felt towards my memories overtook me. "Okay."
"Do not let him escort you to the border. If you do… the darkness you see everywhere; everyone else will start to feel too. Fear will overcome them. Your memories will disappear altogether. When you finally go, you're claws will be soaked in crimson blood." Rock meowed, his eyes flashing. His tone was different this time, less controlled, a trace of desperation and torment. He looked… slightly afraid.