Chapter Two

In the light of the night

Firestar

I watch as the light in my long lost friend's eyes dies out and regret fills my heart. Shaking my head I turn to his kit; the small red and black body is writhing in pain.

"Jayfeather!" I call out and he races out of the medicine cat den with grace a blind cat should not possess. He pads over with a bundle of herbs hanging from his mouth.

"Stay back, she won't be able to breathe with you hovering like that," the grey tom spits.

I hadn't realized that I was so close. Stepping back I feel a tail on my shoulder. Bright yellow eyes look at me sadly.

"Greystripe, I-" But he just shakes his head, then leans it on my shoulder. I give his ears a comforting lick and turn back to where Jayfeather is looking over the small kit, prodding her in different places to assess the damage.

"She'll live," he mews, "but her back right leg is broken"

"Will she be able to become a warrior?" My mate whispers, worry written on her face.

"Of course she will!" Greystripe cries.

Jayfeather lets out a huff and mutters something about warriors and know-it-all's.

"I don't know yet, she is still just a kit so I might be able to put it back into place," he growls. "But you can never know about-"

We hear a large snap from the kit and turn in surprise to see her standing calm and tall on all of her feet. She shakes herself out and walks unsteadily over to Ravenpaw's body.

"Daddy?" She whispers and faces me with shining grey eyes, "He's dead, isn't he?"

All I can do is nod numbly as sobs rack the small kit's body. Whitewing rushes over from where her and her kits are standing by the nursery.

"Shh, little one, everything is going to be okay," she murmurs softly into the kit's ear.

The queen turns to me abruptly, eyes wide.

"I'll take care of her, Firestar, I have more than enough milk, even after Shadekit." I nod.

"Thank you Whitewing."

Brambleclaw pads over to me,

"Firestar, I know this is a lot to handle right now, but we still need to send out patrols."

"I know, I'll take a few cats along the Shadowclan border to the lake," I mew. I'm tired, but duty comes first.

"Thanks," he says grinning. "I'd do it, but Squirrelflight asked me to hang out today"

"I understand," I say with a smirk. I might just be having more grand-kits after all.

Greystripe walks over and looks at Brambleclaw questioningly. The brown tabby is staring off into space with a small smirk playing on his face. The older tabby turns to me and flicks his ears with a knowing smile.

"So…. Patrols?" Brambleclaw snaps out of his haze with a small jump.

"Yeah, Firestar's leading the sunhigh one."

"I'll go," the grey tabby mews facing me. "Who else should we take?"

I look around the camp. Golden and red leaves are strewn about, trampled by the feet of my cats going about their daily work. It's as if nothing ever happened, as if my friend hadn't just fell from the cliff and died at my feet; as if, by some miracle, the small kit hadn't just fixed a broken leg in a matter of sec-

"Firestar?" My grey friend is looking at me, seeming concerned.

I blink and give him a puzzled look. The grey tom sighs and gestures to the rest of the camp.

"Oh, we should also take Brackenfur and Spiderleg," I say, startled out of my reverie. "Could you go get them?"

The former deputy shakes his head in disbelief and then walks off to fetch the requested warriors.

Brushing past the browning leaves I feel a chill go through my veins and the wind pushes me towards the lake. I look at my fellow warriors, but they don't seem to notice anything.

Come to me.

I whip around searching for the source of the voice, then the wind starts to blow with monumental strength.

Suddenly everything is cold, when I put down my paws agony races to my core. Shivers streak down my spine and the wind continues to pull me to the lake. The dark grey clouds start to swirl; down and down they fall, surrounding me in a vortex of black, ominous fog. My companions have disappeared.

Come to ME.

There is a patch of green in all the bleak grey that makes up this new, terrible world. A beautiful russet she-cat is standing just beyond this green. She smiles at me and walks to the still, shimmering lake.

COME TO ME!

The horrific screech fills my ears and reverberates in my skull. Lightning cracks above my head and I leap, racing to the shrinking patch of green.

I burst out of the clouds and onto lush grass. The bright red of the she-cat's coat stands out like a splash of blood on the expanse of green. She laughs and runs off towards the lake, then leaps and tries to land on a small island in the middle. Missing, she splashes into the water with a yelp.

I gasp, run forward and, without a doubt in my mind, jump into the lake after her. Abruptly her distressed face morphs into a sinister grin. The beautiful blue water transforms into angry grey waves that make my pelt stick to my body, pulling me down.

The she-cat looks down on me from the island with a smile, her grey eyes shining.

You came.

Claws scrape the fur on my legs, and jaws clamp around my tail dragging me into the dark abyss of the lake.

"Help!" I yowl at her, but water rushes into my throat and fills my lungs.

I look down to fight off whatever is pulling me, and what I see shocks all the air out of my body. Cat-like creatures grin at me with teeth like sharp rocks. Their eyes look like the eggs we sometimes find down on the water's edge; huge, white and pupil-less. Their bloated bodies have no fur to speak of, and the claws that prick my skin are as sharp as thorns.

The water around me turns a diluted form of red as thick blood rushes from the gashes in my skin. I can feel the pressure from the freezing water on my chest, and black spots blur my vision. I try to breath, but all that comes in is the frigid water that surrounds me.

Everything turns black, then all is warm. The night-like darkness turns into a bright field filled with flowers. I sigh in relief.

Thank you for coming.

First of all, Thank all of you for the wonderful reviews, favourites, and alerts! I really can't believe how many of you like this!

Jaffa Maze: Thanks for the advise, and I know that the forest cats wouldn't know about all those human things, but he was in the twoleg place, and has been for quite a while. You see, the way I'm doing this is, as his daughter's life moves forward, I'm telling Ravenpaw's life in between the real chapters, and his is moving backwards. So, if there are any things that you don't understand in the Ravenpaw chapters, it's because it will be explained later. And yeah, I did get kind of sick of writing it that way, I was just experimenting with a different style…

Kcmyers: Thank you very much!

thundercat29r: You'll find out about her soon.

Warriors Heart: Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

So, next chapter out by August 20th ! Until next time,

~Soren Silverwolf