Well... I just violated my own three-day-update policy by being lazy and doing stuff on forums instead of writing Chapter 10! But here it is.
Chapter 10
Oh no, little kittens, I wanted to say, this is nothing but a dream; a very scary dream that will probably traumatize you for the rest of your lives, you got that part right, but still a dream. You will wake up and those scary skeletons will just poof, disappear!
But even I had trouble convincing myself that, so as the three kits huddled around my front legs, I found myself muttering to myself, "Oh no, little Cedarpaw, this is nothing but a dream; a very scary dream that will probably traumatize you for the rest of your lives, you got that part right, but still a dream. You will wake up and those scary skeletons will just poof, disappear!"
"Cedarpaw..." Tigerkit meowed, clear fear in his tone. "What are those things?"
I could hardly move before, but at the sound of another cat's reassuring voice- even it was edged by terror- I found the courage to open my mouth and reply, slowly, "Those are dead cats, Tigerkit. Remains of who they used to be."
Isn't it artistic? a voice seemed to whisper from the depths of the tunnel.
I was already shivering badly, but as we four cats- kits and hopefuls alike- huddled together for our lives, I decided that I had to play the big brother for once. "We're- we're gonna see if there's a way out if we keep going through there," I said, flicking my tail down the passageway.
Stonekit was the first to bound off, with more caution than usual. I followed closely behind, feeling guilty that I was letting a kit be in front and take all the damage if anything suddenly jumped out at us. "Here, I'll take the lead," I insisted, and when she shrugged, I stepped into her place and heard a splintering sound.
I froze, immediately thinking that I had accidentally crushed one of Stonekit's fragile legs or tail or something, but when I looked at her, she was staring down at something. There were several bones, none of them seeming to be connected with any others.
"Prey bones," Frogkit muttered as he padded forward. I nearly jumped; I had almost forgot that the small tortoiseshell tom was there. "This must have been a whole camp, and now... everything's gone."
"They weren't gone," I reassured the tiny kit. "They just..." I shuddered. "They went off to a better place."
Frogkit glowered at me silently. "You mean they all died." His voice grew, and I realized that he was even more upset than the others. "They were just gone, and there's no one left to care for them or die for them."
Suddenly, I remembered Roseshade's words. What had she said to me on that starry night? "There is no such thing as an accident," I murmured. "We will find out the cause of this together. What happened, who caused this... and who died."
Privately, I was thinking that we should find a way out of this creepy tunnel first and worry about dead cat later, but already, Frogkit's face was brightening a little- at least, it wasn't as shadowed anymore.
"Thanks," he muttered.
"Let's keep going!" Stonekit's voice rang out from beyond, sounding impatient- and just a little scared. I nudged Tigerkit slightly. "Come on. We need to find a way out of this place," I said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
The voice moaned on through the tunnel, but only I seemed to hear it. Who is my little daughter... come to me...
Two minutes later, we found out that it was a dead end.
Sparrowchirp didn't know how long she ran, or for how long, or even where she was. She had never been out of LightClan territory before, so she was basically a lost, wandering kitten in the big, wide world.
It was nighttime, and she couldn't see a thing, so she finally collapsed onto the soft if slightly moist grass and ferns that grew plentifully along the ground. She thought she might have heard a strange thumping noise like faint footsteps below her, deep in the earth, but she put that thought to the back of her mind.
It would give her nightmares about wandering, restless, bloodthirsty spirits for moons on end.
She heard a lot of things in the night. Crickets chirping, the occasional owl hooting, some birds hopping from one tree branch to another... and a slight movement beyond that even she couldn't identify
Cat footsteps. Sparrowchirp's heart was pounding wildly in her chest. She stood up weakly, thinking she might recognize the figure if it appeared before her... but the cat that brushed through the undergrowth to reach her was the last one she'd expected.
She stared, unblinking, and yet, she both loved and hated the sight of that single cat that had made her life so complicated in so many different aspects. "Gl... Glowpaw, is that you?" Sparrowchirp croaked.
Sure enough, the same rounded eyes that she had grown so accustomed to looking at in the past few moons stared back at her. "Yes, mother," Glowpaw replied. "It is me."
"You've grown so... polite," Sparrowchirp frowned, "and what... oh dear, that looks like a very serious wound indeed." Her motherly instincts kicked in, despite herself, and she examined the large split right smack in the middle of Glowpaw's forehead.
Glowpaw shook her head, backing away. "Mother, I don't think you understand, but... I have somewhere that I want you to go. Eh, I mean... it is not safe here for you to wander around like this... just follow me. I know a good hiding place."
"Thank you," Sparrowchirp replied, feeling quite stunned. Perhaps her adopted daughter was better of a cat than she had previously thought.
She watched as Glowpaw disappeared into the woods. Not even asking how she had managed to find her in the whole, large forest. Then, feeling relief pour over her at the prospect of a safe shelter, she followed.
She did not ask why Glowpaw only slowed down every ten minutes to let Sparrowchirp see her. The rest of the time, she had to rely on scent. But she was saving her, after all.
Spirits can possess the dead, although it takes up more energy and it cannot last forever, so they have to reveal their true forms every once in a while. Poor (dead) Glowpaw...
