Chapter 8:
So, I went on a bit of hiatus because I really didn't have any inspiration for the story and was not having tons of fun with it, even after only 7 chapters. Anyways, I'm hopefully back now for quite a while, and hope I didn't make you all hate me too much. Tell me what you think of the chapter because before I wrote this, I did some serious reacquainting with the story and I'm not sure if I got the characters quite right.
Right! I'm back! New chapter! Yay!
Pain is a blinding thing, it really is. And pain I felt, such as never before. Everything throbbed, and yet when I opened my eyes, I was not there among the apprentices. I was surrounded by… shadow.
Deep and thick, the shadow was swirling and changing and as I watched with no small level of deep, bone-chilling fear, the shadows formed into a cat. A black, swirling cat, but still a cat nevertheless.
"Flame.", said a deep, resonating voice that echoed as it changed, seeming to contain many voices. "You have finally come. For moons we have watched carefully, helping to prepare you for this time. And now, you will become a vessel for our revenge in the world of the living and wreak havoc upon Starclan and the Dark Forest."
The voices spat in contempt and the cat form moved to form into many, many more. "You shall be more powerful than any living cat, but to go back you must touch us."
"Wha… Who are you?" I replied, not answering.
"We are the cats who have been rejected from both Starclan and the Dark Forest, complete outcasts in life and death. Our names are no concern to you, but know we have been there since the beginning." the cat hissed back.
"Why me?" I asked, hesitant to go back. "Why am I to become your 'vessel'?"
The cats laughed back, the voice shaking with laughter. "We have been with you since the beginning. We orchestrated most of your life. Your exile was unseen, but your initiation into Bloodclan, your meeting and the deaths of the deputies of Darkclan, was all us. Everything was to lead you to us."
I just stared in shock, mind numb as they continued. "You were meant to die in a border skirmish with the clans, but this worked just as well."
"Wai… Dead?" I asked, still in shock, numb and not really understanding. "It was just a stomach wound, was it really that bad?"
"You are well and truly dead." the cat said back completely serious. "Currently your body is lying in the Thunderclan camp."
I howled in anger and sadness, voice echoing around endlessly. "Take me back." I said, breathing heavily, anguish and anger clouding my vision. "I will do what you want, just take me back."
"Of course." the voices purred back with satisfaction, paw reaching towards me, the cold filling my veins. "We will speak to you when you are needed." My vision started fading out as they finished, "You may call us… The Shadows…"
The pain came back abruptly, causing me to gasp sharply and open my eyes to the rain falling on my soaked pelt. I looked around, to see a very sodden, empty Thunderclan camp. There were no cats in sight, probably because of the rain and the darkness that suggested it was night.
I really didn't expect to find anyone sitting vigil for me, and wasn't disappointed, but my body was freezing cold, dropped roughly in the middle of the camp, dirt and mud covered, and stiff as an elder.
With a groan, I dragged myself up by my front paws and padded slowly out of the camp into the night of the forest. The pain in my muscles and gut almost knocked me out, but I gritted through it and managed to drag myself all the way to Sunningrocks.
The rocks were cold and hard, but I curled up and looked into the starry night, the thousand pinpricks of cold, harsh light and the countless ancestors that abandoned me.
The anger hardened in my stomach at this thought, and I thought to myself and the Shadows, "Thank you. Thank you for bringing me back. Thank you… for giving me a chance."
"Of course." a voice replied in my head, making me jump in shock before remembering that the Shadows could talk to me whenever they wanted. "Thank you for helping us also."
And with that final thought and a sigh of content and relaxation, I settled down to a peaceful, blissful darkness, without any worry or pain.
When I finally came too, it was to find loud, harsh yowls of shock, anger and surprise echoing through the forest. I groaned again at my soreness and stiffness and pulled myself off the rocks and through the forest. The birds were squawking indignantly at the noise in the trees, and I could barely make out mice peeking their heads and tails out of their little holes.
My belly rumbled so I snuck up on a mouse that, despite the loud yowls throughout the forest, was out nibbling on nuts. I leapt and caught the mouse with a twinge of pain. A quick snap of its neck and I sat on my haunches with a sigh.
"Thank you Starclan for this animal…" I started before I realized what I was doing and snorted in amusement. I decided to get closer to the Thunderclan camp where all the noise was obviously coming from before enjoying the mouse, and picked up the mouse in my jaws.
Coming closer to the camp, I dragged myself into a tree overlooking the chaos and settled into my mouse. When listening closely I was very surprised to find the camp up in an uproar, where I could faintly hear teams being organized to...look for my body?!
I stopped eating, mouth slightly open as I became shocked yet again. Why did they want to find me so much? It's not like they liked me or wanted me. Did they?
My confusion only doubled when I saw Ice and Snake at the head of the organization and chaos. I could faintly hear Ice's voice over the noise.
"Lets go! Elders can check the camp, apprentices can check the hollow and surrounding area. Warriors, split into teams of 5 and search for scents and the far out areas.! Lets go, go, go!"
"Why should we listen to you?" I heard Dustpelt ask faintly. "Who died and made you leader?"
"I'll tell you why you should listen to me." I heard Ice snarl back, voice surprisingly angry. 'If you don't look, me and Snake here will rip your ears off and feed them to the dogs."
Dustpelt audibly gulped and wisely (in my opinion) left camp. I watch as cats moved around, organized and left, and, finally, Sandstorm, Ice, and Snake were the only ones left in camp.
"Why do you want his body so much?" Sandstorm asked in curiosity. "Why push the whole camp to look? Is it really that important?"
Ice looked back at Sandstorm while padding towards the entrance of the camp and sniffed in disdain. "Our cats will want his body recovered. They'll want a good look at it and may want to bury it."
I sighed, not really expecting any other response, and then, just barely thinking of it somehow, realized that these cats might have a crazy reaction to me being alive. With one last bite of my mouse, I licked my jaws and lowered myself a few branches. My stomach touched the wood and I settled down to allow the apprentices to find me.
My body started out tense, but then relaxed more as time went on. By the time I finally heard quieter voices heading towards me, I was very relaxed and feeling a little tired.
A group of three apprentices emerged from the brush and, just my luck, Bramblepaw was with them. Bramblepaw seemed to be the only one searching, the other two apprentices were just messing around.
As they were passing underneath, I shifted slightly, and bark showered down on them. They looked up in curiosity, and I saw their eyes open wide in shock and surprise as they saw me, laying on a branch, eyes slightly open and moving ever so slightly.
My exhaustion finally started to overtake me as the apprentices recovered from their shock and started running towards the forest, yowling at the top of their lungs. Bramblepaw was the only one that stayed, and in his eyes, still trained on me, I saw a single tear.
There was a LOT of shock in this chapter. Finishing it felt great, and I think I did it the way I envisioned it. I hope it's as good as I think it is, and here's hoping everyone agrees.
I really hope everyone's happy I'm finally back, and here's hoping I didn't lose too many viewers!
Jenva