An: Hello, Mist here again with a story! This is a collab with FizzNBoo, Fizz. We're going to trade off every chapter, Ex: Fizz odd numbers, Mist even. This will be updated every other Saturday until further notice. Warriors belong to the lovey ladies behind the Erin Hunter pen name, Fizz and I own the characters, plot, etc. I, Mist write this one and hope that you enjoy it! - Mist
She flinched at the sound of lightning, her body shaking as she stepped out of her den, she knew that it was time, the thunder clapped and the winds roared in her ears, she slipped out of camp before someone could recognize her dark brown pelt against the ivy. Keeping her head low though she still kept one eye on the clouded sky, the lightning sounded again and she broke into a sprint, trampling the soft earth beneath her paws in a rhythm that calmed her bristling pelt and wide eyes.
The rain blurred her vision but she kept on going, that's when she arrived, sooner than she wanted to, she slowed to a stop as the pine became more present than the oaks, if she went around she'd see the willows dotting the open area where the forest cut off and led to Poolclan territory across the stream. She pricked her ears and sighed when she couldn't hear anything over the roar of the storm, she approached the pine area, a few oaks popped up here and there but she ignored them.
She only had one place set in her mind, she raised her head, trying to be calm and hummed under her breath, she was in control of whatever was going to happen, she was. She tried not to notice the trees getting thicker as she made the twists and turns between the pines until she stopped in a small glade, barely big enough to hold five cats in all directions without one touching the line of trees. She welcomed the little pricks that the fallen pine needles gave her, a nice distraction from the storm raging around her.
She lept into the tree with one leap and dug her claws lightly into the branch of the pine tree, she tried her best to grip the sleek wood beneath her claws as best as she could and had to be careful not to fall off or she would have to start over again. She held her head up high, everything was going to be fine, she didn't care what the storm meant, she even looked up at the sky.
The swirls of greys and blues darkened the sky and she could feel the tremors it sent down into the earth coming up from the trees and shaking her to the bone, it was a pretty sight and she didn't mind the rain, it was meaning she was uneasy of. It was rare for such a sudden storm to take place in new-leaf when it hadn't stormed for a while, and such a violent storm was rare during any time of the year.
She briefly thought of Poolclan, and how their water sources must be overflowing and she hoped that the damage wasn't that bad, she'd have to make sure the stream that cut them off from Poolclan was okay tomorrow. Shaking thoughts of Poolclan and tomorrow out other head she jumped to another tree and another until she was turning, twisting, and leaping so many times she was glad that she knew that way so she wouldn't get lost.
The sky rumbled again, she probably could've walked a bit more of the way, but she didn't like getting on the other path so late into the trip and she got uneasy that someone had followed her, though it would hard not to tell if someone was, she could never be sure that they didn't roll in the ivy, mud, and rain puddles to disguise their scent and appear invisible to her.
She nodded slightly to herself as she inhaled the strong pine, she hoped that her clanmates wouldn't ask why it was stronger than usual, they definitely couldn't know about what she was doing. She stopped in front of a pine tree taller than the others, she leaped onto the bark and began to climb it, making sure not to make the wrong move and slip, she wasn't interested in hurting herself tonight, at least physically.
The rain thickened and she had a hard time keeping her balance on the slippery bark and she was relieved when she finally hauled herself up and into an abandoned owls nest, the hollow was spacious and had a small white stone in the center of it, it glittered like the stars and cast a moon-like glow into the den. She shook off the pine needles that had gotten stuck to her pelt and once she was done took a deep breath.
She walked in a circle around the stone, when she was dryish she touched her nose to the stone at the same moment lightning flashed and she was thrown into her memories. She could still hear the lightning flashing and thunder rumbling for a few moments, then it started to clear until it was just the steady rain which too was beginning to subside.
The light was blinding as she opened her eyes and saw a memory from long ago, she wasn't even sure that she remembered that well. She saw herself, scruffy little dark brown kit playing with her friends, then a sickening feeling sunk in, she remembered this memory. One of the kits she was playing with lept at her playfully, knocking her kitself to the ground.
She growled at the memory at the same time the kit growled at her and she saw past-self squeak, and try to kick the other kit off with her legs, failing and the other kits stopped and looked at them. Her kitself kicked the other kick before giving up and rolling out from under the other kit, causing them to fall to the ground. The other kit wasn't happy about it and launched themself at her again.
The memory was too upsetting to look at and she looked away and closed her eyes until she felt it end, the feeling of being in a dream went away and she was back in the old owl hollow. She muttered to herself and walked around the stone again until she was practically thrumming with anticipation for what was going to happen next so she touched her nose to the stone and waited for the lightning, thunder, and rain to clear up and fade into the background.
She looked around once more satisfied, and a little nervous as she spotted the mist that spread out before her, the mist tickled her nose but didn't make her fur sick to herself like normal water usually did. Taking a deep breath she continued her walk through the mist, it was oddly quiet for a normal place, or she supposed that it wasn't that rare where she was, where ever it was.
The mist parted in front of her, leading her through the passage as she blinked rapidly, she scanned the layers of mist and kept an eye out for what she was looking for. She was waiting for images or something to elaborate on the signs that she had spotted. She knew that even Thornwatcher couldn't have seen them, the brown tabby wouldn't have known what to make of them even if she had figured it out.
She was brought both comfort and terror that she was the only one that knew of this place, sometimes she would worry about what would happen when she died, who would take care of this place, though she pushed those thoughts away. She'd come down in the future medicine cat or leaders' dreams and walk them through what they had to do if Starclan cats really could do that.
The started to change without her noticing, a flash of sky blue caught her eye, then a smudge of indigo, a splash of glittering green, until the colors came together to form something. She walked a little closer so she could watch the swirling colors take place in the message that she needed, she tilted her head at what she saw, it was different than what she had seen the few other times she'd been here.
She felt memories bubble up and she let herself remember the first time she had stumbled in here as an apprentice, she had come here three other times, one was for exploration, the other two had been because she had spotted something that had unsettled her or even just a feeling. This was her fourth time, and it was much stronger than all of the other two times and she didn't know what to think of it, after all this was her first time here in a very long time.
The grey-blue mist faded and she turned her attention away from her thoughts and back onto the scene unfolding in front of herself. Dark blue appeared like smokey clouds, she watched as the rain fell in the projection, silver tendrils of light appeared in a flash and swirled together to make a storm, she could almost hear the rain thundering and the silver storm crying out.
She tilted her head to the side, her heart fluttering furiously as she tried to comprehend what she had seen, nothing that she understood at least, though she comforted herself, that one day, she would know what this special place had taught her. She started to go back through the mist as the colors faded, thinking about the silver storm and thundering rain.
The world of mist quickly faded as she let her mind wander, suddenly finding herself back in the tree-hollow and began to make her way back to camp, making sure not to slip on the branches, what did that vision mean, why did she see that, when would it happen. Most importantly, who was going to save the clans from this rising storm, no not this, what wouldn't be right to describe it, the rising storm.
An: Hope that you enjoyed this and are excited for the next chapter, chapter one done by the lovely Fizz! See you later, hopefully, and have a nice rest of the day! - Mist