July 10th, 2021

DappleleaftheBootiful - If you do check out the original I'm sorry - like I even have trouble reading it when making this new version of it.

Darksnow's tail twitched as she woke to the sun's heat burning her pelt. The she-cat grunted in annoyance, her eyes cracked open to shoot the clear blue skies a glare. This would be her third sunrise in this strange field, where the grass was tall, and instead of being green, it was more of a tan.

This place was calming, with a silence only broken by the sound of the river and constant wind. She found the nights to be cold, and the days hot, but she supposed it would have to do.

"Morning!" The fluffy queen pushed her way through the grasses. She raised her tail in greetings, amber eyes wide and bright.

Darksnow hesitantly rolled to her side. Letting the injured shoulder face the sun as she twitched an ear. The loner dropped a few leaves, some roots were also in the bunch. Since she awoke on the first day, the stranger has been watching over her. It was odd, but Darksnow welcomed the company after being alone for so long.

The she-cat was a talkative cat. She rambled on while doing anything, but it filled the eerie silence that Darksnow wasn't so used to. Even with the queen's hunting skills being a work in progress, she knew her herbs well, and it was one reason why Darksnow was even still alive.

"Your shoulder is healing finally," informed Amber. "You should be able to start putting pressure on it in a half-moon."

That's too long. Darksnow flexed her claws. How would she survive having to do nothing but sit around all day while a loner tossed pitiful lizards at her? She could just see the disappointed looks of her ancestors looking down at her. How has it come to this?

Shaking her head, she forced her thoughts to clear. No matter what, she would return to her old strength. Even if it took seasons. Darksnow flicked her tail before glancing up to see she was left alone one more.

Where does she go? Surely the queen had a place to stay. A nice warm den to protect her and her daughter. But at the same time, the white and tan she-cat smelled of the tall grasses, of the soil that was under their paws, of the whipping winds and the rain that drizzled at night. Did she sleep outside in the cold?

A part of her felt bad. Amber looked half-starved herself, under the fluff of her coat she had seen nothing but her ribs. And yet, here she was, taking care of Darksnow, a total stranger who hasn't even said a single word to her.

Guilt washed over the warrior. Had she been that rude as not to thank Amber? The she-cat talked a lot, was it in hope that Darksnow would one day talk back? Great, being taken care of by a loner, and now I'm as dishonorable as one!

The warrior huffed as she forced herself to sit up. The pain in her shoulder grew the more she moved, and soon her gaze went blinded with sparkling, blurred lights as she gasped for breath, finding it hard to breathe.

Another body pressed into her side. The sweet, yet strong, herbal scent of Amber washed over her. "You shouldn't be moving!" Huffed the loner as she left the warrior to lay on a bed of moss and grass.

"I-" Darksnow could barely hear herself. The ringing was back as a coolness was applied to the shoulder wound.

Amber only twitched an ear. She didn't look too pleased, with her face scrunched as she chewed on leaves. The warrior took it as a sign that this wasn't the right time to talk. She shifted. Ears perked as she glanced at the chewed herbs that coated her shoulder.

The gash looked better than she remembered. Although, it still wasn't a pretty sight. The skin was scabbed around it, pink and covered in dried blood. Fur was missing in considerable patches, and the real wound was a bloody mess, deep and missing more than just fur.

Darksnow turned and heaved as vomit raised up her throat. She shuddered, feeling disgusted and horrified. How had Blackfire done that to her? She understood that he was sentencing her to death, but that was no death, he...he maimed her, he wasn't giving a quick kill - the RainClan deputy had tried to kill her as a rogue would.

"It'll heal," mewed the fluffy she-cat. "Just give it time."

The white-and-brown warrior twitched an ear. She signed as she laid against the dirt, tail lashing as she gazed up at the loner. "Easy for you to say." She muttered.

Amber blinked, surprise flashed across her face before she purred. "You can talk! For a minute there I thought you couldn't," she kinked her tail across her back as she spoke.

"Everycat can talk." Darksnow had never met a cat who couldn't. She knew some choose not to, for the most part, that's how Fawnmist was, she never spoke much unless she needed to.

"Not everycat. When I still lived with my housefolk there was a tom that lived next to me. He couldn't talk, I never knew why though." Amber shrugged as she turned to the tall grasses.

Darksnow had a moment of panic. Would the loner leave her alone? She never cared before, but now she had nothing to do but focus on the silence that this strange place offered. "You-" she took a deep breath, holding back her tears at the pain of just speaking. "You were a kittypet, how do you know about herbs?"

The white queen gave a small frown. She gave a short huff, one that sounded somewhat painful as she lifted up her head before smiling. "I have to get back to Snowy." She meowed, giving the injured warrior a small smile before slipping off into the tall grass.

Darksnow watched with a frown as she left. Tail lashing before she growled, digging her claws into the dirt below her. Why did she have to be left here all alone? The warrior laid down her head onto her paws, ears flattened against her head as a cold drop hit her nose.

Just great.