It was night again in the forest by the lake. The surrounding woods lay in silence, nudged along by a Leaf-fall breeze. By all accounts it could be considered a rather uneventful night. Or rather it would've if not for one particular thing.
The mundane night became interrupted by the low, despondent groans of a young cat much too shamed to ask for help.
Minnowpaw lay hunched over, fitfully resisting the churning urge in her stomach to retch. A dead bird resided at her paws, blood lightly seeping from puncture wounds in its neck.
She'd carelessly thought hunting would've encouraged her lagging appetite some. The nauseating scent of fresh blood currently flooding her nose accomplished anything but. Her chest stung with a searing pain similar to cuts from claw marks. One look at the bird's still, motionless corpse sent pangs rippling through her in waves.
Don't look. Forget it. Forget.
Disoriented, Minnowpaw stumbled away from the freshkill, before ultimately plopping down to bury her face into her paws and dirt several foxlengths away. Forgetting didn't come easily. The memories cruelly nipping at her for attention proved it.
Birds belonged in the sky. Only birds belonged in the sky.
Time expired in rhythm to the cadence of her steady heartbeat. With a shaky breath, she felt a bit more at ease now. The brewing storm inside was settling into a much more manageable trek. Not calmed, but certainly not calamitous either.
Mild relief prickled along her spine, glad to have experienced this breakdown in the privacy of the night, away from prying eyes. Were Leafwing present she'd almost certainly issue orders to have her instantly holed back up in the medicine den again. No matter what happened, she wouldn't allow another cat to treat her so fragile. Minnowpaw wasn't an egg. Despite how things may seem, she wouldn't crack at the slightest pressure. Right?
She heard the slight rustle and crunch of grass behind her. For an instant, she considered the noise largely irrelevant, probably a scavenger come drawn by the scent of blood. Something, intuition or curiosity, prodded at her to turn and look then. When she did what Minnowpaw witnessed made her blood chill to something akin to the weather in Leaf-bare.
The once still bird drew its head up then. It flopped around on its broken neck, swinging listlessly side to side before, with a resounding snap, popped back into place and then slowly swiveled in her direction. Minnowpaw saw her whole body reflected sharply in its sightless, black gaze.
She darted back with a fright, nearly tumbling over her own paws in the process. A choked yowl died off in her throat, much to overcome with a mixture of shock and awe to speak. The bird stood adorned in a coat of scarlet, its once vibrant blue plumage stained by blood. Nightmare. This was a nightmare!
"My, what a rather unpleasant expression."
A lightly prim and resonate voice suddenly echoed inside her skull. Minnowpaw's head jerked around wildly, eyes widened to the size of matching full moons. Her heart pounded with the force of a dozen marching paws, fear coalescing in a smothering embrace. Where was it coming from?
Her eyes darted around rapidly through the woods in search of movement. Where? Where? Where?
"No, no, focus your sights forward. I'm right before you. You've already seen me."
She froze. Every single strand of fur and living tissue were screaming at her. Don't look, they chanted in panic. No matter what, don't you dare look. She desperately didn't want to. Keeping her eyes averted kept her safe from whatever horrors lie before. Just don't look.
Minnowpaw's gaze followed forward.
"Ah, there we go. Excellent, you're already making progress."
How? Its beak remained motionless, similar to how its body was mere moments before. The punctured neck wound and blood tipped feathers were proof. Despite this prior truth, the bird now stood observing her, very much alive.
She drew a shuddering breath. Minnowpaw wanted nothing more than for this to be a lie. Lies were common and easy; she'd grown so used to saying them over the past three moons.
"What are you?" She managed to squeeze out after several prolonged heartbeats of great difficulty. A metaphorical rock the size of a tree was lodged firmly inside her throat.
The bird's head slightly cocked to the side. "Consider me something of a friend."
"I don't need friends."
Something approximate to a faint laugh echoed in the back of her head. She flinched.
"Come now, everyone could use a friend. In fact, the thing you oh so dearly crave the most above all else is your precious friend back, is it not?"
An expression of immense pain blemished her face. If she could've buried herself beneath the earth then she would've. A tumult of emotion welled up inside her, threatening to overfill and spill out in a surging spew of murky, stagnated waters. She closed her eyes.
"Don't look away, Minnowpaw," the bird's urbane voice ordered. "You need to look forward in order to see Applepaw again." The utterance of her name drew Minnowpaw from her shell. She opened her eyes to stare stunned at the bird. "I could do it, you know? Show you how to get her back, how to get everything back. It's possible."
Minnowpaw couldn't hide the quiver to her voice. "How?"
"It's simple."
The bird gave a tiny hop forward then and began scratching at the dirt with its talons. Clumps of grass were torn and sent flying along with clouds of gravel. She watched its progress in a silent daze, still not quite having come to grips with the surreal scene unfolding before her.
"Here," the level voice entered her head once again. The bird no longer dug at the ground. Its head swiveled up to stare towards her. "Come forward."
The bird proceeded to hop back several steps, apparently allowing space for her to come and examine. Minnowpaw's apprehension doubled. Her legs were rooted in place, unable to move forward.
"Why the hesitation, Minnowpaw? Is Applepaw a priority for you or not?"
Applepaw's name resonated throughout every corner of her mind. With much reluctance, Minnowpaw found the strength to warily pad forward and peer into the hole. Inside lay a perfectly round and smooth brown seed roughly the size of a warriors single claw. She looked to the bird.
It extended a bloody wing. "Merely swallow this seed and then rest."
That was all? Suspicion and surprised mated together to form conflict in her heart.
"What'll it do?" she asked.
"Change everything. Make you capable of doing anything."
"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" she accused the creature. "Either that or tricking me."
Too many things didn't add up, she realized. The sudden appearance of this thing, its knowledge of her and Applepaw, she'd be fishbrained to just accept it.
The bird's demeanor never altered. "Oh no, I'd never do such a tactless thing." It didn't sound perturbed in the slightest. It gave a light flap of its wigs then, seemingly testing their durability, before becoming airborne. It trailed almost lazily through the air above her. "My offer is made direct and free from deceit. Swallow the seed and everything from this point will change for you. You will become a cat capable of saving your friend. The one you couldn't be then. If what I offer isn't to your liking simply leave now. I will neither force nor follow after you. This is a task meant for only those who seek to change."
It drew to a rest on the tip of a tree branch, watching her silently. Its intent seemed clear. Decide now. Minnowpaw glanced from it to the seed in the dirt. Nothing stopped her from leaving, the creature said so.
She grew contemplative, considering her next words carefully. "Who are you?" Her voice carried out into the night, floating along on the breeze to greet the bird. It met her gaze evenly.
"Someone who firmly believes no cat should ever die in vain. I'd like to think you feel the same."
She returned its stare properly for the first time. Leaning down, she lapped up the seed and swallowed. It went down smoother than she'd thought. With a sudden yawn, Minnowpaw felt compelled to sit. Weariness tugged at her whiskers, making the compulsion to lay down even stronger.
Sights and colors began to blur. She blinked, eyelids becoming heavy and body feather light. She blinked again and the form of the bird materialized. The blood was dry now and starting to harden and crust over. Vaguely she felt her jaw moving, trying to work itself into saying something. Her mind and tongue were several steps behind.
She blinked again, thinking. The muscles in her jaw stretched and then clenched.
"Will this really let me see Applepaw again?" Minnowpaw distantly heard her own voice ask. "Can I?"
"It will," the bird's voice replied in a coaxing manner. "But first I must prepare you. To truly determine whether or not you have what it takes to truly save Applepaw, your resolve needs to be tested. Prove yourself capable by aiding a cat you have no prior attachment to. Save them where others failed to." She blinked again, almost unable to get her eyes opened one last time."And remember, Minnowpaw, the only limitations are the ones placed by yourself. Anything you could ever need is already right inside you."
Her eyes fell fully shut.
Minnowpaw sat alone along the shore of the lake. Shallow waves lapped away near the bank, nearly wetting the tips of her claws. She kneaded sand beneath her paw, using their wetness to form little indistinct mounds of nothing in particular. A soft sigh escaped her mouth then.
She heard the voice before she glimpsed its owner.
"You're Minnowpaw, right?"
Assured pawsteps crunching through soft sand behind her alerted Minnowpaw to brace. She kept her eyes downcast, focusing hard on the soggy mounds. A smiling, bright ginger she-cat appeared in the corner of her eye. Applepaw. There wasn't an apprentice in RiverClan who didn't know about her.
Without preamble, she joined Minnowpaw on the shore, sitting down immediately. The lack of space between them made her inwardly squirm.
Still smiling, Applepaw looked to her, pure glee coloring her irises. "I noticed you're always out here by yourself, why?"
Minnowpaw desired nothing more than to remain silent then. But there Applepaw lay, face open and eager, expecting some sort of response.
"Quiet."
Applepaw leaned closer, confusion creeping on her face. "What'd you say?"
"It's quiet," she mewed back, somehow managing to garble it out in an audible manner this time.
She'd stopped messing with sand and now her paws were tucked tightly against her body.
"Why don't you ever eat with any of the other apprentices?" Applepaw asked.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm annoying."
"Who said you're annoying?"
Her pelt flushed feverishly hot. Each incessant question was another swipe at the heart. She winced in pain.
"They did. No one likes being around annoying cats."
Applepaw's tone became curious. "I don't think you're annoying."
"It's true. No one likes me, because I'm annoying, fishbrained, and ugly." She didn't realize she was yelling until much too late. The mounds of sand she'd assembled lie in scattered piles beside them. She must've knocked them over at some point.
The scent of chamomile gently embraced her face. Applepaw hovered less than a whiskers hair away, eyes boring into hers. Minnowpaw didn't know what to do. She'd gotten lost in the she-cat's fervent gaze, rooted in place. Applepaw drew close. Much too close.
"I don't think you're any of those things," Applepaw mewed matter of factly. "Look." She directed Minnowpaw's gaze to the surface of the water. Peering back up at her was the image of a reluctant looking golden furred she-cat. "See? You look cute to me–."
Sand went flying everywhere. The surrounding space became infested by it. Once it cleared only Applepaw remained. The spot previously occupied by Minnowpaw lay empty, the relevant she-cat in question having fled only moments prior.
Darkened clouds brewed and rumbled above. It beckoned the arrival of a storm soon to come.
When she awoke, Minnowpaw found herself laying in the forest. Except no, it wasn't her forest. This place felt different, somehow older. A thin mist permeated the air, encircling the outskirts of the treeline and general woodland.
She stood, surveying the area. More than just mist filtered through the air here. Something heavier, more oppressive congested it, bogging everything down in an extra layer of weight. Simply moving her tail required a concerted effort on Minnowpaw's behalf.
Further investigation provided a rather startling discover. The night sky lay barren, completely devoid of a moon. Somehow though light still seemed to illuminate the area. She couldn't possibly fathom how, but there was no mistaking the clear view.
What now? She vaguely recalled the bird uttering something about needing to be tested. Yes, the thoughts came flooding back to her at once. Before falling asleep it'd indicated something about her needing to prove herself in order to save Applepaw. But what–.
A stabbing pain ravenously tore away at her gut. Minnowpaw gave a startled yowl of shock before slumping over, immobilized by the attack. Wide eyed and panicked, she could only lay helplessly on the ground open to the pricks of a hundred claws attempting to rupture her organs. The walls of her stomach expanded before receding into itself to touch. Things transpired too quickly for her to process next. A feverish flash, jaw expanding to ludicrous angles, followed by violent retching.
She must've lost consciousness at some point, because what Minnowpaw recalled next was being nudged in the side by a nose.
"What?" she muttered, cracking her eyes. "What do you–." Her voice faltered. Hovering above her lay a young she-cat with a pelt of deep silver.
"You need to get up," the she-cat mewed, nudging her again. Concern thickly layered her voice, giving even more rise to the urgency in her tone. "Come on, we have to go right now."
Uncertainty plagued her movements. "I don't understand," Minnowpaw said, still sat. "Who are you? What are we–?"
"There isn't any time!" the silver she-cat interrupted her, angrily. "Stand up! We–."
Jeering, maniacal cries cut through the night and mist, directly into the hearts of Minnowpaw and the she-cat. The cries seemed to echo from each corner of the woods, surrounding them on all sides. Minnowpaw's fur instantly stood on end, fear taking hold.
A brisk tug at the back of her neck suddenly pulled Minnowpaw to her paws. She wobbled briefly, finding her balance before being confronted by the face of the silver she-cat less than a pawlength away.
"Run!" she commanded and then turned and darted off.
She fell in step behind the cat, letting her paws take her where the danger wasn't. Together they plunged headfirst into the mist. The jeering cries continued to echo behind them in close pursuit. She didn't dare chance a look back. The fear in the silver she-cat's face confirmed all she needed to know. Whatever chased after them wasn't something she ever wanted to encounter.
Time lost relevance in response to the danger. Sights flew by them in smears. Even still, no matter what, the jeering cries remained present. She sent a silent wish out to someone, anyone, to help. Deliver her from this horrific nightmare.
"Over here!" the silver she-cat called.
Minnowpaw followed where her gaze indicated. There looked to be a decently sized burrow just big enough for them and hopefully too small for their purser.
One after the other, they quickly scrambled inside. Minnowpaw kept pushing forward, unsure how deep the burrow went and completely unbothered by the thought. Deeper and deeper they went, until suddenly Minnowpaw ran headfirst into the she-cat's backside.
"Are..are we safe?" she asked, her sides heaving heavily.
The she-cat turned to look at her. She looked haggard. "At least for now, I think so."
"What do you mean, 'for now'?"
The she-cat pointedly ignored her question. Instead, she plopped to the ground and then turned to look up at her. "You should take this chance to rest."
An urge to argue welled up inside her for all of three heartbeats before Minnowpaw plopped down to. She exhaled heavily, receiving instant relief from the pressure on her paws.
"I'm Featherpaw," the she-cat introduce herself.
She nodded to her. "Minnowpaw. Thanks, by the way. You saved me back there."
Featherpaw's face set into a tight smile. "Well, I don't know about that. Between the two of us, I'm the one in need of saving."
"I don't understand," she said, staring in confusion.
Featherpaw's expression radiated skepticism. "Really? Did you already forget your instructions? You're here to save a cat from danger." She then grinned. "Congratulations, you found'em."
The bird's parting words flowed back into the front of her mind. This is what it meant?
"You're not thrilled, I see," Featherpaw noted, watching her face closely.
"How could I?" she exploded. "I'm suppose to protect you? I don't even know what was chasing us! We'll both end up dead!"
Featherpaw shook her head. "No, just me."
"What?"
"You're in no actual danger here. You're basically dreaming while I very much am not. Whatever was chasing us wasn't actually chasing us, only me. Only I will be attacked. Only I can die here."
Disbelieving, Minnowpaw buried her face into the ground. "This is harebrained. Why is it even happening?"
"Because you chose to swallow the seed," Featherpaw replied. "And since you did, it can mean only one thing. So who are you here for?"
"My friend Applepaw," she murmured in a low voice. "She–." Minnowpaw's voice caught in her throat, faltering. "She–."
"You don't need to explain. Most cats who come here largely have the same story. It's almost depressing," she mewed, with a rather rueful smile for a cat so young.
Minnowpaw looked up in surprise. "Others have been here before me?"
"You think you're the first Clan cat to lose a friend?"
Minnowpaw fell silent, an uncomfortable quiet filling the space between them. Featherpaw shifted stiffly before glancing up at her face and sighing.
"What was she like? Applepaw, I mean."
Minnowpaw met her gaze. From what she saw reflected back Featherpaw appeared genuine. She sat, quietly thinking. How best to describe her?
She decided to start slow. "Applepaw is really nice, probably the nicest cat I've ever met. She's always smiling, upbeat and happy to be doing anything with anyone, and she always makes sure to make everyone feel included. She's also really smart. If you ever have a problem she's the perfect cat to talk to. She'll have an answer to it before you've finished telling her what's wrong. Oh, and pretty!" she stated excitedly while Featherpaw listened, a small smile on her face.
At some point the conversation slowly shifted from Applepaw, and they slipped into small talk. Nothing in particular, just a natural back and forth between the two occasionally interrupted by breaks of laughter. Someone would tell a joke, another would ask a question, and they'd both exchange stories.
Talking to Featherpaw was fun, which was such an odd sensation to experience after so long or admit to. She couldn't recall last when she'd just sat like this with another cat her age. It was enough to make her almost forget the danger lurking just outside their range of vision.
The brief sprinkle of dirt from the ceiling should've clued them in. However, the two were so immersed in their talks it barely registered for either. Minnowpaw was just telling Featherpaw about some of the sparkling shells she'd found around the lake when it occurred.
One moment she and Featherpaw were laughing, the next an entire section of the burrow wall collapsed in on itself. It pooled in filling their mouths, noses, and eyes with dirt and gravel. Minnowpaw popped out headfirst from the filth, fitfully coughing and vainly trying to clear her sinuses.
"Featherpaw!" she called, spitting grime from her tongue.
"Here!" Her voice came, and moments later her silver pelt dislodged itself from a sloping pile.
"What happened?" she mewed. "Why did the burrow–."
A cacophony of panting yips drowned out her words. The two she-cats gazes met, realization dawning simultaneously. Before either could give the call to run a nightmare materialized before them.
The creature couldn't be considered living. Not with its visage. Leaf thin, sun washed fur and skin clung tautly to the gnarled skeleton form of a grinning face in half eaten parts. It didn't have a maw, not a proper one to be sure. Yellow stained fangs adorned a uneven, lopsided jaw. Because of its half eaten appearance the teeth were perfectly on display, forming its look of a frozen grin.
Its eyes were what left her heart in her mouth. They glowed in a putrid glow of murky green with clear cuts straight through their centers. Trembling, she slowly crept back, low and frightened. A jeering call sounded behind her. She whipped around to feel any last hope of escape leave. Two more of the same exact thing emerged from the mist, the contorted jaws cackling in glee.
What could any cat hope to do about this? These weren't even creatures. She'd come face to face with genuine monsters, the type to haunt the walls of any nursery to keep naughty kits in check. Those were just stories, however. The things in front of her were real and dangerous.
"Minnowpaw!"
Her eyes frantically darted around until finally falling on Featherpaw. She stood at the crest of the remaining half of the burrow, about no more than two foxlengths free from the monsters.
"Scale up the dirt and I'll help pull you up! We can escape this way."
Minnowpaw looked straight into her determined face for three prolonged heartbeats.
"Minnowpaw?" Featherpaw called.
She slowly began backing up then, keeping Featherpaw and the abominations in her line of sight the entire while. Featherpaw's eyes trailed after her, watching carefully.
"Oh."
The look on her face is what did it. Minnowpaw would've much rather preferred sneering scorn or spite to what she'd seen. Even a judgmental scowl of revulsion would do. Acceptance radiated so brightly in Featherpaw's eyes it physically harmed her to look. Not a trace of hate or hurt to be found.
"Good luck," she mewed, then turned and ran.
A chorus of jeering snarls cried in outrage. One after the other, the monsters all bypassed her completely in close pursuit of Featherpaw. Within mere moments she stood alone and unscathed, free from any and all consequences. So why then could she not shake the hollow sensation in her stomach?
Guilt shouldn't matter. Those monsters were similar to something straight out of the Dark Forest. She couldn't have done anything to save herself, let alone keep Featherpaw alive. They'd literally tear her apart. A search patrol would be lucky to find remnants left.
'Save them where others failed to'.
Wait. Minnowpaw's thoughts began racing, mating together what she'd heard from the bird and learned speaking to Featherpaw. Saying, 'failed to', implied it'd already transpired. Featherpaw also claimed she 'd be the only one between them to get hurt if they were caught. To Minnowpaw she'd described it as a dream for her. So if only Featherpaw could be hurt by those monsters here, and her given instructions were to save her where others failed to do so, it could only mean one thing.
"She's already dead."
The bitter taste of bile filled her mouth. Did she suffer from a similar fate when she'd lived? Chased through the forest by a pack of creatures, whatever they were, and mauled to death? And now she'd just left her to suffer the same fate again.
She'd done it again. Despite all the grief, sleepless nights plagued with nightmares, and inability to smell or see a single drop of blood without near retching, she'd learned nothing. A cat she claimed to care for died while she'd the option to do something to avoid it. But no, instead of confronting it, confronting Featherpaw, confronting Applepaw, she'd turned her eyes away.
Minnowpaw broke out into a full run, headed in the direction she'd last seen Featherpaw and the monsters disappear. The image of the bloodstained oak and what lay beneath it would forever be scarred into her memory. She couldn't remove it. Not in day or night. No such herbs existed to address this kind of ailment, though how dearly she wished it did.
For three whole moons she'd shifted in and out of the medicine den, Leafwing unsure what to do with her. She couldn't resume apprentice duties. She became near inconsolable whenever trying to hunt and didn't fare much better during patrols, having to avoid certain parts of the forest because of its relation to the incident.
Her chest and paws burned having to bare the brunt of her relentless pace. She'd lived an incomplete existence since then. Get away from me loneliness! From half-moon to half-moon she'd usually found herself staring up in a daze at the ceiling of medicine den, listless and isolated. Get away from me misery! Being unable to properly express any of her feelings about what happened compounded things to grow worse. It'd festered away similar to an untended wound. She only grew sicker and everything she despised about herself kept it raw and open.
Applepaw's face came into focus in her mind's eye. She gritted her fangs and let loose an anguished yowl. No more. Things changed now!
She found them. Featherpaw lay panting, blood seeping from an apparent bite mark on her shoulder, backed into a enclosed space with no chance of escape. On three separate sides were the jeering monsters, their mock jaws knocking together in glee, having finally surrounding their prey.
"Featherpaw!" she screeched, exerting every single neck muscle and ounce of air her lungs could spare. "Featherpaw, I'm here! I won't let them hurt you!"
Featherpaw's ears shot up at her cry, and looked up in shock, mouth agape. The cackling monsters were even brought to a halt, stopping their approach to turn to the source of the disturbance.
She was scared. The pounding in her chest and bristled fur proved it. Even still, she wouldn't runaway. She didn't know what she could do for Featherpaw, but she knew what she wouldn't do.
'And remember, Minnowpaw, the only limitations are the ones placed by yourself. Anything you could ever need is already right inside you.'
"I refuse to run!" she shouted at the monsters, taking a step forward. "I refuse to look away!" She took another step. "I refuse to let someone else be hurt when I could've done something!" She charged directly towards the twisted trio. "Not now! Not ever!"
She felt a split. Once, twice, thrice, four times over. Done once, the rest came easy. Nothing no more complicated than removing a clump of loose hair from her pelt.
Hundreds. There were hundreds of her, breathing and distinctly identical down to the last strand of fur. They moved in synchronized tandem, attacking with fervor rivaling a galvanized army of ants. Paws slammed into the abominations one after the other in a concussive onslaught. The strikes rang out to the drum of ice shards in a hailstorm. Their claws pierced the abominations coarse exteriors and tore. Left and right, up and down.
What little resistance they gave quickly evaporated in a matter of moments. Once overwhelmed by the gathering sized collection of Minnowpaws, they never stood a chance. Not a single stray fragment remained afterwards. The instant the monsters were dispatched, her others selves all began to disperse, vanishing without a trace.
The last remaining Minnowpaw desperately scampered over to Featherpaw before pressing her body into the she-cat's, taking care not to rub against her wounded shoulder.
She pulled back, concern etched across her face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so," Featherpaw said. She paused then, meeting gazes, her eyes wavering and expression trembling. "Thank you, Minnowpaw. You didn't have to come back for me."
Minnowpaw shook her head fitfully, before pushing her face back into her side. "Yes I did. I can't hope to ever look Applepaw in the face again if I abandon others in moments like that. I'm only sorry I ran away in the first place. I hope you can forgive me."
"What're talking about, mousebrain," she laughed, bumping heads with her. "Of course you're forgiven."
Minnowpaw permitted herself a small, bashful smile. She opened her mouth to speak when suddenly she realized she could see through Featherpaw's face.
The silver she-cat took one glance down at her own body and then looked back up at her. "Seems like its time then."
"Time?" she asked in a panic. "What's happening? I thought I'd helped you!"
Featherpaw openly laughed. It sounded light and carefree. "Settle down, you did. This is what happens when a cat's successfully rescued. I'll be okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," she mewed, and then leaned forward to press her nose against Minnowpaw's. "Thank you again," she said, after pulling back. Her voice expressed nothing but sincerity. "I thought I'd always be doomed to repeat the memory of dying that way, but you honestly liberated me from it. That's not something I can ever express in just words." Her form continued to grow clearer while Minnowpaw could only look on melancholic. "And don't give me that face either. This is a happy moment, so smiles only. When you see Applepaw again, that's how you should greet her. So make sure when the time comes your smile is genuine."
The last fleeting traces of Featherpaw vanished then, leaving Minnowpaw alone with just her memories and thoughts.
"Well done." The familiar voice of the bird filled her mind. "You've succeeded where others could not, granting Featherpaw a peaceful parting."
"Does this mean I get to see Applepaw now?" she asked aloud.
"Not yet. You managed to pull it together near the end, but you'll require a bit more refining before you're able to confront her properly. That sort of encounter won't be something you can just beat into submission. Courage alone isn't enough, however, it's certainly a good start. Even knowing this though, are you still willing to continue?"
Minnowpaw grew silent, thinking over all she'd experienced. The fear, the doubt, the reluctance to get further involved than necessary. The bird's words rang truer than any she'd heard before. Confronting Applepaw would take twice if not double the effort and more than what she'd shown today. Aiding a stranger was severely different from aiding a best friend.
"Yes, I am," she mewed, latching onto the resolve she'd gotten from Featherpaw. "I'll keep going."
"Then rest," the voice indicated."Rest and wait for nightfall to come again. Visit me then and we will proceed further."
A swath of lethargy gripped her then. Yawning, Minnowpaw slowly sunk to the ground and placed her head on her paws. With one final glance around the forest, she closed her eyes, instantly falling into a deep slumber.
Heavy raindrops pelted the area, dousing the treetops and soaking the ground below. Minnowpaw sat huddled under the shelter of a rather sizable oak. A forlorn expression lay lingering on her face. The wet slap of padding steps on even wetter ground made her ears perk.
Bushes to the side of her rustled, and then out popped Applepaw, completely drenched in rain. Minnowpaw quietly watched her scan around the clearing before finally falling upon her. Her eyes lit up.
Minnowpaw watched her dislodge herself from the bush before turning to slowly start padding her way up to the tree where she resided. She halted about a full foxlength away, still getting soaked by rain. If that was surprising, what she did next was even more so.
Applepaw lowered her head in the sign of a bow. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she said over the pouring of rain. "Guess I really overstepped there and made you uncomfortable. Just so you know though, I didn't say any of those things to make fun of you, honest! I've wanted to talk to you for a long time but never really knew how, and probably came on too strong not thinking to consider if you even wanted to talk. So I'm sorry again!"
She sat there in stunned silence, not entirely sure how to process what she'd just heard. Applepaw, the Applepaw, was apologizing to her. And in the rain of all places? She thought about what she should say or do, but because words never really came so easily for her as it did for others, she opted for something simpler.
"You can come in from the rain, you know. Don't get yourself sick by being considerate of me."
Applepaw lifted her soggy head while staring at her in surprise. Without a word, she stepped under the tree to share in the shelter. Noticeably, she kept a healthier distance between the two of them this time.
"I don't know if I'm bothering you again by saying something like this, but truthfully, the main reason why I tried speaking to you today was because I wanted to know if you'd like to be friends." She glanced over at Minnowpaw, her red eyes glinting hopefully. "Is that okay?"
Minnowpaw returned the glance before looking away. She wasn't used to these sorts of situations nor did she have any real experience with them. She'd never interacted with someone who she could earnestly call a friend, especially one who would gladly call her one back. She couldn't be sure whether she'd be a good one or not, but even still.
"I–yes," she mewed graciously, slightly turning her head away in embarrassment. "I'd like that a lot."