I wish I had the Dondai," Steven muttered absentmindedly, shivering as he curled into the branches of the bush he'd made a home of the past few days. "Even if I'm not human enough to drive it, it'd at least be warm."
He flicked a dollop of snow off of his ear that'd made its way through the branches. His whole pelt shook as the chill raced across his body. If this place hadn't been what he'd seen while dreaming, and if his gem hadn't felt oddly connected to this location, he surely would've found warmer shelter. As it was, he was afraid to leave in case he never found his way back. The hybrid frowned, narrowing his eyes.
Of course, he thought, half of this could be solved if my stupid gem would cooperate.
"What's up with you?" He murmured, directing his gaze towards his stomach. Though he couldn't see it underneath his fur, he felt his gem buzzing, humming within his skin. Steven concentrated on that hum, willing his bubble, his shield, anything, to appear. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. Right. Of course.
Steven sighed, tilting his head back towards the clearing. Despite the lightly falling snow, his surroundings were quite peaceful. The slow trickle of the waterfall into the clear pool across the clearing was enough to almost lull himself to sleep. If he were warmer, it might have actually worked. He huffed, fluffing his fur out. It didn't do much, but it was better than nothing- and a trick he'd learned just two days ago. Honestly, he was slightly embarrassed it took him so long, but in his defense, despite having Cat Steven, Steven himself wasn't much of a cat expert.
As he watched the waterfall, he could almost swear something within the pool glinted just as his gem's humming got a little more prominent. Squinting, he shifted to have a better look. Steven gasped as he realized that something deep in the pool was exuding a bright, wavering light. The half-gem scrambled to his paws. He staggered into the pool of water, peering into the depths as he ignored the freezing bite of the water up to the middle of his legs.
The sound of pawsteps startled him and he glanced upward just long enough that by the time he looked down, the light had flickered out. He groaned, before freezing as a small group of cats pushed into the clearing.
There was a moment of silence as both parties stared at each other in shock, before Steven cleared his throat. They're not humans, but talking to them can't be that different, right?
"Hello, fellow, uh, cats!" Steven called sheepishly, doing his best to look non threatening.
One of the cats stepped forward, nose twitching, fur bristling and teeth bared. Steven made a small 'eep!' as the expressions of shock turned to defensiveness and anger.
"Who are you?" the short-furred, gray tabby tom hissed, crouching low to the ground as if ready to spring.
"I-"
"This is sacred land!" the tom snarled, his blind eyes seering straight through Steven. A she-cat rested her tail on his shoulder, pushing through to the front. She approached cautiously, sniffing the air, before reeling backwards in surprise.
"You smell of twolegs! Are you a kittypet?"
"Am I a-" Steven flashed back to the cat who'd saved him just weeks ago; the tom's son had called him the same, "no! I don't know?"
"Kittypet or not, his paws don't belong in this clearing," the original tom hissed. "No questions needed- he leaves, right now. I'll drag him out of here myself if I have to."
Steven saw a few dubious looks sent towards the tom, but as his gaze travelled he noticed quite a few were still staring at him- none hosting friendly looks. His ears flattened as he took a step back. "I'm not looking for a fight!" he explained frustratedly, "Look, I'm lost but I saw this place in my dream about a week ago; there's something about this place that I think can help me. It's the only p-" the only power of mine that's still working "-my only lead so far."
The clearing cats shared a glance, their gazes untelling of the thought they seemed to share. Steven stared at them pleadingly. A black and white tom met his gaze, sighing.
"Right," he spoke, reasoning with his companions, "well, it's not unheard of for cats to be sent our way."
"That hasn't exactly worked out well for us lately." One of the cats muttered quietly. The statement was met with a few agreeing nods.
"And not all of them were actually telling the truth about who sent them." the gray tom's blank gaze burned into Steven's pelt with his accusatory words.
Steven's tail flicked nervously as he racked his brain for some way to convince them he wasn't lying, and that he meant them no harm. Admittedly, there was definitely something gem-related at the bottom of that pool of water, and Steven was hesitant to just stand by and let some cats drive him from his only hope to return home. Even if he had to leave to avoid fighting, there wasn't much they could do to stop him from returning. From his experience, he didn't think these cats frequented this place- not enough that they'd catch him here again. In fact, both times he's seen them, it's been at night, so-
He blinked.
Both times? I've only ran into them once. Steven thought to himself furiously before gasping. "I saw you guys in my dream too!"
"What?" the word was ushered with a mix of disbelief and hostility as gasps of shock rang out. Every gaze was on him, surprise and distrust lingering in the way they held themselves. Steven nervously continued.
"You all briefly chatted before surrounding the pool and drinking from it. Something about Clans and- some flowers, I think? And- and after drinking the water, you all laid down on the grass and fell asleep. That's when I woke up."
The cats shared a shocked look with each other, though the blind one still looked unphased. A quiet murmur broke out between them.
"How do we know he's not lying? He could've been spying on us." The gray tabby tom snapped at his companions, quieting their whispering.
Steven groaned. "Why would I lie to you? Literally what would come of that?"
"You could be lying to save your own tail-" the gray tom hissed, before he was interrupted abruptly.
"I don't think he's lying," a tom spoke up from the back of the group. He'd been quiet thus far, but held a confused, yet inquisitive look in his amber eyes. "We'd have smelled him if he was spying last half-moon. Plus, he's kind of.. large, I don't think he'd be able to hide anywhere in this clearing where we wouldn't see him."
Steven blinked, glancing down at his reflection. He didn't think he was that big of a cat, but he did see that point; compared to the cats in the clearing, he was rather large. Huh, he thought with an internal bitter laugh, so now that I'm stuck in a cat's body, I get to be the tall one.
"Shadowpaw's right," a brown and white tom spoke.
The blind tom snorted, "Of course you'd think so, Puddleshine."
Puddleshine shot him a sour look, but ultimately ignored him, "There's no way he'd have spied on us successfully, not here." And StarClan wouldn't let us sleep if danger was afoot, he decidedly didn't add aloud. "What I don't understand, though, is why a kittypet- or loner- would be dreaming of the moonpool."
"It, um-" Steven cut into the conversation again, "might not have technically been a dream? I can, um, see what others see. It kinda just.. happens sometimes? Um. I sometimes get dreams that point me in the right direction, or- in this case, I think I was seeing through his eyes because I didn't see him directly."
Steven flicked his tail towards the dark gray tabby- Shadowpaw, if he remembered right. There were a few mews of alarm, to which Steven hastily continued, "I already told you guys what I saw; I promise I didn't see anything more. And- I don't think it'll happen again, if that's any consolation? I- aghh, I'm just making this worse for myself, aren't I?"
"No." the response startled him, coming from the gray tabby. Though his hostility remained, it was a lighter version of it, and his eyes were narrowed thoughtfully, "No, this makes sense. You dreamwalk."
It was stated with a questioning lilt that Steven found himself hesitant to answer. There was a gasp coming from the orange cat next to him. Steven glanced at him, before looking back at the tabby. He furrowed his brows, pondering if the obvious answer was going to make them hostile towards him again.
"... Yes." he offered quietly, breaking the one-sided eye contact.
The tabby tom hummed noncommittally. Steven shuffled his paws nervously as the rest of the gathered cats whispered amongst themselves. Unknown to him, it was no kept secret that the gray tom used to have dreamwalking powers; they knew, coming from him, that if he recognized a dreamwalker then it likely wasn't a mistake.
The older cats circled up, leaning their heads close to whisper quietly to each other, their expressions a mixture of surprise, worry, and thoughtfulness.
"What's your name?" Steven jumped, not realizing the dark gray tabby, Shadowpaw, had broken away from the group and approached him.
"Steven," he responded numbly, running on autopilot in his surprise. "You're Shadowpaw, right?" It was a weird name, but honestly? Steven had heard weirder.
Shadowpaw nodded. He looked down briefly, as if he was debating something internally, "Um- you said-" he paused, "you said you saw through my eyes? That's.."
Understanding flickered in Steven's gaze, offering Shadowpaw a reassuring smile. "Scary? Weird?"
"I was going to say unusual," Shadowpaw murmured, "but weird works."
"It is unusual. Even for me, even though I've done it before. It's not something I can control, so.. well, if it means anything, I didn't see much. Just the water, and the rest of you. Just the once."
"What's it like?" the apprentice found himself asking.
"It's.." Steven hummed, "something. I'm not usually able to tell when I'm seeing someone else's vision rather than dreaming, and usually it's with someone I've got a connection to. It is pretty confusing when I wake up, too."
Shadowpaw opened his jaw to ask something more, but cut himself off when he felt his mentor's fur tickle his side, the brown and white tom having come to his side as the circle broke apart. Steven gazed at him curiously.
"Alderheart," behind the two, the gray tabby addressed his own apprentice, "take the loner outside of the clearing and guard him while we commune with StarClan."
His order was spoken with a no-nonsense air to it, and if Alderheart had any objections, he didn't speak on them.
"Yes, Jayfeather," he mewed, making his way over to Steven. He gave Steven a sympathetic look.
"What's going on?" Steven asked, standing defensively. His shoulders were tense and the fur on his neck lifted slightly. "Why am I being guarded? I already told you-"
"'You're not here to fight', yes." Jayfeather cut him off, "If you were led to the Moonpool, there's going to be a reason and I don't want you running away while we're distracted."
"So I'm a prisoner?" Steven bit. Bitter memories threatened to front in his mind. Not the time, he grit his teeth, focusing on the matter at hand.
"Not really; I doubt any of us could really stop you if you wanted to run," a golden molly replied, "but Jayfeather had a good point, which I don't think you're foolish enough to ignore."
Steven bore holes into her head with the intensity of his gaze, but after a few tense seconds it softened and he forced his fur flat. "Fine."
"Let's go, then," Alderheart nudged him gently, "I promise to answer any questions you have once we settle down."
Steven didn't say anything in response, just followed him out of the clearing.