Lionblaze's eyes were wide with legitimate fear, an emotion he'd almost forgotten due to his power. But his power had never prepared him for this: being confronted with a twoleg while seeming to be a twoleg himself. He had managed to stand up, but couldn't quite work out the physics of walking yet. "What's going on?" he asked the twoleg in front of him, who he was fairly sure had been Skypaw just a moment ago.
"You followed me!?" Her blue eyes blazed with anger, though at least she wasn't about to attack him anymore. Lionblaze had no idea if his power still held as a twoleg, but considering he couldn't even walk, he didn't want to bet on it.
"You were sneaking out of camp. I was wondering where you were going."
"So you followed me as if I was a kit that needed protecting?"
"Look, can we talk about this later? I'm really confused, I'm in pain from whatever just happened, I can't figure out how to even walk like this, it's been quite the night."
Her gaze seemed to soften a bit. "Okay, but you will do everything I say, and not a single word more. Understand me?"
"Yes, Leader," he responded, amused.
"I don't need your sarcasm," she said, clearly annoyed. She raised a pink, hairless paw and summoned another dark portal. "We're going through there. Lean on me if you need to."
After a few shaky steps, and while using Skypaw for support, he walked through the portal. At first, he thought he had walked into bright sunshine, as his entire vision was filled with white. After blinking a few times, he realized that it wasn't brightness, but simply that everything he saw was in fact white.
"This is basically my den," Skypaw explained. "You can stay here until I figure out what to do." She guided him over to the corner, where there was a large soft thing. "It's a bed. It's for sleeping."
"Hm. Doesn't look like any nest I've ever seen."
Skypaw sighed in exasperation. "The longer you're in human form, the more you'll be able to do. The glamour magic makes sure you don't totally bumble around like an idiot. If we'd waited a few more minutes, I wouldn't have to explain to you what a bed is."
"The glamour magic?" Lionblaze asked, confused.
Skypaw just looked at him in annoyance.
"Look, you kind of have to see it from my point of view—"
"Oh, I do," she cut him off. "Believe me, I understand. But it'll be better for you if you just lay down for the night, I promise." She gave him a half-smile, sympathy shining in her eyes. "Don't worry, it'll get better. Just get some rest."
Lionblaze laid down on the bed. He sunk further into it than he expected, but it was comfortable and warm. He heard Skypaw whisper something, and suddenly felt the tug of sleep, getting stronger and stronger with each second. The last things he heard before drifting off were footsteps and a click.
...
His dreams were memories.
The first dream replayed the moment he had first met Skypaw. He was on a hunting patrol with Blossomfall, Bumblestripe, and Ivypool. They'd split up to make the prey-catching easier. He scented the presence of squirrel nearby and started tracking it. When he found it, he dropped into a hunter's crouch, slowly sneaking up on it. Unfortunately, right as he was about to leap, the sound of a branch breaking echoed throughout the woods, causing the squirrel to jump in alarm and run away. He gave chase, following it closely, but not quite closely enough. It led him to the outer edge of the territory, where the small, limp body of a gray she-cat lay motionless under a fallen branch. He rushed over to her, checking for any sign of life. She was still breathing, but badly injured. He called for help and pushed the branch off of her. Ivypool had been closest, and after seeing the situation, ran to fetch Jayfeather. Lionblaze inspected the injured cat more closely, looking for any way he could help. She was no older than a new apprentice, and her scent was strangely faint, almost as if she blended into the forest. Jayfeather came quickly, and together they transported her to the camp.
The second dream remembered a conversation with Jayfeather. Shortly after the injured cat had awoken, Lionblaze was escorting Jayfeather to help with herb-gathering, or at least that's what the Clan thought.
"What's this really about, Jayfeather? You never need help," he began.
His brother turned toward him. "The cat you found a few days ago. Her name is Sky."
Sky. It was an interesting name, but not too out of the ordinary. "Okay. I don't quite understand what you're trying to say. Why did we need to come out here for you to tell me that?"
Jayfeather was quiet for a moment. "Whenever we have a visitor," he began uncertainly, "I usually scan their emotions and memories, just as a precaution."
Lionblaze flicked his ears in impatience, a gesture he knew Jayfeather couldn't see, but nonetheless made him feel better.
"With Sky… I can't sense anything."
"Anything?" Lionblaze asked. Jayfeather had never not been able to use his empath abilities on someone before. Even with Sol, he was at least able to get snippets.
"That's what I said, isn't it?" Jayfeather snapped, his usual annoyed self coming back. "But yes, there's nothing. As far as my power goes, she may as well not even exist. If I wasn't able to scent her in my den, I would forget she was there."
"That's interesting…" Lionblaze knew this should be important, but he couldn't quite figure out how. "But we should probably just ignore it for now, right? I mean, we have bigger issues to deal with."
"That's fair," Jayfeather responded. "It's going to bother me until I figure out what it is that's causing it, though."
The third dream recreated Skypaw's apprentice ceremony. After waking up, she had taken a liking to Jayfeather, following him around and asking to help with various duties. Surprisingly, Jayfeather had reciprocated the feeling, and happily allowed her to perform basic medicine tasks. He'd even taught her a few herbs. There had been a conversation with Bramblestar about whether she could stay, a conversation that Lionblaze was not privy to, but evidently they decided yes, because her apprentice ceremony was a few days later. She had a standard one, and when Bramblestar named Jayfeather as her mentor, Lionblaze saw joy and excitement in his brother's eyes. It surprised him for a moment—Jayfeather was always so hidden with his emotions—but then he remembered when he had been named Dovewing's mentor, and he understood perfectly.
...
Lionblaze woke to the white room. He yawned and stretched out on the bed. He kicked a blanket off of his legs and sat up, surveying the room around him. There was a closet in which a black cloak hung, along with several other garments. A desk off to the side contained several bottles of glowing liquid of all different colors. A closed door had a magical pink hue surrounding its knob.
He slowly stood up and walked over to the desk. A note was laying there.
Lionblaze, there's clothes for you in the closet. Put them on, and then wait for me to get back. Don't touch anything else. – Skye
Lionblaze put the note down and went to the closet. It never once occurred to him that a few short hours ago, he would have had no idea what any of these things were.