Rainyheart's storm cloud-gray coat moved silently through the swaying ferns that dappled the ground with shadows. The poppies are wilting, he noticed, and he felt a pang . Ears forward and more alert than he had been since the incident on the rocky hill, he pressed forward, to the very back of the cavern. Once he and Mousehoof had noticed the unnatural way that the moss back here shimmered. They had always assumed that it was the angle that the light hit the drops of water that clung to the ends of the moss, but now that the moss was drying up, he knew that there was more to it. Instantly, the whinnies of countless horses swarmed through his ears.
But still, he felt lonelier than ever. Where were his friends? Where had they gone?
I know where they've gone, he thought to the place of no return., betrayal and death.
"How could I lose my two closest friends? How could I lose you, Mousehoof?"
Rainyheart couldn't tell if Mousehoof had heard.
Juicy green blades of grass spread out eternally through the misty, star flecked air. A dark, but not ominous line of trees bordered the meadow, but no matter how far you went, the trees never got any closer.
A pleasurable dream for most, but a nightmare for Mousehoof.
Her hooves itched to explore, but she knew that the comfortable green tinge of forest air would never be hers. Life without the cave and the hill was unfathomable, yet here she was. Nothing about her had changed. She still wanted to go and learn with Crabfur about the poisonous plants and everything. The lush, green grasses of WishHerd never held water hemlock or foxglove. She didn't care if the hill had killed her, it was her home, even more than the fields where the Herd slept. She could never wait to return from the migration to find the poppies blooming again. She stomped in frustration. Anything would be better than this. She would love every minute of this eternal afterlife if only Rainyheart were here. They could do anything together. Her nostrils flared. There's so much we didn't do…
Rainyheart's gaze was fixed anxiously on the patch of moss on the wall. A soft rustling of the ferns behind him caused him to whip his head around. Shadyhoof's dark gray form was standing at the mouth of the cave, frozen in terror.