Smokey awoke to nothingness. Panicked, she flayed around desperately.
"It's okay, young one. No need to fear," came a soothing, yet sad, voice. A voice that sounded as if it had the weight of the world on its shoulders.
Out of the darkness came as silver she-cat with sad, golden eyes. "You have been chosen for a great honor, Smokey," she said.
Smokey blinked and stared at her, and, despite her many buzzing questions, decided to remain silent.
"You are in the Unknown, and you have been chosen to be the next spirit, the next messenger. I am Fangspirit, and I will be your mentor," Fangspirit informed her. "Yes, you are dead. Come, I shall give you a tour of the places a dead cat will go, as it is the job of the messenger to deliver the dead to their rightful place."
Smokey's paws finally found hard ground, and she followed Fangspirit into the darkness.
Smokeyspirit had never retrieved a dying cat by herself before. She had done plenty with her mentor, even Cloud's brother, when he had slipped and fallen off of a waterfall; which is where she learned of the name of the kit she saved all those moons ago.
Right now, she was in a cave. A cave behind a roaring waterfall much like the one Soot had died from. This was the worst part of retrieving dead cats, to her, at least; retrieving kits. She watched solemnly as the breathing of the kit faded and the starving kit was finally put out of her pain. Her spirit rose, shimmering and healthy. She was startled when she saw Smokeyspirit.
"Easy, Fluttering Bird," Smokeyspirit soothed.
"A-am I dead?" the young tribe cat asked.
Sadly, Smokeyspirit nodded. "I am here to guide to you the Tribe of Endless Hunting."
"B-but I need to say goodbye! Jagged Peak…" Fluttering Bird looked down at her paws.
Smokeyspirit walked over and rested her tail on the brown she-kit's shoulders. "Truthfully, there is now reason to say goodbye. Just because they cannot see you doesn't mean you aren't there. You will guide your brothers on their long journey, for they have troubling times ahead of them. Now come, perhaps you can meet Jay's Wing?"
Fluttering Bird looked up and Smokeyspirit and nodded, allowing her to lead her to the Tribe of Endless Hunting.