I woke up to find myself in a strange forest; the light that fell through the foliage in shafts gave it a dream-like quality. A light breeze ruffled the tops of the trees as my mind slowly starts to remember the events of last night. I deliberately don't make eye contact with Nauri's gravestone as I make my way towards the sound of flowing water. The stream was a lot closer than I thought. Wide and clear, my sensitive cat ears had heard from half a mile away. I stood at the edge of the mirroring water and stare at my reflection.
My short black hair is caked with mud, along with almost everything I'm wearing. Falling asleep in the rain on top of a grave probably wasn't the brightest idea. My light hazel-green eyes no longer glow with the life they once had, and my pale skin seems even paler than before. My black tail is limp and dirty; I think I might've broken it. My black cat ears stick out from my hair, above my normal human ears. Ten times more sensitive than humans, my ears only serve as a reminder of Nauri. She had been the 'Ears' of our five-man squad. What was I supposed to do now? With no squad and no sacrifice, I was an easy target.
Felidae Warriors were always split into five-man groups; we were supposed to personify the five parts of a cat. Fangs, Claws, Eyes, Ears, and Tail. I had been the Claws, stuck in the middle as usual. Nauri had been the Ears. Claws and Ears were always paired as fighter and sacrifice, just as Fangs were always paired with Eyes. We trained together, battled together, and traveled together. A fighter and sacrifice were supposed to be the elite fighting pair. Not anymore I guess, not for me anyway.
I suddenly wished I had been born a Tail; they could make any living thing their sacrifice. It came in handy when you made your enemy your own sacrifice, then technically they would kill themselves. It was also very difficult to steal back your heart right at the last moment of life. The stories I'd heard of undead Felidae had almost always been Tails.
'That's probably why the rest of my squad buried me, they figured I really had died' I thought glumly to myself. I supposed that was better for me, in a way. Being killed by my own teammates didn't really appeal to me. I sighed as I took off my muddy clothes and eased into the water. I needed a bath, my clothes needed washing, and I needed to figure out what to do next.
As I sank into the frigid water, I watched as the mud streamed off my clothes, and me, following the current downstream. I was still reeling from the fact that I was dead, and from the fact I had been abandoned in the wilderness. Not to mention that my partner was dead as well, I had no idea where I was, I had no money, I was a girl traveling alone, I couldn't go home for fear of my life, and on top of all that, I was afraid to venture on alone. It had been awhile since I had been completely alone; most Felidae grew up with, lived, and died with their squad. They were almost never separated.
I sighed again as I slid under the water for a moment, listening to the sound of water rushing past my human ears. It was so silent underwater; it almost felt like I really was dead. I could hear everything, every breath I took, every move I made. It all seemed more defined underwater. That's when I realized; I didn't have a heartbeat!
This shouldn't have surprised me, I was dead after all. But it did, and I shot to the surface in a panic. After calming down for a few minutes and getting my ragged breathing under control, I walked back to shore. Making a fire to dry my clothes off with was next on my list. And as I scouted through the woods for burnable branches, I couldn't help but smile slightly.
I t was rather ironic that Nauri had taken my heart to the grave with her. I had never told her how much she meant to me, and yet a part of me would always be with her. This thought made me smile.