Chapter 34: Accidents and Reparations
I had recently apprenticed Buzzardpaw to both myself and Splitpelt and was watching the adorably innocent tom present another gift to Sunflower. The little heartbreaker had learned quickly from me that giving many gifts doesn't work unless the gifts are things like foods or flowers that are only good for a week. He was so smitten with them that Splitpelt and I had to actively intercept some of his gifts because they were too much or too soon. As you could probably tell, our ongoing lesson was restraint. We could tell Sunflower didn't mind that much given how they seemed interested in him as well, but they were holding themselves back until he was made a warrior.
As I observed the scene, a thought occurred to me. How did Starclan observe the living? Could I do that as well? If so, what level of influence could I have? At my request, Splitpelt escorted me to the barrier of Starclan to do a little spying. Using the threads of my powers, I discretely wormed my way through Starclan's lands looking for something unusual. There were two things that caught my attention. One was an obelisk of perfectly smooth black material and the other was a series of pools filled with unknown liquids.
My powers barely touched the obelisk and I felt something. I felt it trying to drag me in. It was trying to consume me. With my interaction came a hum. Power was condensing in the obelisk. The obelisk didn't just try to drag my power in. It dragged my memories out. They were replaying in my vision. Thunderclan, my once home, my kits, the wave. With an almost shattering effort, I ripped myself free of the obelisk, and then the obelisk seemed to hesitate. In that moment, I got the chance to see the pools briefly. They were what I was after. They showed the river below where two kits were playing on the steppingstones. Then the obelisk reacted. Reality seemed to shudder around it as that mass of condensed energy reached a breaking point. It exploded out of the monolith in a pulse.
I witnessed what my carelessness caused. The obelisk had latched onto my memory of the wave. That energy that it had collected from me now had a target. I watched through the observing pool as the pulse took shape below. A wave, similar but much smaller than the one that took my kits took shape. It crashed into those two kits. Normally the wave wouldn't have done much, but the kits were on the steppingstones. It pulled the legs out from one of the two kits bringing his head crashing down on the stone with an audible crack. I was mortified. At first I believed I killed the kit, but his form still rose and fell. That did not mean he was unharmed. His jaw sat wrong on his face. It was askew at an angle. I knew it was my fault. This kit would forever bear the mark of my lack of caution. I pulled away.
When I came back to myself, I found I was shaking violently. Whether it was the fear of whatever the obelisk did or was my guilt made physical, I did not know. I just knew I needed to somehow make up with that kit, right my wrong somehow. Maybe I could brute force myself to walk his dreams if only to give an apology.
The only benefit of my snooping in Starclan was that I could create or rather discover the observing pools on our end. In truth, the pools could not be created via powers. They were an extremely dense pool of life energy that naturally generated from the cloudlike nature of the afterlife. That wasn't to say we couldn't get a few of our own. Rather, we could not pick where they were. It was like digging a well. The way to reveal a pool was to expose the barrier at a point of extreme life density. Unfortunately for me, this was something any cat in the afterlife could sense. I could not monopolize it and it was always discoverable to less than savory individuals. I was lucky that I could feel a pooling point near camp for our future use.
After returning to camp and digging out our new observation pool, I set myself immediately to researching the pool. I would never forgive myself if I never gave that poor kit closure. The pools seemed to present a new realm of opportunity. After just a few moments interacting with it, I found that I could send my powers through the pool to the land of the living. I couldn't do anything substantial, but I could feel the living souls of the cats below. I could feel him, the kit I doomed to forever walk with a crooked jaw. I could feel something attached to him. That poor kit just couldn't catch a break.
I witnessed what the kit's mother said and did. What a terrible cat. A totally undeserving mother. If she weren't Appledusk's kit, I'd have dug right into her head and sent the foulest of nightmares upon her. The only thing I could content myself with about her was that the same entity was latched onto her as well. Something lineal? I couldn't truly tell. All I knew is that it felt familiar and it seemed to function as both a blessing and a curse. Then I saw the kit's eyes closing. It was time for me to formally introduce myself. I had a lot to make up for, but I could feel this kit would be my first step.
I created a faint bridge between the kit's soul and our land as my instincts guided me. As I felt the kit's consciousness ascend, I layered his soul with protections. Here he'd be fragile like an echo since so little of him was making the journey. At least if it was destroyed, he wouldn't truly be harmed. He'd just likely forget what happened up here as a dream. I finally saw his consciousness take form next to the pool. The kit looked so fragile and sad, but I didn't plan to let things stay that way. With all the warmth of a mother I could muster, I padded up to the poor little kit.
"Hello deary. My name is Mapleshade. What's your name?"