Faustian | warrior cats

iv | living proof

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PAWS buried within the yellow sand, the tom watched as gentle waves lapped up against the shore. He followed the water with his eyes and became dizzy with the thought of having lost his best friend. She was dead yet again having drowned under the tides of her longing. His heart beat matched the thoughts in his head, drumming within his chest. It knocked against his ribs so passionately, Beetleleap thought his heart would grow wings and fly out of the cage of his ribs. Follow her. His heart thundered. Get her back.

His brain spoke differently. Don't. His head was too rooted to follow such bad decisions. While his heart was unrestrained without an inch of sense, his head was quite the opposite.

But Beetleleap was a cat of heart. He always listened to the rhythm of it, the way his soul turned emotions into music only he could hear. This time, his music was drowning out his sense. It was too loud to simply ignore.

Beetleleap jumped into the lake. Larkmoon was his friend and if she was missing, his whole world was too. The purple tom plunged under the water, expecting it to embrace him warmly. Though the waves were traced with frost and instead of hugging him, they pushed the tom around. The water rocked back and forth, forcing Beetleleap's head to dunk under and come up every second.

The splashing of water stung him in the eyes. Blinded, the tom was doused under the flood, bubbles screeching in his ears. Panicked as he held his breath, time was running out. Beetleleap paddled his way to the surface, crashing his head above the waves and sucked in another large breath before he was tugged under again. For being a dead cat, he felt very much alive.

Finally, as he was on the last second of his last breath, a bright light emerged at the bottom of the pool. Though it was captivating, it was too powerful for his eyes. It wasn't long before Beetleleap was snapped into a different world.

The tom was thrown onto a new ground as a shivering mess. He didn't lie down for long before he realized: the ground! He was washed in relief as he began to climb to his paws. Just as he stood, his eyes were greeted by another pair of green ones.

"Beetleleap, I've been expecting you."

―

Larkmoon! Larkmoon! She could hear a voice call in the faint distance of the never-ending blackness. Her body twitched, wanting to turn around and respond to the call. There was nowhere to go. "Larkmoon!" Abruptly, the voice sounded right into her ear. The she-cat awoke with a mighty jolt.

Instantly, her eyes were submerged into a real world. Earthly colors she had longed to see in StarClan were thrown into her face. A grand breath filled her once empty lungs and made her heart beat in her chest again. Larkmoon was roused into life. And though it was painful, having her vitals once again work, it gave her hope.

"Hurry up! All the other apprentices are leaving already." That hope wasn't very long-lasting. The impatient noise belonged to her apprentice, Redpaw. Larkmoon studied her thoroughly having missed seeing her flaming red fur and brown eyes. She looked the same as Larkmoon had left her, eager and full of fire to learn.

"I'm alive?" Larkmoon mumbled under her breath, realizing the apprentice bouncing around her was real. Am I dreaming again?

Redpaw shot her a funny look, "Why wouldn't you be?"

Larkmoon ignored her apprentice's comment and gradually stood to her paws. She wobbled, feeling like a newborn deer. The ginger tabby cautiously made her way, slipping through the darkness of the den and into the light of the forest. Peeking her nose through the wall of brambles, the breath was stolen from her lungs.