The Traveler

Questions, Not Answers

(From Iceshadow's point of view)

 My head hurt. Everything felt heavy. My eyes squeezed shut against the pain. Was this what it was like to die? Pain and darkness? I just wish it would end.

"Iceshadow, open your eyes." I pricked my burning ears at the sound of my name. Who said that? How do they know my name?

"Iceshadow, you must open your eyes." That voice again. It was a struggle but I managed to open my eyes. Gently, I felt each leg, checking for injury, but there was none. Could I have dreamed it? I stood up and looked around.

I was alone in a clearing. Trees surrounded me on all sides and tall grass and ferns tickled my legs. It was night. Stars twinkled through the branches above us.Despite the strange surroundings, I felt calm. Almost at peace. The forest seemed to call me deeper into it. It felt right somehow. "Where am I, and how did I get here," I said, but I wasn't sure if I was talking to myself or the voice I heard. My head swam with pain at my own words. I felt my legs shake a little but kept standing. Fox-dung, it hurts so much!

"I brought you here." The voice startled me so badly I nearly jumped out of my pelt. I whirled to see the most beautiful silver she-cat I have ever seen. Her pelt sparkled with every movement and her blue eyes flashed like sunlight on water.

"How," I asked. My vision blurred. Man, those cats did a number on me.

"Well, I didn't get you out of the water if that's what you want to know. That was another cat. I just had you brought here." She slid like water alongside me, tail tip brushing against my flank. Instantly, my pain just.... lifted. It felt great, like a great fog had finally blown away. "My name is Feathertail, and this is Starclan. Please, allow me to be the first welcome you to the clans."

"Clans," I breathed, unable to suppress the flow of memories the word brought on. Blood, death, cats crying in fear and triumph, and one horrid cat at the head of it all. The memories were still as strong as when I heard the word from the mountain cats. I felt my claws unsheathe. She may have cured my pain, but the feeling that the word brought on was much worse. No. I have to get a hold on myself. I shook my head as if to shake the memories right out. Instead I concentrated on the present.

"So those cats were... clan cats, and that means you're a clan cat to. That's why your name is so strange like the tabby, and the gray tom!" As soon as the accusation left my lips, I felt the fur on my back raise. "Don't try anything or I swear I'll shred you like I did them."

She cocked her head to the side and just looked at me. I flinched away. Mouse dung. It was like those eyes could stare right into your soul. Her eyes flicked to my still unsheathed claws.

" Those claws have seen many places and much bloodshed. Your paws, though, have yet to carry you to a place to call home."

"What?" Was this cat trying to pull something on me? Either way, I couldn't waste anymore time. Mother would be beside herself with worry. I had to go find her before she runs into trouble, or worse, those cats find her. "Look," I said. "I don't know what you're talking about but I don't have time for it. I'm leaving." I whipped around, ready to storm off.

There was Feathertail, standing behind me as if she were there the whole time. "What the-," I gasped and leaped backwards. How did she get there?

"You can leave, but your mother won't be there," she meowed.

A little red flag went up in my head. "Wait how do you know about my mother?"

She smiled and gave a little purr. "I know everything about you. We actually have a lot in common. It's too bad we couldn't meet until now. I would have liked to talk to you outside of a dream." She glided forward on soundless paws. Unease ran threw me, and I was tired of her giving me more questions than answers. This couldn't be a dream, could it? Then she brushed against me. I stiffened my body, ready for an attack in case one came.

"A dream? How," I asked, eyes on the ground. "Why would I dream of some strange cat unless..." Then it came to me. I don't know why, but the way things felt seemed familiar. Off. Something in my bones told me I knew the truth. "Are you a ghost?"

She paused. I looked up to see her. Her eyes had become misty with the burden of unshed tears. I don't know why but my heart ached with pity for this she-cat. Was she really dead?

"Something like that," she answered. Her eyes flicked to the ground. "You're quick, but don't let yourself think you know everything. You are about to learn a lot very soon."

"What do you mean?" I pushed. "Are you like the ancestors of that mountain tribe? The one's they said were watching. Are you even real?" Why was this cat so cryptic? Curiosity and confusion gnawed at me. My ears straining forward in anticipation.

She turned and started to pad away. "That is for you to decide."

***

My eyes snapped open. My sides were heaving with ragged gasps. A dream! It was just a dream. The pain had returned in my head but it was much more bearable than it had been in the dream. Not daring to lift my head off my paws, I took in my surroundings.

Stone. Stone walls surrounded me, with stunted light pouring into the cave from beyond a curtain of brambles to my left. Beneath me, a soft nest of feathers and moss. A muttering voice reached my ears. Angling my head a little to my right, I saw a gray tabby tom next to a small pool of water. He was hunched over small piles of leaves and shuffling them back and forth. His words were too soft to make out but you could tell by his tone that he was angry.A little ways away, a tabby she-cat lying in some moss was bouncing around a moss ball. 

"Is this still a dream?" My voice sounded weak and grating, like the border of a twoleg territory.

The tom's ears flicked toward me. He turned his head and his blue eyes fell on me.

"So, you're finally awake?"

"I don't know. Am I?" I coughed. It sounded like a normal sarcastic comment, but today the words were spoken with sincerity.

"Of course you are. Don't be mouse brained. Briarlight, go get this stranger something to eat." 

The tabby dropped her ball. "Okay Jayfeather. Be right back." The tabby then stood on her two front legs and dragged herself across the cave and out past the brambles. Despite being in a strange place with odd cats whose motives I didn't even know, my heart dropped. I had seen cats with such ailments before on my travels. I knew exactly what was wrong with her.

Jayfeather cocked his head. "You don't seem surprised that a cat would walk on only two legs."

"I've seen cats with problems like hers before." My voice continued to grate. "It's horrible, but not unheard of." He snorted, and turned back to his leaves. "Where am I," I asked, ignoring the feeling of deje vu. "Who are you cats?"

This time, Jayfeather didn't even turn to look at me. "The Thunderclan medicine cat's den. When Cinderheart pulled you out of the river, you were in a pretty bad condition. Everyone thought it would be better to have me fix you up rather than feel the guilt of letting you die on our territory." His words were harsh but carried no anger. To me, it felt like he was really just annoyed. Was this cat always this grumpy?

With a quick swipe of his paws, he brushed the leaves aside into a crevice in the rock. He turned and rose to his paws. Blue eyes trained on me. Unable to stand, every hair on my pelt raisedas he towered over me. My muscles tensed, which only brought on a wave of pain. My body wanted to fight, but my wounds wouldn't let me. He never attacked, though. All he did was say in a soft voice, "a better question to ask would be, who are YOU and how was a simple rogue able to take out four of Windclan's strongest warriors."

At his words I relaxed a little. He wasn't going to attack me. He even sounded a little in awe. "Actually, I only had to fight three."

_____________________________________________________________

I'm kind of inserting Iceshadow into the canon storyline somewhere between Hollyleaf's return and the Dark Forest attack. So yeah, SPOILERS might come in the future. Just thought I'd warn you.

-Icy