Into the Unknown

Prologue

Prologue
Present day Nightpaw

Have you ever wondered what lies beyond your own death? Is it a new world, something bright and lovely, surrounded by those with whom you cherish? Is it perpetual darkness and loneliness; an everlasting plane of black walls and black ground? For her, she had always believed that when she would eventually pass on from her world, she would become one with the earth. Her body would feed the grass below her paws in the ravine, which would give the rabbits and squirrels a source of food. This was always to be everyone's purpose when the time came, at least in her eyes.

The air surrounding her blew through long fur as she ran though the forest, it's scents and sounds surrounding and consuming her very being. Nighttime had come and an unusual blood-red moon hung in the sky. Her blood pumped through her veins, sending a fresh dose of adrenaline darting straight towards her heart. "Nightpaw!" A masculine, desperate cry filled the air, or was it just her imagination? All she could see, smell, or hear belonged to the bushy brown tail disappearing through  the thicket ahead of her.

She leaped, clearing the thicket, it's branches and leaves tickling her soft belly fur. She blinked, before her paws met the slick, oily surface of the ground, causing her to come to a screeching halt. Her fur spiked along her spine as her name being called shattered through her focus on the squirrel she was chasing. Her breath came out broken as she turned to look back at the thicket she had just cleared to see a handsome ginger tom staring back at her, his forest fire eyes blazing with horror as they looked toward her then back to something in the distance. "Nightpaw!" He caterwauled, his voice splitting her ears as she turned toward what had scared him.

She starred ahead as horror crept up her spine like a predator stalking it's prey. Blinding white light sliced through the darkness of night as ice consumed her entire body, making her freeze in place. Her comrade was shouting at her as the time seemed to slow. That blinding light was scalding hot as it met her flesh, making her eyes narrow against its harshness. Her body trembled like a leaf clinging to its branch during autumn.

As the white hurdled toward her, a mighty roar echoed off the trees surrounding the road.  The blinding white monster barreled towards her mercilessly, never slowing or hesitating in its assault. Her paws would not move, despite her desperate pleas for them to move. She knew in that moment, she would die. She looked towards her comrade who was still shouting hysterically and pacing the tree line, his fur on end as his passionate, forest-fire eyes met hers. She furrowed her brow as tears beaded in her eyes. Her throat constricted as a faint smile grazed her lips. His eyes widened, but she could not see or hear anymore.

A great force had thrown her forward, tossing her body like a ball of moss, making her body skid across the blacktop of the road. A crack shattered her body, consuming her in numbness. The blacktop gripped her fur, tearing her flesh away and a horrifying noise split and shattered through the air. Finally, she stopped moving, for the monster had let her free. However, she could not move. Her entire body was numb and wet from something unknown. "Nightpaw," a broken gasp sounded beside her, but she could move to look. "Nightpaw, please.."

Her breathing came out painfully and shattered. Her head began to throb as a searing, burning pain tore her in half. A blood curdling noise crawled up her throat and expelled itself from her jaws, echoing off the trees and filling the red soaked world around her. She managed to see him one last time as he frantically looked over her, trying to save her, but it was futile. She tired to open her mouth to soothe the fretful tom, but her mind was envolped in darkness as her final breath left her lungs. Her pain disintegrated within that moment, but she felt anything but peace as her heart shattered into a million pieces for the one she would leave behind.

"Nightpaw," a voice came, it sounded familiar and soothing. She had heard this voice somewhere before, but she could not recall where. "Nightpaw," it came again, it's accent thick with wisdom and age. "Nightpaw, I'm so sorry, but I have come to inform you that you have died."

Her eyes snapped open as air filled her lungs. Before her stood a glowing white being. He stood tall, towering over her with a broad chest and crystal blue eyes. His white fur flowed effortlessly like the river that bordered her territory. Surrounding them was darkness, endless darkness. Her mind was numb, but she was terrified. The tom before her held no expression, his eyes were dull and lifeless, but there was an unusual glimmer to them. The air surrounding him was powerful and intimidating, yet light and gentle. "Nightpaw," he meowed, it was his voice she had heard, "Do you understand what I'm telling you? You have died."

She nodded feebly, despite being dead, her heart hammered against her chest as her paws buzzed. She swallowed tightly as she stared at the handsome white tom, "Who are you? Where are we?"

His mouth opened slowly as he held her gaze, "My name is Whitespirit and this is the Unknown."