The Sunlapse (A Light in the Mist AU/rewrite)

XVIII

Shadowsight gasped as his eyes opened to blindness. Just a second ago, he had been in the forest dyed by starlight and red leaves, next to Rootspring and Hollyleaf and staring into the cold eyes of Ashfur. Now all that stood was a void. It was completely empty, so vacant he could run for all eternity and never find anything. And yet it was engulfed in blackness, so dark it was suffocating. The bottom of the deepest oceans, or the summit of the night sky, they were as clear and bright as the sun compared to this place.

Shadowsight's ears pricked as he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Rootspring's frame emerging from the darkness, walking delicately upon the floor of the abyss. "Rootspring?" He meowed. "Where are we?" The tom didn't answer his question, he simply stepped toward him. His eyes were lifeless, thoughtless and pale. Was he under Ashfur's control again? 

"Don't you want to join me?" Rootspring meowed.

Trembles ran through Shadowsight, a wave of cold sweat sweeping over him. "Join you in what?"

"In this beautiful forest," he replied. "Aren't I your best friend? Or does that go to Ashfur?"

"You have to snap out of it!" he hissed. Shadowsight raked his claws across his friends face, his blood turning to cold rapid waters, poisoned with the terror that tumbled furiously through him. "Ashfur killed you, remember? He caused you own mate to go missing, he wants to kill your family and destroy your home."

Life seemed to jump back into Rootspring's gaze for a second, before his eyes died again and Shadowsight's heart sunk, heavy as a stone, from his chest.

"You won't have to worry about anything anymore," Rootspring meowed. "Everything will feel better soon once you are no longer thinking or feeling."

"No longer thinking or fee- what are you going to do!?" he hissed, but for some reason his words just didn't seem to turn his blood to ice like they had last time. However, a fog began to fill his mind, his thoughts turned to mist, and his body suddenly felt like it was the only thing here that was real. Suddenly, he didn't know why, but Ashfur's evil was a concept that was simply insignificant. None of this really mattered, why did he have to think about it? Who even was Ashfur anyway?

The confusion that filled his mind was comforting, it embraced him with a cozy warmth. He felt like he could rest now. He'd forgotten about all the brutality of the world, all the darkness, all the fighting, it just didn't matter. He felt so much lighter to be free of the weight of his thoughts, it was like he could float.

Then Shadowsight realized he couldn't give in to this tempting facade of comfort, and pushed it away. He couldn't give into this. His eyes opened, and he was in the forest again. He was surrounded by mighty trees, their black bark glistening in the moonlight and the glow of the forever starlit sky. He stood up, overwhelmed with relief to find his paws upon the flame-toned ground again.

Then he turned and realized that Ashfur was right next to him. Yet, he wasn't in a cage with the others again. He was standing, free in the labyrinth of stars, as though he'd somehow pleased the spirit.

"No escaping this time," Ashfur meowed. Shadowsight turned to see Thistleclaw butting his head against Rootspring and Hollyleaf, thumping them into a jagged stone dome. The rocks were a dull, dark bluish colour that shone like granite in this light, and the rushing of a shimmering waterfall gently guarded the entrance.

Rootspring poked his head out when Thistleclaw stepped away, but he seemed to immediately notice and he shoved him back in with a hefty paw. Shadowsight's heart dropped again, plummeting through his stomach as a large group of the mindless spirits began furiously pushing at a boulder that had rested at the side of the dome, covering the entrance with it.