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

XXIII

The winds howled like wolves, crying their agony out unto the winter. A frantic swirl of snow danced against the moonless black of the skies. They would feel so free at this height if it weren't for the constant blast of razor-sharp ice in the air, cutting through their skin and refusing to let them move. The mollies had just stepped out of the cave, and the frenzy of cold snow, hail and ice storming upon them was torturous. Even if it weren't for the storm, Spotfur's legs were buried to her knees in nerve-breaking coldness by the snow. The twolegs had been kind, but now they had to trek away into the night again.

Spotfur and Mothwing clawed their way up the trunks of a writhing tree. The blizzard's winds tossed it about, flinging them as they desperately clawed out and grabbed at the moving branches. She threw herself up, trying not to fall back into the pit of sea-toned snow, until finally she managed to push herself up from the branches, hooking her claws into the very edge of the next cliff and shoved herself up into that pit. She immediately sunk, shocking coldness stinging every muscle in Spotfur's fragile, blue body. Spotfur gasped from the numbing frost and shoved herself up to her paws so that she would not suffocate under the thick snow.

"I really hope all this "shoving-yourself-up-a-ledge" mousedung is going to be useful at some point in my life other than this!" She yelled out against the low howl of the winds. Spotfur shut her eyes; whenever she opened them, the specks of ice flew right into them and stabbed them.

"Agh! I can't imagine what it's gonna be like at the top," Mothwing hissed, also having to shout out against the wind. She opened her eyes and stared up just for a moment. Luckily, there wasn't another ledge to pull themselves up. Just a tall slope, blanketed with the shaded snow, for them to run up.

Spotfur shut her eyes again and began sprinting upwards. Her paws broke through the snow, making whirls behind her from each thud of her paws to the earth. She flew up straight until she could, despite the blackness behind her eyes being the only thing she could see, feel flatter ground beneath her paws.

She opened them again and looked up. Spotfur could finally see the peak again, and it seemed very close. It didn't look pointed, or sharp like the tip of a horn, more like a slanted group of blocks patched in dark, blue-gray snow making up the top, draping over a dark gap.

"We're almost there!" Mothwing squealed. Spotfur's heart began to hum with overwhelming joy, one that made her smile so hard that her face hurt. Inside, her chest was pounding with a wildfire of excitement. She simply couldn't believe it. The flame coursing through her made her run, almost forgetting about the night of obsidian around them, and the blast of ice. They ran together.

Luckily, no more ledges or cliffs stood in their path. Just a steep, tall slope. They ran so fast Spotfur felt as though she was flying, but her joy really was making her do so. Her heart had grown wings and was ready to fly away into the night, and the blaze flooding her and joy embracing her made her feel like she would soar above the moon and stars with it.

They bolted up the slope, impossibly fast. Before Spotfur even realized it, the whole mountain stood timid beneath their feet, and the dark, open mouth of the cave eclipsed all her sight.

They were here.

This was it.

It was time.

They stepped inside, and what they came into looked just like a moonlit labyrinth, though they did not know where the moonlight came from. The tunnels closed tight around them, rock walls jagged with a plethora of blue spikes hanging ominously from the ceiling. Spotfur took a deep breath to try and cage up the clawing animal that was her excitement, and they turned around a twist. 

The snow could no longer harm them in here. It was somewhat cold, but they weren't at risk of freezing to death anymore. Around them, there were stars. Personal constellations brought warmth to the black cavern, burning with light.  Grass like a fiery blanket of autumn leaves laid underpaw, a dappled painting of crimson, scarlet and orange.

In the middle was a tree stump. Its black bark was illuminated with the angelic light around, and it was merely a pedestal to hold what shone the brightest. A flower, blazing with light like the moon. Each petal was woven in perfection to create a glowing paragon. 

Spotfur and Mothwing simply stared at their discovery, speechless. This was what they'd been searching for. It'd finally been found.

She stepped forward, plucking the flower, and suddenly a shimmering trance took her away. She could feel the magic of StarClan in it, of all the lost souls they had just found. Spotfur just couldn't believe it. It'd finally been done. She heard the songs of the moon, of the stars, of an enigma none had ever heard, simply whispered on the breeze that slept around. She felt the love of her Clan, of all her Clans, the Clans she would die for.

"We've done it," Spotfur whispered, her voice quiet with utter disbelief. She was crying. Crying tears of triumph.

"We've done it," Mothwing repeated what she'd said. She laid her head on Spotfur's shoulder, embracing her. "Thank you."

They stepped out, with Spotfur still holding the flower in her jaws, and pressed themselves against each other.

"We did it!" They yowled in unison, before turning and staring down. They no longer were under the night, the night was all around them. They no longer had to look up to see the stars, the stars were all around them. They began to run, their paws light with the happiness that flooded their body and fueled them.

They'd done it. They'd finished this journey, and now all they had to do was find Bristlefrost and Squirrelflight, and then they could see their home again.