THE LOST VOWS━━book one

n i n e

Hollowpaw drifted in and out of consciousness. Warbled mews whispered around her, but her head throbbed and she couldn't make out a word they said.

The only thing she ever remembered from the brief moments of awareness was the pain. Bright, hot, searing pain, as if her whole body was on fire and the flames were slowly encirling her, starting from her hind leg where it hurt the most, licking at her fur and blazing through her veins.

And the weirdest thing was, she had no idea how she had gotten here. I haven't even gone to battle yet... Her heart thumped nervously. ...Right?

But then she was swept up into oblivion again, in the relief of sleep, away from the hurt, from the awful pain of reality.

When she slept, she could breathe. When she slept, her thoughts weren't jumbled. When she slept, it was like a breath of fresh air, coursing through her and pumping blood into her heart, healing every scar, inside and out.

The dream she had never happened again, but it was seared fresh into her memory, and even unconscious, she remembered it. What demons was she to expel? And why was it her, the least favorite of four siblings, the stupid kit who broke the code, the clumsy apprentice that can't do anything right, the one who had a destiny?!

The dreams she did have, however, were even worse, if possible, than the falling-through-the-sky-with-blood-everywhere vision. These dreams were obviously (or at least hopefully) not real. The consisted of Hollowpaw being swallows by a humongous Stormpaw who was the size of a tree. While inside Stormpaw's stomach, she screamed and screamed, and she could hear voices from outside the stomach walls. Voices telling Stormpaw 'Oh no, you poor thing, you should see Fernwing for that stomachache,' and 'Where's Hollowpaw? Is she off being a codebreaker again? Typical." This went on for what seemed like eternity. Hollowpaw thought she might never wake up, stuck inside Stormpaw, the cat who had caused her the most pain, forever.

Then she did wake up. Her eyes blurred, but she was aware of her surroundings.

...And her own body.

This also amplified the agony.

But all the pain vanished in a flash when she saw a face next to her. With blurry vision, she could just make out the small ginger and gray tom. Rainpaw. Blood trickled into his closed eyes from a gash on his forehead. His lip quivered as if he were scared. Hollowpaw felt the need to help him, to comfort him in some way.

She reached a paw forward to see if she could wake him. She cringed; her paw hurt already, moving it didn't help. But she was pleased to see she could move it. She brushed Rainpaw's whiskers and whispered his name softly. "Rainpaw?" she croaked, her voice sore.

His eyelids fluttered, the yellow depths of his eyes flickering to look at her. His gaze was hazy, and Hollowpaw could tell he couldn't really see her. Which isn't a bad thing, she realized, because I probably look like I've been crushed by a tree... I don't want him to see me like that.

He opened his mouth then flinched and closed it again, a shudder rolling over his soft gray and ginger pelt. Seeing how much pain he was in, Hollowpaw didn't care anymore if he saw her not looking her best. Maybe I can help him somehow? She rolled into a forward position and reached a paw out.

Then she screamed. Loud and long, as agonizing pain tore from her legs all the way to her heart. Rainpaw was fully awake now and staring at her, but she didn't notice—she couldn't. Even after the initial shock had passed, she had to gasp for breath, heaving her chest in and out to let oxygen flow to her lungs.

After a few seconds, she snuck a peek at where the pain was throbbing the hardest.

Her leg was splayed out at an awkward angle. It appeared to have been run over by a monster, though Hollowpaw was sure that was impossible. She had never even seen a monster before! Had she? Her memory was... very foggy. But her leg had the appearance of being horrendously and painfully crushed by something large. It was swollen, and there was crusted, dried blood all over.