The Moonlapse [ABANDONED]

XVII

"Jayfeather is dead."

Alderheart could feel his soul slowly being torn apart as he looked out at the weary eyes. Morning was beginning to arise now, the pitch darkness of the skies melting away to leave behind a gradient of violent colour. He still had the memories racing through his mind, of the lake that glowed scarlet with plasma under the darkness of the sky, and of the lifeless body that floated within. 

"How did he die?" Cinderheart asked among the frozen crowd. The way they were all stricken with a deep silence made it feel as though they all stood at the ocean floor, all sound lost within a vast sea and all sights just distortions in the water. 

"He..." Alderheart couldn't tell them what'd really happened. He looked down and saw the blood on his paws again, the crimson staining his pelt that wouldn't go away no matter how long he soaked in those dark waters. But he couldn't hide behind a wall of lies. Taking in a deep breath, he let the words come out themselves. "I killed him."

The medicine cat expected an eruption of cries to shake the earth, and for him to be swept away in a storm of their rage. But it never came. They only sank deeper into the ocean, until they were lost so deep in their endless silence that it was as if all that stood before Alderheart was a formless hallucination. 

"A spirit took over my mind and my body, and it made me kill him," he explained. He felt immense guilt tear deeper into his soul, until the cuts in his spirit were deeper than the wounds from a sword strike. "Before that, I had a vision of an amber eyed cat and an eclipse. I wonder if Sol could be-"

"Were you really possessed?" Cinderheart pissed. A raging suspicion burned in her eyes. "You could easily just be making this all up. With what happened to Bristlefrost, it'd be the easiest thing for us to believe."

"N-no!" Alderheart retorted. "Why the hell would you think that? Why would I want to kill him?"

The ash-gray molly suddenly softened, the fire of her rage snuffing out in a wave of shame. "Sorry. I was foolish there. I don't think you would've just suddenly decided to kill off your cousin who you've been friends with all your life. I'll keep you here, until something else happens. But I'm not completely unsuspicious of you."

Alderheart sighed, his heart melting with relief. "Thanks, Cinderheart," he spoke. But he wasn't completely innocent to ThunderClan. As he looked around, cats glared with spiteful gazes. In the eyes of most of these cats, he was a vicious murderer. Claws were going to reach out, he was a victim meant to be slaughtered. Just like he'd done himself.

And still, he felt that shadow settle beside him. Its darkness clung to him all throughout that night, even after the sun finally arose from its sleep and painted the heavens gold. He felt another soul living in his body, the thoughts of another cat spinning through his mind. Something lived alongside him now, and his body and mind no longer belonged only to him.

-

The last of autumn had already made its dying cries, and they had flown away like echoes upon a flurry of red leaves. Now the warmth and beauty of those previous seasons was put to a freezing death. A blanket of white laid upon the forest, suffocating the land. Fierce winds rocked the branches like frozen ghosts, their claws of ice raking through whatever they flew past. The previous light wasn't completely lost to winter, but it was still cold enough to truly mourn the loss of autumn.

There was a slight crunch behind Cinderheart. It was the tune of a rotten leaf being squashed beneath some hefty paw. It made her immediately spin around. Standing right before her was a muscular gray and white molly, and her appearance made Cinderheart fly back in surprise, her ears perking up. "Bristlefrost! What-"

"Shh," the she-cat hissed. "Come with me. I need to talk with you about something."

Even though her mind was consumed my confusion, Cinderheart obeyed, turning and walking alongside Bristlefrost out of the shrubbery entrance and out into the snow-scattered wood.

"What happened to you to give you those injuries?" she asked as they wove between leafless trees. Not one word slipped out of her mouth as they wandered on. "Come on, speak to me."

But her companion dwelled in silence. She simply wandered on until they finally reached a deep tunnel in the snow. The mollies bent down to enter and darkness closed around them, black walls confining Cinderheart in a prison of pitch blackness. They continued on, before finally coming out into an open expanse of darkness where the black carpet of dirt arose towards an exit above. They came out to a dense woods, haunted by a swarm of thick fog.

Cinderheart settled down. She was unable to see in the sea of mist, it was like a deep ocean of souls where only her most obscure dreams could dwell. She turned to Bristlefrost. "You've become so different," she spoke. "Before it all went wrong."

Bristlefrost turned away solemnly, pushing up to her paws. "I know," she sighed. "But that's not important."

Just then, Bristlefrost began to rot. Her white pelt was stained with patches of crimson and black, and within a moment of transformation, suddenly the molly that'd stood before Cinderheart was gone. Before her was a rotting corpse, reanimated to become a decaying puppet of dirt and gore. Her eyes were mere holes to her empty innards, bubbling with a putrid golden light.

"Bristlefrost!?" Cinderheart stepped back as this deformed calico sauntered towards her, face scarred with a devilish smile. 

"Bristlefrost? Ha! Did you really think she was here?" the calico cackled. Her voice was so scratchy, as mumbled as the raspy words of a dying cat.

Her heart was shivering, body paralyzed by an overwhelming panic. "Where are we!?"

"This is the dreamworld," the she-cat spoke, her voice strained in a childish amusement. "And I've come to make a deal with you."