Misery And The Damned [ILLUSTRATED!] || Warrior Cat inspired ||

vii. reminisce [TW]

As the young calico cat awoke, their eyes taking in the hazy landscape, they knew it was a dream. It was one of those dreams. You couldn't do anything to change its course, to move, but your thoughts form a tumult in attempt to escape. They fly, they fly just as spirited as your heart. They fly high, and they'll crash down with the same passion. All journeys end with death.

Butterfly blinked, focusing her mind like Astia always told her to, but the haze didn't go away.

She was in the vast wilds. Except, there was no one here. The rock of freedom laid empty. Dew's stock of herbs were not there, and you could see the water in the ravine below from the top of the tunnel.

Her fur wasn't flowing as winds blew past. Her body looked rigid, and though the world was a sun-kissed shimmering delight, she looked tattered, worn, reminding her of the time her paw pad had cracked.

"Help!"

The sudden voice startled her. It echoed into infinity behind her. She turned to look, but no, not there. Nothing was there.

"Help...!"

Perhaps it was in front of her. The startled cat glanced around, but although nothing was in sight, the echoes seemed to get louder.

"Help me."

As she spun back around to see two pairs of bright blue eyes right in front of her face, staring up at her, Butterfly couldn't help but shriek out, falling down. The eyes widened, and its owner let out the same shriek, although theirs more in light fun.

"Who are you?" Butterfly stuttered as she spoke, clashing and cluttering syllables. As Butterfly regained her balance, they recognized its owner to be a kitten. With baby blue eyes and a white pelt, the sight gave them a jolt of unexplainable anger and...longing.

"I don't know," the kitten said with the same amount of confusion. "I forget where I come from."

This was met by a scoff. "Yeah, well, neither do I." Butterfly's tone deflected, and she seemed to shrink into herself.

"Oh. Well that- that is okay! Other cats help me a lot. They will help and help you too," the white kitten's ears perked up as she came closer to Butterfly. "But you must help me first."

Butterfly looked up at the skies, taking in the fantastical sunlight before breathing out, "I'll help you first."

"The river spirits!" The small bouncy tapping of paws trailed away happily. With the moment of despair forgotten, the kitten led Butterfly away towards the Harley's Stream.

The woods around them swirled as they stepped, the canopies rushing to a blur as they whirled around them, shifting places.

Almost instantly she was there. The Harley's Stream. She could see Grimstone across the river, splashing each other happily while others frolicked in the sand.

The small white kitten hung her head over the water. The reflection stared back happily at them, with the same wide-set and pompous grin.

"Are you not going to go in?" Butterfly asked.

The white cat's smile turned into a confused frown. "Why?" they retorted simply.

"Oh," the calico looked around, "I don't know. I thought you were going in."

"No, they're coming out, silly. Don't worry, they're very nice to me."

"Who's coming out?"

As those words came out of her mouth, the white image of the young kitten painted blearily onto the hazy glow of the soft aquamarine river surface started to swirl.