Heart Of A Fighter (Book 1): The Story Begins

Chapter 7: Oh, Who Is He..?

That night, Goslingpaw curled up in her makeshift nest in the Nettlecave, right next to her mentor.

Guilt clawed at her belly when she saw a huge scar on Aldertrail's cheek where Thornslash had struck her during the day.

Goslingpaw pushed her nose gently into the moss, and closed her eyes, letting the soft sound of the other healers' breathing lull her to sleep.

In her dreams, she was pursuing a mouse in the forest, running free with nobody to stop her nor restrain her.

Suddenly, she heard something cranking loudly behind her, she found herself at least six tail-lengths away from a huge roaring metal beast, similar to the one Gustfang had described.

Its glaring lights blinded her, and its horrific roar would've turned any cat deaf. Thick black smoke spurted from its rear, its horrid smell seeping through the air and into her fur.

The beast had already crushed a good amount of trees in the forest, and Goslingpaw recognised Sandstar's Oak as one of the more badly destroyed ones.

However, as she'd never been in the woods that deep before, she had no clue where to go. That is, until she saw a snowy bird circling overhead. It seemed to be beckoning her to follow it, and the Littlepaw decided to do so.

The bird flew overhead, cruising towards one direction effortlessly while Goslingpaw struggled to keep up. Her paws felt sore, but she still ran.

She only realised she was out of the forest when she paused in front of a hard, stone-like barrier that blocked her off from a strange grey road, it's horrific stench burning her nostrils and making her gag.

Yet, the avian overhead seemed to not notice, instead choosing to fly over the path and cruised upwards and towards a massive hill rock covered in snow. Goslingpaw stared in shock at the hill rock. How was she supposed to get up there?!

But she knew she had to try. Taking a cautious glance at both sides of the grey path, she bolted across when she heard no sound and felt no vibrations against it.

When she stumbled onto the grassy patch at the opposite of the place she'd been in, she cast a last glance at the forest destruction behind her, and began her climb up the hill rock.

The narrow path along the massive hill rock didn't provide much help as it was covered in snow and ice. Her claws scraped on the icy rock as she struggled to climb up, the weather getting colder and colder as she hauled herself along.

At some point, she risked looking down, and realised that if she fell, she'd die instantaneously. It was a really long drop from her current position.

Swallowing her saliva as a futile effort to stop the burn in her throat, she continued her climb, narrowly avoiding a gap in the path that seemed to crumble even if a fly landed on it.

She didn't know how long it took for her to reach the top; by then she was already exhausted. Her paws sank into the snow on the hill rock's peak, freezing her paws and sending chills through her body.

The freezing flakes that fell landed on her fur, and her nose was constantly nipped by the chilly winds. Goslingpaw could literally feel her bones rattling as she moved in the cold.

But she knew she had to continue. She could see a path of starry footprints in the snow, and she followed them into a massive cave hidden by the towering snow-covered pines.

The entrance yawned open in front of her; Goslingpaw felt tempted to go in and collapse where she could rest her aching limbs. But those thoughts were shaken off when she heard the voices singing again.

They seemed closer, louder, as if they were telling her to come home.

Home.

Forgetting about her sore feet, the cream and brown Littlepaw sprinted out of the cave and pelted towards the direction of the voices.

They got closer with each step, and she was faintly aware of the snowy bird flying overhead, above her. It let out a cry, before swooping downward and vanishing through the trees.

She managed to make her way down the hill rock, finding the path and quickly racing down it with a few slips on the ice and snow, ignoring the burn in her pads.

It felt so relieving when her paws finally touched stone instead of snow, and later grass. Again, she was face-to face with the same grey path blocked by the stone barrier.

Squeezing under it, she bolted across the path and squeezed herself under the second barrier.

The voices were even closer now.

She could feel it.

She didn't care as the prickly branches scratched her limbs as she ran through the trees and bushes that grew opposite the path. She didn't care as the rocks scratched her paws painfully.

She felt as though her paws had wings as she leaped into the air to avoid bramble thickets scattered on the ground, soaring over them like a bird of prey.

As she ran, she noticed that plants were shooting up from the ground beside the places her paws were, as if they were welcoming her. When she saw an opening in the trees, she burst through it, and came face-to-face with an amazing sight.

A massive valley yawned ahead of her, with fresh green grass and blooming flowers of so many different colours. Butterflies and birds flew about freely, and the giant river nearby shone gold under the setting sun.

Suddenly, the snowy bird that had guided Goslingpaw to the hill rock earlier landed in the river, swimming about gracefully, its pristine feathers glistening. But then, something else caught the Littlepaw's eye.

Someone, in fact.

Perched on a flat stone sticking out of the river was a cat, a tom with brown and white fur. And like her, he had petal markings under his eyes too.

Goslingpaw tried approaching the tom, but all of a sudden, the valley began to fade. "Hey, wait! Who are you?!" She yelped out desperately to the tom with stars in his fur.

The last thing she saw was the tom's golden eyes staring at her before she crashed into the endless stronghold of dreamless sleep.