Warriors | A Prophecy Reborn: Book 2. (A Path Beyond Stars)

~A Path Beyond Stars: Chapter 31~

"Wake up."
Reedtail twitched.
"Wake up."
She opened an eye and looked around, but nobody was there.
"Wake up."
She flicked her ear. She was in the warriors' den, which was cold and empty. Then where is that voice coming from?
"Wake. Up."
Reedtail went still, not moving from her position on her nest. She wanted to look around and see who was talking to her. It sounded so urgent, the voice saying she needed to wake up, but it also sounded like the cat could attack her even if she did get up.
"Brightfire, wake up!" the voice yelled. She felt something stand on one of her hind legs and resisted the urge to yowl in pain and launch at the cat.
Then she thought for a moment. Who was Brightfire? The voice sounded also like a female, so she assumed it was some sort of relative, but she didn't know why the she-cat was talking to her.
She looked around again, lying still. The warriors' den, though somewhat familiar, looked like it was built in a completely different way. There were bushes near the entrance, similar to the den Reedtail was familiar with, but the nests were arranged differently and the den itself was made less of dirt and more of brambles and rock.
She looked at her paws. They seemed like a smoky gray. Her eyes widened. She wasn't a Memory-Seer... What happened? She took the risk of stretching and sitting up, turning to look at the other cat in the den.
She managed to stop herself from gasping. The cat staring at her was black with pale gray stripes and amber eyes. She seemed to have a gray paw and tail tip.
"Finally, you're up!" the amber-eyed she-cat exclaimed. "Reedstar's assigning patrols. She asked me to come and get you, to take you with me on a hunting patrol."
Reedstar? For a short, horrific moment, she thought she had switched places with another cat in a different territory, but then she realised...
I'm Reedstar...
"Brightfire, are you okay?" said the amber-eyed cat.
"Erm... Yes, I'm fine," Reedtail said, sitting up straighter. She looked down at her smoky gray paws again. "Who is Reedstar?" she muttered, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.
"Brightfire, you can't forget our own mother!" the other she-cat said with a laugh. "Have you been visiting the Medicine Cat again? I know you and Heavyheart like each other a bit more than you should, but you don't need to use his entire supply of herbs."
"M-Mother? Heavyheart?" Reedtail stammered.
"Yes," the she-cat said. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
Before Reedtail could make a fake reply, another cat called to her from outside.
"Brightfire! Jupiter! Come here!"
"We're coming, Gecko!" the other she-cat said with a sigh. "Honestly... First he forgets the Gathering is tonight and now you forget our mother..."
Reedtail followed Jupiter out into the clearing and was stunned by what she saw. Flowers were in bloom and the fresh scent of prey, cool air and herbs ran through the unrecognizable camp. Everything looked much cleaner, more colourful and more... livable.
This beautiful scene reminded Reedtail of the Lake she was really in, the Lake where she was asleep in a musty old warriors' den and it was cold and raining.
But not here. Here, everything was plentiful. Vibrant green or blue or purple herbs, fresh air that didn't smell of crow-food, fast prey that didn't carry a possible disease.
This was a safe place, safe for a Clan to settle, perhaps even four Clans.
She saw Whitestripe slinking out of what smelled like a Nursery. She looked much older, and three kits followed her over to what seemed to be a fresh-kill pile, stacked with various colours of mice, different sizes of birds and so much more.
"Come, little ones," Whitestripe said softly to the kits, who stumbled after her over each other's tails.
"Whitestripe," called a familiar voice from behind. Reedtail turned around to see Flameclaw. He was bigger and looked, like Whitestripe, older than he really was.
Flameclaw made his way past Reedtail and Jupiter and walked over to greet a purring Whitestripe and the three kits who were playing.
"Jupiter! Brightfire!" came Reedtail's own voice.
She looked at a large rock where an older version of herself stood, staring right at the present Reedtail and Jupiter.
Reedtail stood, awestruck.
"Mother!" Jupiter exclaimed happily, running forward.
Reedtail watched herself and her daughter chatting happily away and couldn't help but wonder who the father to her kits was.
It can't be Jackson, she thought. Could it? I don't think so... Jupiter doesn't look like Jackson. Neither does Brightfire.
Suddenly the scene was pulled out from beneath her paws. Looking around in shock, she found her old black fur returned to her paws. She was back in the warriors' den in her territory, but it was cold and empty like before.
A black tom sat at the entrance to the den, watching her with sharp amber eyes.
"Who are you?" Reedtail asked the shadowed figure. The tom shrugged and closed his eyes.
A black snake slithered between the tom's front paws and he looked up again.
Reedtail woke up with her fur clinging to her body. Pain clouded her sight and she heard worried murmurs around her before finally blacking out.