Mark of the Moon (MAGIC CAT ACADEMY STORY)

Flood (Chapter 14)

Dusk opened her eyes, her pelt heavy, and glanced up. Sunlight billowed onto her fur, warming it. When did the storm stop? She thought. Approaching paws confused Dusk, so she wondered if they were ghosts. But only one cat stood over her, and that was Moonlight. Her sympathetic amber eyes gazed into Dusk's.

"Am I dead?" Dusk managed to cough out some water when she tried to speak. Moonlight crouched next to Dusk, her sweet breath on Dusk's face.

"You have the Mark of the Moon; of course, you aren't dead. Hasn't this happened before?" Moonlight cooed. Dusk was brought back to a moment when she was lying on the floor, gashes dotting her flank and blood trickling from her throat. Fear throbbed in her mind as she watched the horrid stare of the ghost attacking her. Luckily, it all ebbed away and was substituted by Moonlight. Her beige fur blew in the wind, while her other dark gray ear didn't stir. "While one path can't be walked, another one can. Following danger will lead you to something greater than victory." Moonlight mewed. It was still hazy to Dusk what she could mean, but it must be important.

"I don't get it." Dusk rasped, vomiting up more water.

"Someday, you will foretell a prophecy on your own. You'll get it and be afraid of what may come." Moonlight murmured. "Danger is not a choice." Dusk closed her eyes again, and then the birdsong was replaced with the thundering rain and the howling of the wind. It ripped through her fur and froze her nose. Dusk blinked open her eyes and saw someone in front of her. Fur black, like a crow's wings. Yellow eyes, like an alpha wolf. She sniffed Dusk and suspired.

"Thank lucky clovers! You're alive! I thought you drowned!" She sighed. Dusk peered up at the she-cat.

"Who are you?" Dusk croaked.

"I'm Sapphire. The academy flooded, and I saw you floating through it like a waterfall, so I saved you." She licked a paw and drew it over her head. Dusk was speechless. Despite the weight of her coat, she leaped to her feet and opened her jaws wide when she picked up her words.

"You! You found your sister!" Dusk screeched, pointing her tail at Sapphire. Sapphire gave a curt nod.

"Then my sister got kidnapped, and I left. Shame I had to come back because I couldn't get arrested for drowning Reggie. He was evil, anyway." Sapphire poured out her whole history in three sentences.

"Who is Reggie?"

"He's a black and white tom. Big, angry. He hated that I-" At that moment, Dusk realized who Reggie was.

"The ghosts are attacking me because they think I'm you because Reggie is leading them! Help!" Dusk yowled. Sapphire seemed alarmed.

"Typical Reggie." She spat. "Now, you need to keep resting. You aren't going anywhere until you are healed. I'm going to catch something for you." Sapphire bounded away. Dusk wanted to get up and fight, but the strength of her tiredness pulled her into a deep sleep.

Dusk woke on a moonlit stone. A cool breeze swept over her head, and the grass swayed. Stars dotted the sky, and trees were shadowed in the night. The peace was soon broken as a howl split the air, and ghosts hurled themselves from birch trees, trampling over the field and throwing up mud as they ran. A few spirits dashed out to defend their land, barely landing blows as they were pushed back and forth. Dusk noticed they were way outnumbered. That's not fair! Dusk wanted to scream, but she couldn't muster enough energy. Then, with great horror, she saw that Moonlight was one of the fighting spirits and was being pinned. Dusk darted to Moonlight's side, and she glanced up at Dusk. Dusk almost tripped with the amount of peace in her gaze.

"Don't worry. I'm going to be alright."

"But you can't leave me! I still want to know so much more!"

"You'll see me again, they say. I'll return someday, but you won't know me as Moonlight. At least, that's what they tell me." Moonlight purred. "Goodbye, Dusk." Everything faded away, leaving Dusk to stand alone. Like the kitten she was, she wailed for someone. She stared out, and someone muscular caught her eye, but she woke up.

"Are you alright? You were crying in your sleep for Moonlight." Sapphire mumbled through a mouth full of feathers.

"Do you know Moonlight?" Dusk mewed.

"Moonlight didn't go to this school but was Rose's friend. She volunteered to escort new students around and watched babies when their parents couldn't, and I could go on all day! She was the sweetest cat around here. Although, she moved because she couldn't bear to eat dead rodents." As Sapphire finished, she dropped the starling she caught next to Dusk. Dusk hungrily devoured it, remembering it had been a day since she'd eaten. "I'm describing the calico cat, Moonlight. She had a dark gray tail tip and below that beige fur. Is this your cat?"

"Yes! That's her!" Dusk sighed in relief, licking her whiskers to get any scraps of bird she missed. She flinched as the nearby bramble bushes rustled.

"It better not be a ghost, or I'll use you as my shield." Sapphire giggled. Dusk jumped out of her hiding and was surprised as a white creature knocked the wind out of her, raking her claws across her nose. Dusk screeched at the reek of blood and pushed the attacker away. The strange cat stood up, and her eyes stretched wide at seeing Dusk. Dusk copied her.