Through the Dark

Chapter 8

Hazelfur's head throbbed. Her vision was red, blurry, unclear. Her mouth was parched, as if she hadn't had a good drink of water in days.

In other words, she felt dead.

"Hazelfur, Hazelfur..." Someone was calling her name, someone who's voice sounded familiar, yet so different. Someone who had changed throughout the moons, throughout the time when she had gone away from the Clan, away from her home, away from all her close friends that had trusted her - including Hazelfur.

Silverlight.

Hazelfur groaned and turned away, pretending to still be knocked out. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to the selfish cat who broke the warrior code just to be with the one she loved.

She heard another voice - the voice of her rescuer. "Is she going to be all right?"

Silverlight sighed. "I have no idea."

Their voices turned into faint murmurs, and Hazelfur fell back into unconsciousness.

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The next time Hazelfur woke up Silverlight wasn't there, thankfully.

Groaning, Hazelfur sat up and immediately felt dizzy. She groaned again and fell back onto soft moss.

Moss?

She never recalled making a bed for herself... It must've been whoever had rescued her.

"You're finally awake."

Graypaw.

Oh StarClan.

Hazelfur was in no mood whatsoever to talk to her apprentice, especially after he had disobeyed her.

"Hey there." Hazelfur's greeting came out as a hoarse croak.

"Hey." Graypaw smiled slightly, dropping a clump of moss soaked in water at Hazelfur's paws.

"Thank you," she muttered, lapping up the water thirstily. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"For about a day."

"I should be getting back to camp, shouldn't I? Darkstar and the others must be worried."

"Only if you're ready, of course." Brightlight came up to the two cats. "Can you stand?"

"I can barely sit," Hazelfur admitted. "But with help, I could probably get back to camp..."

Brightlight shrugged. "Okay," she agreed, somewhat reluctantly. "Can you help, Graypaw?"

Graypaw nodded, offering Hazelfur his shoulder to lean on. Hazelfur slowly stood, legs weak, shaking, and burning. Brightlight supported her from her other side, and slowly, very very slowly, they made it back to camp.

"You're back."

Those were the first words Hazelfur heard when she entered the camp.

She could feel the Clan tense up, everybody stopping what they were doing, \slowly gathering around her and forming a circle.

"It's nice to see you too, Darkstar," Hazelfur snapped. What was going on in her mind, snapping at her leader in front of the Clan?! It must be the pain in her legs - yes, that must have been it.

"Are you okay?" The voice that came from behind her was familiar.

It was the cat who rescued her.

Hazelfur looked over her shoulder towards the voice and there stood Silverlight's daughter - Silverlight's brown-furred, surprisingly brave in a way unlike her mother, daughter.