After the trio left their make-shift camp and headed towards the stream, they settled into an uncomfortable silence. Rowan'pelt took the lead while Lake
Feather followed about a Fox-tails length away from him. Breezefur was further back, occasionally muttering grumpily to himself while glaring at everything he passed. At one point Lake'Feather had felt bad for insulting him, but she knew that he had to learn how wrong it was of him to speak the way that he did.
Venturing further into the forest, the cats began to notice that the sounds they had become so used to were no longer there; birds didn't chirp their songs, and mice didn't scurry off into the unknown at the sound of the cats approaching foot fall. Even the buzz of insects moving about was non-existent.
The silence was so loud.
With each paw step forward, Lake'Feather was pushed further into the uneasiness of her mind, her thoughts swirling around with theories on why this mysterious place held no prey. What could have happened? Was this land sick? How far had the others ran before she awoke?
"I don't like it here.." Breezefur meowed, his sudden statement causing Lake'Feather to wince out of surprise. Rowan'pelt hummed his agreement and they continued to walk. Soon enough, the small stream could be heard trickling down its own path. Relieved to hear something other than silence, Lake'Feather pushed herself to move faster, eventually walking alongside Rowan'pelt who gazed upon her in pleasant surprise. As if unnerved by being left in the back, Breezefur broke into a trot to catch up to his other two companions, the grumpy expression no longer present on his face.
"Where do you think all the prey went?" Lake'Feather glanced away from the others and stared straight as they walked. The stream could be seen now; it was shallow enough to walk through while just barely getting the fur on their stomachs wet.
"I'm not sure. But I don't think we should stay here much longer." Rowan'pelt meowed with a flick of his tail. As they approached the stream, Lake'Feather moved forward and dipped her head to lap at its crisp surface. Relief warmed her chest, accompanied by the cool feeling of water as she swallowed. She had been craving fresh water, having only been lapping at the small surface of a moss ball at the order of Honey'whisker - she wasn't to leave their make-shift camp until she was able to stand and walk around without feeling dizzy.
"Why not?" Breeze'fur questioned in response, his eyes squinting with curiosity.
This time, it was Lake'Feather who spoke. "With no food, we'll starve. It's not only the prey, either. I haven't scented a single other animal besides you two, and a faint trail that Honey'whisker and Bramble'paw left behind." She turned to glance at the two, her eyes ablaze with worry. "What if something is driving them away? What if the land is sick?"
"I doubt the land would be sick and still have all of this foliage," Breeze'fur countered, his tone sharp and annoyed. Perhaps, Lake'Feather thought, he was still upset about her snapping at him.
"Sometimes sickness can't be seen on the outside." Rowan'pelt added in after taking a drink from the stream. "Take last Leaf-bare for example. Nebulosa'Sun didn't show any symptoms at first, and yet he still passed from sickness." Lake'Feather shuddered. Nebulosa'Sun was a dear friend of hers, having been raised alongside her in the nursery. When they were kits they always made plans to become leader and deputy, no matter who became what. Lake'Feather always secretly wished he would become leader, though.
Nebulosa'Sun was a strong warrior, until last claw-moon. One day he was perfectly fine, going on patrol with Lake'Feather and joking around with her like normal, and the next he was too weak to move. Lake'Feather stayed by his side until the very end, and his reason for becoming so sick was never found.
"Lake'Feather?"
Pulled from her thoughts, Lake'Feather met the gaze of Rowan'pelt before glancing away with an embarrassed flick of her tail.
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"Oh. Are you okay?" Rowan'pelt asked softly, a knowing look in his eyes. Rowan'pelt had also been friends with Nebulosa'Sun, though not quite as good as Lake'Feather was.
Lake'Feather nodded her head, unable to think of anything to say.
"Yeah, I'm fine. We should get started on searching for prey, I'm sure Honey'whisker and Bramble'paw are starving by now." Without waiting for a response, Lake'Feather moved forward and leapt over the small stream. She landed on the other side gracefully, and Rowan'pelt and Breeze'fur soon landed on either side of her.
After deciding how they should split up, Lake'Feather began a straight walk into the forest where she would soon disappear.
~•~
The air was heavy with an eerie stillness, with only the soft rustling of leaves beneath moving paws could be heard. The dense canopy above LakeFeather cast long, chilling shadows that danced elegantly across the forest floor, only intensifying her unease. Her whiskers twitched with every step, her senses on high alert. The scent of damp earth mingled with the faint aroma of decaying leaves, creating an unsettling atmosphere. The trees loomed tall and imposing, their gnarled branches reaching out like sharp claws, ready to snatch her away at any given moment.
Suddenly, a large blur of movement caught LakeFeathers attention. Jumping back just in time, she felt a rush of wind as the blur rushed past her; her eyes grew wide with fear and just as quickly as the blur appeared, it was gone, having vanished into the unknown depths of the forest. Frozen in place, LakeFeather attempted to calm her breathing. What was it exactly that she had seen? Perhaps a figment of her imagination, her mind troubled with thoughts she didn't want to think. The she-cat shook her head, almost immediately wincing as her vision grew blurry for a moment.
After taking the time to compose herself and calm her racing heartbeat, LakeFeather strained her ears in hopes of catching any sound that might reveal the figures position or identity. Unfortunately, she was only met with the haunting whisper of the wind blowing through the tree tops.
With a flick of her tail, LakeFeather decided to continue her journey, her steps now more cautious than ever. She couldn't ignore the lingering sense of danger, but her warrior spirit and drive pushed her forward, determined to find what she came here for.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
𝕬𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖘 𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊:
𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒!
𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓, 𝑖 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑒.
𝐼𝑚 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝐿𝑎𝑘𝑒𝐹𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 "𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡."
𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑠, 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠/𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑉𝑜𝑡𝑒, 𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑑𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦!
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LakeFeather's Fate
Fanfiction"The forest will be bathed in blood as the storm ascends. The lake will rise in battle, and four shall become three." LakeFeather, a newly appointed warrior, discovers that her clan is under attack while she is out on patrol with her deputy and thre...
