the stars aligned | 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Chapter 5

Echo and the others were waiting at the edge of a forest.

She could feel the emotions coming off the others in waves; Claire was annoyed, Sylvester was worried, Cloudy was nervous and Aquarius was eerily calm, if a little shaken. They waited patiently until another cat stepped into her vision.

"We need help," she felt herself start pleading, and to her surprise, the other cat nodded and walked away. She felt her paws follow, trusting the cat she'd never met.

They were led out of the forest into a moorland, dotted with lakes and large bushes to make the land less open and more sheltered. The unfamiliar cat led them through a river to an island filled with cats.

Echo was hesitant; she'd never swam before. But the cat was there, guiding her through the water. He swam back and forth a few times to help the others, and then followed him onto the island. It was a small clearing, with cats everywhere, lounging in the sun, chatting amongst each other, carrying prey into camp.

"We will help you," the unknown cat whispered, and his voice seemed to echo from all the cats in the clearing. No — it's a camp.

This is the Clans.

Echo felt a purr rising in her throat. She was finally here — where she had wanted to be for her whole life. But these cats didn't look like the bloodthirsty monsters her mother had described.

But then suddenly everything changed, and Echo was lying on the edge of a cliff, a sudden aching pain shooting through her as blood poured out of her throat. She collapsed with a yowl of terror, fear overtaking the happiness she'd felt moments before. Blood coated the ground in front of her, her paws, it oozed out of various wounds over her body. She felt sick looking at it. She heard the sound of two cats fighting not far away, but the sound faded as her senses dimmed and everything went black.

Echo woke in a hollow log.

She blinked open her eyes, fear still gripping her heart but disappearing as she realised where she was and what just happened. It was a dream. A vision. But she shied away from the thought.

Claire was beside her, licking the dried mud from her pelt. Her tail ached slightly and her throat was still sore, and she was confused for a minute until the previous day's events came rushing into her mind.

The fire. Everything is gone. I almost died.

It was her fault the den had burnt down. If she'd had a vision about it, if she could have wanted everyone...they would still have a home, she wouldn't have worried her mother and she wouldn't be hurt. All because her her stupid visions didn't even warn her — instead they sent her another image of Clan life and her dying at he edge of a cliff. But it was strange that she had been in the vision of the Clans this time.

The rain seemed to have stopped. It was eerily quiet outside the hollow log the group must have moved her into. The rising sun shone through the hole at the other end and birds chirped in the trees nearby. Echo tried to sit up, ignoring Claire's surprised protests, and attempted to stretch out her muscles.

No pain — she mustn't have been burnt badly, if at all. Cloudy appeared at the entrance to the hollow log, carrying a mouse and a vole in his jaws. He dropped it beside her.

"You're up!" he purred. "We were so worried — I brought you breakfast." He nudged the vole closer to her.

"Thanks," Echo meowed gratefully. Speaking felt like a paw running over her throat, but it didn't hurt anymore. She crouched down and tore at the vole hungrily.