Battlecats - The Path to the Trees - Changing Skies

Chapter 15

Hawkpaw blinked his eyes open slowly. He gazed around at the unfamiliar clearing before him. This isn't the battlekits den, he thought as he shot up from his place in the middle of the clearing. He looked around frantically for his other podmates but they were nowhere to be found. Where was he? What was this place? Hawkpaw gazed at the trees that surrounded him, consisting of pine, oak, and hazel trees alike. They made a near perfect circle around him. Strange, he thought. Trees don't usually do that.

"Hello?" He meowed, his voice echoing through the trees. "Is anyone there?" He tried to peer through the thick branches but only darkness greeted him.

"You're safe here," a familiar voice echoed back to him. Hawkpaw spun around and around trying to find the cat in question but there was no cat to be found. "Who's there?" He meowed, his fur spiking nervously. Suddenly, the trees opened up in front of him like a passageway. He narrowed his eyes at the opening, watching it like a battlecat watches their prey.

Then, a silhouette appeared within the shadows and began approaching him. Hawkpaw readied himself, his fur bristling with fear. "Whoever you are, don't come any closer!" he hissed, unsheathing his claws and crouching low to the ground.

"You don't recognize me?" The voice echoed once more. Hawkpaw watched carefully as the silhouette that had walked the path between the trees stepped into the light and a she-cat appeared, her brown pelt glittering with starlight. Hawkpaw's eyes widened as he finally recognized the cat in question. It was his mother, Acornsnap.

Hawkpaw didn't hesitate, he immediately shot up from his place in the clearing and raced to her, shoving his muzzle into hers and purring so hard that it made his whole body vibrate.

Acornsnap returned the gesture, rubbing her muzzle against her sons affectionately. "I've missed you so much," Hawkpaw whispered through tears. "Shh, shh, it's okay little one. I'm here," his mother replied, purring just as hard as Hawkpaw. He breathed deeply, relishing his mother's sweet, earthy scent. His mother gave him a gentle lick between the ears. He hadn't felt soothed like that in a long time.

Hawkpaw then took a step back, clearing his eyes of tears and eyeing his mother's form up and down. "H-How are you here? What is this place?" He asked as he gazed around the clearing once more.

His mother smiled. "This is a sacred place, Hawkpaw. A space between life and death." Hawkpaw gazed around the clearing wildly once more. What had happened while he was sleeping? Had he died in his sleep?

"A-Am I...dead?" He whispered to his mother. The she-cat shook her head, still smiling. "No, my love. This is a place where SkyPod cats can commune with the living. It's where we meet the curins during their half-moon meetings." Hawkpaw was dumbfounded. Why was he in such a sacred place? What did SkyPod want to tell him? Specifically, what did his mother have to say to him?

"Wow," Hawkpaw whispered once more, again gazing around the clearing with awe and confusion. "What am I doing here?" He meowed, gazing at his mother.

"I haven't got much time," she meowed back, taking a step toward Hawkpaw. "My son, you must listen, a great change is coming to the pods and I'm afraid you are one of the cats who will have to save them." She mewed. Hawkpaw's eyes widened. "A great change? What do I have to do with it?" He meowed, hoping to get some answers.

"Something big, my love," Acornsnap made her way around Hawkpaw, coming to stand in the middle of the clearing where he once stood. Hawkpaw immediately followed after her. "What's going to happen, mother?" He meowed as he approached.

Suddenly, two trees in front of him began growing to a towering height right before Hawkpaw's eyes. They began to twist around each other as he watched in awe as they grew until the canopy was barely visible above his head. Hawkpaw blinked wildly at the trees. Despite knowing he was in a sacred, magical place, he still couldn't believe that things like this were happening before him. Was he some kind of special cat? Was that why his mother came to him?