Broken: Distant

Prologue

In the dark, as you can hear a wolf's cry, a dark shadow rushed through the forest. Paws pounding on the ground, this cat seemed to be trying to go somewhere, or follow someone. It's icy blue eyes glimmered in the moonlight, but they were concentrated. After a few moments, the furry thing slid to a halt and stared at the sky, seemingly waiting for something.

Just in a few seconds, lights descended from the sky, falling to the ground. Birth. A few more lights fell down before they stopped, and a little bit of pearly-white dust flew into the night sky. This she-cat was lucky. Her kits were gifted souls from Starclan. Their souls were pure and sweet. She should have some well-behaved children. As the cat was about to walk away, a light hiss that grew stronger and stronger started gnawing at his ears, getting louder and louder. Looking up, he saw a dark ball of mist hurling itself towards him. At the last second right before it hit him, it turned off deeper into the woods.

Breathing heavily, the small tom stared for a second, regaining himself. Not even taking a moment to lick his fur down, he took off in the opposite direction from where he came from. Why was that there? It couldn't be, could it? No... The Spirits' woods couldn't possibly have gained a cat from the Dark Forest!! One after another, he watched a few more coal-black balls of mist fall into the forests, leaving darkness behind them. How could this be?? Starclan can't be letting this happen, can they? They couldn't have made a truce so quickly, right? Those two despise each other! Wait... no... it's obvious. They're trying to balance the level of good and evil in the forest. It makes perfect sense now...

"Come on, Rosethorn! Push!" Pastelherb urged kindly, but with a slightly fierce tone to help. The young tortoiseshell below, Rosethorn, was about to be a new mother. This she-cat was the first cat born in Thymeclan to have both a Dark Forest father with a Starclan mother as well. She was a hybrid. That means that she'll more than likely have mixed cats. Who knows whether their spirits be from the forbidden warriors' home or the loved ones'?

Tears leaking from her eyes, Rosethorn hissed slightly as her body began to glow. Three of the pure spirits from earlier circled her, pressing their noses to her flank. A kit was coming; Starclan. Blood was escaping from her nether regions as she felt a kit start to push it's way out with her help. This was it. The first one out of two expected. This one's fur was a light grey with red spots along its back. As Pastelherb helped the kit out and began cleaning... him, he watched as the spirits disappeared and a black cloud gathered around them. Eyes widening, the Medicine Cat sighed and pressed his nose to the new mother's flank gently. "This will hurt worse. Be ready. Whatever you do, close your eyes and keep them shut."

A little disturbed by the last part, Rosethorn breathed a shaky sigh in relief, as her eyes were already closed. Beyond her eyelids, dark spirits began to surround her and swat at her with their sharp, unsheathed claws. Howling, the she-cat felt both the claws raking and a pain in her lower abdomen way worse than the last. From the moment it started, she knew this was a Dark Forest kit. It was nearly unbearable and Rosethorn felt as if she were going to die. The lower half of her body felt as if it were being torn by a dog and ran over by a monster at the same time.

"You can do this! You're almost there!" The young medicine cat urged once more, watching as the tail and flanks of a bark-brown kit were slipping from it's mother. With a last screech, the spirits disappeared along with the scratch marks, and all that was left were Pastelherb, Rosethorn, and her two new kits. Shaking from the pain, the new mother was already curling her tail around her firstborn, his grey fur ruffled from barbed tongues raking along it. Pastelherb soon finished cleaning the new, dark kit. His tail and paws along with his right ear and underbelly were black, the rest of his body a bark color.

After a few minutes of settling down and tending to the new mother's wounds, the big question was asked. "Have you thought out names?" Rosethorn nodded, and swished her tail towards the grey and red kit first. "He will be Graykit, and he-" She looked over to the second kit. "-will be Hollowkit." Nodding, Pastelherb smiled and told her that he was going to leave to tell the big news to Thymestar, their leader. With a small nod back, Rosethorn began tending to and cuddling with her kits.

After resting her eyes for a little, she opened them and saw Hollowkit in front of her. The mother's eyes instantly locked on the peculiar and very unlikely sight. Was she hallucinating? She must be from the bit of blood loss... Hollowkit... He was staring at her. Eyes open...and they... were completely black. Soulless. His mouth was slightly hanging open and after a moment, he smiled. "Mama. Can you see me? My eyes... they're black aren't they? Isn't it interesting... how I can still see?"

"P...Pastelherb!!" The frightened mother called. This was weird! Her kit could see AND talk in under ten minutes old?? That's impossible! As soon as the medicine cat walked in, his jaw dropped. The eyes caught his attention immediately. Black. Like coal. "Hello." He mewed again, his smile widening. "Are you here to help my mama?"