001. earthshine

chapter two: unsighted

&&

she flung him over the side of the cliff. he caught himself. "please! don't do this! i didn't mean it!"

&&

reedgaze was average. maybe he had a bit of smarts somewhere in his head, deeply buried, but he definitely did not know where it was, or if it would ever be of use to him.

he was solid dark ginger with a lighter stomach and muzzle. maybe he had a couple scars, but he didn't really pay attention to that. he didn't pay attention to much. his life was average, like him, but the day he ran into the thinker, that changed. he didn't know her name, but he remembered her scent from when she had kicked him earlier when he was sleeping.

she was crouching over a black cat, presumably dead. but after coming closer, reedgaze noticed that the cat was in fact, not dead. "who is that?" he asked, walking up behind the thinker.

she jumped, clearly spooked, then turned to look at him. "i don't know. it's some nightbreeze cat. she's blind."

"wait— um, okay?" reedgaze asked, dumbfounded. i didn't even know it was a she-cat.

"i don't know. i just smelled it," the thinker confessed, looking at her paws. "i wonder what happened to her."

"well, is she dead?" reedgaze asked. he really didn't want to go any closer.

"no," the thinker said. "she's still breathing."

"okay. well, have fun. i'm going to go, y'know, patrol."

"by yourself?" the thinker sneezed. "are you serious?"

"um, yes? bye, now."

"wait— you can't leave!" the thinker cried. "what am i going to do with her?"

"i don't know. maybe... get a medicine cat?"

"oh my gosh! you are so useless! i cant fix this with a medicine cat! the only problem is her eyes!"

"well, then, maybe a medicine cat can fix that," reedgaze meowed, stepping backwards. he'd always wondered why the thinker didn't have many friends, because he thought she was nice enough to make some. now he knew why. well, maybe it's me. is my conversation too drab? maybe that's the problem.

"i mean, maybe by opening up her eyes and looking at them directly, you can find something out," he sniffed, looking up at the sky. "y'know, because she's blind and all."

she glanced at him skeptically. "well. i didn't think of that. good idea. reedgaze, right?" she asked. "i think we trained as apprentices together."

"um, yes." he now remembered training with her, and how she had been appointed "thinker" instead of a warrior. "and i know your name. obviously. so don't ask me what it is," he said quickly.

the thinker sighed. "just don't call me turtlemask."

oh! it's turtlemask! i knew it, he thought.

turtlemask pried open the black cat's eyes, and beckoned reedgaze over. "look at this," she whispered.

reedgaze tentatively padded over. "oh, ew, ew, ew! that is gross. hmm— look at the—"

before reedgaze could finish, turtlemask interrupted him. "who would do that to another cat?"

the black cat's eyes had been torn out. reedgaze did not want to go into detail describing it.
"i don't know. that's so weird," turtlemask answered herself in a murmur.

"so, turtlemask, thinker, whatever your name is, it was nice seeing you, but i think i should go patrol," he meowed, backing away, not taking his eyes off her. his amber tail waved back and forth.

"turtlemist," she growled, clearly annoyed. "what's with everyone calling me turtlemask? wait, didn't i just tell you not to call me turtlemask?"

"um, maybe? anyways, gotta, uh, run!" this was getting awkward. reedgaze just wanted to leave. his paws were slowly leaning backwards, and he began to turn away.

"no! stay! don't you want to find out what happened to this cat?" turtlemask— er— turtlemist called. she stood up, walking towards him. he noticed that her shoulders shook when she walked, like she was afraid of something. her eyes kept darting towards the seemingly dead cat that was behind her.

and then, the black cat got to it's feet.

reedgaze watched as it sprung onto turtlemist's back. he darted over, quick as a fox, and threw the cat off. the blind cat let out a yowl and attacked him. the cat aimed a hefty blow at his shoulder, and he fell over, rolling in the marsh.

"oh, no," turtlemist sighed from behind them. she clawed feebly at the black cat, but his reedgaze instead, tearing a lump of fur out of his pelt.

"ow! not helping!" he screeched, still grappling with the black cat. his pelt was uncomfortably wet from landing in the marshes.

"earthshine!" the black cat screamed, attacking reedgaze's eyes. he threw it off again, and leaped on top of the cat, grabbing it by the scruff and dragging it to the river. as he looked down, he saw a large 'X' carved into the cats skull where it's eyes should have been.

"my name isn't earthshine!" he growled through the cat's pelt. with a quick shake of his head, he threw it into the deep waters.

"what was that?" turtlemist asked, standing up straighter, watching the river fearfully.

"i dont know. is there a cat called earthshine in nightbreeze?" reedgaze meowed, tilting his head. he began to lick the blood off of his chest, and stretched his paws out.

"that isnt really a warrior name, is it?" the thinker meowed, flicking her oddly long tail. "i've never heard of a cat called earthsomething before. maybe earthshine is the cat that blinded that black cat."

"maybe. i really don't want anything to do with this," reedgaze said hesitantly. "but have fun figuring it out!" he turned tail and started walking back towards camp.

"no! wait! you have to help me! you're the only witness!" turtlemist cried. "please?" she appeared in front of him and blocked his path. "don't leave me. what if another cat comes and attacks me? i can't fight!"

reedgaze thought it over. how would i explain it if the thinker got killed? 'oh, yeah, poppystar and adderstar, but i killed your thinker. sorry.'

"fine. i'll help you," he grumbled. "are we going to tell the leaders?"

"not yet," the thinker said.