Book 4: Sol's Revenge & Whisper's Path

Whisper

Sol isn't a killer. Of that much I was certain, or so I told myself anyways. Sol is not a killer. But here he slept so soundly in a crude nest of bark when only three days ago Echo drowned in the river after a fight between them. I'd only seen Echo's black head bobbing in the rough waters, but I'd been too far away to help. I only knew of the story what Sol had told me.

Sol is not a killer.

He stirred in his sleep, and I thought with a brief moment of panic he knew what I was thinking and was going to spring awake with an outcry of betrayal. But he settled and his snoring resumed. I watched the sky line, it was sun fall. We'd taken to sleeping during the day and traveling at night. Sol said he had to be awake at night, otherwise the shadows would creep up on him. Perhaps my brother did not sleep as soundly as he appeared to.

Paranoia surrounded him like a veil. He claimed yesterday he saw Echo's ghost, watching him. She said she was going to drown him and let worms eat his rotten body. I'll admit I still feel Echo's presence, but I haven't seen any vengeful spirits. Sol, none the less, pressured us to leave twoleg place and Skyclan behind. I agreed, the memories here were too...painful isn't the right word. I suppose the memories are just too lucid.

So for a night we walked along the Thunderpath, before we veered off into the woodland. Now we've slept the day away, or at least Sol has, and once the sun sets we'll be on the move again. The dusk and the light have an ultra-violet quality to it, a final burst of pigmentation as night and day rushed at each other in a clash of color prisms before darkness finally, inevitably wins.

Sol's eyes opened, glowing amber. Without a word he shook out his stiff limbs and we were walking. He glanced around nervously, like a kits first time out of its nest. I thought for a second maybe Sol wasseeing Echo's ghost. But if that was the case it meant he had a guilty conscious. And why would he feel guilty if her death had been an accident like he claimed?

Sol is not a killer, I thought forcefully.

"Hey, Sol, did Cinder's ever tell you how you got your name?" I asked cheerfully to distract myself. He blinked slowly. I took that as a 'no' and continued speaking in an awfully happy voice.

"Sol is short for Solstice. She named you after the longest day of the year because she said you were so full of light. I was a bit jealous as a kit. I mean seriously, what does Whisper mean? I was really quiet? Echo made sense though...she talked nonstop," I forced a laugh.

"Or the shortest day of the year." Sol said.

"What?" I asked.

"You said I was named after the Solstice, the longest day of the year. The Solstice can also be the shortest day of the year. The darkest day."

We kept walking in silence, until this time it was Sol who spoke up.

"Do you think Echo was scared?" he asked plainly, his voice small. The question surprised me. Who wouldn't be scared of drowning? But the answer I gave him was meant to appease his troubled mind, not speak the truth.

"A cat who lives their life to the fullest is prepared to die at any time."

He nodded, accepting my words. A twig snapped somewhere behind us, probably the doing of a squirrel. It startled me, but Sol practically jumped out of his fur.

"It' Echo! She's following us!"

"Sol we buried Echo by the river," I sighed. His eyes were wide with panic.

"She will find a way to come back, she'll find a way to hurt me. She's wants me dead Whisper. She wants me dead because I didn't save her."

"The waters were too dangerous for you to jump in after her, besides there is no such thing as spirits."