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

Sol

I don't know why our paths crossed with Midnight's, but I solemnly believe there was a reason. A reason bigger than fleeing the Tribe because of the dangers of the Mountain cat which had at last found the entrance to their cave. A reason bigger than the fear of Echo haunting me. A reason bigger than not knowing whether or not I was to blame for Echo's death. A reason bigger than not understanding why my father left, why he and Cinder's couldn't love me.

I had no purpose to life other than to follow Whisper. Midnight perhaps could give me a purpose. Ambitions, dreams, power, they were all within in reach the second she said "Yes."

"Can anyone learn to read the stars like you?" I called out after she treated my injured paw and began lumbering away.

"Yes." she rasped, without lifting her black and white striped head. I think she was expecting my question.

Whisper and I shared a den. Well, 'den' was stretching it. It was more of a hole in the ground that offered shelter from the blasting rays of the sun. We slept during the day and at night we returned to our nocturnal roots. Midnight said she'd teach us, she said we had much to learn. I don't know how she possessed the knowledge she does, or why she'd ever share it, but none the less she was. Whisper and I were eager apprentices.

The sun had long since dipped below the horizon, swallowed whole by the salty waters. Whisper and I emerged from the den, yawns on our tongues. Midnight was waiting at the top of the cliffs. The night sky was clear, not a cloud in sight. Stars glimmered overhead, milky streams connected them in patterns and groups.

"Beginning, middle, and end there is," Midnight said in her strange way. "Learn to read the signs you shall. Know the beginning, middle, and end you will."

What I took from that was she would teach the future. I don't know why you'd bother time learning the beginning or middle. The beginning has already happened, and the middle is currently happening, so why bother deciphering it? The future is what holds power.

Midnight explained further that each individual would see different things in the stars. You'd see things that affected you, mostly. Cataclysmic events that will shape your life, and such. The trick was learning to see the signs and deciphering their meaning.

The swirls of dust in the atmosphere waved around the darkness. Shapes formed quickly before vanishing and reappearing as something else. My heart pounded as I recalled some of the shapes.

A half circle meant battle.

A full circle meant death.

A triangle meant exile.

A swirl meant betrayal.

A line meant underground. Below the earth.

A bright spot meant the sun.

A faded bright spot meant the moon.

All the shapes and symbols collided in an amazing scenic view. Colors and shapes splashed around the darkness. I felt contempt in the fact that any other cat would see nothing while I saw everything. But I still had only fragments of the picture. One piece was still missing.

Whisper and Midnight were talking. I was so focused on watching the stars, trying to look for the shapes that would tell my future, that I stopepd paying attention to what the badger was saying. She was explaining something to Whisper.

"There are things I don't understand about my past, things I need answers too if I can move on," Whisper was saying.

"How far back, must you look?"

"Far back. Far far back," Whisper signed. He's referring to when our father left and Cinder's abandoned us, I thought.

"Answer you seek can be found. Look." she tilted her large head back at the sky, her muzzle pointing straight up. Whisper copied. I copied as well. But this time it was I who saw nothing. Whisper gasped.