Cursed (Book 2 of the Outcast Quartet) Is Cancelled

Chapter 1 (Juniperpaw)

“Say Bird,” the words came out softly and I forced my gaze away from the rising sun in order to look into his eyes; crimson eyes the color of freshly drawn blood. “Tell me more about what I just got myself into.”

            Bird looked down at me and closed his eyes for a brief moment, searching silently for the right words. “It’s hard to explain,” he finally sighed. “Why don’t you ask me questions and I’ll try to answer.”

            I considered this, my tail tip twitching thoughtfully before I nodded. “Very well… then my first question is this: What are we called?”

            “We have many names but the more common ones are the Cursed and the Fallen,” Bird explained and I frowned, those didn’t exactly sound like good names. “This is due to the fact that we can never die, forced to wonder the ever changing world while we remain frozen. It is truly a sad existence…”

            What have I gotten myself into? I swallowed; it was a natural reflex that even more immortal body couldn’t stop, before reluctantly brining up the next question. The fact that Bird was being honest with me, at least I’m fairly certain he was truthful, fueled my curiosity; even if the answers brought on even more doubt. “When did the Shadow Master come into existence and what exactly is his purpose?”

            Bird mauled over the question, his tail tip twitching and a frown on his face. Finally he replied. “It’s hard to say but… we believe the Shadow Master was formed when StarClan and the Place of No Stars first appeared. The three are parallels of each other and without one, everything would become unbalanced. Or at least, that’s our theory.”

            “Unbalanced how?” I frowned dubiously, but then shrugged. Even though it was hard to tell with him being stuck in the body of a twenty moon old cat, I could tell that he was way older than the others.

            “All kinds of disasters will wreck havoc on the world. Diseases… famine… earthquakes… droughts… the list goes on and on.”

            “Lovely…” I muttered softly under my breath and quickly stored those awful images deep into my mind for later. “Say Bird and I’m sorry if this is a tad personal, but how did you die?”

            Bird reeled back in surprise and I winced at my bluntness; of course it was personal. Frankly if some stranger walked up to me asking about my death, I wouldn’t exactly want to share it either. “Y-you don’t have to tell me,” I quickly exclaimed as I leapt to my paws, my tail quivering nervously.

            “I understand why you’re curious…” Bird sighed. “Juniperpaw, I was murdered. Murdered in cold blood by the cat I trusted most in this world.”

            It was my turn to flinch back, my eyes widening at the harsh, venomous tone that filled Bird’s voice. The sudden contrast was startling, and it took me a moment or two to find my voice. “I-I see,” those were the only words that my mind could form. It must have hurt him a lot, to be turned on by someone you cared for so deeply… “Soul, let’s go back to camp.”

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“Juniperpaw,” our orange-and-white leader gestured for me to join her and, after a quick glance at Bird, I quickly joined her. Sweetstar sat in the shade of the camp and she smiled warmly as I came to her. “Tonight, you must go to the Willow Grove. Normally Softheart would have taken you, but since she’s… I’ll be taking you.”

            “The Willow Grove…” I whispered numbly. The place StarClan was strongest and where SilverClan’s medicine cat would go every new moon to meet with our ancestors. Would I be able to meet Softheart there? Ever since Shadow Master revived me, I hadn’t even heard a whisper from my beloved mentor. “Are we going now?”