Cottonkit was born dead. He never even got to take his first breath. As is the protocol for all stillborn kit death, StarClan tasks this tiny tom with watching over a living Clan cat: Acaciakit. Aging alongside this fiery she-cat, Cottonkit must wat...
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two the below
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Cottonkit woke up before Hollydapple had arrived for the morning. She had stopped sleeping in his den once he had been able to stand and move, but she hadn't ceased to visit him daily. The second his eyes flashed open, he was out of his nest, bounding out of the den. The sky was streaked with a mid red violet hue as it transitioned from the deep purples of night to the light peachy shade of day. I get to visit the Below today...! I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do for Acaciakit, but I'm excited to see my mother. I bet I'll meet my father, too! Cottonkit hummer happily as he looked out over the fields of flowers and stars.
"You're up early, Cottonkit." The young tom looked over his shoulder as Hollydapple approached. The slim queen had medium long fur, which gave a subtleness to her features for an overall appearance of gentle beauty.
"Yeah, I wanted to get a head start on today! I can't wait to go with Pistachiopaw to the... Water of Below? What was it called again...?"
"The Pool of the Below," she meowed, lowing her head to groom his sleep-tussled fur. He leaned in with a purr.
"Oh right! The Pool of the Below! I'm going to meet Acaciakit, and my mother, and my father, and the rest of ZephyrClan! Maybe Acaciakit has siblings that I can play with?" He turned his head to look to Hollydapple but she simply straightened a stray tuft of fur on his back.
"You won't be able to really play with them...," she meowed after a few moments had passed. He blinked with shock, but she gave him a gentle nudge as she was satisfied with his fur. "You'll know more when you get there. Let's get going, I'm sure Pistachiopaw is ready to go visit the cat he watches over."
Cottonkit was quiet as they made their way along the trail. I won't be able to play with Acaciakit? How am I supposed to be her friend? Hollydapple said that friends are cats that you have fun with! They passed the willow that they had first met Chaffinchstar the day before, but Hollydapple led him along past it. They followed alongside the stream's edge until it broke off to the left, and they then followed that trail.
Slowly, the terrain turned from endless grassy fields to birch trees and ferns. Stardust and thin veils of smoky fog rolled along the earth, and Cottonkit clung to Hollydapple's side with apprehension. The woods were darker than the open fields, as the full, blue-green tree leaves blocked out part of the peachy light. The trees broke up suddenly though into a wide open clearing, and the stream filled out into one large pool. The white kit halted sharply, eyes going wide as he took in the scene before him. A massive, semi-opaque, shard of stone sat in the center of the pool. The white crystal stood taller than he could jump, and a pale lavender light shone from it. A strange coolness rolled around the glade, and was a sharp contrast to StarClan's typical comfortable warmth.
