Warrior Cats: Sprout || Book One

Chapter Six

Lily blinked open her eyes, still sluggish from the wispy remnants of sleep. She rolled over on the plush velvet cushion, curling up closer to Luna. Her friend's sleek, soft pelt was warm and comforting against her thrumming heart, still roaring from her strange dreams.

She could not recall the dreams that had plagued her during the night and cursed her with restless insomnia. Her only recollection was a grainy still image of a thick, suppressing darkness, and the unbearable heat that accompanied it. She leaned and lapped at the perspiration that soaked her pelt and gripped her flesh in cold, clammy talons.

Huffing at the effort, Lily disentangled her legs from Luna's, rolling off the pillow and onto the glossy hardwood floor. She lay, sprawled in an ungainly heap, her legs extended in a languid stretch. Stumbling to her paws, she cast a backward glance at her bandaged flank.

Luna had been right - her housefolk had eagerly assisted her, cleaning and dressing her wound in their naked, smooth paws. She licked at the ivory bandaging now, suppressing a disgusted snort at the bitter taste and metallic aroma.

Her jaws agape in a yawn, Lily stumbled to the kitchen in a haze of exhaustion. She padded over to the extra bowl of food the housefolk had set out for her and plunged her head into the dry pellets. She curled her lip at the tasteless food, washing it down hastily with a few quick, neat gulps of slimy tap water.

Ugh, the food... it's ashen.

Shivering with disgust, she licked her lips free of any food scraps, intending to wipe their taste from her memory. Usually, she would drink from the puddles collected in the garden and street to avoid the congealed, adhesive dishwater served to her every morning. At least her housefolk fed her fish and milk and other delicacies, instead Luna's unfortunate cuisine.

"What are you doing up so early?" came a groggy mew.

"Luna!" Lily gasped, spinning around and casting a glance over her shoulder at her half-eaten bowl. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. You should be asleep! Go back to bed!"

Luna's fur was slightly bedraggled with sleep; certain tufts were sticking up while others were flattened. Her grey eyes were squinted in Lily's general direction.

Luna avoided the order smoothly with a drowsy flick of her ear. "What are you doing up?" she repeated.

Lily sighed. "I couldn't sleep," she admitted bashfully. "I just needed to get up. I've been lying half-awake for a while now."

Luna leaned forwards in a long, luxurious stretch; her muscles rippled beneath her pelt and Lily found herself mildly surprised by the suppleness of her hide. "Well, I'm already up," Luna meowed resignedly. "There's no point going back to bed now. And even if I tried, once I'm up, I'm up."

"Yes," Lily mewed dramatically. "It is impossible to accomplish such a dastardly feat. To fall back asleep? Oh, gosh!"

Luna roller her eyes playfully. "Someone's in a better mood. Now that I've swooned you with a bed and food, mind telling me what happened yesterday?"

Lily winced, then hissed as her wound was stretched; she could feel a hot cloud of wetness dribble out of the corner of her inflamed gash. She turned and nudged the fiery flesh with her nose; the heat had already seeped through the pale yellow cloth bindings.

"Not ready to talk about it?" Luna guessed. "That's totally fine. I'm sorry for prying."

"It's okay," Lily promised, moving awkwardly as not to put pressure on her inflection. "We... we can talk about it."

"Hey, if you don't want to... that's okay, you know?" Luna murmured.

"Yeah," Lily mumbled. "But what's the worst that could happen? I mean..." She trailed off and Luna nodded in understanding.