Shadows In The Dark

 Shadows In The Dark

Part of Limbo

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Hollypaw hit the ground with a satisfying thump, her legs splayed out it the air. She blinked open her dark green eyes and glanced around her, headrush slapping her mind. She gasped for air as consciousness rushed back, groaning in pain. She reached up to her throbbing head and lightly put pressure on it. Pain stabbed her forehead as she did so, and she quickly brought her paw away with an agonizing wail. Everything hurt.

She tried to stand up, but a headache thwarted her attempt and she ended up crashing back down on the ground. Her knees buckled and agony stung her injuries. Her gaze swept across her wounded body. She spotted a collection of bruises and head pain. The only thing Hollypaw could do was lie there.

Her head pounded and her muscles felt weak. Hollypaw felt so vulnerable in the dark, strange world she had fallen into. She didn’t even remember how she even ended up there, and thinking about it made her head hurt. She settled for lying down, outstretched until she felt like she was powerful enough to move, which ended up being longer than she would’ve hoped. All her body could do was stare straight up into the grey abyss.

As she felt the pain ease, she started to stand up. She let out a cry as she tensed her muscles, but ignored it. She found herself pulled into a sitting position, and she could finally get a bearing on her surroundings. She craned her neck to look around.

The sky was a bold, dark grey colour that darkened as it spiraled upwards. The ground was strangely soft and plush- it was almost like a liquid, a wobbly compound. It had many layers that cascaded down, and more often than not ended in a pool of reflective, pale water that gave Hollypaw the shivers.

The clouds were dark and dense, a shaped unnaturally, at least Hollypaw thought they were clouds. She padded across the land, the ground rippling when her paw hit it. She stepped up to one of the clouds that was hovering near the ground, and noticed a small, black slit in the middle.

The she-cat narrowed her eyes. Hollypaw stuck out her muzzle and sniffed it. It smelled musky, and plain. A perplexed mask covered her face. Then the cloud’s slit started to disappear and open, forming into the shape of an eye. She leapt backwards, startled, fear grasping her. The eye was fully open and bright red.

Shaking, eyes wide, the black cat stepped backwards. An awful sound erupted from the cloud monster, splitting Hollypaw’s ears. Then, a bright red laser shot out of its eye, heading straight for the she-cat. She squeaked and jumped out of the way, and the laser hit the ground. There was a small explosion as it rippled, but Hollypaw saw that it was unaltered.

She crept away, the oddly shaped cloud, stone monster shutting its bloodshot eye. Unease clouded her thoughts, her eyes flooded with worry. Where was she? Wherever she was, she wanted to leave. How did she end up here? She faintly remembered an argument and falling, but her head panged and didn’t give away any more information.

Muscles sore, she kept walking, her gaze darting from left to right. Nothing but grey and black plains and pools of disgusting water as far as the eye could see. She splashed through a puddle and felt the slimy water slide up and down her legs. Hollypaw shuddered. The black cat skipped across it, shaking off her paws.

“Hello?” She called. No reply. Her words echoed as she stepped down another layer. “Anyone there?” she asked, fear creeping up her spine. The back of her neck shivered as she got the eerie feeling that, even if nobody responded, she wasn’t alone in this strange world.

“I don’t know where I am...” she began, and then slapped her tail over her mouth. She wasn’t going to reveal personal information. She started to hum a tune to calm herself down and eliminate the silence. “ANYBODY??” she screamed, picking up her pace, her eyes wide, her grey tail swishing from side to side.

Suddenly, she heard a voice.

“Hello?” it said.

“Hello!” Hollypaw replied. “Where are you??”

“Follow the sound of my voice.” It responded.

Hollypaw wasn’t quite sure that she trusted the strange voice, but she was going to take what she could get. And so she did, looking around, playing a game of marco polo and shouting at each other. She heard the voice getting closer and closer, and excitement flared inside of her. She was going to meet someone that actually knew where she was!

When she reached the source of the noise, she was greeted by three cats. There was, of course, the cat who had been calling to her, and two others. Hollypaw winced, narrowing her eyes. They looked very strange- unnatural, and fluorescent.

“Hello,” the one who had been communicating with her said. She dipped her head, “My name is Blue.” Blue was a pale periwinkle colour with light brown stripes on her back and bright, electric blue eyes. She motioned her compadres forward. “These are my two friends, Justine and Avalyn.”

“Hi, I’m Avalyn,” said the dark, reddish-pink one with a soft voice. She had dark and white splotches on her back, and pale greenish-blue eyes. Hollypaw tipped her head quizzically. She had a strange thing on her face that covered her eyes. They were clear, and shiny.

“And I’m Justine!” purred the one that looked the least natural of all. She had lavender coloured fur with darker points and stripes. She had a white muzzle and underbelly, and pale blue eyes. She bounced as she talked, and Hollypaw could tell she was the most excitable one of the group.

“What’s your name?” Blue asked. Hollypaw felt a little uncomfortable. They looked around her age, but she didn’t like the way their eyes glowed and how bright their pelts looked against the dark blackness. And were they hostile or friendly? She would have to figure that out herself.

She in took a breath, and decided that she couldn’t give them her real name. “Holly,” she said. “My name is Holly.” Could’ve come up with something more creative, Holly, she thought to herself. “Um...” she started. “Where are we? And why, not to be rude, does your fur look so strange?”

Justine shrugged. “We don’t remember anything. We only remember waking up here with strange fur patterns, but I have an inkling this is not how we looked before,” the purple cat told her. She swished her tail.

“I would think so,” Hollypaw said, dragging her gaze from Justine and facing Blue, who seemed to be the leader. She was watching the black she-cat intently with her bright blue eyes, which made Hollypaw jump in surprise. “So...” she started awkwardly. “Do you know where we are?”

“Of course,” Blue meowed with an edge to her voice. She stepped to the side so Hollypaw could see the ground ascend into layers and end with a waterfall, the slimy water crashing down into the already liquidated land. The black she-cat did a small leap to keep herself from sinking into the mould.

“Welcome to Limbo.”