Shade

 ShadE

 Part of the Undefeated Series

 By BladeOfHope

 ~Third in the Underlife Arc~

"The darkness is evaporating."

It's starting to clear up. I can see again.

I'm still me: Aspenpaw. Somewhere, I'm still me, and I know that. It's just... it's hard to tell. Who am I now...?

But regardless, the cobwebs in my brain are starting to go away. I can remember things now. A fight... blood... death... an ending? The light? Is this all real, or is it just a facade, just like everything else?

Please, I beg of you, if you can hear me, send help. We'll escape sooner or later, but... we're going to need help.

I promise you.

We will get out of here.

And then, I wonder, will I be able to meet you...?

"You're lying."

Oburi spat at the dark, shimmering Underlife. "You're a liar. Why would you tell us that?"

Even Aaryi felt a sense of desperation. Why would Mesika, the leader ''of the Underlives, tell us how to escape...? ''Still, she glared at Oburi. "Don't be so rude," she snapped. Turning to Mesika, she asked gently, "He has a point, though. Why should you give away your own secrets?"

Mesika's eyes widened, and they started to fill with tears. "It's not something I want to be well-known," she whispered, "but I was a cat once. Just like you."

Kayn snickered. "Sure, 'n we're goina turn int' one of yeh s'well."

"You might," Mesika answered solemnly. Kayn's expression dropped at once.

''Kayn was... wrong? She's never wrong.''

The princess Underlife continued, "Because I was a cat once, I know what you have that the Underlives lack. They are just shadows of cats who once were; they are no longer cats themselves. And so, because they are not really complete now, there is one thing that they lack."

"Out with it already," Skell mumbled from where he sat next to his agitated sister.

Mesika took a deep breath. "The one thing that the Underlives lack... is love."

Oburi scoffed. "What a stupid idea! And we're supposed to believe you?"

"Wait!" Aaryi put her paw on Oburi's and looked straight into his eyes. "Think about it! If they can't love, they can't have friends. And if they can't have friends, they can't be loyal to each other!" She shook her head. How did I not realize that while I was with them?

As though reading Aaryi's thoughts, Mesika seconded her words by saying, "Yes, the Underlives have no sense of loyalty or friendship. They hide it well; that is why you, Aaryi, likely did not realize this while you were under their control." She bowed her head as though in shame. "If they had had control over you for much longer, Aaryi... you wouldn't be a cat anymore. You'd be one of them."

Aaryi was horrified.

How close have I come, and how many times, to becoming an Underlife?