This is a fanfiction written by Rainy.
I'll never forget the brilliance of colors,
the sapphire sky,
the crystal stars,
the scarlet blood,
the stark white snow,
because who can forget the night they died, right...?
i. midnight black[]
When I awoke, I was freezing. My face was pressed against a patch of icy rock, my whiskers frozen to my face. Around me, snow was falling thick and heavy on the ground.
I was in an unfamiliar part of the large expanse of pine forest that DarkClan called home. What was I doing so far from the camp, especially on a night like this?
I tried to recall, but my mind came up blank. I couldn't remember what I was doing out here, or even what had happened to me before I'd apparently blacked out.
Maybe I fell. Maybe I slipped on the ice and hit my head really hard.
Tiredly, I looked around and tried to orient myself. When I finally figured out which way the camp was, I put my complaining body on a trajectory towards that path, straight into the face of the blustering wind.
By the time I reached the big moss-covered rock that signaled I was getting close to the DarkClan camp, I felt like I was about to freeze to death. I was shivering so hard that my bones rattled, and every pawstep placed on the snowy ground made my toes grow number and number.
Ahead, a shadowy shape emerged from the wall of swirling white. A gigantic, oddly bulky cat, indistinguishable through the snowflakes, was just a few tail-lengths ahead of me, padding towards the camp as well.
"Hey!" I yelled, stumbling forward. The storm took my voice and whipped it away, so I picked up my pace.
As I grew closer, I saw that the cat wasn't just huge. It was carrying something on its back that gave it the bulky appearance.
Squinting, I was able to make out that it was carrying another cat, a limp form draped across its shoulders.
Before I could call out to my Clanmate--who by now I recognized as a young warrior called Acornwhisker--he ducked into the base of a nearby pine tree, entering the DarkClan camp. I hurried to the entrance; now that I was partially in the enclosed camp, I could see and hear more clearly with less of the storm's interference.
Acornwhisker hurried to the middle of the camp on his frozen legs. He was jabbering incoherently, near hysterics. Our medicine cat, Tansyfoot, instructed him to calm down. "What happened to her?" she asked, indicating the cat Acornwhisker had been carrying.
I tried to stretch myself and see who it was, but Acornwhisker was blocking my view. "I d-don't know. I found her lying there when I was out hunting. It took me so long to bring her back; she was so heavy, and then the storm blew in..."
More DarkClan cats were pouring out of their dens, anxious faces giving way to downright horror as they saw the limp body and Acornwhisker standing over it, looking like he'd just swam an ocean of ice.
"What happened?"
"Where did you find her?"
That was it. I had to know what was going on.
I slipped forward, weaving my way through my Clanmates. Oddly, no one noticed me. I even elbowed my way past my best friend, Lilypaw, and she didn't say a thing. Instead, she let out a loud, ragged shriek. "NO!" She crumbled on herself, sobbing.
Utterly bewildered, I tried to say, "Lilypaw?" but my voice wouldn't work.
Shaking my head, I brushed past my mentor, Graygoose, who also, strangely, didn't notice me, and finally got in a position to see the cat who was causing all the commotion.
My heart stilled. My jaw fell open.
I didn't believe my eyes. This couldn't be real. This couldn't be happening.
I stared at the small, sodden white lump of fur lying at Acornwhisker and Tansyfoot's paws, my mind racing to come up with any possible explanation.
At the same time, Tansyfoot raised her head. She looked out at the crowd, her gaze resting on each cat lined up along the front--except for me. Her eyes moved right through me without seeing me. I felt something cold form in my belly.
"She's dead," announced Tansyfoot.
Lilypaw let out a loud wail. Cats burst into conversation.
Meanwhile, I stumbled forward on legs that felt too weak to carry me. I peered down at the body, gently tilting it so I could see its face.
There was no mistaking that face.
But this is impossible.
The dead cat was me.