Chapter 2

It feels strange, actually, to die.

Like falling into white nothingness, like peace, and then a jolt, a switch of gears, and then panic and pain. Like water flooding into your lungs and you sputter and spit but you just can't cough it up. Water streaming into your ears and you hear a few muffled screams.

"Sagekit! Sagekit!"

And then more pain, way more, like that first jolt. Sagekit twitches, only twitches, at it.

The seering pain turns into memories of a short life. Like his life, splayed out in a picture book to look and sort through.

His first memory of milk and squirming bodies, his little wobbly steps, when Aloestar struck him across the face for playing moss ball in the den. Happy moments, like Smoothkit and Flickerkit, who feels distant now. Sad moments, like hearing Aloestar say Snapstar didn't care about them.

And finally, at the very end, paws slipping on slick stone and, eyes wide, falling closer and closer. The snap ringing in his ears, his neck probably, deafening. Sagekit feels peace after that, a wave of calm, and he allows himself to float down into the white void.

The white fog clears slightly, giving way to a grassy plain.

A starry she-cat sits, eyes boring into the kit, a few fox-lengths in front of him. She's a tortoiseshell, fur glimmering beautifully. Her eyes shine, stars embedded within them, and she blinks at him.

"Dear kit," she coos, "come. Closer." Her tail beckons Sagekit, and so he takes a singular step.

"Am I dead-" The question is cut off with the she-cat shaking her head vigorously, smiling softly.

"You are only a kit," she speaks gently, ducking her head, "you have been taken pity on..." The she-cat pauses, something vicious flashing in her eyes.

"Against my will. You will cause much trouble for the clans," the starry she-cat soft tone morphs into one of anger and fear, "your path is laid down already. You will never change, ever. I've seen your future, child, and I think you should too."

Sagekit opens his mouth to ask his bubbling questions, confused, but the she-cat fades quickly.

For a few moments it is silent, still, before it explodes.

With battle screeches and snarls a sea of cats leaps forward out of the trees. The army is big, huge, but the other is bigger. It looks like hundreds of thin, less muscled, cats sink their fangs into the other cats. Blood rises. It stains the battle field.

And suddenly, Sagekit is ripped from the ground where he stands and shoved into another body, inside of the smaller army.

He attacks.

The battle moves are fluid, rehearsed. The first cat he sees is easy to fight. A small, blue, she-cat, is knocked out of his way. A real urge to fight some cat, some cat he will know if he just sees them, is strong. Sagekit pushes through the crowd, claws raking at him, but they don't hurt.

The battle roars in his ears and he hates it. Hates it so much.

"Is this what you want?"

Sagekit can't even think before he is ripped out of the dream-like space and thrown into consciousness.

~~~

Blood is still sticky on the tom-kit's pelt when his eyes blink open. Images of red flash in his vision, along with a pair of deep blue eyes, piercing and unforgiving.

"Scarlet-" Sagekit gasps, surprised at his own voice. It vibrates his throat painfully, sending shocks of discomfort through him. The tom's mouth quickly clicks shut.

"Sagekit!"

A body stirs beside the kit, nudging him a bit. Sagekit startles, but silently so, as he blinks at the form in front of him.

Smoothkit's eyes glitter like gems, tears welling at the bottom. Her voice sounds hiccuping and pained, but her upturned mouth tells a different story.

"You were... Your neck-"

Another larger form presses its way into Sagekit's limited line of vision. The scent is new, arid, like herbs and plants. Under there, though, is a she-cat. Sagekit squeaks out a small hiccuping cough, before blinking his eyes lovingly at his sister.

The herb-smelling she-cat nudges the kit out of the den, however, gently. "Get Aloe and Snapstar. Tell them the good news," she murmurs in a soft voice. Smoothkit turns back, tail twitching in annoyance.

"But I-"

"Don't you want Flickerkit to know? Go, now."

Sagekit opens his mouth to protest, to say he just wants Smoothkit right now. Someone, in the very least. But a strangled gurgling sound escapes, like he's choking. Smoothkit turns her soft, concerned, eyes on her brother, but is nudged out of the den.

"I'll tell Aloestar, " Smoothkit calls disdainfully, though her voice is lined with skittishness. The medicine cat only leans upward and blinks her glowing hazel eyes at Sagekit.

In the dim, near dark, den, they glow beautifully. And pierce Sagekit, pinning him still and silent like dead prey. "What did you see?"

"What?" Sagekit croaks, confused. His blinding headache smears the words into incoherent mush. What is that supposed to mean? He technically saw nothing. Almost. And what does she care about a nightmare? It makes no sense.

"In your dream," she says roughly, "you kept murmuring a name. What did you see?"

Time pauses, releasing only for Sagekit to realize what she is asking. For the details of her dream. Or nightmare. Or both.

"I don't know," he answers honestly. The tom-kit doesn't. It seems like a dream, really. Being a warrior, his greatest dream. Fighting, something that sends a strange thrill into his mind just at the thought.

But the thought of hurting is horrible. At the same time, however, hurting is the only option. Like biting off your own infected tail. Something the tom's instincts so strongly advise against, but feels like it must be done.

The she-cat, who Sagekit presumes is the medicine cat, narrows her glowing irises. "You do. You know. Tell me." The voice is rough, demanding, and Sagekit flinches at the icy coldness of it.

"I don't know," Sagekit murmurs. A fear stirs, seizing the tom's chest. His fur bristles.

For many quiet moments hazel and green pools lock, staring into each other, before the medicine cat narrows them and turns away.

"Whatever," she mumbles, "You suffered head trauma and a snapped leg bone." The she-cat whisks around, paw out stretched. It holds brown spheres, like balls. They smell bitter, and definitely unappetizing.

"Poppy seeds," the she-cat says flatly, rolling the beads in front of Sagekit's nose, "lick them up. They taste better than most herbs."

Hesitant and still a little spooked, Sagekit leans forward and licks up the herbs. Instantly, the taste springs upon him. A not quite gross but unpleasant nutty taste accompanies a soft crunching sound. The beads dissipate into Sagekit's empty feeling stomach.

Instantly, a calm washes over the tom-kit. The pain slips away a bit later, making all of Sagekit serene and tranquil. His limbs, even the one once sending pain shooting up his whole upper body, relax and go limp.

Sagekit hardly resists sleep, though he yearns for his parents warm pelt. The tom snuggles into his nest, imagining some cat curling around him.

As warmth sinks in, Sagekit blinks his eyes closed and waits for sleep. The tom slips into slumber thinking about how much he wants his mother.

~~~

why wouldn't the medicine cat treat it and wait so long??? maybe it's relevant to plot (or maybe I made a mistake and wrote it into the plot)

enjoy the chapter regardless!