Moon 37, Part 3, POV Amberleaf
Cats: Goldstar, Skypelt, Plumsong, Wasp, Pumaspot, Amberleaf, Mystery Entity
TW/CW: Animal death
Though he was a new warrior, Amberleaf had been chosen for this job. He had volunteered, after all, but he honestly has not expected Goldstar to pick him.
Despite the care the medicine cats were giving her, they were very worried about Morbius; none of them had really dealt with a broken back before. Plumsong thought it might be worth seeing if her Twoleg would take her back and help her how the medicine cats could. They didn't know if the Twoleg would want her back, would want to help her. And they couldn't just lead the Twoleg to camp, or drag Morbius to the lighthouse without cause.
So Amberleaf was going to check it out, and he was up early, coating himself in protection for the trip. He wouldn't take a conch or company, being able to travel faster that way, and he didn't mind. He was curious about the lighthouse, to be honest. And he was glad Goldstar had so much faith in him.
As he sat and carefully coated his pelt in the places rolling in it had missed, and that was when he was aware of Plumsong and Yellowlily nearby. They had come from somewhere else, up oddly early, and they stopped near the supply of protection, somewhat, Amberleaf pricking his ears as he heard their voices, smelling that Plumsong was angry. It was a private area near here, so it was a good place to talk, but Amberleaf felt like he might have been intruding. Especially when he heard what they were saying to each other.
"...The answer is no, Yellowlily. I told you that before." Plumsong snapped, and Amberleaf could easily imagine his tail lashing.
His view was blocked at the moment and he thought of leaving, but he wasn't going to risk not being as covered as he could.
"And why not?" Yellowlily demanded, sounding surprisingly angry.
"You and Jackdawnudge are mates. And you are asking me to your mate." Plumsong said, as if explaining something to a kit.
"So?"
"You already have a mate!"
"I've discussed it with Jackdaw. He doesn't mind. He knows that I'd have both of you if I could, and I want both of you, Plumsong. What's so wrong with that? I love you, and I love Jackdawnudge, too. You can love more than one cat at a time." Yellowlily demanded, her voice rising just a little.
"Does he really want to share you with another cat?" Plumsong asked, voice harsh.
"We discussed it before we became mates. There's nothing wrong with it. I know you know that and believe that. We're both getting on in moons, Plumsong. Why not enjoy the ones we have left? You can't tell me you don't feel the same way." Yellowlily said, and now her voice was patient and gentle.
Amberleaf felt awkward now, applying the protection as quickly as he could while being thorough, and maybe he should have said something, but now it felt too late. He was surprised and he wasn't to hear that Plumsong didn't want to be mates with Yellowlily, because he had seen them go on many patrols together when he had been a kit and an apprentice, and he had always thought Plumsong liked Yellowlily in that way.
It was none of his business, though, and he didn't hear Plumsong's response because the pair moved on, much to his relief. There was no doubt in his mind that Yellowlily had been thoroughly rejected, though, and he finished getting ready, heading to Goldstar's den.
Despite the early hour, she was awake, and Skypelt was with her.
"Be quick, and be safe." Goldstar said, her eyes sweeping over him.
"I will." Amberleaf promised.
"I know you can do it." Skypelt said, touching her nose to his.
Amberleaf flinched back, glaring at her, but as always, Skypelt didn't care. She never seemed to notice and he tried, he really did, but he just couldn't, and he hoped that one day, she would understand.
With the well-wishes from his leader and mother, he headed off, nodding to Quietback, who was sitting guard, Almondfern sitting as Rainwatcher, and they were really the only cats who saw him go.
It would take a few days to get the lighthouse and back and by then his protection was likely to run thin, but Amberleaf was confident in his ability to take care of himself. He set off and went at a pace he could maintain for a time, catching some prey when he stumbled across it, glad to find it didn't have black leaking from its eyes.
He ate it and moved on, and Amberleaf liked being alone, didn't socialize too much with his clanmates, truth be told, but this... After spending a good portion of the day walking, this was nice. It was very peaceful.
Just him and the territory, the sounds of birds, the wind in the trees, because even with the rainfall, the world pushed on. Life pushed on. Not just the clan, but the rest of the world as well, and Amberleaf lost himself in the peace of it.
Even when the rainfall came, he didn't fear it as he once had. No, he just sat in a hollow in trees roots, and watched as it fell. It was good to watch the rain and he saw the circular rainbow in the sky, but he did not encounter any Unseen. In fact, the whole day was beautiful and peaceful, and when he found a place to stop for the night, he had a sense of peace he hadn't had before.
Maybe it should have bothered him that he didn't miss his clanmates. But it had been less than a full day and night, after all, and sometimes it was nice to just be alone. To be free of responsibilities. To just have the world himself, and a job to do that he was heading toward but had no immediate urgency, because he couldn't get there any faster.
Amberleaf couldn't imagine not being in his clan. He knew nothing but Hyacinthclan, and the thought of leaving them made something in him feel odd. But this time, this peace and quiet and being alone... He did enjoy it.
He had nightmares, as he often did, and tonight it was of sand welling blood beneath his paws everywhere he put it, and dark tides rolling toward him. He wok with a jolt, fur matted, heart pounding, and he still hadn't seen that... Thing... Again, and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.
It was a clear dawn outside where he had camped for the night and Amberleaf got up and shook himself, fur stiff from the protection, skin itching a bit, but it was better than falling victim to the rainfall. He shook himself and went hunting, skipping over a squirrel that had black welling from its eyes. No harm had come yet, but he didn't want to be the first cat to find out, even if he could revive.
He settled on two mice and set out, still finding that peace he had the day before.
It continued all the way to the lighthouse, actually, and he made it in about the same time Skypelt and Quietback had, though he arrived as night was falling. And just his luck, a rainfall was coming.
He could smell that metallic, odd scent that accompanied it and the area around the lighthouse was barren of shelter, just grass and other shorter growth that was messed up from repeated rainfalls. Growling, Amberleaf took off. After days of travel, his protection was wearing off, and he wasn't going to get caught in it.
The lighthouse was the only place to really go and he ran for it, his paws thumping over the ground hard. He found a smooth path leading up to it that stank of odd scents he didn't know and it was easier to run here, the dirt smooth and compacted, a huge path winding up toward the lighthouse.
Scrambling up onto it from the steep edge had definitely been the hardest part, and he ran toward the odd structure, not even being able to appreciate the sight of it in the dimming light. Hopefully, there was shelter outside it. And lacking that, maybe the Twoleg would let him in. Amberleaf had never seen a Twoleg before, but if Morbius had been cared for, maybe this one would at least offer him shelter.
As he ran, Amberleaf was heard an odd rumbling sound and saw light, but at first, he thought the light was from the lighthouse. Then he realized it wasn't. It couldn't have been. It was coming straight toward him, two points of light brighter than he had thought possible, speeding toward him like some giant, rumbling predator. Amberleaf had no idea what it was, and no idea what he was doing, either.
He was running away from the rainfall and directly toward it, and-
THUNK!
Pain exploded through every inch of his body and Amberleaf went flying, slipping over the drop of the road and into the grass below it as the rain hit, and his mouth was full of blood, his head spinning, ears ringing, nothing making sense. He was only able to briefly think monster, recognizing the thing now from the older cats' stories, before that now-familiar blackness and sensation claimed him.
He woke floating in the ocean, to upside down whales and fish, faint light above, depths below, and he clawed himself around, looking. He did not see the odd, dark shape with tentacles, and he was almost disappointed. As he had previously thought, it was more unsettling to not know where it was rather than knowing it was there.
He clawed his way around, searching for his body, and located it quickly enough, drifting many tail-lengths and slightly below him this time. Amberleaf clawed his way toward it and as he did, he saw something.
Further out, a black shape with too many limbs, clawing through the water toward him, and part of Amberleaf wanted to linger. He wanted to see if it was real or a vision, if he could touch it, maybe understand what it was. But he also didn't want to. It could possibly kill him... Or worse.
So he clawed his way through the water- he was getting quite good at swimming- and pressed his paw to his paw, and surfaced back in his body.
He was laying soaked in the ditch, the protection running off him, but he could tell by the scent that the rain was the normal kind. His body echoed with pain and his mouth was still filled with blood, but as far as he could tell, he was completely fine.
Light illuminated the raindrops and Amberleaf remembered the monster then, and he could hear footsteps, here a voice calling out, but it wasn't a cat. No, it must have been the Twoleg. He couldn't understand it and he wasn't sure if he wanted to.
Forget this foolish mission. How was he supposed to see if the Twoleg really wanted Morbius back? How was he supposed to know if the Twoleg would really help her? How were they supposed to get her help?
Growling, Amberleaf staggered to his paws, blood dribbling off his tongue, and he spat, looking up at the monster lights and where the Twoleg must have been, anger and bitterness welling up in him.
"FUCK!" he spat at the Twoleg and his monster, staggering away.
His yowl had attracted the Twoleg, but he didn't care, carrying his aching body away as another light swept down, narrowly avoiding it, and tucked himself in the growth that was now shockingly tall to reorient himself for a moment or two.
He stayed there until he got his bearings and had spat most of the blood from his mouth, disappearing into the damp growth, avoiding the Twoleg. If it hadn't been such a trip from the lighthouse, it was clear that they could have just led the Twoleg to camp and put Morbius out where he could find her.
Unfortunately, that was not possible, so Amberleaf got himself moving, disappearing into the wet landscape before the Twoleg could follow.
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His coat was only covered in patchy protection by the time he got back, but he had managed to avoid the rainfalls. There had been more of them and his nightmares had come almost every night, and he had seen more prey with black leaking from their eyes, too.
The peace he had found traveling to the lighthouse was gone, and the journey back had been filled with anxiety, a worry of what he might find when he returned.
But he had no need to worry. When he arrived back at camp, he could see Buzzardglide sitting as Rainwatcher in the tree, and Pumaspot was guarding the camp entrance.
"Oh, hey. You're back." she said, and it wasn't friendly, but it wasn't unfriendly, at least.
Amberleaf didn't think they would ever be friends, but at least she didn't seem to hate him as much as she had when they were apprentices.
He nodded to her and walked into the camp, where Lester's litter was play-fighting in the clearing, his clanmates were eating and grooming under the high-sun, and it was peaceful.
They all started, of course, when he returned, and he went immediately to Goldstar's den, where Skypelt, Plumsong, and Wasp joined them. Amberleaf really wanted to sit down and wash off the remains of the protection, but he made his report first.
He explained what had happened at the lighthouse and with the Twoleg, Plumsong's whiskers twitching.
"You didn't know that was a monster?" he asked, frowning.
"No, because I've never seen one." Amberleaf said, barely keeping his tone level or himself from saying 'never fucking seen one'.
"Did you die again?" Skypelt asked, looking worried.
"Yeah." Amberleaf said and they all exchanged looks.
"Did you see it?" Plumsong asked, his voice soft, suddenly.
"Yeah. No different than normal." Amberleaf replied, but he detailed it all the same.
He had no idea what Plumsong and Wasp might think of that, but it wasn't his job.
"The Twoleg cares, but there's no way to get him here, and I don't think we could bring Morbius over that terrain." Amberleaf summed up when he was done.
"Maybe if we cut through Weedclan territory..." Wasp mused, but everyone else was already shaking their heads.
"Well, it was worth a try. Thank you, Amberleaf." Goldstar said heavily, giving him a respectful nod.
Amberleaf nodded back and was granted permission to leave, aware that the rest would stay and likely talk about the thing he had seen. About whether or not it was a sign, but he didn't care if they didn't include him.
He went to clean the protection off and slid into the water, letting it rinse it away and scrubbing his fur against the rocks, getting the mud and herb mixture out. As he did, he caught sight of a long, black tendril sliding toward his paw, and Amberleaf leapt out of the water, heart pounding.
His jaws were open to sound the alarm, but then he stopped, realizing it was nothing more than a drank drifting in the water. Growling, he reached in and grabbed it, flinging it out, and finished washing.
He was being paranoid. That was all.
But still, for days after his return, the amount of prey with black streaming from their eyes increased, and the rainfalls seemed more frequent. His nightmares came more as well. Maybe it really was a sign from Starclan, after all, a warning of something that was slowly creeping up on them. Hopefully, they would be prepared when it it arrived.
3/10/2026-3/27/2026
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