falling petals | warrior cats story

thirty six.

thirty six.
lilystem.

Is this what you felt Petalheart? A wave of crushing pain, the sound of hearing your bones break. The blurriness of the valley's walls, dry rock scraping against your beautiful pelt.

The thought of knowing no one was here with you to help you. Of knowing that you were dying, and you'd do it alone.

The fact that you didn't even get to say a proper goodbye to anyone you loved.

The hard impact your body took once you hit the ground. How badly did it hurt you? Did you die on impact? Or maybe you were alive, but couldn't move, and were too paralyzed to go find help. Maybe you laid there, bleeding out, thinking about every moment that lead up to this one.

Is this what you felt Petalheart?
Because I'm not so sure I can take it ...

I twitched.
The taste of blood upon my mouth was apparent, and definitely wasn't a taste I wanted to wake up to. My other senses didn't seem to work as my tongue dragged across my chops, the bitter taste of the red liquid lingering on my taste buds. But one thing I knew for certain - I was alive.

My eyes stayed closed as I could feel my body ache just by laying still. For some reason, I could feel my leg twitching erratically.

What happened? I asked my inner self, trying to put the pieces together of what I had endured.

Without consent from the rest of my body, my eyes shot open in an instant. Immediately I was met with the face of an animal. Internally, I began to panic. However my vision started to refocus and sharpen on the creature, only to realize it was in fact, another cat.

The feline's mouth was moving as they looked at me. I stared at their silent words, trying to read lips but failing miserably. I hadn't realized that my ears were still ringing.

"I can't hear you," I said aloud. Did I say that out loud?

They just kept talking, my body now beginning to twitch. In a moment like this when my body was so limited, I probably would have cried. But, I assumed that I was in too much shock to do anything.

"Wake up!" I finally heard as my ears tuned back into reality, the sounds of birds and windy trees filling my senses.

I blinked, "I'm awake," I tried to say, happy after I finally heard my voice again.

The brown cat let out a sigh of relief. "Oh my you have given me the biggest scare," he laughed nervously. I was able to identify him as male based off of his masculine voice and build.

My body stopped twitching, and I lifted my head up ever so slightly to realize that it was never twitching. The tom was simply kicking me to get up.

"Who in the name of s—" I began to freak, "Get away from me!" I cried with my cracked voice, squirming my paws around in discomfort. I needed space.

"Ok-Okay! Please, calm down," he stepped away rather quickly.

As I laid on my side, I feared moving my body any further. I was afraid that if I moved, I would injure myself or worsen an injury I already have and don't know about. I came to the realization that I could use his help.

"I'm here to help you," he said, answering my thoughts.

"Who are you?" I repeated, this time in a nicer fashion. My head lifted to meet his yellow gaze.

He looked down at me softly, "I'm Coco. Your mother sent me."