Warriors #6: A Kittypet's Destiny

Chapter 6

Swiftflight's POV

My eyelids slowly flew open, and I couldn't help but feel a small rush of panic as the bright rays of the sun leaked through the den walls, indicating that dawn had very-well passed.

But I suppose this hadn't been the first time I'd slept in. Since leaving the Dark Forest, my body had seemed to ask for nothing but sleep considering I was actually receiving the opportunity to get some.

And I had also had a bit of trouble sleeping last night, as I had been stuck in thoughts about the latest meeting with Goldenshine, Thornclaw and Lilypetal, frustrated that nothing new had been discovered about Snowstorm. Shockingly, I had been able to hold my tongue from pressing my mother about talking with Jayfeather.

What does it matter that he's being snappy? I had wondered. I'm snappy! It took a while, but you comfortably speak with me now!

I knew that I'd have to be patient, as hard as it would be. But now that I knew about Snowstorm's true identity, now that all of the weird things she thought and said made more sense, I wanted to know everything that was going on with her. Especially considering that we've established that Snowflight returning had something to do with me... I thought. It's still so strange to think about. I've been best friends with kin that I've never met.

I then sighed as I fully blinked my eyes open for the first time, and then slightly shifted over in my nest to see that Snowstorm was still in her nest. She was awake, lying on her back and staring up at the den roof.

Speaking of that snowball... I purred with amusement and scooted over just a bit so that I was just about a tail-length from her nest. "Snowstorm, what are you doing?" I asked her, still purring.

Snowstorm didn't look back at me, and continued to simply stare up. "... Lying here," she murmured.

I snorted. "Thank you, that was tough for me to figure out."

Snowstorm finally flashed me an amused look after my sarcastic comment. "I woke up a little past moonhigh," she explained as she sighed. She then proceeded to roll over so that she was lying on her belly. "I've been awake since then."

"You?" I exclaimed, my eyes widening. "But you usually sleep like a rock!" I could throw you from the top of a cliff and you'd stay asleep... and not just because you'd maybe be dead.

Snowstorm sniffed and shook her head slowly. "Oh, I know I do," she replied. Her gaze then darkened as she murmured, "But... I had a weird dream. They've been happening a lot, recently."

My whiskers began to twitch, and my eyes narrowed. Lilypetal's been having unsettling dreams that are keeping her up too... I recalled. But Snowstorm has been bothered in her sleep for many moons now; surely there's no correlation. "But you've always had dreams, haven't you?" I repeated out loud. "What makes these especially strange?"

I then watched, my curiosity rising as Snowstorm sighed and closed her eyes. "Since... since what happened in the Dark Forest, that... Ashfur has not left my head," she nearly whispered as she seemed to grow more and more uneasy with each word she spoke. She then quickly shook her head and looked at me with alarm. "I don't mean that in a weird way!"

I had to suppress another purr of amusement. "Thank StarClan," I muttered.

"I mean, that night was really, really scary," Snowstorm continued. "Maybe the experience of it is just coming back to haunt me."

I stared back at Snowstorm with wide eyes. "It was scary?" I questioned her, genuinely shocked. "Snowstorm, you sure didn't seem scared."

"Really?" Snowstorm exclaimed, her tail beginning to lash back and forth.