Reedwhisper's Visions [The Sequel to Leafpool's Choice]

Chapter 9

Hollyleaf crept along the ground carefully, every paw step light and deliberate. Her tail held still, careful not to disrupt the leaves around her. She bunched her muscles up, perfectly poised to leap.

The rabbit's nose twitched slightly, but it continued to nose around in the dirt. Hollyleaf leapt at it, her paws thudding to the ground, barely brushing rabbit fur as it slipped away.

As swift as her bulkier ThunderClan body could carry her, she gave chase, only for the rabbit to slip into a hole in the ground. Hollyleaf paused, sniffing at the hole and carefully brushing the leaves away with a paw. The tunnel was wide enough for a cat, but barely, and anyone larger than her would never be able to fit. It smelled strongly of rabbit and earth.

The chill of winter was fast-approaching, and soon, there would be no prey left. Would it be worth it to go into the sketchy tunnel? Hollyleaf studied the top of the tunnel carefully. It looked perfectly sturdy, held together with a twisting mass of roots and mud, formed over time. It looked solid, and Hollyleaf, ever-so-carefully, stepped inside.

Down the tunnel, following the scent of the rabbit, she continued, being careful not to lose track of where she was. I'll just continue straight, she thought, and there's no way I can get lost then.

For all of the confidence she tried to coax herself into believing, she still felt the twinge of fear in her gut that thought otherwise, that led her to believe that something bad was going to happen. Was it just her imagination, or was the tunnel getting smaller? Was her fur always brushing up against the walls like that?

The smell of the rabbit was growing stronger, though, and Hollyleaf's ears perked up, listening carefully for any sounds. There, a side trail, the soft rustling and thudding of rabbit movement could be heard. Ever-so-quietly, Hollyleaf crept, leaping forward as best as she could in the dark. Her paws slammed down on the warm body of the rabbit, it wiggling a bit beneath her paws before she could administer the killing blow. Proudly, she stood up, admiring her kill as best as she could in the low light. Its fur tickled her nose, and she tried as best as she could not to sneeze.

Hollyleaf turned around, slipping out of the space and into the main hallway. Or, well, what she thought was the main hallway. Instead, the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. An underground stream rushed through, little flecks of dirt floating through it. The sound of the stream babbling through echoed around the cavern. Many different passages branched out from it, and Hollyleaf had no clue which one would take her home.

She sniffed around, trying to catch even the slightest indication of which way would take her home, but it eluded her. With a sigh, Hollyleaf sat, observing. Her best bet would be to pick a path and head down it... right? I'll just be more careful this time, it'll be fine! Hollyleaf thought, sticking her nose in the air and starting off down a path.

After a series of twists and turns, however, Hollyleaf found herself back in the cavern. She let out an irritated huff. "I was just here a moment ago!!!"

"Need some help?"

Hollyleaf whipped around. "Hello?"

A cat emerged from the shadows, their fur a soft white, with speckles of orange dotting their flank. Green eyes gleamed in the dark. "Hello. I'm Fallen Leaves."

Something about the cat, however, looked off, like they were... what was it?

Hollyleaf squinted at the cat, confused. They looked a little see-through. The wall behind Hollyleaf was clearly visible through their fur, yet they didn't gleam the same way StarClan cats did, as if they themselves were made of stardust and webs of constellations.

After a moment of silently staring at one another, Hollyleaf finally just asked. "Are you dead?"

Fallen Leaves looked shocked, confusion momentarily flickering across their face. "Nobody's ever bothered to ask me that before. Walk with me, and I'll tell you what I know."

Fallen Leaves's paws touched the ground lightly, not making a sound, not even disturbing a single speck of dust, and next to them, Hollyleaf felt large and awkward, her bulky, muscular body, one typical of her Clan, suddenly feeling unwieldy besides them.

"I'm sorry for asking this, but are you a tom or a she-cat? The whole being dead thing makes it really hard to tell."

Fallen Leaves let out what might've been a huff of laughter. "I don't think it really much matters anymore."

"Oh." Hollyleaf paused. "Well, if you're dead, why didn't you go to StarClan?"

"StarClan?"

"You know, the afterlife? It's the place where dead cats go, and watch over the living."

"I see. We had something like that too, my Tribe did. I won't bore you with the details."

"Really? Well, why aren't you there?"

"I think I'm stuck down here. I can't leave the tunnels, anyway. Not sure why."

"Isn't it lonely?"

"I've gotten used to it. Sometimes I talk to myself just to hear the sound of my own voice again, to remind myself that I can."

"That sounds terrible, I'm sorry."

"It's not all bad. I watch the cats that come through, and sometimes, if they look, they might catch a glimpse of me or stop to talk. And by talk, I just mean ask me to lead them out."

"That's miserable, I'm sorry."

"Sometimes they'll tell me about their lives. There are clans out there, right? If I remember correctly, there are five? ShadowClan, RiverClan, WindClan, SkyClan, and... something else?"

"There are four Clans. By SkyClan, do you mean ThunderClan?"

"Oh! ThunderClan is the other one, right!" Fallen Leaves blinked. "What happened to SkyClan?"

"Never heard of them, sorry."

"Oh, well, it's been a while. Maybe things have changed."

"I have to ask, how do you know about the clans? We just moved territories recently."

"A group of travelers came over the mountains from there. Ages ago, it seems."

They know things I've never even heard of. Interesting...

"Well, this is where I leave you. Have a nice day. Or life. Whichever."

Thin shafts of sunlight slid into the tunnel from an opening up ahead, specks of dust catching the light as they drifted through the air.

Hollyleaf stepped out of the tunnel, making a silent promise to herself as she did.

Turning around, she was met with shiny, green eyes, barely visible in the dying dusk light, watching her retreating form. They blinked once at her, and then they were gone, leaving Hollyleaf with only a memory.

I'll be back.

A/N: Hi!!! I've tried to stay away from author's notes in this one, but I feel like since I was gone for so long, I do kind of owe you guys a bit of an explanation. I quite honestly barely consider myself part of this fandom anymore. I still read the books, but I'm a lot less invested than I used to be. I spend quite a lot of time on my ao3 and on discord (my username is [insert funny username here]#3152 you guys can add me if you want) but I don't really do much on Wattpad anymore. I do read every single comment, even if I don't always reply, and all of the love that you guys give my trashy fifth or sixth grade (idek it was a while ago) fic is really sweet. I appreciate all of it so so much and all of the nice comments and support Leafpool's Choice got is honestly what motivates me to keep writing today, so thanks for everything! You all mean the world to me.

More importantly, though, I WILL BE CONTINUING THIS FIC. I feel like I owe it to you for everything you guys have done for me. This chapter was written in the middle of some spur-of-the-moment motivation as Wilbur Soot songs play in the background on loop and my Bluetooth keyboard slowly gives up on life, but it's here!!! Yay!!!

Thank you for all of your continued love and support. You guys all mean the world to me.

(: