Warriors: Clockwise

<------ Chapter Fifteen ------>

Hero woke up gasping, flailing uselessly when he found his claws grasping at empty air. Sunspots danced across his vision as searing pain ripped through his chest, and with a pitiful squeak, he went completely limp, ears ringing from the sound of his own heartbeat.

"Oh!" someone exclaimed, though the voice sounded warped in Hero's dazed state. "Oh, he's gone and reopened his wounds."

"Where..." Hero trailed off as something was laid over his eyes, though he hardly objected, as the stinging sensation suddenly faded.

"Hush, don't move," the cat cooed, and Hero glimpsed a brown and white pelt through the whirling colors. "Estelle, come quickly!"

He wasn't in the street anymore. As he grew accustomed to consciousness again, Hero detected the gentle ambience of the place he was in, the distant warbling and trilling of city birds. No cars charging down jet-black asphalt, accompanied by constant blaring and wailing; no piercing orbs of white light suspended in the air by towering metal poles. He wasn't sure where he was, but as a soft breeze ruffled his fur, he somehow knew he was safe.

Hero couldn't tell when he blacked out again, but when he awoke, the pain coursing throughout his body had faded and the gentle breeze had died. For several long moments, Hero remained completely motionless, breath hitching every time he inhaled too deeply. Finally, he summoned the courage to open his eyes, and when he did so, the light didn't seem nearly so bright as it had before. He twitched the tip of his tail, and very, very slowly, he stretched out each of his limbs, cringing at the resulting twinges of numbness.

Determined to assess the situation, Hero pushed himself into a seated position, staring at the wooden planks beneath his paws. He swallowed, slowly raising his head to inspect whatever damage had been dealt to him the previous day - judging by the strength of the light shining in on him from an unknown source, he'd been out at least that long.

He scanned his own form, noting the sticky substance that matted the fur in patches, though it seemed to be healing the wounds beneath, and the long strips of material wrapped around his chest and foreleg. He recognized these healing methods quickly, and though he'd become used to the Clans' herbs as of late, he quickly remembered the more modern city way of doing things. As he observed the room more closely, he realized he was inside a windowless cobblestone structure, save for the cracked ceiling above his head, where a gentle light illuminated the floating specks of dust that settled at his paws. He had been laying in a nest fashioned from different strips of material, much like the ones wrapped around his stomach, though there appeared to be a partially torn pillow at the bottom of the pile. Hero aimlessly batted at a few wayward feathers, though immediately regretted his decision when the sudden movement nearly made him fall over again.

Hero exhaled to stop his legs from wobbling, and with a confident swish of his tail and a quiet huff of determination, he steadily pushed himself into a standing position. He remained completely motionless for several long seconds before he was finally able to relax his muscles, and even longer to wait for the resulting bout of dizziness to fade. He smiled at his accomplishment, and raised his head proudly as he proceeded to take a step forward -

"You're awake!"

- and proceed to fall flat on his face.

"Ow..." Hero muttered, gradually picking himself up again as a small brown and white patched she-cat ran to his side.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She apologized vehemently, pressing against Hero's shoulder to support him as he stood up again, and the tabby tom gratefully accepted her help. "I didn't mean to startle you, I'm just a bit flustered. You know what, you don't need to bother about me, let's get you back up on your feet."