Warriors Writing Competition - Beyond the Stars

Chapter 1- @SerenadingBlackbirds

"I am celestial, dripped in transparency."

Life in CinderClan had always been good.
Owlflight had it all.
She was medicine cat if CinderClan.
She had two littermates who cared about her.
Her parents loved her.
So what she was filled with half nostalgia, half melancholia?
"I will meet the stars halfway, and sink into the dirt below," she muttered to herself.
She was lying under a pine tree, her eyes closed. The weight of what Willowkit had just told her hung heavily in her stomach. It felt like a rock, slowly slipping through her stomach lining and out of her flesh, leaving her with a gaping hole.
And the grief of losing her brother tasted as fresh as frost on her tongue.
Motion caught her attention, from somewhere to her right.
Sootsky.
The bicolor she-cat slipped through he night, tasting the air. Her movements were familiar, they were jerky and sudden, they always reminded Owlflight of a blackbird. Her white patches glowed like the eyes of a monster, startling and bold.
"Owlflight! What are you doing out here? You should've been back from the Moonrock by now," her friend questioned.
Owlflight couldn't answer; her throat was ripped and bloodied from the glass shards that had lodged themselves into it. At her lack of response, Sootsky wrapped her tail over her friend comfortingly. "You just can't get over him, can you? You're in a constant state of fragility."
Owlflight gave a sharp hiss, her teeth glowing in the darkness. "StarClan, I just can't do it! Willowkit was... I just can't!" She bit down on her tongue, Sooksky creeping in beside her.
"There has to be something we can do, I mean, you know Hickorytail and his personality, he got treatment. You need to talk to the medicine cats out tips to deal with greif." Sootsky told her, her voice almost arrogant.
Owlflight gave her a sharp glare.
"Oh right, you are the medicine cat."
There was a period of silence before the two began chuckling.
"No, but seriously. Talk to the other medicine cats. There'll be something."
Owlflight gave a meek smile. "I suppose."

***

Owlflight watched the weather grow warmer, the needles of trees growing glossy and bold. She watched the old ones fall at the end of Green-leaf while the young ones grew dull and dormant. Each told a story of rejection and sickness, though Owlflight knew they weren't alive.
She watched the snow drift from the Leaf-bare sky, the world become blackened in a seemingly aconian white. Then through the snow would sprout the glacial lilies as the snow melted and the grass began to grow, new needles would sprout as the trees began another cycle. The heat would come then again.
It was once again Greenleaf, the fifth one Owlflight had experienced. StarClan, Willowkit hadn't Ben experienced one.
     "Owlflight!" a cheerful meow disrupted her thoughts. The voice was earnest, the familiar voice of Owlflight's brother Curlewnose.
     "What are you doing here?" she replied.
     The sunlight created a dappled patter on her brother's black tabby pelt, she knew her own would mirror his. "Back from a patrol, of course. AshClan had behaved themselves and have left the border alone, an improvement from from Leafbare," he replied, his voice hinting a snarl.
     "They were starving," she murmured to herself. She then shook her head crossly. Being a medicine cat didn't mean she could be too gentle. "You're right, they shouldn't have stolen our prey."
      Curlewnose nodded approvingly. "Well, I have to get to camp. You want to come?"
     Before she could answer, she was interrupted by the sound of an impatient yowl. "Well, looks like Beetlewish is calling you. I'll just finish collecting these blackberry leaves, so many cats are running into the Alder Hive and getting stung. You warriors never learn!" She joking called.
     She quickly collected the last of the light green, prickly leaves, then hurried after her brother.
     When she got back to camp, it was chaotic. Cats were yowling, anger and tension cut through Owlflight's heart. What was going on?
     She didn't need to look far for an answer. In the center of the camp sat the strangest cat she'd ever seen. The cat was hairless, his skin wrinkled and pink. He had pink veins running from inside his ears to out, they bulged, creating a disgusting image. His eyes were green, but an odd mix of brown and red appeared to have seeped up from the bottom of his eye.
     "Blood vessel," he growled, smiling at Owlflight. She flinched back.
     "I know I look a sight, you'll look this way too if you stay! That or you'll be killed," the strange cat mewed, still staring at Owlflight.
     "What— what do you mean?" she stammered.
     "Enough of this!" Sloestar interrupted. The black molly's fur bristled, appearing twice her normal size. The leader was very short, she usually came up to Owlflight's shoulder. "You were found wandering on our territory, yowling 'Stay away from the monochrome den!' Explain what you mean."
     The tom replied with a wail; shrill, raw, running with blood. It slit Owlflight's vocal chords, sliding across her tongue and down her spine. She gagged on its bitter taste, the tang and tingle making her want to sink into the ground.
     "Stay away! Stay away! May the raven lead you, the hares drag you, the deer entice you— Run! Flee! The monochrome den will be your demise! Run, little spiders, run! The claws of stone will hunt you, and you will join the Decaying Ones!"
     No sooner as his words dripped from his mouth like oil, he seized up. He began a rigid dance as spasm after spasm after spasm rippled across his eerie body, foam leaking from his agape jaw. He coughed, sputtered, jerked in a violent, terrifying, enthralling fashion.
     "I think that was an augury, of a sort..."

Please comment if you wish to join the next chapter competition, entries will be due April 4th. Sorry about the wait, and congrats to @SerenadingBlackbirds!