Sage-eye's Story

Chapter 13-Awakening

-A Quarter Moon After Chapter 12-

Sagepaw opened her almost-purple eyes, and blinked rapidly as the afternoon flew into her ill prepared eyes. Her ginger and white was all ruffled up and covered in dirt and moss. The chilly warm-cold air stinger her senses. I am now back in the real world. I am now healed. My time has come for me to patiently await for my quest to succeed.

She moved her eye around and Saw Sunpaw sorting out various herbs and leaves. Her fur bristled in anger, and her heart went cold. It's that rotten foxheart again! She stole my dreams and my future destiny. She will someday receive her payment for her betrayal to me.

Sunpaw saw that she was awake at last, and she shouted in joy. "Sagepaw, you're awake now! You've been out for moons now! It's now the cold season!"

Lashing her tail, Sagepaw spoke coldly to her. "Stay away from me Sunpaw. You stole my dreams and ruined my life. You are no longer my family or my friend. Don't bother ever talking to me again."

Sunpaw's face showed extreme shock. "What are you talking about? How did you know I became the Mender Learner? Please, let me explain!" she pleaded.

"No! You very well know what you have done." said Sagepaw in rejection. "And I may be asleep, but I can still hear and dream. Good bye for forever now, traitor!" Then she stalked her way out of the Healing Den to the tune of a heartbroken Sunpaw. She could feel the power in the legs as she walked out. She had most certainly grown in 2-3 moons that she had been out.

Almost no-one was in camp. The white-furred she-cat stood guard in the entrance, the elders were in their den. Almost all of the warriors and Learners were out, but there were two warriors who were in camp.

When she saw her mother grooming with her father under the warriors bush, she ran over to them, calling their names. Her heart flooded with joy as they embraced tails with her.

"Oh, it so good to see again. Sagepaw! You are a Learner now!" her mother gleefully said. Flowerclaw simply nodded, allowing Rockheart to speak. Rockheart wrapped her head around Sagepaw's and purred, and then released her,

"Oh, darling,I thought we had lost you for good." Rockheart's voice became more somber, and her eyes went to a mix of love and grief. "Everyday you barely cling to life, and at any moment you could have died! But soon you to a stage where you would live for sure. Oh, thanks the ancestors!"

"It's weird going to sleep near the end of the hot season, and waking up so near the season of cold." Sagepaw revealed. "I miss the sunshine now. It is to be much more colder here soon. Soon it be be much colder."

"And to be so near death at a young age, to experience it almost...." Rockheart tensely spoke.

"Yes, mother. Not many do do that." She felt guilty at the way she had treated her parents. "I am sorry that I did not love you for so long. I am ashamed of myself. I sho not have treated you like that. I need to work on my anger issues."

Flowerclaw then entered into the talk. "Yes you should work on your anger. It makes you irrational sometimes. But we were irrational as well. Living on this clan, as you know, it is......not easy to say the least. We are few in number, the weakest clan, and divided. We may seem unified on the surface, but go deeper, and we are not."

Sagepaw decided to pour out what she knew. "I know father. Now it is just me, you, Mother, Birchleaf, Apple-eye, and Sunkit. I have heard things in my sleep. We are too afraid to do anything; we cannot do anything now. All of the others shun down upon us. They may have their own slight divisions, but for them it is just friendly competition. We are their toys. They mess with us, treat us badly, and yet we are still expected to be loyal to the clan. This has gone on for too long."

"Be careful where you tread Sagepaw," warmed Rockhear, "We are too old to change this clan. But you and Sunkit are young and yet you know lots. You have the potential to change our clan, to rid it of this evil. But do not fail. Do it for all of us. We all know of Brightwing's fate. Now go before anyone else comes over here and hears us. Go explore you new den." Sagepaw nodded and padded off. But first I have come cats to talk to first.

Sandclaw and Stonestar were inside of the rotten log. Sagepaw made sure to walk up to them stealthy to scare them. She succeeded. They hissed instinctively. Their faces went to irritation when they saw her.

"Oh, it's you again!" hissed Sandclaw. "You and you're useless paw your freak eyes! Take that for an insult! It's about time someone said something about them!"

"Yes," Sagepaw said calmly,"I have weird eyes. But they are unique, and therefore can be considered pretty as well."

Stonestar and Sandclaw looked at each other in surprise. The Stonestar spoke. "Oh go away! Haven't learned to leave us alone already? Besides, you deserved what happened to you! Now you're all ugly with that permanent claw rake scar on your left flank."

Sagepaw hardened her gaze at them. She could tell that their fur was slightly raised. "Am I ugly? Perhaps. But did I deserve it? If anyone deserved it, it would have been you, not meant you . And don't bother to try to scare me again with those stories of Brightwing. For such a great leader, you most certainly seem to take joy in taking revenge."

The elders lashed their tails in frustration it seemed, as if she had beaten them in a battle of wits. Sandclaw, sounding very flustered, growled at her. "Just go away, you rotten little freak. Just go away! Go train with your mentor Goldenheart!"

 Sagekit stared at them for a moment before turning away from them. She made herself appear not bothered, but inside she was worried. Goldenheart is my mentor? Oh ancestors, not him! He's the worst of them all! He'll be way too tough on me! But then she found confidence within herself. But I can do this. I will do it for the good of my clan. I might as well go explore the hole in the corner of the camp where the Learners sleep.

The den was somewhat dark inside and smelled dusty.The half a dozen nests inside were a little bit scrambled, but otherwise fine. She saw that Badgerpaw was dozing in a nest nearer to the door, so the weak rays of the sun made some of his orange fur shine. Sagepaw poked him in the shoulder with her right paw.

Badgerkit slowly got up, mumbling. "Come on Cloudfur......I thought I had toda-" When he saw that it was her, his voice went silent, and his face showed surprise, but his green eyes showed gratitude though.

"Oh, hey Sagepaw. I hope you are well. It's most certainly been awhile." He looked down at his paw, it seemed, in nervousness.

"Hello." Sagepaw said. "It has been a while since last time." Her words were calm and soothing.

Badgerpaw looked up at her again. "You changed me Sagepaw," he began. "You showed my kindness on that day. I...want to thank you for that. I had seen nothing but jealousy tot that day. I didn't like how Honeypelt focuses more on Sunpaw then me. So I took out my anger on you. That day. I saw past my anger. I am sorry for the way I treated you. If I had not, you wouldn't have become overjoyed and ran into that fox."

He does not need to be killed. I was being irrational with my anger for petty childhood bullying. That laugh I heard from him on the day I went out was just my imagination toying with me. So near death, I had just wanted satisfaction if I had died. "It is not your fault, Badgerpaw. And I forgive you. It was just some stuff from our childhood. The past is gone, and the future is still yet to come. We can be better cats. We will be better cats."

Sagepaw watched relief grow in Badgerpaw's bright green eyes. "Oh thank you! Want to go share some prey?" Sagepaw nodded and off they went. He has very much changed since last time. Perhaps Badgerpaw will be a helpful ally to have in my long quest.