THE SURVIVORS || Warriors

Chapter 2 - { Little Wings }

You're shallow and empty and filled with regret.
No, you don't know that you're just a poor unfortunate soul.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she squinted against the blaring sunlight, the brightness of it making her head ache and her eyes hurt. Shivering against the cold, the grey tabby she-cat rose to her paws and stretched. Parting her maw in a yawn, she lifted her cranium and drank in the chill morning air. Flicking her tail, she stepped out of her nest and into camp. The slender she-cat moved her pale leaf green gaze to the great rock where she could see Whisperstar and Lazarus sitting closely and talking intently.

It had been a little over a moon since the small battle. A little over a moon since she had been left for dead. And a little over a moon and a half since she had finally come to realize who really cared about her.

In the time since then she had been given her full title, moving from Sagepaw to Sagewing, having completed her training but instead of under her father, Pineclaw, under Lazarus with the help of her daughters. Her pelt was scarred now. Muscled and lean, with a hard stare and a brutal face compared to the limp and gangly creature she had been before with the doe-eyed look and the startled spring in her step. She was smooth and tactful, having such grace and guile in the way she moved with a shrewd tone to her words and an unreadable stare. Lazarus called her beautiful sometimes. Many cats expected her to get a mate soon, bear strong kits and carry on not only her parents blood, but her own desirable blood. She had considered it, thinking of some names. But she didn't believe it was something she desired at this point. Maybe not even ever. Her sister Crimsonlily was more suited to motherhood and mateship than Sagewing ever would be.

"Sagewing!" A voice averted her attention.

Snapping her head around, she rested her green eyes on Cherryclaw. The dark ginger, copper eyed she-cat trotted over towards the dark silver tabby, her gaze glittering.

"What?" Sagewing asked, her gaze curious but her voice largely disinterested.

"Shadowlake was looking for you this morning. He seemed rather disappointed to know that you weren't awake yet." The ginger she-cat mewed, batting her eye-lashes.

Sagewing rolled her eyes. Shadowlake was an arrogant tom who seemed to think he was above everyone except for a select few that he either knew were above him or that he saw as his equal. Whisperstar was considering appointing him the new heir. She could see why. He would be easy to control and manipulate and he wasn't as smart as Darkpaw so he'd never catch on to much of anything. He'd be a mindless, useless leader though. Sagewing had considered voicing this to the ebony feline but she was still unsettled at the way the thin emerald eyed she-cat looked at her. Whisperstar was an intimidating cat, as was Lazarus. One misstep after her previous betrayal could result in her being drowned in the red river. And that was the last thing she wanted.

"Did he really now?" Sagewing rumbled, not caring.

Cherryclaw nodded. "Crimsonlily didn't seem too happy about it."

"Crimsonlily never seems too happy about anything." The dark tabby replied in a savvy tone. Sagewing sat down to lick her paw, drawing it over her muzzle and ears as Cherryclaw continued to speak.

"Every cat knows that she fancies Shadowlake! But everyone also knows that you've got his head turned right around in the opposite direction."

Sagewing was never one for gossip. She didn't like the way it changed how a cat was perceived. On some sort of level she supposed she disliked Shadowlake but even more so the talk of his pining eyes trailing after her. Cats expected her to get a mate and they expected it to be Shadowlake. She couldn't think of anything worse than that. Even more so was the recurring issue of her jealous, seething sister, Crimsonlily. Yes, Crimsonlily seemed to have some sort of affection for Shadowlake but Sagewing knew better than to understand it as a genuine fondness for the tom. All she desired was his reputation. To gain that closeness to Whisperstar and Lazarus through him, and through that, power and influence.

"The only reason Crimsonlily takes to anyone is because they're powerful or because they can benefit her in some sort of way." Sagewing replied dryly, not interested in continuing this conversation. "My sister has always been shallow and vain. That'll never change."

The ginger she-cat in front of her only seemed to shrug. "Whatever you say."

"I'm going on a walk." Sagewing rose to her paws.

Cherryclaw knew better than to follow the sharp feline as she sauntered along the cliff face and up towards the exit. Sagewing felt the cool, fresh air of the moor tug at her whiskers as she slipped through the darkness and out into the open. Looking across to the far side of the slow laden moor, she spotted the now covered exit she and the others had used when they had made their escape. She saw the tree line and suddenly she was back inside that storm and that battle, watching as she was left behind for the last time.

Sinking her claws into the cold hard earth, she gritted her teeth, tail lashing at the thought of Darkpaw. Although, news had come last sunrise from some little birds inside The Rebellion that she was a warrior now, newly named Darkriver. Sagewing felt something tear her up inside. Exhaling sharply, she lifted her head at the sound of approaching paw-steps.

"Sagewing." The black tom mewed.

Sagewing held back her groan. "Shadowlake."