THE ETERNAL SHADOWS stretched endlessly in all directions, the air filled with a hollow silence that seemed not even to breathe. Darkness lurked beneath the trees that rotted for indefinite time, which still rotted with no sign that urged them to stop.
This was a dead world, a wasteland.
And yet, the old cat had called it home for seasons, generations, even.
Laid upon a nest of rotting moss that was just too damp for her liking, sheltered by a den of broken twigs on their last breaths, the cat listened. She watched from the shadows as nothingness continued to creep by. How long had she been here? Days and moons and seasons. She was so faded now — a mere whisper in the wind. No one remembered her anymore, and why would they?
This land was her home, as promised by the stars. As desolate and dark as it was, she remembered little else.
The sunlight against her fur, the taste of warm prey in her mouth, the soft caress of the breeze, it was all a faded memory.
She'd been here too long, and would continue to remain here forever.
Forever . . .
The cat had grown to detest that word.
Back when she was new to this land of shadows, Forever hadn't seemed so terrible. But now, with so much time having passed and an eternity to go, she was starting to wonder if trying to keep from fading away was worth it.
How long had it been since she spoke to another cat? How long since she could cherish the sound of another's voice?
Too long. Far too long.
And yet, the silence carried on, as it always had.
She had stopped singing the lullabies of her mother long ago. The words dried up on her tongue as did the memory of the melody. Slowly, little by little as the generations moved forward, the cat lost more of herself. Like an aging warrior would lose memories as time passed them by.
Was this what it truly felt like to grow old?
Perhaps the age of life and the age of death weren't so different after all.
The feline shifted in the shadows, resting her head on her paws as the eerie silence whispered among the trees. The hollowness had long since become normal to the residents of the rotting forest, and none really cared about it much anymore.
After all, they were doomed to suffer this fate from the moment they were born. All who ended up in this afterlife had started innocently, but then the circumstances of their lives had brought them nothing but torment and sorrow.
Just as she was about to close her eyes and doze off into another dreamless slumber, the molly was jolted back to the desolate world, eyes snapping open as the dead bushes rustled somewhere beyond the walls of her pathetically small den.
Getting to her paws slowly, the faded cat pushed out of the rotten-twig den and looked around, ears pricked to listen for anything that might be nearby. She suspected it might be her dear friend, Half-Face, coming to see her after they'd been separated by the eternal vastness of the Dark Forest, but when she opened her mouth to taste the air, the scent of the cat she grew up with wasn't what hit her taste buds.
The bitter tang of starlight danced on the edge of her tongue instead, nearly choking her with its purity. She stepped back, coughing in response to the taste just as the bushes rustled once more.
She stepped back, fur bristling as she prepared to take on whatever starlit fool had dared to cross into the outlands of the afterlife. Her claws slid out from their sheathes, sinking into the grainy soil.
The bushes parted, and the molly bared her teeth as a small, brightly-lit cat tumbled out, huffing in annoyance.
Narrowing her eyes, she twitched her ears, an expression of surprise flashing in her dull eyes.
It was a kitten.
A StarClan kit, by the looks of those stars which dappled its coat.
The molly snorted as the kit sorted itself out and climbed to its paws. It was a tom, with a glowing brown tabby pelt and pale green eyes. He didn't look very happy.
He shook out his fur, scattering starlight everywhere, and then looked up at the she-cat who was standing a few paces away. His eyes instantly grew wide and he stepped back. "Who are you?"
The dark cat snorted again. "I could ask you the same thing, kitten. This is my home, not yours."
"I'm Crackedkit." He bristled slightly at her tone.
"Stars, mothers will give their kits any name these days, won't they?" The faded warrior rolled her eyes.
Crackedkit narrowed his eyes. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"What's your name?"
She tilted her head, ruffling her fur. "My name isn't important. You wouldn't know it. You're too young."
The little brown kit huffed. "How do you know?"
Instead of answering him, the molly was already on her way to return to her den. "Run back to where you came from, kitten. If you stay here too long, you'll lose your stars."
He glanced down at his star-dappled paws. "Where is . . . here?"
She rolled her eyes. "No place for kits."
"It's so dark and . . . "
"Sad?" The molly interrupted, swishing her tail. "Yes. I'm well aware of this fact."
"Lonely." He said instead, looking up at her with big, starlit eyes. "Are you the only one here?"
She turned her head back toward him, narrowing her eyes. "There are others here, but I don't see them often."
Crackedkit blinked, flicking starlight from his ears. "So you're alone all the time?"
"It is my fate."
"Why?"
The brown tabby she-cat huffed, her gaze sharpening. "You sure do ask a lot of questions, kitten."
He shrugged. "I'm curious."
She snorted. "Curiosity is what killed the cat. Don't you know anything?"
"It isn't the reason I died." Crackedkit protested, flattening his ears as his starry fur started to bristle.
"Do enlighten me then, kitten."
His brown fur puffed out. "I fell."
The brown molly twitched one ear, tail slowly swishing back and forth. "Is that so?"
"My mother accidently kicked me off the cliff that makes ThunderClan's camp." Crackedkit mewed softly, crouching where he stood. "I was born at the top and she knocked me down into the camp."
The molly spared him another glance, before looking away. "Your name is making quite a lot of sense now."
He scowled at her. "You still haven't told me yours."
"My what?"
"Your name." His gaze flickered around at the creepy forest. "I have to call you something instead of just 'random dark shadow cat who lives in the dead zone'."
She nearly choked out a laugh. Nearly. "I find that a fitting name for me."
Crackedkit threw his head back and groaned in exasperation. "Why don't you just tell me who you are?"
"Because there's a reason I rot here, forgotten by all, instead of enjoying my time in the stars with the likes of you." Perhaps one would take her tone as mildly contemptuous, though she was certain a kit as small and young as this would not understand the mockery when she spoke of StarClan.
He was silent for a long time, to the point where she had to glance over and make sure he hadn't fallen over and went to sleep. But he was still awake, watching her intently.
She scoffed. "What?"
"Is this a place where bad cats go?"
One of her ears twitched slightly. "You're smarter than I first believed you to be." She looked up at the shadowy branches of the trees above them. "Yes, this is where the cats who StarClan rejected go when they die."
Crackedkit flattened his ears. "Are you a bad cat?"
"I'm here, aren't I?"
"But you don't seem bad."
She snorted, the movement causing her shadowed form to waver slightly. "I am bad. Very bad."
His gaze flickered from her to the den behind her. "My mom says that bad cats aren't usually nice."
"Maybe I'm just waiting for a moment to lure you into my den so I can eat you."
"You eat cats?" He took a step back, eyes wide now.
The molly lifted a paw and lapped at it with her rough tongue. "I'm sure there are stories about me that say I do." She replied, nonchalantly. "They'll say anything about me to make sure I stay the awful cat everyone knew I was."
"So . . . you don't eat kits? They're just stories?"
She sighed. "Yes, they're simply stories other cats made up." Her gaze flickered back to the kitten now, before she rose to her paws. "But this conversation has gone on long enough. I'm sure your guardians across the veil are wondering where you are by now." And my name has been tainted enough.
Crackedkit also got to his paws. "They're not going to notice I'm gone anytime soon." He said hurriedly. "My mom worries more for my littermates than she does me. They died before they were born." He looked down at his star-dappled feet. "She always says it's because she didn't even get a moment alive with them, but I think she doesn't want to face the fact that she's the reason I also didn't survive."
The dark warrior twitched an ear. "Still. You don't belong here. It's sad and lonely."
"Maybe I can keep you company!" He chirped gleefully, prancing after her as she walked toward her den.
"No." She turned her head to glare at him over her shoulder. "This is my curse to live out, not yours. Go back to your mother before they come looking."
Crackedkit scoffed. "She won't come for a long time. She's too busy with Fungalkit and Screamkit."
Stars, what is wrong with this queen? The molly hardened her glare. "It doesn't matter. The stars here don't last long when they venture over. You should leave while you still have the chance."
"Can't you tell me about you before you go?" He pleaded, halting a few paces away. "I really want to know why you're here."
"I'm here because I was a bad cat while I was alive." She growled, lashing her tail.
He tipped his head to the side again. "But how did you get so bad?"
The molly looked away from him, the images of bloodstained corpses flashing before her. "You need to leave, kitten. I won't ask you again."
"Then don't ask, and just accept that I'm not going anywhere until you tell me." He lifted his chin stubbornly.
She growled low in her throat, raking her claws along the scuffed-up dirt beneath her paws. "You're too young to understand."
"I think I understand plenty. I already know what death is."
"That doesn't mean anything!" She hissed at him. "Death is only a small part of what happened to me."
"Then explain it to me!" He squared off with her, pushing his muzzle against her nose almost in a challenge. "You're hurting inside — like my mom was after she lost her kits. Maybe I can help."
She lowered her voice. "No one can help me anymore." The shadows of her den fell over her head as she entered, turning to face the kitten again as she laid down in her nest.
"Then I can listen!" Crackedkit mewed. "I'm a very good listener, and sometimes all you need is someone to listen in order to feel better."
"Why would I dump my life story onto a strange kitten who didn't even live a day?"
He seemed not to take offense to that comment. "My dad told me that sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger than it is to someone you know."
Her muscles slacked, her eyes widening for a moment. "My . . . my best friend once told me the same thing."
Crackedkit sat down near her nest , his eyes glowing with light. The brightest she had seen in seasons. "So then follow the advice. Talk to me. I may be just a kit, but StarClan made me wise."
"That's one good thing about those starry-eyed fools." She muttered, swishing her tail.
He snorted, before lifting his gaze to look her in the eyes. "So tell me. What did you do back then that made you resent the stars so much?"
The molly stared at him, silent for a long moment, before she peered out of her den to the forbidding shadows beyond. "Fine." She growled.
The kit leaned forward expectantly.
"To know who I am, I have to take you back to when I was still a kit, not much older than you." She meowed. "Back when I was still an innocent little molly by the name of Arch . . ."