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| - "You must avenge me," she murmured in her dying breath, her shattered eyes staring into my mine, looking into my soul. "I have left the victims unkilled, the stories untold, and they are still on my trail." She took a wheezing gasp. "You must follow in my p-pawsteps. They d-do not know about you yet. Be c-careful, and look for -- " In her last sentence her eyes rolled up into her skull, her head lolled back. "L-look for what?" I mewed frantically, prodding her. But the odor of death was already enveloping us, pressing down on me. Her body had gone cold. I realized that my one and only mother had left me inside, and it was only replaced by a hollow feeling of anger. My mother had left me with only the words, "You must avenge me." No goodbyes, no I love yous. But since that moment those words had always stuck with me. I didn't know what we were facing until she had left me. And I would have died on every day following if I had not heeded her dying words. ♦ From my perch high in the trees, I could see the sun slowly sinking. When the sun set, came the kingdom of darkness, my realm. I could but hide in the darkest places when light touched the ground, but come night I was the queen of the land. No power could oppose me. The shadows could never devour me like it did the others. ...for I controlled the shadows. I could easily imagine what a cat would think if they knew I had such power. They would think it amazing, something they would want. Something they would have fun doing in their spare time. I scoffed down on all the beings who feared the dark -- if they knew the potential of the darkness, how much power it could actually unleash, and how much pain I went through to keep them in line, they would bow down to me. Despite the ability I had, it was the last thing in my mind to pursure power. I had something else to find out... my mother's last words. She had never told me exactly what she did. She kept me confined in a little place she called "home". There was no entrance, no exit, and even though I knew dens were supposed to be anchored, I could never shake off the feeling this den was floating. But, nevertheless, preferably while I was sleeping, my mother slipped in and brought me food and essentials to keep me alive. I hadn't ever thought she loved me, but love could never come across my mind in a time like that. Then, the day she had died in front of me, she asked me to do something I myself could never begin to think of -- avenging her. See, even though I barely knew anything about my mother, I could feel that aura of power around her. Power is something important in empyrealties, and when you are around someone or something with power, it is unmistakable. And from the first day I could sense it, I knew my mother was powerful, that she did something outside the den that I could not imagine doing myself. And I could never shake off the feeling that we were, in a way, alike: both of us had ways with shadows, and our names were implements of darkness, hers being Dusk. Avenging was beyond the question. I knew I didn't have any power within myself, and avenging a powerful cat I could barely call my mother was another question. But even though my mother's words I had tried to forget all the years, it still echoed through my mind sometimes, like a long lost memory. And I knew she had put it there intentionally. I needed to avenge my mother -- it was more than a personal conflict. I had a feeling if I didn't, I would be contributing to something larger, something dark and evil. At the end of the sky I saw a core of yellow glide under the line of the horizon. Pulses of midnight was seeping into the starry night. There were no cats about. I could continue with my journey. I had never known exactly how to begin my journey, so I started from the first thing I knew about my mother -- she had a connection with the shadows. That was something else I could just sense, the essence of shadow, where shadow lurked, and shadow users like my mother. Shadows were a part of me, that I couldn't just leave behind. So I had done the most logical thing in my mind -- head toward the shadows. In this region, the shadows massed in one place -- toward the sun. The place of strength come nighttime is where the light dies, and that was the path I followed, hoping it would lead me somewhere, or at least give me clues. "Do you see a cat up there?" I whipped my head around and looked down at the ground. Two shadowy figures were staring up at me, trying to make out my figure. I knew my black fur probably blended well with the shadow surrounding the trees, but I was in no mood to take chances. Absolutely silent, I crept down the other side of the trunk, my skinny form helping me stay hidden. The rustling behind me indicated that my overseers were still on the lookout. Hah. "I hear her! Over there!" Oh no. Forgetting to keep hidden, I made a wild dash for it, crashing through the foliage. I needed to stay away from them—if they saw my face, they would always be looking for me, no matter how far I went, and that wouldn't help me execute my plan to avenge my mother. I didn't need cats on lookout for me from here to the sun. "Intruder! Get her!" the cats yelled from behind me. Ignoring the sharp thorns pricking my pads and tearing into me, I put all my will into my escape. This is no big deal. You've performed greater getaways than this. My pursuers weren't used to traveling at such speeds, and were definitely not as slim as me—what diet are they on? Fish?—and they were falling behind. I allowed myself to relax a little, but didn't stop until I heard the pawsteps die down completely. Finally, the forest was quiet. I sighed and stalked over to a tree, ready to launch myself up. I would need to stay on the lookout for a while longer before setting off on my journey again. From the base of the tree, I marvelled at the beauty of the moon. It looked so crystalline and peaceful, so high up there, hanging in the sky. It looked so much more stunning than the sun, which burned and consumed life, and shedded ruthless heat, baking the entire terrain. Speaking of peaceful. The air was unnaturally quiet now, as if the cicidas had sensed my mood and decided to remain quiet. The forest was peaceful. Too peaceful. Something was wrong. I whipped around in time to see two cats break out of the ferns behind me, teeth bared. "Get her!" I rushed at them, not caring to hide my face. As soon as I was out of here, I would run away. Never before had one of my pursuers came back to find me again. They toppled back as if they were made of hollow reed, light enough to be blown by the wind. I bared my teeth and let out a hideous snarl and backed away. ...only to bump into the trunk of the tree. I hastily looked around for an escape route, but realized with dread that cats were closing in on me from all directions. They all looked hostile, teeth bared, hackles raised, closing the loose, ragged semicircle they had made around me. One of the cats, a large, powerful, tabby tom stepped forward, clearly the leader among the group. He raised his paw, and his cats relaxed their tense poise. "Intruder." He snarled at me. "How dare you trespass and then decide to remain in our territory after a warning?" I stayed silent, glaring at him. "You're coming with us, and we'll decide your punishment at camp," he mewed dangerously. "We've seen you before, hiking across our land arrogantly, as if you own it." "What? How could you have seen me?" I protested. "I'm a traveler; I never stay in one place." "We own all of this land, cat. We used to own only the gorge, but as we gained strength we have captured the forested area around it as well." "Who's we?" "We?" He hesitated, then replied, "We are SkyClan. I am Sharpclaw, and I will report you back to Leafstar. She will decide if your...amazing escapes will be punished. Your journey ends here, you can trust that." I gazed around at the faces. I didn't think I could overpower them, there were too many. If it ever came to this, I always outsmarted my foes one way or another. But it didn't seem I could do much to outsmart them in a situation like this, especially if they'd been tracking me for so long. "You're coming with us," he snarled. "And make sure you don't make a fight, or you'll just make things worse for yourself." "Put up a fight?" I snorted. "I never go anywhere without putting up a fight." And then I did something I had promised never to do under vision of regular cats. I summoned the shadows.
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