A small sigh escapes the nose of the large warrior as he slowly dragged himself into his nest in the warrior den. His fur was messy, he’d just come back from an unsuccessful hunt, and it had drained him of all his energy. Why was it so difficult to hunt in this dangerous territory? He might as well go to the barren lands to hunt, snakes sounded so good at that moment. Why couldn’t more prey come to live in Pyroclan? Adapt, change to fit the environment. . . Seaclan was filled with bountiful prey from both the sea and their forest, and sharks weren’t the worry. They didn’t have major predators.... They just couldn't get swept away into the tides. What Smudgeshadow couldn’t give to just taste their sweet scaley fish… to be able to hunt and swim in a vast ocean with a gorgeous view… he just had an ash-filled sky, the everlasting volcano, and dry terrain… but he had his family, so it wasn’t too bad. When was the last time that Smudge thought about what he needed without including the desires of other cats? He was always concerned about the desires of others before that of himself. Was that normal? To be so selfless but still so afraid of the future to come that you hid away for nearly eighteen moons? Why didn’t he ever feel normal, like he didn’t know who he was? Was that normal too? Was anything about Smudge normal? Was he an anomaly in his own life? Did he really resign himself to such fate that he now doesn’t even know who he is? Why did calling himself something masculine and strong feel so wrong? Why did his whole identity feel like a joke? Like he isn’t who he was supposed to be? A groan leaves his throat again as he flopped down in his unkempt nest, paws kneading against the soft structure of his rock bed. He’d organized it to be filled with rocks just to make it warm. Comforting. . . like an embrace from Papa Ardent. Smudgeshadow closed his eyes, preparing to drift off into the land of sleep, hopefully he wouldn’t have another nightmare about the past. . at least, if he did, he hoped it wouldn’t be scary as it has been before. . . . . A rustle came from the large warrior’s fur, his eyes slowly flutter open. Where was he? What was this new and unique place that he was in? There were lush forests around him, he seemed to be standing in front of some sort of glowing pool of water – no, wait, HE WAS IN IT! Smudgeshadow lets out a yelp as he hops out, looking down at his paws. . . they were perfectly fine. . . What? How? Pyrocats couldn’t touch water! He’s only ever seen one cat touch water and they got burnt. That’s how papa ardent got his eyes burnt and that giant scar! So why wasn’t this water hurting him? He approaches slowly, and a small gasp escapes his lips when he sees. . . himself? From when he was a kit. The little Smudgekit hops out- an iridescent shadowlike form, no… like a cloud. The kit smiles brightly and giggles. “Hello! I’m you, but from the past! Wowza we grew up.” Smudgeshadow didn’t know what to say. “you’re. . me?” croaked out the warrior, staring at his past reflection “Of course I am silly goose! Oh my we really grew out our hair! We look soo cool! Maybe with some scars we’d look like a real warrior!” the kit mews. A pang in his chest, Smudgeshadow had to bite back a whine. ``a real warrior? Aren’t we already a real warrior.`` he wanted to say, but he didn’t. He swallowed what little pride he had left. “uhm. . . why are you here? And how are you here. . . where am I?” “we’re in the stars! Hehe, the border between time! I’m here to show you what you missed in your past, but someone else will show you the future! All of us will show you your fate and what is to come! But not about events, about your mental and physical changes! Suuper fun, right? By the stars, was he really this. . . loud as a kit? His ears started to hurt. “Okay,” Smudgeshadow relented and slowly approached the smaller. “Tell me.”
A small giggle escaped the young kitten’s mouth and he hopped over, headbutting Smudgeshadow in the head. The stars went black, Smudgeshadow and Smudgekit awoke in a new domain. The small den where Smudgekit spent his time hiding after the realization of his father’s demise. Smudgeshadow felt lighter, airy even, he looked down at his paws. “Woah, ok. So, nobody can see us?” he inquired quietly, flexing his claws and then looked down. He saw himself as a frail kit. Shivering despite it being rather warm in the pyroclan territory. Fragile, small, thin, breakable. “This is us from the past, although a little older than I am. When we hid away after our mama passed and we found out the truth about our papa.” Spoke up the ghastly kit that floated above him, Smudgekit. But not the one that he saw shivering. Smudgeshadow frowned, slowly crawling out of the den and seeing everything else; the warriors that never batted an eye, his sister Warmhaze happily prancing around with other kits; and his grandpappy Ardentthought, who kept on flicking his tail in worry. Smudgeshadow frowned. “Only ardent cared. . .” he muttered. “We only let papaw care, he was the only one we ever went to. Nobody else knew we existed.” Smudgekit shot back instantly, causing another pang of hurt to spike throughout the soul of Smudgeshadow, it hurt. “I know.” He whispered softly and shook his head before moving and slowly turning around to face the smaller kit. “Do you realize why we did this?” the kitten inquires Smudgeshadow swallows as he stared down towards the kit. “yes..” he whispers “Because we. . . “were. . . “WEAK!” The kit shouts – dust kicks up around the two frames and Smudgeshadow couldn’t help but let out a scream. . . . WHAT WAS HAPPENING ?! ?! ?! Dust was kicked off the ground-everything was so loud. Smudgeshadow’s ears felt like they were going to pop. His paws flew over to cup his ears. Screaming kitlike voices rang through his surroundings. Everywhere. “ew, who’s that?” “Just some random stray.” “Who would ever let that in?” “he’s not even a true warrior.” “Maybe he should run away like his precious daddy did” Why were the voices so loud? Nobody ever said those things to him! Nobody. . . Nobody… NOBODY!! Smudgeshadow let out a shout when the world around him went dark. Everything, echoes of his own thoughts, all of it went dark. Complete sensory deprivation Momo shot up, looking around with a frantic expression. A little pained whimper left his throat and he ran around this endless void.
