•:･ﾟ:✧･ﾟJourney of the Night Chapter 2･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ:•

Instructions

Chapter 2: The Growing Constellation (idk what to call it lol XD) The nursery did not stay silent for long. Within moons, the single spark on Nightkit’s chest was no longer alone. Like mushrooms sprouting after a heavy rain, tiny white dots began to bloom across her violet fur. One appeared on her left ear, shimmering like a dewdrop. Three more clustered on her flank, and a scattering of pinpricks lined her tail. To the other kits, Nightkit was no longer a sister—she was a curiosity, or worse, a freak. "Don't touch the Speckled Ghost!" Tigerkit jeered one sun-high, leading a group of kits in a game of moss-ball. He was a sturdy, tabby tom with paws far too large for his body. "My mother says if you touch her white spots, your own fur will fall out and you’ll turn into a star and float away!" Nightkit sat at the edge of the nursery clearing, her tail tucked tightly against her side to hide the glowing spiral of dots. She watched them play, her silver eyes tracking the moss-ball with a precision that felt... different. She didn't just see the moss-ball; she felt the thrum of Tigerkit’s excitement. A dot on her own shoulder pulsed in sync with his lunging paws. "I’m not a ghost," Nightkit whispered, though her voice was drowned out by the kits' laughter. As she grew, the "Tug" grew with her. It started as a faint itch, but soon became a physical pull. One evening, as the sun dipped below the ravine and the forest turned a deep, dusty blue, Nightkit felt a sharp, icy prickle on the dot on her neck. It burned with a sudden, frantic urgency. She looked up. Her brother, Flintkit, was stalking a "feather" near the camp entrance. He was crouched low, his tail twitching with predatory glee. But in Nightkit’s mind, the feather wasn't just a feather. She saw a shadow within the shadow—a golden, predatory eye and a curved beak. "Flintkit, move!" she shrieked. The nursery cats turned in shock. Flintkit didn't move fast enough. Nightkit lunged across the clearing, her purple body a blur of motion. She slammed into her brother, sending them both tumbling into a prickly gorse bush. A heartbeat later, a massive red-tailed hawk shrieked as it dived, its talons raking the dust exactly where Flintkit had been standing. The wind from its wings flattened the grass, and the scent of old blood and feathers filled the air. The camp went deathly still. The hawk, having missed its kill, banked sharply and vanished over the trees. Flintkit scrambled out of the gorse, his fur bushed out until he looked twice his size. He looked at the spot where the hawk had struck, then at his sister. His eyes weren't full of thanks. They were wide with terror. "How did you know?" he breathed, backing away from her. "You weren't even looking at the sky. You were looking at the ground." "I... I felt it," Nightkit stammered, her heart hammering against her ribs. On her neck, the white dot was finally dimming, the icy burn fading into a dull ache. "She’s a witch," whispered a queen from the shadows of the nursery. "She called the hawk with those stars on her back." Nightkit looked down at her paws. A new dot had appeared on her right front toe—a tiny, bright spark. She realized with a jolt of horror that it was the hawk’s life. She could feel it flying away, a distant, rhythmic beating on her own skin. Feathercloud, the medicine cat, stepped out from her den. Her gaze was not fearful, but heavy with a terrible realization. She padded over to Nightkit and touched her nose to the kit’s forehead. "The Clan sees a curse," Feathercloud said softly, so only Nightkit could hear. "But StarClan has given you a map, little one. You aren't just watching the forest. You are becoming the forest." Nightkit looked at the medicine cat, her silver eyes shimmering. "It hurts, Feathercloud. Every time a star appears, it burns." "That is the price of the Sight," the medicine cat replied. "The weight of a thousand lives is heavy for one small kit to carry. But soon, you will be an apprentice, and you will have to decide if you will use your light to lead... or if you will let the shadows swallow you whole." END of chapter 2! >:3 First chapter: Next chapter: soon! <33 Previous: if you want a ping, please say "ping" in the comments, or if you love or fav I'll automatically put you on the ping list. ty! <33