Soulfaith | he/him | 24 moons old ~ The sun was falling low on the horizon, and it brought a cautionary kind of haste to Soulfaith’s gait. He was near the Seaclan-Gathering Grove border, aimlessly chasing after butterflies. It was a good way to pass time, but Soulfaith had accidentally passed too much time. He had planned to head home at sun-high, so that way he could be home before moonhigh, but he had lost track of time chasing a strikingly purple butterfly. Now, Soulfaith was padding briskly, hoping a quicker pace could make up for lost time. Eventide was upon him. As he padded through the Gathering Grove, a faint scent caught his muzzle. He turned to his side, and felt a light smile cross his expression. It was his old den… maybe it wouldn’t hurt for a brief visit. Soulfaith detoured, his paws tracing a path that he could still vaguely remember. He walked past the old mahogany tree that robins perched in. He leaped over the trickling stream that always bubbled cheerfully. He ducked under a low hanging branch that he had once hit his head against. And there it was, Soulfaith’s old den. Soulfaith smiled faintly. He remembered putting up those kelp hangings with Albie… they were all dried now. Nobody had been here to care for the den in quite some time. Pushing past the crumbling entryway, Soulfaith peered inside. Starclan, Soulfaith had almost forgotten how comfortably warm it was in here. The den held heat very well while not overheating… it felt as if Soulfaith was wrapped in a warm, loving hug from all angles. That was why Soul, all those moons ago, had chosen to settle here. It was warm against the harsher nights. Soulfaith shook his head, jostling himself back to the present. He murmured beneath his breath, “suno lili,” a phrase that he mentally translated. Little light. His eyepatch flared up, a gentle white glow casting its way across the den. Soulfaith laughed a little as he looked around, recognizing things he hadn’t seen when he was younger. The den was terribly small, for starters. He could’ve– maybe if he chose some really small warriors– fit three cats in here to live. Not only that, but Soulfaith noticed lichen and moss growing along the walls of the den. Scandal wouldn’t have stood for such mess-making plants to exist in the same den Soulfaith slept in… thank Starclan he had the Dustrunners now. Soulfaith padded around the den, relishing in his old home. This home, unlike the one his mother had abandoned him in– a memory that still stung– was filled with fond memories. Hanging out with Albatrossmoon, trying to fill his prey pile to the point that it touched the roof of the den, stacking rocks until they all tumbled back down to the earth… Soulfaith had been simpler back then. He had been Soul. “Soul the loner…” The phrase escaped his lips gently, like a well-practiced incantation of birthright. Soulfaith raised his paw to his glowing eyepatch, gently brushing the felt. He watched thoughtfully as the shadow of his paw danced across the den, shifting and snaking like a shadowcat. Birthright. Fate. Self-determination. These words rushed around his head, chasing each other for a moment before Soulfaith forcibly called for mental peace. He sat down, pausing for a moment. In that moment, Soulfaith realized, a lot of what he had, he had worked his tail off to get. The Dustrunners? He had built them from the dust, literally. His warrior name? He had trained for two solid moons, sparring with two leaders and a deputy. Soulfaith had friends. Albatrossmoon, Memoryspectre, Abyssalabsence, Scandal, and so many others… Soulfaith shook his head, and whispered, “suno ala”, watching with a hint of disappointment as the light faded from the den. While he would’ve loved to stay the night, lost in the memories of his past, wandering his hopes for the future, his home was waiting. He needed to get to the shore before the tide took his surfboard away… it had happened before, and Soulfaith had to (embarrassingly) go beg a Seaclanner for help. As he stepped out of the den, he sighed heavily. Time had slipped like grains of sand from out of his paws, and now, nighttime was upon him. Soulfaith glanced up, mildly irritated, and began moving hastily for the shore.
As Soulfaith padded for the beach, the same beach that Iceclanners often shored themselves on for the gathering, a glimmer caught his eye. He turned, the glint of light shining through the brambles and foliage. Soulfaith tilted his head, and pushed closer, already knowing in his heart what created that sparkle. It was the Moonlagoon. Soulfaith breached the floral defenses along the edge of the Lagoon, now standing on the shore of that holy body of water. Moonlight twinkled off the watery surface, the reflection of the star-speckled sky unmarred by the faint wind that filled the grove. Soulfaith padded forward, almost unbidden, kneeling before the Moonlagoon, a place that he might’ve once feared, but now he only held a deep-seated respect for. Soulfaith looked out across the water, a thoughtful hum playing on his lips. Then, silently, he lowered his gaze to the surface of the pool. Was that really Soulfaith in the reflection of the water? Soulfaith tilted his head to the side, curiously examining his reflection. His muzzle was sharper, his eyes held a more hopeful light, and of course, seeing his eyepatch on himself felt startlingly unnatural… and yet, it just felt right. This was Soulfaith’s second visit to the revered Moonlagoon, and both times, he felt as though a stranger stared back. The first time, after two moons of training, he felt as though he were an apprentice looking into the eyes of a warrior. Now, as Soulfaith looked into those spiritual waters, he felt a bloom of pride in his chest. It was not a warrior that looked back at him. It was a Trailblazer. A Dustrunner. A father, and a friend. That green eye in the water, the same green eye that Soulfaith took for granted every single day, stared back at him. Soulfaith smiled, recognizing the approval in the watery reflection’s gaze. The approval in his own honored eyes. Soulfaith knew that a single brush of his muzzle across the water could take him to Starclan. He could visit Sharktooth, tell her all about Theodore and Memoryspectre and his amazing party… the thought was tempting. But Soulfaith knew, deep in his heart, that he needed to get going. Soulfaith lowered is muzzle, his whiskers hardly a breath away from the surface of the water, and whispered, “I’m proud of you… and so are they.” If only Soulfaith had known the terror that stalked the trees behind him. Orange pelt matted with grime, eyes filled with unremitting hatred. The beast stalked forwards, and Soulfaith was none the wiser to his impending doom. He simply smiled softly at himself as Death crept closer, lost in a world of contentedness that was about to be ripped from right under his paws. It seemed as though the loner’s luck had finally run out. That was, until Starclan graced Soulfaith with a gift. The wind that had remained so still, floating as naught but a subtle waver, suddenly moved with the force of a gale. Soulfaith almost stumbled into the water as the wind changed, alarm flashing through him. Not at nearly losing balance, but rather at the scent that the wind carried with it. A rather sharp scent, a scent Soulfaith knew well. It had haunted him for moons, showing up when he least expected it each time. Fox-scent. Powerful, close, and angry. Soulfaith stood up, his heart hammering. He needed to find it before it found him. Unlike every time before, the scent wasn’t just present, faded with time, it was strong, it was close, and it was hunting him down. Soulfaith inhaled, trying to regain sense of himself. As he did so, he heard a branch snap behind him. Time seemed to slow down. Each heartbeat spanned an eternity as Soulfaith turned, eyes widening in the dark as he finally acknowledged the orange-furred devil, already halfway into a pounce that would take Soulfaith down. Soulfaith dove. Not towards the fox, but directly to the side, rolling across the dewy grass. The snap of razor-sharp teeth was directly behind him, missing his neck by a whisker’s width. He gasped, unharmed but shaken. Starclan had sent him a gift in the form of that wind… if not for it, Soulfaith would’ve been caught unawares, fallen victim to the disgusting talent of a fox, to the element of surprise. Soulfaith skidded across the dirt, stumbling to his paws, turning to face the fox. It had quickly recovered its balance, staring down Soulfaith, stalking forward with malice in its gaze. The Moonlagoon wavered, the wind sending ripples across its smooth surface. Stars twinkled above Soulfaith, as if all the heavenly hosts had gathered to watch how this was going to play out. Soulfaith quietly stared down the fox, and the fox quietly stared down him. The tension could’ve been cut by a claw. (Part two continues here: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1304354570/ )
