Second Chances - Ch4

Instructions

IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't read SC if you haven't read Warrior Cats past PO3, unless you don't mind the whole thing being completely spoilt. Thanks :) SECOND CHANCES: CH4 My head was aching. I groaned, rolling over onto my side. My paws were thrust out in front of me. My chest felt really heavy. And it was /hurting/. Something was hitting it from the inside, really hard. And it was aching. I took a breath. And then another. And then I started to panic, because it was /impossible/ that I was breathing! How could I be breathing?! I was /dead/. I took another breath, but I must have got it wrong, because I started to cough, choking. There was too much saliva in my mouth. "Slow down." A warm tongue rasped along my back. I only dimly registered it. "What should we call him?" came another voice. "How about Swift-..." I fell asleep. ~~~ When I woke up again, my breathing had fallen into a steady rhythm. I lay there, completely still, for a few seconds, trying to work out what exactly had happened. "Wake up," a voice hissed. I gave a little shriek, and started choking again. How could living cats breathe like this all the time? However, I managed to control the choking a bit better this time, and when it finally stopped, I opened my eyes. Blue eyes gazed back. Very familiar blue eyes. Those same blue eyes had smiled down on me when I was made an apprentice. Those same blue eyes had hardened like chips of ice when I was refused my warrior name. Those same blue eyes had shone with regret when their owner apologised to me in StarClan, moons later. No. It couldn't be... could it? "Bluestar?" I whispered. The cat before me laughed, shaking her head. "No, I'm not Bluestar, black-and-white one. Good guess, though." I realised my mistake. The she-cat had white fur, with round patches of grey. I flushed, hot with embarrassment. Apart from the eyes and her posture, she looked /nothing/ like Bluestar. "But - but your eyes... Who are you if you're not Bluestar?" I whispered. "Who do you think I am? Take a guess." The she-cat looked at me expectantly. I realised she looked just like a kit, which was strange as she was the same size as me. I shook my head. Then it dawned on me. "Are you one of her kits?!" I exclaimed. The she-cat nodded, eyes shining. "Yes. My name is Mosskit." "Mosskit..." I repeated. “And I know who you are, black-and-white one. You’re Swiftpaw, aren’t you?” Mosskit mewed. I nodded. “How do you know my name?” “Everyone knows you. You’re the famous cat who was killed by dogs,” replied Mosskit. I stared at my paws. “Don’t remind me. It was a mouse-brained thing to do.” “I think it was pretty brave actually, protecting your friend like that.” “Maybe,” I muttered. Then I looked at Mosskit harder. “Hold on. You’re a kit.” She nodded. “Yes, I am. Why?” “So you must’ve died when you were a kit.” “Yes, I did. In the snow.” “Then…” I looked closer at her. “Why don’t you look dead?” “What?” Mosskit’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?” “You don’t look like a StarClan cat. And you’re breathing. I can hear you. And - and I am too! What is going on?” I shook my head in confusion. Mosskit jumped. “Wait a second, Swiftpaw.” She began murmuring to herself. “First I get lots of dreams about second chances…” I leapt to my paws, before staggering down again. “That happened to me too!” Mosskit nodded, like that was exactly what she was expecting to hear. “Then me and lots of other cats fall down that chasm - I saw you there too, Swiftpaw - and then we wake up here, we’re breathing and we both look like kits…” Her eyes flickered to me. “You know what this means, right?” “No…” What was she getting at? “Swiftpaw, I believe that me, you and those other cats who fell into the chasm…” She trailed off. “What? You believe we’ve been what?” Mosskit stared at me. Then she blurted, “Don’t you see?” “See what?” Was there an unbelievably obvious answer that I was completely missing? “We’re dead. But we’ve been given a /second/ /chance/. What does that mean?” “I don’t know,” I replied. Mosskit rolled her eyes. “Honestly! We’ve been given a second chance to /live/ /again/, Swiftpaw. Do you need me to spell it out?” She tapped me teasingly with a paw, but I was barely listening to her. A second chance to live again? Did that mean what I thought it meant? “You don’t mean… we’ve been… we’ve been /reborn/?!” I whispered, barely able to get the words out. Mosskit nodded. “Yes, Swiftpaw. That is exactly what I mean. Well, it’s my theory, anyway.” Then her eyes widened slowly. “Wow…” I still wasn’t hearing properly. I had been /reborn/. I was /alive/. How was that even possible?! “Does that mean… I’ll become a warrior?” I whispered. “I think that’s exactly what it means,” Mosskit purred. “Seriously?! Me, Swiftpaw, the Forever Apprentice… a warrior?!” I started to laugh. It was just so unbelievable. A warrior! Continued below...