༻❁༺Swimming༻❁༺ (AU)

Instructions

Press start and grab tissues if you're an emotional man. ༻❁༺AU TIME!༻❁༺ Since Silverstone is officially not a real cat, I decided to make Nightpaw a little imaginary friend in the form of Water referencing Sliverpaw. Since Nightpaw was most likely isolated from the other kits, as seen in kit to leader v5, I'm sure she would have a lot on her mind and no one to talk to. Nightkit would develop a habit in staring into the dip or the river and talk to herself for hours on end to the point where her reflection looked like someone else. Bramblestar was hesitant on making her an apprentice because of her isolation making her emotionally stunted and her constant 'self' talk made Nightkit look crazy. Her mother is embarrassed and lashes out at Nightkit which causes her to become even more reserved to where she stops talking to the reflection and eventually is named Nightpaw. Sparrowtail still feels embarrassed and somewhat creeped out by her own kit and avoids her in Nightpaw's apprenticeship. NIghtpaw throughout this time tries to impress Sparrow tail in fear of being Disowned, but in her training she keeps seeing the cat in the river elsewhere, in the faces of trees and the texture of stones. Nightpaw felt comfort and dread in those images and out constantly them, closing her eyes whenever she needed to drink. But soon enough rolling waters seemed to whisper to her, she would hear it all the more at night, incoherent murmurs from flowing streams or even a drop of dew or the rustle of wet grass. Nightpaw tries to live louder than the voice, practically becoming nocturnal because of how the noises kept her up. So much so that she would start dozing off and muttering to herself during the day, this would postpone her warrior ceremony while Crystalblaze and Breeze would graduate from apprenticeship. NIghtpaw feels absolutely terrible and is met with less than no attention from Sparrowtail, just pure absence. One night when it starts to rain, the voice is louder than ever, pounding Nightpaws head to the point where it would feel like her skull was caving in. Defeated, Nightpaw went back to the stream where the reflection that didn't belong to her wandered, cursing it out, cursing herself out, cursing in the name of cold waters, cursing her mother. Until something else fell with the rain, something she hadn't felt in moons. Nightpaw started to cry, sobbing into the grass while the patter of the rain became quiet. But the voice was completely legible. 'I'm proud.' She cried herself to sleep, hitting the sand like a rock. 'It's going to be okay. I promise' That gave Nightpaw a Sliver of hope.