Afterlives

i. // nothingness
Okay, so, there are two things most cats know about me. First thing is my name. In my opinion, it's not really the best name, but it's not the worst either. It's so-so, I guess. Shrikewing. See? First part's neat, second part's not. It's sorta lame, too. When I was Shrikepaw, I was so ready to be a warrior and get a cool name like my sister Sorrelcreek. But it turned out that I got a totally boring name.

Where was I-- Oh! Right. Right, the second thing. To put it simply, I'm dead. Like, really dead.

I've actually been dead for a long time. Just wandering in this little void thing for a few years. It's not really as fun as I'd anticipated, in all honesty. There's no one else here. At least one other dead cat should be here. All those little ramblings about StarClan and the Dark Forest must've been just imagined by the medicine cats. I think the real thing is that every cat gets their own void to wander around in.

Wow.

Okay, but once in a while I see this light thingy. Like, a glowing ball or somehing. Every time I see it, I run as fast as I can. Maybe faster than a SpruceClan cat, even. But before I can even get within a couple of tail-lengths, it just poofs out of existence. Maybe to its own nothingness. I dunno.

ii. // the verge
No, no, no, no. It can't end here. I won't let it.

The warrior before me stood with every hair on their pelt bristling, their claws sunk in the ground. They were from our rival Clan, WillowClan. I don't know the name.

I heard my name called out. "Cinderpaw!"

I tried to keep my eyes trained on the WillowClanner, but I tore my gaze away to see my brother, Pigeonpaw, struggling under the weight of a larger apprentice, a "friend" from the Gatherings. Heatherpaw tore at Pigeonpaw's face with his claws and I grimaced when I saw blood staining his grey fur. Was it his or Pigeonpaw's...?

The look in Heatherpaw's eyes scared me. It still does, more than what's happening right now. It looked like Heatherpaw was trying his hardest to kill my brother.

I shrieked and abandoned my fight with the warrior. I launched myself at Heatherpaw. I guess he wasn't expecting it, because I managed to push him away with ease. To the side I saw Pigeonpaw hastily stand and retreat into the underbrush, his fur splashed with blood.

Heatherpaw regained his footing surprisingly quickly and snarled at me. He sprang at me and I couldn't move away fast enough. His claws slammed against the side of my head and I didn't even have time to recover before he attacked again,