Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was the middle of the night. The forest was quiet except for the chirping of crickets and other insects, lulled to a deep slumber by the distant sounds of waves.

In the darkness, a skinny, cream-colored tabby cat carefully made their way through thick underbrush, their green eyes narrowed as they looked around. They paused and sniffed the air, their tail lashing as the scent of mouse wafted towards them.

The cat knelt into a crouch and slowly crept forward, barely making a sound. They peered through the branches of the bush before them and grinned. In the slivers of moonlight drifting through the canopy, they found their prey.

A mouse was sitting on its haunches and grooming itself, completely unaware of the cat’s presence. They licked their lips and shifted their stance, flexing their claws.

Just before they could pounce, a twig snapped nearby. The mouse froze and lifted its head, its nose twitching. It turned and looked directly at the cat, letting out a squeal.

The cat pounced, but their paws only smacked against the forest floor. The mouse was already scurrying away, quickly disappearing from sight.

They huffed a sigh and shook themself off, twitching their tail in irritation. Light pawsteps nearby caught their attention, and they quickly turned to look in that direction. Just as they did, a pale blur leaped from the bushes and tackled them, pinning them to the ground with ease

The cream-colored cat yowled and struggled, slashing blindly at their attacker. Long, curved claws dug into their pelt like talons, holding them down. They continued squirming until they could look up at their attacker, a pale tom with narrow eyes and scrappy fur.

“Feisty little one, aren’t you?” he growled, his voice raspy and soft. “What do you think you’re doing?” They hissed at him in reply and he bared his teeth.

“I wouldn’t get snappy with me,” the stranger advised them. “You’re not the one who has the power here.” He flexed his long claws for emphasis, grinning cruelly at their pained whimper.

“Who are you?” they asked. “Let me go!”

“You’re also not in any position to be making any demands,” the stranger meowed. “You’re the one trespassing in my territory; I just want to know what it is you’re up to.” Though his voice was pleasant now, almost teasing, the cream-colored cat sensed the warning behind his words.

“I’m just passing through,” they said, avoiding his gaze. “I’m not ‘up to’ anything.”

“Perhaps,” he allowed. “But, regardless, I don’t really take kindly to strange cats taking my prey.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m really not doing anything,” they insisted, a little desperately. “Just--let me up and I’ll leave! No harm done and no prey taken.” For a brief moment, the stranger was silent as he stared down at them, seemingly considering his options.

“How about this?” he said abruptly. “You and I can make a deal, and I’ll let you up and send you on your way, no harm done indeed.” They stared at him in confusion.

“... Deal?”

“Well,” the stranger explained as though he were speaking with a particularly foolish kitten, “I recently lost something very important to me--if you help me find it, I think I’ll let you go.”

He smirked, glancing at their bony form. “You’re lucky to have caught me in such a generous mood! If you find it quickly enough, maybe I’ll even let you take something to eat, like a shrew. You look like you haven’t eaten in days.”

The cream-colored cat glared at him, twitching their tail as they mulled over the offer. It seemed that they took a bit too long, as the stranger dug his claws into them again.

“I’d decide soon if I were you,” he purred, baring his teeth.

“Alright,” they said quickly, trying to appear more confident than they were. “I’ll help you find your… thing. Just, let me up.”

“Thought I told you how I feel about you making demands,” he said flatly. “But, a deal’s a deal.” He released them and backed away a few pawsteps.

The cream-colored cat rolled over and got to their feet, shaking off their pelt and wincing. Thankfully, he hadn’t drawn any blood in their encounter, but it still stung where his claws had scratched them.

He paused for a moment to allow them to collect themself, then stepped back into their space. The cream-colored cat flinched and he smiled, his grin all teeth. Still, he didn’t attack them and simply gestured with a paw to a nearby gap in the brush.

“I last remember seeing it in this direction,” he told them. “Come along, now.” He motioned for them to walk in front of him. With a wary grimace, they did so, keeping their tail between their legs in case he tried to swipe at it.

The stranger followed silently behind them, but they felt his sharp gaze burning into their fur with each step. They bristled but decided not to bring it up. As discreetly as possible, they sniffed the air, hoping to catch a whiff of the stranger’s scent. Unfortunately, all they could smell was the forest around them.

“What is it you lost, exactly?” they eventually asked just to break the silence. He didn’t reply, and they felt foolish just for asking. They turned their head to look at him, and the face he was making reminded them eerily of their own expression when they had been hunting the mouse.

The cream-colored cat decided to face forwards for the rest of the journey, their paws moving them a little more quickly. He never told them to change direction or follow any other path, so they silently made their way forward for what felt like hours.

Eventually, they arrived at the edge of the swath of trees, before a small, grassy plain. Several tail-lengths away, the flat plain dropped sharply into a ravine. Beyond this ravine, the cream-colored cat could see an even larger, darker forest and, in the distance, a massive body of water glittering in the moonlight.

“Here we are,” the stranger said, loping past them with his tail high in the air. As he passed, they again tried to catch his scent, but all they could smell were leaves and the distant scent of salt.

Clearing their throat, they decided to try again and asked, “What are we trying to find, again?”

“Oh, you’ll know it when you see it,” the stranger meowed. He wasn’t looking at them, instead turning his gaze to the starry expanse above the pair. The cream-colored cat stared at him a moment before looking back to the forest that lay beyond the ravine.

They walked forward until they were nearly at the ravine’s edge and sat down, wrapping their tail around their paws. When they squinted their eyes, they could almost make out shapes moving between the trees.

They felt the stranger’s eyes fall on them again and barely repressed a shudder. He seemed to be studying them carefully. Shuffling their paws, they slowly turned to return his gaze.

“There are other cats in that forest,” he informed them lightly. “Lots of them. Clan cats, you know.” He spoke very slowly, pausing between each phrase to let it sink in.

They bristled despite themself. “Oh,” they said as calmly as they could manage. “I didn’t know there were clans in this area.”

“Only one,” the stranger corrected them with a smirk. “They mostly keep to that little scrap of trees, and I avoid interacting with them if I can help it.”

Teasingly, he added, “You should be careful, little traveler; these clan cats are nasty, ferocious things, and they don’t take kindly to outsiders.” The cream-colored cat snorted and rolled their eyes.

“All clans are like that,” they replied. “I don’t see what makes this one any special.” The stranger chuckled and looked into the ravine, twitching his ears.

“I suppose they are,” he agreed. Suddenly, he stiffened and his eyes widened. “I see it. It’s down there.”

“What is?” they asked, peering down into the darkness. They couldn’t see anything but the ravine’s craggy walls and flat, sandy floor.

“My lost trinket,” he reminded them.

They heard him stepping closer to them and squinted, trying to make out whatever trinket he was talking about. Still, they saw nothing but the ravine.

“It’s there, I promise,” the stranger said. They turned and frowned at him. “Now, go get it for me? If you do, I’ll personally get you that shrew I mentioned earlier. Deal?”

They huffed but nodded. It wouldn’t be difficult to climb down into the ravine and then back out, they supposed.

The cream-colored cat got to their feet and stretched briefly before searching for a pawhold. There were so many rocks protruding from the walls of the ravine, it shouldn’t be hard.

Carefully, they rested one paw on a stable-looking chunk of rock. Before they could find the next pawhold, they felt the stranger’s pelt brush against theirs.

“Let me help you down,” he purred.

Then, he shoved the cream-colored cat hard, sending them toppling over the edge and into the ravine. They screamed as they tumbled down before they finally hit the bottom with a thud, losing consciousness upon impact.

When the cream-colored cat opened their eyes, they found themself in darkness, unable to see a thing. They briefly panicked, trying to stand, only to find their legs were too weak to hold them as they collapsed with a weak mewl.

Through their dulled, muddled senses, they felt another cat settle down next to them. The stranger’s long, soft fur brushed against their own pelt, warming them and calming them down. A rough tongue rasped against the top of their head and their eyes fluttered shut.

“You’re alright, little one,” the strange cat meowed in a sweet, soothing voice. “Relax. Go back to sleep.”

As abruptly as the warmth of the strange cat arrived, it faded away as the cream-colored cat drifted into blissful nothingness.

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Allegiances

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ReedClan

Leader

Jaystar - a broad-shouldered tom with long, dark grey fur and a white muzzle and belly

Deputy

Crowfall - a black-furred tom with a white muzzle, belly, and paws and a long, white-tipped tail

Apprentice: Snowpaw

Medicine Cats

Blueheart - a skinny, blue-grey tabby with a white underbelly and wide eyes marred with scars

Morning - a soft, cream-colored tabby with a slight frame and white paws

Warriors

Bramblefur - a brown tabby molly with white splotches and deep amber eyes

Goldentail - a golden tabby tom with a white belly and long, soft fur

Tallwind - a sleek, long-legged tom with pale-colored fur and an extra toe on each of his forepaws

Sparrowthroat - a small, ginger tabby with bright yellow eyes and a slightly blunt muzzle

Pinewood - a long-furred, brown cat with large ears and a long muzzle

Robinfeather - a skinny, red-brown molly with a small, pinched face and wide eyes

Voleclaw - a dark-furred tom with narrow eyes and a long scar across his face

Echobrook - a very large, fluffy tabby with long, dark-colored fur and tufted ear tips

Spruceleaf - a plump, dark-colored tortoiseshell with a splotch of white across her chest

Frostfoot - a white molly with black splotches and a black nose

Rabbitfoot - a scruffy tom with very dark brown fur and a distinctive scar on his shoulder

Ambercloud - a small tortoiseshell cat with distinctive scars on their neck

Seedwhisker - a short-furred calico with a plump face and very wide eyes

Ashpelt - a scrawny, grey tom with white paws and tufted ears

Apprentices

Snowpaw - a tiny, fluffy molly with white fur and very large, blue eyes

Queens

Goosewing - a short-furred, silver molly with a white splotch on her throat and a narrow muzzle

Whiteflower - a white molly with black splotches and small, glittering eyes

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Cats Outside the Clan

Smokestep - a scruffy tabby tom with patchy fur and haunted, pale-colored eyes

Chief - a shaggy grey tom with a bushy tail and large paws

Luna - a round-faced molly with small, golden spots on her head and a deep, russet tail 

Snake - a pale brown tom with a dark face, paws, and tail

Quill - a brown molly with a black tail, a white face, and white paws

Fel - a ginger tom with violent scars scattered across his body

Chapter Text

Slowly, the cream-colored cat awoke again. They groaned as they felt a dull pain throbbing throughout their body, especially in their head. Their eyes, when they opened them, were raw and ached.

They tried again to stand, only to stumble and collapse. Even moving their legs the slightest amount filled them with sharp, stabbing pain like claws. The cream-colored cat rested their head on the soft earth below them, letting their eyes fall shut again as they grimaced.

Trying to get a sense of where they were, they sniffed the air. They were met with a wide variety of aromas that assailed their senses, though the smells were strangely familiar to them. The cream-colored cat frowned and wrinkled their nose.

“Ah, I see you’re awake,” a ragged voice murmured. Momentarily forgetting the pain, the cream-colored cat snapped their eyes open and looked in the direction of the voice.

Sitting nearby was a thin, blue-grey tom with dark stripes and a white belly. He was gathering a pile of leaves with shaking paws, glancing at the cream-colored cat in concern. His eyes were clouded, and there were several deep claw marks across his face. They narrowed their eyes at him, twitching their tail.

“Where am I?” they asked, wincing at how raspy their voice sounded. “Who are you?” The tom abandoned his leaves and moved closer to them, limping with each careful step he took.

“You’re somewhere safe now, you don’t need to worry,” he told them. He sniffed at their head, ignoring the way they flinched away from him. “I’m not quite sure what happened, but I can see you are hurt. I was just mixing together a poultice for you.” He gestured towards the pile of leaves with his tail.

“As for my name,” he said as he carefully made his way back to the pile, “you can call me Blueheart.”

They flattened their ears as they watched him pad back to the pile and start to chew the leaves into a green pulp. When he was done, he spread the pulp across thick pads of cobwebs, which he placed on their aching limbs and body.

“The nettle leaves should clear up the swelling,” he murmured, “and I added horsetail, comfrey, and dock to ward off infection. The cobwebs are to hold everything in place for now.”

“Comfrey isn’t for infection,” they corrected him, twitching their whiskers in confusion. Blueheart blinked at them, pausing as he wrapped their foreleg.

“Of course,” he said, “my mistake. I was hoping to soothe any potentially broken bones… how did you know that?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” the cream-colored asked. “I thought it was obvious.” The tom hummed and finished what he was doing, looking contemplative. This close, they could see that his eyes were somewhat clouded and unfocused, covered in old scars like spiderwebs.

“What’s your name?” he asked them. They opened their mouth to reply but quickly closed it.

“My… name?” they asked. He nodded and they looked down at their paws, trying to think.

Even as they concentrated, they realized they couldn’t remember what their name was--in fact, they couldn’t seem to remember anything .

When they closed their eyes, all they saw was a pale face and sunken, lifeless eyes. A horrible cat with a grin full of long, sharp teeth.

With nothing beyond that.

Their breathing began to pick up as they came to this realization, alarming Blueheart. He rested his tail on their flank, which only agitated them further.

They tried to stand only to stumble again, their legs trembling too violently for them to find their balance.

“Hey, hey,” he said soothingly, “it’s okay. Are you alright?”

“I don’t know!” they cried, their voice cracking. “I can’t remember! Where…” They looked around again, growing frantic, but their environment was a blur.

A green, leafy sprig was suddenly thrust into their face, and without thinking, they hissed and attempted to back away. Blueheart huffed in frustration and concern.

“Eat this,” he ordered them. “It’ll calm you down.”

They glared at him warily, their blood roaring in their ears and their fur standing on end, but decided that, at the moment, they didn’t have a reason to mistrust him. The cream-colored cat tentatively sniffed the plant, noting its dry scent.

Thyme , their mind supplied reflexively. For anxiety . They made a face but obediently bit off a few of the leaves and chewed them, sighing at the plant’s minty taste.

They didn’t calm immediately, but they felt slightly less frantic as they swallowed the leaves. The tom was watching them expectantly, seemingly relieved as they calmed down.

“Better?” he asked. The cream-colored cat nodded mutely, looking down. “Now, what can you remember?”

The cream-colored cat furrowed their brow and closed their eyes, trying to focus. As they breathed, they could smell the herbs the tom had stored throughout the den.

Poppy, marigold, parsley… that came to them easily enough, but when they tried to remember anything about themself , there was nothing…

Well, not entirely. They remembered that pale cat, whoever he was, and... a stranger with long, soft fur comforting them after they fell. The cream-colored cat furrowed their brow and opened their eyes, peering up at Blueheart.

“There was a cat there after I fell,” they said hesitantly. “She had really long fur, and… and I think she was comforting me? I… remember a really sweet voice, almost like birdsong.”

Blueheart stiffened, looking at them in confusion and fear. Wondering if they said something wrong, the cream-colored cat shrunk under his gaze and looked away.

“Do you remember anything else about this stranger?” he pressed, urgently. His clouded eyes were wide and desperate, full of an emotion they almost couldn’t quite place.

The cream-colored cat shook their head and meowed, “No, I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t see whoever it was.” He relaxed slightly, but there was a strange look of grief on his face.

“My apologies,” he murmured. “I was just… wondering.” He straightened up now, sighing. “This was something I was worried about. With head injuries, sometimes cats forget things.”

Blueheart’s voice was calmer now, though there was a clear edge to it and he seemed to be holding something back.

“Will I get my memories back?” the cream-colored cat asked. They avoided looking at him, afraid of what they might see in his clouded eyes.

“I don’t know,” the tom said truthfully, but not unkindly. “I’m afraid… I’ve never seen a cat who lost as much as you have.”

Something in the cream-colored cat’s heart ached, grief at losing a life they may never know. Before they could really dwell on the grey tabby’s words, a scrabbling of tiny paws alerted them to someone else approaching.

A tiny molly with fluffy, white fur pushed her way through the ferns at the den’s entrance, carrying with her a plump mouse. She shook herself off and met the cream-colored cat’s gaze with shining, excited eyes.

“Good morning, Snowpaw,” Blueheart murmured, his voice fond. She meowed cheerfully in response, though her response was muffled.

The cream-colored cat watched her warily as she approached and set the mouse down in front of them. She rolled it closer with one small, white paw.

“Hi!” she chirped cheerfully. “I got this for you to eat since Blueheart said you were gonna need to keep your strength up so you can recover!”

“Thank you,” the cream-colored cat replied automatically, glancing suspiciously at Blueheart. He seemed to not be paying attention, a faraway look in his eyes.

They returned their gaze to the white molly--Snowpaw, that was her name. She beamed at them, her face alight with an expectant, slightly nervous energy.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked. Before they could reply, she continued, “I’m the one who found you, you know? It was really scary and Crowfall said I shouldn’t get my hopes up that you’d survive but you’re awake and here and I knew taking you to Blueheart was the right idea!”

She seemed to stop talking only because she ran out of breath, panting a little as she peered up at the cream-colored cat.

“Er… thanks,” they murmured, lowering their ears. “For that, too, I mean.” She grinned at them in response, her tail high in the air.

“Of course!” she meowed. “Oh! I forgot to introduce myself.” She dipped her head politely, almost as an afterthought. “My name’s Snowpaw! What’s yours?”

The cream-colored cat froze, frantically racking their brain once more in an attempt to find their name. It felt wrong, somehow, to tell Snowpaw they couldn’t remember, or to try and lie to her.

Despite having only just met her, the cream-colored cat felt a pang in their heart when they looked at the sweet little cat’s smile. There was something… familiar about it. They tried to pinpoint this fleeting feeling, but it slipped through their paws like smoke.

They were startled by another cat slipping into the den, a black tom with a white belly. He had a displeased frown on his handsome face as he looked between the cats gathered in the den.

“Snowpaw--” he began.

“I was giving our visitor prey!” Snowpaw explained proudly, grinning up at him. “Sparrowthroat said prey helps everyone feel better!”

The black-furred tom hummed, then looked over to the cream-colored cat. They avoided his gaze, unnerved at the blatant disapproval in his eyes.

“I see you’ve already done that,” he said. “Now, you have duties to attend to.” His voice was hard, leaving no room for argument.

Despite the black-furred tom’s harsh tone, Snowpaw’s small face determined as she pouted at him.

“But I already finished cleaning the elders’ den and hunting,” she protested, not at all withering under his gaze. “What else is there to do?”

“There’s always more to do,” he replied, only just barely not growling. “Snowpaw, leave Blueheart alone--he has his own work to do.” Snowpaw looked as though she was going to protest again, but instead, she sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Fiiiiiiiiiiiiine,” she said. She nodded again to Blueheart and the cream-colored cat before stalking out of the den, her steps stiff and her face set in a grumpy scowl.

“She wasn’t bothering anyone,” Blueheart said gently, limping over to the black-furred tom.

The tom looked at him with a neutral expression, twitching his whiskers. Still, his eyes softened when he looked at Blueheart and he sighed.

“Snowpaw has to learn to listen,” he said, though there was little force behind his words. “And you must be able to work without anyone running under your paws.”

“She was just trying to help,” Blueheart said. “I don’t mind it, truthfully.” Before the black tom could protest, Blueheart smiled and added, almost teasingly, “You should go after your apprentice, my friend. I think she’ll want to have a long talk with you.”

“I suppose,” the other tom agreed with a huff. He dipped his head respectfully to Blueheart. The cream-colored cat couldn’t be sure, but they thought they saw a flash of concern in those narrowed eyes.

The black tom directed a curious, slightly disgruntled look at the cream-colored cat. Hesitantly, he said, “... I hope you recover soon.” With that said, he turned and slipped out of the den.

“Who was that?” asked the cream-colored cat, staring after him. They flattened their ears. “Does he not… like me?” Did I do something wrong?

“Crowfall doesn’t trust outsiders,” Blueheart explained with a reassuring smile, “but I told him you need to get well before I’ll allow him to question you.” He sighed, his expression strained. “And knowing what we do about your memory, perhaps I should advise him to wait…”

The cream-colored cat furrowed their brow, looking down at the mouse lying on the ground before them. It wasn’t anything particularly remarkable, but their stomach twisted and growled at the sight of it.

“Eat,” Blueheart urged them gently. He had the same faraway look in his eyes as before, they noticed. “When you’re done, you can rest again.”

They weren’t sure if they wanted to sleep, unsure what they might find in their dreams, but… Blueheart seemed to know what he was doing, they reasoned.

The cream-colored cat bent their head and did as they were told, curling their tail loosely around themself.

In the back of their mind, too quietly for them to truly register, the same cheerful, sweet voice whispered to them.

“Rest now,” it said. “You don’t need to worry about a thing, little traveler.”