[Rose]

TW: Emotional Distress & Mentions of Blood
This Starcave visit takes place directly after this VA.

Larkfire
She/Her | The Wraith
Shadow Fiend, Beefed Up (T1), & Dreamwalker Purrk

Once-white paws were now crusted with blood as Larkfire placed paw after paw down. Her reckless run through the forest after realizing her sight was... was... no, she wouldn't think it. She couldn't. Shame burned into Larkfire's mind, and for a moment the Medicine Cat could fool herself that the blood running down her face were salty tears. Her heart burned, whether with internal pain or whether from her run, Larkfire knew not.

Her steps, however, had turned into a hesitant trot after too many instances where she'd run face-first into something, or tripped over a rock, or... one instance, she'd even stepped on her own tail and fallen to the ground. She'd only succeeded in injuring herself further. Her pelt was on fire, her face was on fire - fitting, it was a mockery of her name. Thoroughly mortified afterward, Larkfire had frozen in place for too long, wondering if anyone had seen her act like an utter fool. What did it matter, though, when she had ended up a fool anyway?

She didn't know what she looked like, at this point. Did she care, though? Did she? Her eyes... Her... Another pang of hurt swept over her. What would Dawnstar say? What would Darkfall say? Her mate... he'd been the only cat who'd told her her eyes were beautiful. He'd ... told her on more than one occasion that he loved her eyes. And now... now the doubts would not stop invading her common sense. Was that all he'd loved her for? Would he leave her? Skies... she was expecting his kits. She hadn't told him. She...

Larkfire was not a vain cat, not at all, but at this moment she felt her pride shatter, she felt her heart break, she felt the self-assurance with which she carried herself through life crumple before her, then and there.

Her head bowed, body curling into itself, as Larkfire kneeled, face pressed against the dirt, ears pinned flat against her head to drown out the quiet sounds of the forest around her. She didn't know what to do, and she felt too cowardly to go back to ShadowClan just yet. She'd have to go, eventually, because Larkfire would never willingly abandon her Clan. Never. Especially with the litter growing in her. They needed to be protected, and Larkfire didn't know if she alone could offer that protection anymore.

It was in this state, pressed against the ground, vision a black void, ears pressed back to ignore any noise, that the Medicine Cat picked up on a faint scent trail where her muzzle was pressed against the dirt. A scent trail, of all things, all the way out here. And it wasn't just any scent trail -- it was Clan cats. More than four of them, but the thing that called to Larkfire the most was that she could pick out Elmshadow's smell among others, faint and lingering. He'd been here. He'd been down this path. What for, she did not know. But a sadness welled in her heart, unexpected and sudden, for the parted Medicine Cat. Shoving the sorrow aside, the pregnant molly pushed to her paws, each step as careful as the last as she followed her former mentor’s ghost. If he’d been here once, there had to be a reason for it.

One paw. The next. One paw. The next. One paw– Skies! She’d just stepped into a pothole and stumbled quite theatrically, nearly flat on her face (Larkfire didn’t even want to count how many times she’d fallen already). Her tail was riddled with fir needles, prickly and uncomfortable with every step. It was slow going, her progress, but she was determined, and eventually Larkfire noticed that the world had grown even darker, the wind chillier, as if she’d stepped out of the sun.

Two seconds later, her fur brushed against rock. Rock. She was inside a cave. That explained the darkness, and the cold draft in the air. Unable to stop a shudder from wracking her body, the pale feline continued following Elmshadow’s scent trail. It mingled - with RiverClan, ThunderClan, WindClan, and made her wonder what he’d been doing here. A couple of twists and turns later, Larkfire came upon... she didn't know. All she knew that it was a bigger space than the narrow tunnels she'd been walking through - and right in front of her, something pulsed, as if it had life of it's own. She didn't know what it was, but even the darkness of her vision gave way to a weak, insistent light, like how the sun looked behind closed eyelids.

She was drawn to the light, like a moth to a flame, and one paw reached out on it's own accord to press against the cold, smooth surface.

Larkfire couldn't tell anyone later what happened exactly in that moment, but it was as if a streak of burning claws raked down her spine, a foretelling, a warning, and the Medicine Cat stumbled backwards in surprise, falling back on her haunches.

And the world was alive with color once more.

But it wasn't Larkfire's world.

It was a landscape not her own - it was vastly different from ShadowClan's forest. And then, Larkfire looked down, and she went stiller than a statue. An obsidian pool of water sprawled at her paws, black as tar and yet still as reflective as a mirror. The sky was a depressing shade, dark and gloomy above her head.

Regardless, it was Larkfire's own reflection that froze her. She could see, yes, but at what cost? Blood clung to her fur, to her lashes, like a second skin, dry and crusted in most places. Four clawmarks ran diagonal across her face, her once unmarred features a mess of crimson. And her eyes... her eyes were glassy, distant, as if a milky film had descended over her once fiery-amber eyes.

This was her reality. It had always been.

A disgraced daughter.

Maybe Larkfire's biggest mistake had been to take her life in ShadowClan for granted. She was a former outsider, after all. The Medicine Cat was unsure how long she sat there, staring at her ruined reflection, but it was after some time that she sensed a presence, an uneasy chill crawling down her spine, and went as still as death, every nerve on high alert.

There was a predator in these dreary woods, and it wasn't her.

[ @BEAR. ]