In The Valley [C]

Gender: Female
Rank: Apprentice

Weak sunlight filtered through a canopy of low-hanging bushes dug into the steep hillside. The hill, which was peppered with spindly trees and jagged boulders, was slick with mud and partially collapsed in areas where bushes and plants had been torn up in the storm. The sky was still cloudy and dark, promising more rain soon, but that was the least of Silentpaw's worries. Her head was throbbing and it was a good thing too, otherwise, she might've never woken up otherwise.

It was far easier to lay, limp and tired, on the narrow shelf of stone that had stopped her descent into a valley even further down - at the bottom of the hill. Regardless of what was easier, Silentpaw peeled her eyes open, wincing as the pain in her head spiked, and tried to recount the events of the day before. There was a storm...a really bad storm and she had...slipped? Groaning, the white she-cat cast her gaze upwards - to the top of the hill - and frowned. Stars. She'd really fallen from all the way up there? Well, it was a miracle that she wasn't dead!

What Silentpaw didn't know, however, was that it had been much longer than a day since the storm. The morning after the storm, when the worst had passed, the clans travelled on without her. What was worse, though, was that she hadn't lain on the rock shelf for a single night but, rather, through the next two days following the storm as well. Sighing, the young she-cat gently touched her paw to her head, flinching as she did, and dropped her leg back to the ground, her paw red with both dried and fresh blood. Huh. No wonder her head was aching.

It wasn't a bad wound, clearly, otherwise she'd be dead. But it had certainly been bad enough to knock her out cold for a good, long while. As she took in her surroundings, however, she realized that she wasn't alone. At the far edge of the shelf was the sodden body of another cat. Silentpaw blinked. Well, at least she wouldn't be alone? And, wait a second, hadn't she met this cat once before? At one of those massive gatherings of cats? She had!

Purring despite the pain throughout her body, the young she-cat got to her paws and picked her way along the stone, careful not to slip again. Finally, she reached the grey and white she-cat and, with a gentle paw, reached out to shake the Skyclanner. It hadn't occurred to her at first, but it was entirely possible that her new companion hadn't survived the fall. Silentpaw frowned, her chest constricting. That would be horrible! Who would keep her company? How would she find her family alone?

Gender: Female
Rank: Apprentice

Silentpaw jostled the familiar she-cat, blue eyes growing brighter and brighter with alarm the longer she remained still. What would she do if the Skyclanner was dead!? She couldn't simply leave her here on this sheer cliff, there were ceremonies to hold and certain burial rituals to follow...oh stars. Just as her breathing began to pick up, the gray and white cat bolted upright, jaws agape and flapping in that perpetually confounding manner. Hissing with alarm, Silentpaw lurched backward, her fur puffy and fangs bared.

She was being attacked! The other she-cat had come back from the dead and was going to eat her! Just as she prepared herself for the inevitable feel of teeth in her flesh, the she-cat's eyes seemed to clear from their frenzied sort of fear. Silentpaw closed her lips over her teeth, fur gradually lying flat once more, and tipped her head to the side - confusion washing over her. She recognized this cat from somewhere. Not from Riverclan, that much was clear, so it was likely from one of those massive meetings the clans held every full moon.

Well, this was awkward then, wasn't it? They'd never gotten the chance to properly get to know each other and Silentpaw just knew the other she-cat didn't quite understand how different she was from most cats. Scales, it took her moons to figure it out herself and even now she wasn't really sure what was wrong with her. Tucking her tail close to her body, Silentpaw stared at Ploverpaw uncertainly, big blue eyes glittering with a mixture of confusion and fear.

Then, the other apprentice's face morphed into a frightful mixture of shock and worry, and Silentpaw whirled around, suddenly convinced that some beast was sneaking up behind her. Only...there was nothing there. Turning once more to peer at Ploverpaw, the white she-cat frowned, almost annoyed by the ruse. This was no time for games or cruel jokes! They were well and truly lost!! Huffing, Silentpaw marched up to the she-cat, her eyes narrowed. It had to be scary being separated from her family, but the Skyclanner had to understand that there was no time to waste! They needed to find their clans! Everyone was surely going crazy looking for them.

Waving her paw in an attempt to dismiss whatever was bothering the she-cat, Silentpaw took a step closer to the edge of the rocky shelf. With her claws scraping the rock beneath her, she peered down into the valley beneath them, trying to puzzle out a path to the bottom of the cliff. It was a miracle no other cat had fallen down here...and a bit disappointing. They could use another set of paws to help them out. Huffing, Silentpaw stepped away, her gaze finding the other she-cat's. How could she hope to communicate effectively with a cat who was basically a stranger to her?