Rusting Stars

Chapter -1: Before the Story Begins...

This is the very first time I write fanfics, so any kind of constructive critique is gladly welcome. Also, if for any reason somebody wants their cat out of this fanfic just say it and I’ll replace them with an NPC. This fanfic is a way I’m using to build up muse whenever it is too low, and given how much work and school is killing my muse lately I guess I’ll post somewhat constantly here for a while.

This fanfic will be placed in a crossover world of WCC and Fallout 4 (In survival mode), which means there will be a lot of fantasy-explanations placed randomly that would clash heavily with the canon of both worlds, so take things with a pinch of salt. Also, if by some reason one of my explanations isn’t clear enough in the chapters just mention it, making clear what you didn’t understand, and in the next chapter I’ll try to add to it to make it clearer as long as it isn’t a plot-related lore thingy that can’t be explained further without spoiling or ruining the whole thing. Important note, Blizzard will start with her 9 lives and lose some in specific events across the story as she gets to know the dangers of the wasteland, even if she already lost some in the canon here in the starting time this story is situated in, as this is an alternate universe.

Also, in case somebody in wondering. I’m writing this as I play, so my gameplay in Fallout 4 will affect this story directly. Also, this is my first time ever playing this or any game of the Fallout franchise (Yes, I’m crazy enough to make my first time playing this a survival mode)

While these will be posted in chapters and all chapters will be placed here feel free to post between them, as I want to know what you think.

PD: This story will be written in first person as everything happens from Blizzard's point of view

The beautiful light of the full moon bathed the clearing as the soft sounds of cats talking with each other accompanied the sounds of the territories surrounding Fourtrees. However, the well-known happy tones or bickering that came with each gathering had been replaced with worried meows and whispers full of grief or fear as we approached. We were the last ones to arrive, but it was to be expected given the chaotic situation that we had been forced to face this time before leaving ThunderClan’s camp.

My eyes drifted from the path to the black fluffy tom walking at my side, but I had to quickly look away when he caught me looking on his direction so he wouldn’t notice the pity and compassion that overtook my gaze as I remembered the events of the past moon. We both had lost clanmates to twolegs lately, and it wouldn’t be surprising to hear the same of the rest of the leaders at the gathering that night…but unlike me, Crowstar had also lost his territory to them.

I couldn’t even imagine what he was probably going through, my attempts to subtly get him to share the details with me being completely unsuccessful since he and his clan had arrived to ThunderClan’s camp asking for refuge some sunrises ago. He had mentioned huge monsters with powerful jaws, claws and an insatiable hunger that tore apart everything on their path. Nothing had survived their powerful assault. Much to my clan’s apparent dismay I had allowed them to call the forest their home, even if just temporarily.

We both hoped the other clans would agree to give some of their territory to them after explaining the situation. While I wouldn’t mind sharing territory with them I knew that Thunderclan’s territory wouldn’t be able to support two full clans for too long, and some tensions had already started to arise within my and Crowstar’s warriors already. I even had to break a fight between Specklefang and one of the warriors of Crowstar that went by the name of Hawkstrike before it got out of hand. I have no idea of who started the fight or why, but it was a sign of how thin our clans’ patience was growing under all the current events that we had been forced to face.

Crowstar and I had to ignore the curious gazes and whispers when we padded into the clearing and climbed onto the Great Rock. It was obvious that the rest of the clans had noticed that something was going on but nobody dared to ask…for now. After a quick and polite greeting to the other three leaders the gathering finally started as Ivystar took a step forward to speak.

“RiverClan is faring well, we had been blessed with many strong and healthy kits, some of which are now training to become warriors. We also have many new warriors who are willing to defend our clan from anyone that dares to challenge us” I just flicked my ear slightly at Ivystar’s aggressive way of talking, it wasn’t that unusual for her, but I could tell something else was bothering her and I had an idea of what it was already “However, twolegs are crossing our borders, throwing strange substances in our river and killing our prey and they already took several of our warriors, we are working hard trying to come up with a way to get them back” With those words she stepped back, only for Magpiestar to take her place.

“Twolegs had become a real nuisance for ShadowClan as well, they are cutting down some pine trees on the edge of our territory and expanded the Carrionplace further into our territory. Some clanmates had gone missing after they were caught by twolegs as well, we already sent a patrol to gather information and we hope they will be back soon” Well, that was interesting. Unless WindClan had taken the same initiative ShadowClan would be the only one that had decided to actually send cats to investigate. I just hoped they could return safely.

Ashstar was the next one to step forward to speak, and I didn’t need a sign of StarClan to know she was quite agitated, even her fur seemed to be a bit messier than usual, as if she hadn’t been taking care of it properly “Twolegs are constantly spotted around the moors, placing odd markings and objects in certain spots in our territory, scaring away the prey and one even burned down part of the territory near the Thunderpath. One of our patrols even reported the arrival of big monsters with what they described to be odd jaws, claws and tails to the Abandoned Barn not long before we came to this gathering. Three of my warriors were also taken by the twolegs and we pray for their wellbeing and safe return to their home” At the mention of the monsters Crowstar and I looked at each other with worried eyes.

I had to wait a bit before stepping forward, as Ashstar was clearly uneasy and needed to take some seconds to relax before stepping back. I couldn’t blame her, having your territory invaded like this…oh dear StarClan, I just hoped she wouldn’t have a panic attack when we told her what the monsters that had arrived to her territory could do “ThunderClan also was invaded by twolegs not long ago, taking a patrol of two warriors and three apprentices with them. We also are taking SkyClan in as refugees for the time being…and will be willing to take any other clan if needed until they can return home or find a new place to live” I almost regretted my words as some of my clanmates complained, already unhappy with SkyClan and not wanting to host another clan. However, in these harsh times we couldn’t be selfish, especially if it meant the survival of the clans.

Finally Crowstar stepped forward, though I didn’t look at him. I just hopped he wouldn’t take my words the wrong way. I didn’t want to make them look weak at all, but I thought that this was a kind of information that had to be shared “SkyClan was attacked by twolegs and several warriors were taken away from us during such attack. Monsters like the ones Ashstar described came to our territory and forced us to leave as they destroyed everything in it. Those foxhearted creatures are able to knock down fully grown trees and shatter solid rock, don’t try to fight them, it’s useless” After his words only silence could be heard in the clearing, it was like if even the insects had decided to go quiet with the black leader’s words “While we appreciate ThunderClan’s willingness to let us stay the forest is not our home, so we are forced to request one thing from all of you, something that in the current situation I hope you all will accede to grant to us as we would if you were the ones in your situation. Allow us to take a part of your territories to call it home” As expected, with the request the whole clearing broke into chaos.

I wasn’t sure what would’ve happened nor the answer the other leaders would’ve given to Crowstar if the voice of Rabbitfoot hadn’t soon been made clear over the rest of the voices of the cats in the clearing, causing everyone to go quiet and look in her direction.

Earlier that same day the medicine cats of ThunderClan and SkyClan had been given a sign by StarClan that urged them to leave and share tongues with them as soon as possible, reason why they were absent from the group that had attended to the gathering. And since they were walking into Fourtrees alongside the rest of the medicine cats and their apprentices it was safe to assume the other clans had received the same sign.

“This is not necessary, not now that StarClan has shared tongues with us” Rabbitfoot yowled, clearly wanting everyone to hear “They have commanded us to leave the territories and follow the path they have revealed to us. The next time the full moon rises we must all come here and leave, as these territories are no longer safe and staying will only result in our deaths” Soon after she was done speaking the rest of the medicine cats gave their own statement and answered the questions of the confused crowd…

However, the more we asked the clearer it was. The territories where the clans had lived for generations were no longer safe.

“What about our missing clanmates? We can’t just abandon them!” The question made by Ashstar was the same one many of us made to ourselves.

“We have until the next full moon to try to rescue them. If we can’t do so by then we can only pray they somehow find their way to freedom and to us in time on their own” Mottleheart’s words made many yowl with grief, anger and even despair. Even I couldn’t fully believe my ears…while I could understand the urgency I would never forgive myself if I let anyone behind, if I failed them.

The gathering didn’t last much longer after that, but at least we all agreed on safe spots and places to go in case the monsters attacked our territories until the next full moon, as well as agreeing on following Magpiestar’s example and deciding to send urgent recognition and rescue parties as soon as possible to try and rescue as many of our clanmates as possible before we had to leave.

I was about to leave with the rest of my clan when Cloudstone stepped right infront of me, causing me to freeze in my place and look at him with surprised eyes “I know you’ll want to join one of the parties, but you must not” I was about to argue when he continued “I and any medicine cat would tell you the same, you shouldn’t do that kind of thing in your…current state” My mouth was left half open for some heartbeats before closing as I looked away “You may be able to fool most cats, but medicine cats know how to detect these kind of things, Blizzardstar. I know for a fact that your medicine cats will do the same as I when you get to camp” And with those words he walked away.

I just lowered my head with resignation as I brushed off the questions of my clanmates and walked back to camp. I had worked hard to hide it, to avoid getting special treatment and be allowed to defend my clan if needed, even going to the point of grooming my fur in a very specific way to not make it evident every single day, but apparently there was no way to fool a medicine cat.

When I arrived to camp I quickly made the announcement to the shocked clans alongside Crowstar before heading back inside my den and lying down. I had offered to share with Crowstar when he arrived, but he was too adamant to sleep with the rest of his clan, to not leave them alone in these dark times.

I wasn’t surprised when Goldenmask sneaked inside my den after making sure nobody else was awake. The tom may had agreed to become a full member of ThunderClan now and even became my mate, but clan life hadn’t been able to break his rebellious spirit that once led him to the clan’s territories as a loner with the heart of an explorer and thirst for knowledge. As he laid at my side I let out a soft purr, the first times he had done this I had sent him to the warriors den where he belonged, but it came to a point where I knew that this was a battle I wasn’t going to win and allowed him to stay from time to time. This was one of those.

“Rough day, hm?” He said, stating the obvious in an attempt to start a conversation.

“More than you may think…also I wasn’t as good as hiding our little secret as I thought” He raised his ears and after a couple silent heartbeats he chuckled.

“That means I no longer need to hide it?” He purred with a rather smug tone, causing me to use my long fluffy tail to playfully smack him on the head.

“As long as you don’t go gloating about it all over the place” That was the last thing we said to each other before he curled up against me with a huge smile and closed his eyes to sleep. Before I did the same I turned to look at my belly, the fluffy fur hiding its size but what could fool the rest of the clan clearly had no effect on the medicine cats. With a small happy chuckle I finally laid down my head to sleep. There was no reason why I wouldn’t move to the nursery now, by the looks of it.

It happened so fast…

The last preparations were being made for full moon, which was only two sunrises away, Sageleaf was tending to the warrior and apprentices we had managed to rescue from the twolegs while Honeyspark was rubbing mint and preparing the second warrior for burial. He had been so brave, giving up his own life to ensure that the rest of the group alongside our rescue party to escape, he would be received in StarClan as a hero, that was for sure. I was in the nursery, resting on my nest as I silently grieved for the loss of one of my clanmates and friends, my belly bigger than ever before as I clearly neared to giving birth. One kit, or at least that was what the medicine cats had told me.

It was then when the ground underneath our paws started to rumble. StarClan bless Crowstar for his quick reaction to a danger unknown to us until then, I owe him the life and well-being of many in my clan, as well as the chance of taking essential supplies before they were destroyed by the rabid monsters as they destroyed the wall of brambles like if it was nothing but dry leaves.

Alongside the monsters, twolegs approached us with strange silver devices. Almost everyone escaped thanks to the warning given by SkyClan, but not everyone was as lucky. I was between those.

I don’t regret my action, as if I hadn’t reacted by attacking the twoleg he definitely would’ve caught up with the rest of the queens and kits, my action gave them their chance to escape safely from their claws. But it came to the price of me being thrown inside the silver device and caught in a small space with little light. If there was something I sincerely regret, though, was to not order Goldenmask to turn around and leave with the rest of the clan instead of trying to come back for me. I was in shock, I failed to react in time, so he was caught and thrown in the same place I now was stuck in.

I can still hear the yowls of the rest of my clan and friends as they called for me. Yet I could only tell them to leave, to not look behind. We all knew that with so little time left the chances of them being able to come back for me and Goldenmask and rescue us were slim. However, I wasn’t willing to let that bring me down, I was going to try and find a way to escape from my captors and go back to my clan.

I will admit I was seriously disoriented at first. I had no idea of where I was being taken by the twolegs and only Goldenmask’s comforting words kept me from going into a full state of panic. Plus, the container where we were held was barely big enough for the two of us and moved a bit too much as the twolegs carried us to only StaarClan knows were. Could it be the same place where the rest of my clanmates were being held captive only a sunrise ago? The idea of us accidentally leading them to camp after rescuing them crossed my mind for half a second, and while I wasn’t sure if this was the reason we had been attacked by the monsters of it being nothing but a coincidence I was starting to scold myself internally against taking greater precautions.

While it probably didn’t took as long, I felt like if a thousand moons had gone by before the container we were in was placed down and one of its ends opened, revealing the light I was starting to miss so much. Goldenmask took the initiative, not wanting me to throw myself head first into what could be a trap, I would’ve complained and gone ahead if my belly hadn’t slowed me down enough for him to act. I could tell by his posture that what was outside the small space wasn’t exactly something pleasing even if there was no signs of danger just yet.

I looked at him with my guard high and it wasn’t until her gave a subtle signal with a flick of his tail that I followed after him, slowly leaving the small space to go into a bigger one. I didn’t need to be a kittypet to know where we were, it was a twolegs nest…if there was any doubts the overwhelming scent wouldn’t let us have any doubts. I felt a bit curious to say the least, the group that had been rescued spoke from huge symmetrical caves made of a strong, slippery and cold silver material and full of other cats. Goldenmask and I were left in one with a soft ground and filled with all sorts of weird objects.

“We aren’t in the same place where our clanmates were kept, are we?” Goldenmask’s words forced me out from my train of thought. I gave one last look around before shaking my head.

“I…don’t think so…at least the twolegs are gone” Being the explorer he was, the tom quickly started to inspect the whole place, climbing onto nearly anything he could find to have an advantage point to look around. I, on the other hand, was feeling quite tired, a feeling that had become somewhat usual for some sunrises and probably was because of my pregnancy, so in the end I decided to lie on the soft ground while keeping an eye on my mate and my ears looking for any suspicious noises.

A soft noise made itself present after some time, causing Goldenmask to rush at my side as I got back to my paws with claws unsheathed. We faced towards the direction of the noise and prepared for an attack from the twolegs, but instead of what we were expecting another cat approached us…or…well, it looked like a cat…if you took the hind legs away, replacing them with an odd small flame that apparently allowed them to hover over the ground, and turned its coat into a smooth silver skin. I was confused and curious, Goldenmask was clearly more on the edge with the arrival of the new guy.

“Greetings! I’m Mr. Paws and I’m here to attend to your every feline need! Can I ask your names?” Both Goldenmask and I looked at the silver hovering guy, or at least I think it is a guy because of his male yet somewhat weird voice, with confused expressions “Uh…are you deaf? I think I can handle deaf cats…maybe, you know sign language?” He started to make weird motions with his front paws, which only worked to confuse us even more.

“What are you?” I looked at Goldenmask as he hissed at the strange cat, clearly distrustful of him “Where are we? Let us out!”.

“Oh, nonono, I’m afraid that would be against my programming, mister, but I can answer your other questions. I’m a Mr. Handy robot variant specifically designed to keep cats happy without disrupting their lifestyle too much, or in other words I’m a feline general-chore automaton that also looks like a cat. And you are in the facility 3583 designed to keep rescued cats happy and healthy, lucky you! I wish I could introduce you with the rest of the cats assigned to this facility, but most of them aren’t exactly friendly lately” While I had caught some of what the cat told us, most of it actually made little to no sense to me as he talked with weird terms and words I wasn’t used to. One thing was clear to me and Goldenmask though. We were many things, but luck was not one of them.

“We don’t want to be here, Mr. Paws, was it? All we want is to return with our clan. They are leaving next full moon, so we have nearly no time left” I hoped that a less hostile approach would allow Mr. Paws understand our situation better and get him to help us escape, but my attempt soon proved to be useless.

“Why wouldn’t you want to be here? This is cat paradise after all! And what do you mean by clan, do you belong to a group? Maybe we can help you find them so they can join you and your friend here” That was what apparently ended with Goldenmask’s patience. He didn’t try to let the silver tom understand why we didn’t like it there and the motives why the rest of our clan would share our opinion on the matter, but instead he launched forwards with claws unsheathed. The sound his claws made when they came in contact with Mr. Paw’s silver skin was awful, and they apparently did little to nothing “Oh, you still need more time to relax. I get it, I’ll come back later” And with that he left, using a small silver door that opened for a couple heartbeats to let him through and then closed as soon as he was gone.

While I wish I had much more to tell…Goldenmask and I were sincerely stuck in a boring routine from that day and forwards. Oh, how much I missed my clan, and I just hoped StarClan could understand the situation and give Leopardclaw his nine lives so he could lead the clan, as after too many failed attempts to get free from the small room, as Mr. Paws called it, even I had started to lose hope of getting out. Things only changed once when twolegs came in and took both Goldenmask and I to a weird white place with smooth cold silver elevated surfaces. I’m not really sure what they did, but I can tell you we didn’t like it one bit. Also from time to time they allowed us to go into a bigger room to talk with the other cats they were keeping trapped. Each time they did I felt a mix of sadness and relief to see no clan cats between them.

Oh! Also Mr. Paws started to call me Mum and Goldenmask Sr....I must admit it was a bit awkward at first, but we got used to it.

However, besides that…geez, even my mate had grown to like Mr. Paws just because his funny conversations and overall personality broke with the monotonous days we were forced to endure. I never thought I would be so willing to learn about twolegs and their terminology as well to teach our robot cat companion about the clans. Things were that boring. Or at least they were until what I think was a warm night…the lack of what Mr. Paws called Windows made it a bit hard to tell when it was night and day, but at least we knew based on when the lights were on and off.

I entered into birthing labor, and was sincerely terrified as there were no medicine cats around and would rather hide from twolegs than allow them to get anywhere close to me or my kit. I never thought I would be so relieved to see Mr. Paws. He was no medicine cat, but was able to help me out and Goldenmask comforting me was enough to give me the courage and will to go through the whole thing. I still don’t know how Mr. Paws knew that I was giving birth, but I’m glad he did. When the lights were tuned on, allowing us to know day had arrived, a small white kit with very faint spots was curled up against my belly.

The kit was a small tom, and we had named him Lightkit, because he had become our light in these dark times.

Goldenmask had spent the whole night half asleep and half awake, clearly nervous as he looked at the metal door the twolegs used the last time to enter in the room, pressed against me and the fur of his back as well as the fur of my belly somewhat hiding the small kit from view. However, much to our relief no twolegs came through the door that day, nor during at least half a moon.

Then was when everything went to the Dark Forest and back.

We were taking care of our little kit, who was starting to open his small eyes and his ears slowly had unfolded and apparently now could hear our voice as he meowed softly each time we spoke to him. Everything was normal when suddenly Mr. Paws burst into the room with a worried expression and hurried voice. He was talking so fast we couldn’t make out single words of what he was saying, but even if we would’ve tried we couldn’t get him to calm down and explain things before the twolegs slammed the metal door open and, catching us off-guard, grabbed and threw us all but Mr. Paws inside one of the silver devices our robot friend had told us were called Carriers, before rushing out of the room.

Outside things weren’t going any better, and now that in the carrier the little door in front of us wasn’t completely blocked we could see what was going out outside…or more or less, after all the twolegs carrying us wasn’t exactly walking. Twolegs were carrying several carriers of different sizes, I could hear other cats, dogs and even other animals such as foxes and badgers in those carriers, but only for a split second. Dear StarClan, I would never let the twolegs pot me inside a carrier again if I couldn’t escape soon, I was starting to seriously hate the darn things.

I couldn’t really figure out what had happened or where had we gone exactly, but I was quite surprised when a known scent hit my nose. The scent of the territories, the twolegs was heading closer to them. The same hope was shared between me and Goldenmask with just one glance, but before we could reach them the twolegs took a sharp turn and went up a small hill made out of smooth stone with what appeared to be more metal in the center. It wasn’t until he was standing in the metal part of the hill that he stopped running and we could finally look outside without everything being blurry and awkward.

Many other twolegs were standing in there, carriers of different sizes and with different animals inside. Things seemed to calm down as an almost unnatural silence was the only thing that could be heard…until the explosion in the distance.

I swear to StarClan, I never had seen something more terrifying in my whole life. Smoke and fire making a mountain that I could swear was higher that the Highstones itself, and it was approaching…fast.

The ground underneath us started to go deep into the ground, causing both me and Goldenmask to curl up around Lightkit, closing our eyes as a strong wind reached us. It was one of those moments where you know fate is no longer in your hands, one of those moments where you are awkwardly calm eve knowing that these could be your last moments, where you put yourself in the paws of StarClan and hope for the best or wait for the worst, accepting of both extremes…

Several heartbeats went by…and then we opened our eyes.

We were still surrounded by those twolegs with their carriers, they were still breathing and the animals inside the carriers alive and well. We were still alive. We had made it.

The relief, however, was quite short lived, as right after the metal floor stopped descending the twolegs resumed moving. While things weren’t exactly calm, it was clear that the twolegs felt slightly safer in the odd tunnel they had brought us to. We were carried from one place to another, to the point where I got seriously disoriented more than once.

Then the twolegs started to hurriedly take animals out of their carriers to put them in other kind of containers that while somewhat resembled the carriers I could tell that wasn’t. My and Goldenmask’s turn soon arrived and what they did made me feel beyond furious. They separated Goldenmask from me, and if I must be glad of something is that they gave Lightkit to him instead of taking him away as well. But still, why would they take away a kit that young from their mother? Were they in such a hurry they mistook our genders somehow or they simply couldn’t care less? And most important, why they had to separate us? They never had done that before.

I had nearly no time to fight back or complain about the separation before a door closed and the temperature around me started to quickly plummet. I don’t really know when it happened…or even how it happened, but it didn’t take long before I found myself drifting into a deep slumber as I stared at the small transparent barrier between me and the outside world, and across a small area there was another container where Goldenmask had been placed, I couldn’t help but smile as he curled up around Lightkit, thinking that I was going to find a way out of this place and with how smart he was, he would do the same.

I don’t really know how long I spent asleep, it didn’t feel too long, as I still felt sleepy and tired when and odd voice started to talk, my eyes opened slowly yet my body was too heavy for me to move it.

“This is the one. Here” I looked through the transparent barrier as two cats with what I could only describe as wear things attached to their bodies headed towards the device where Goldenmask and Lightkit were being held captive.

“Open it” The words were slightly muffled, I couldn’t tell if it was because the container I was in or how sleepy I was. However, I was somewhat surprised when the cat that had talked first, a female judging by the voice, opened the contained with the same ease a twoleg would’ve done it, following the orders of the male cat that accompanied her…where they there to save us?

Goldenmask was clearly as confused and weak as I was, as he coughed and looked at the two cats that approached him “W-who are you, are we s-safe?” A soft meow came from Lightkit, who apparently had been awoken as well.

“Almost. Everything is going to be fine” The male’s voice was calm, and I watched as the female approached them.

“Come here…Come here, kit…” She gently purred to Lightkit as she tried to grab him. Goldenmask reacted in the same way I would’ve reacted if I was in his place…

“No, wait. No, I’ve got him!” His fighting spirit woke faster than ever before as the female struggled to take our kit from him, probably because of his paternal instincts.

“Let the kit go. I’m only gonna tell you once!” A weird…metal thing came out from one of the artifacts the male cat was carrying over his body. His tone threatening as he spoke. I hissed softly, trying to get back on my feet but failing, being forced to watch and unable to intervene.

“I’m not giving you Lightkit!” My mate hissed back at the male cat as his claws unsheathed and he prepared for an attack…what came next was unexpected for the both of us.

The sound of thunder filled the place we were in as the metal cylinder the cat had somehow summoned spat fire, and Goldenmask went limp, allowing the female stranger to take Lightkit from him as he cried and shook with fear.

“Goddammit! Get the kit out of here, and let’s go…” I was furious, my claws unsheathing and adrenaline rushing across my body, fighting off the strange heaviness that had forced me to lay down and watch. The male that had somehow killed my mate approached me, I don’t know if he saw me awake or not, if he saw the rage in my eyes…but if he did he didn’t show it “At least we still have the backup…” Gathering all the strength I had left I attacked the barrier between me and the stranger as he started to walk away, leaving a clear claw mark on it.

However I couldn’t do much more as once more the cold started to surround me and that strange sleepiness took over my body. I fought it the best I could, but in the end, I failed to stay awake…

I could only see white for I don’t know how long. It could’ve been heartbeats, it could’ve been longer. But when my vision cleared a second time the contained I was in suddenly unlocked and I quickly jumped out, expecting to see those strangers yet again. However I was apparently weaker than I expected, as my paws couldn’t support my weight and I collapsed in a coughing fit. I had to stay on the ground for several heartbeats before I could get up and look around me. I was alone…

As soon as my paws could hold my weight I forced myself to rush towards the container where Goldenmask was still inside. I must admit I did quite a scene as I tried to get it to open by brute force out of panic, only stopping when I somehow had managed to start to relax and started to recall what I had seen the strangers do “T-they…the pulled a red thing…yes, yes, the red thing, where is it?!” I looked around the container until I found it, mimicking what the strangers had done until a soft click was heard and the container opened.

I almost collapsed again at the sight of my mate, limp on the padded container floor and his half open eyes void of life. He was hunting with StarClan now. Tears rolled down my face as I pressed my face against his frozen fur, a mix of grief and rage taking over me “I’ll find who did this and I’ll get Lightkit back. I promise” My words came out as a shaky whisper, but I wasn’t going to let those cats get away with what they had done…I didn’t care about the price to pay, I was going to get our kit back.

My paws felt heavy as I walked through the metal halls of the strange structure made by the twolegs, as if I hadn’t used them for quite some time. More than once I looked inside the many devices to see if there was anyone else awake, anyone able to help me get out of this place and locate the cats that had taken away my kit…but each time I looked inside I was greeted by the limp, unbreathing form of a cat, a badger, a fox, a dog…and many other different animals, and each time I tried to open the doors of the containers as I did with Goldenmask’s I was greeted by a strange twolegs’ voice and no reaction from it.

For the first time in my whole life, I felt alone.

Maybe it is surprising to hear it coming from someone that liked to take long walks on her own when she was still free in her clan’s territories…but a clan cat is never truly alone. There is always a friend or family willing to lend you a paw, prey and even sometimes predators around you even in the coldest nights of leafbare, there is life, sounds, company…but here I lacked even that.

The sound of my paws as I walked through the cold empty halls were my only companions as I forced myself to keep going. Through the method of trial and error I was able to understand most of the strange devices that surrounded me, opening metal doors and even interacting with some strange devices that had bright green figures appearing on what originally was nothing but a black smooth surface depending on some noisy little pebbles I could press with my paws. I’m not sure how long I spent wandering across these halls by myself…until I found them.

I was sincerely startled at first, I never had seen something like that before after all. What at first I thought were only some common bugs at the distance soon turned to be huge creatures, they were almost as big as myself, I could tell without getting too close. They also had a weird smell, I’m glad I wasn’t hungry at the time, as they sincerely didn’t look nor smelled appealing in any way…funny enough I found myself wondering if a ShadowClan cat would be ok with eating this kind of prey, as everyone knew they used to hunt at the Carrionplace.

I tried to sneak past the giant bug, but it was useless. Apparently these things were smarter than the average bug I used to play with as a kit. I struggled a bit at first, unsure of how to even attack a thing with such a hard shell, but I found out that with a good swipe of my claws on its side before it could attack or fly I could turn it over and then attack its softer belly, successfully killing it. All the time without using my fangs…I’ll be honest here, besides the smell there was something in the back of my head that told me I didn’t want to get any of this bug inside my mouth and I decided to follow its advice.

These giant bugs started to become fairly common as I kept advancing…but they soon lost the spotlight as I started to cross paths with an increasing number of skeletons. Twolegs, cats, and all other kinds of animals had perished in this place, and the more I advanced the bigger the worry that assaulted me became. How long had I been asleep? How I didn’t die if I didn’t eat nor drink? This was too confusing.

I was lucky to find a small device that had another pebble that could be pressed, and as soon as I did clear water poured out from a small metal cylinder, allowing me to quench my thirst. Now, I had found puddles alongside the strange structure, but the murky and foul smelling water contained in them wasn’t something I would be willing to drink unless I was desperate.

The time I spent wandering across the underground structure felt like moons, but it soon paid off as I located the entrance hallway, recognizing it from the glimpses I had from the carrier when they first brought me in there. After killing a couple more of the giant bugs I found a new elevated smooth surface with more of the pebbles I was supposed to press to make things happen around the metal tunnels, but each time I did anything the annoying sound I had started to relate with myself doing something wrong echoed across the room. I started to get extremely frustrated until I noticed there was a hole in the metal surface, like if one of the pebbles was missing. Thinking this was the solution to my problem I jumped off and started to look for the missing pebble…but what I found was something completely different.

The skeleton of a cat with something around its neck came into view after a bit of looking around. With a mix of hope and curiosity, I started to inspect the collar-like device that was around his neck. I’m not sure of what I did, but after checking if one of the several components it had could be used to replace the missing pebble a bright green light greeted me and something fell from it. At first I retreated and unsheathed my claws, ready to react if the collar ended up being dangerous, but it didn’t do a single thing after that. Cautiously I approached it and noticed the thing it had just dropped was a cylindrical piece of metal that appeared to fit perfectly into the hole I had seen in the metal surface.

Not losing a second I snatched the collar from my fallen kin, though not without some regret as I felt I had just disrespected their remains in doing so. I hoped back onto the metal surface and after a couple of struggles inserted the cylinder in the hole. The collar lighted up once more and after a couple heartbeats a red pebble did the same. I immediately pressed the pebble and a huge structure made out of metal mobilized in front of me, causing me to immediately flee and look for cover just in case. From my hiding place I watched as the metal wall was pulled off by the…whatever that thing was that I had just activated, leading to another room.

I quickly grabbed the collar again, not knowing it I would need it in the future to open more strange walls, and made my way towards the metal floor that I recognized as the one the twolegs had stood on when bringing us underground. Not without a good amount of doubts, I mimicked the twolegs’ actions, standing in the center of the circular metal ground. As soon as I did, it started to move up, causing my whole fur to stand up as the roof above me opened, sunlight making it through and touching my cold fur for the first time in what I thought had been at least some sunrises…but oh, I wasn’t prepared for the scenario that greeted me when I got out from the tunnels…

Everything was…in ruins

What I remembered to see as lush green forests from what I had seen from the carrier was now dirt full of brown and apparently dead undergrowth, trees without leaves, thin and dry grass…it was disheartening to say the least. With my ears low and looking around nervously, I allowed my paws to move on their own. What had happened in the time I had been underground? Had the mountain of fire, dust and smoke devoured everything?

I’m not really sure of how my paws knew what path to take, as all the smells that surrounded me were strange, unfamiliar, I couldn’t even tell if the path that I was taking would lead me back home, to my clan, when I didn’t even know where StarClan had led them with the lack of a track to follow…who am I kidding? I didn’t even know where ThunderClan’s old territory was if the twolegs had left any of it to begin with.

And because of this I found myself allowing my paws to take their own path, led by an unknown force I simply could not describe. Was this StarClan telling me the way? Could…could it be Goldenmask? As this idea crossed my mind I remembered the first time we met and what he had told me about the spirits he told me had guided him to ThunderClan all those moons back.

“The spirits do not tell, they only guide. I only assume they have lead my paws to this very place.”

Some time back I would’ve given this more thought or even consider it silly…but with nearly all hope lost and as confused and alone as I was, I clung to that thought as if my whole life depended on it. That somehow I was being guided by the same spirits that had guided Goldenmask, maybe even by himself…

I walked without rest, anxiety building inside me faster that I would like to admit as the awful state of the world around me only made itself more and more obvious. It wasn’t until I reached a fairly devastated area full of undergrowth, brambles, rocks and what appeared to be a pond that with its beauty stood out from the rest of the scenery that my paws stopped. I looked around. For some reason this area felt so familiar even if I could swear I hadn’t seen it before. Before I could explore a bit more a soft noise that I recognized almost instantly reached my ears.

Without thinking it twice I turned towards it and started to run, going around the undergrowth and some bushes until my suspicions were finally confirmed “M-Mr. Paws!” My meow almost immediately made the metallic feline turn around to face me, stopping what appeared to be him trying to cut down some brambles with a weird spinning metal circle. His reaction was much like mine’s as he approached with a huge smile.

“As I live and breathe…its…it’s really you!” I never thought I would feel so happy to hear the voice of someone else, I almost started to laugh with sheer joy as the little cat robot started to circle around me happily.

That’s when I noticed though…what once was a smooth, silver surface now had several bumps and scratches, and there were even brownish-orange spots here and there “Mr. Paws…What…what happened to the world…to you?” Mr. Paws’ joy seemed to die a bit with my question, making me regret making it almost immediately.

“W-well…I decided it would be a good idea to look up for the place you described to me after everyone left…that…uh…ThunderClan camp? It took me a long time, but here I am!” My ears immediately went flat against my skull and my eyes went wide.

“Wait…this is ThunderClan’s Camp?” I looked around again, confused. It looked nothing like what I remembered it to be.

“Oh, yeah! It is! I located it’s geological position based on what you had told me and the records of your position when you were rescu….uh…yeah, sorry, captured, as you prefer it” I had to sit down, process what he was telling me “It was way more lonely than I expected it to be, but hey! Now that you and the sir are back everything will be way better…where is your better half, by the way?” Tears soon pooled in my eyes as soon as he made the question.

“He…his…they k-killed him, Mr. Paws” My voice cracked notably as I spoke, my claws digging in the soil beneath me

“Wha…oh, mum, the things you’re saying! You need to relax, maybe we can have some family activities, it has been so long since the last time we did anything like that, I remember little Lightkit loved those activities…uh, talking of who, where is your kit?” Hit after hit…I couldn’t blame Mr. Paws for asking though, he didn’t know…or maybe he could have some info?

“After killing Goldenmask these cats kidnapped him…did you see them?” The next words that my little metal friend said were nowhere near what I expected.

“Oh, I get it now, you’re having hunger induced paranoia! Well, not eating for 200 years can make cause that, I can tell” I tilted my head, years? What did he mean with that? Was that one of the twolegs terminology thingies?

“200 years? What do you mean?” Mr. Paws seemed to be a bit confused before answering to my question.

“Well…210, give or take given my old chronometer and the rotation of the…” It was then when an expression of realization soon formed on his face before laughing and hitting himself on the head with a paw “Oh, true! I forgot you measure things in months…or moons as you call them. What I mean is that you’re…uh…2400 moons late for dinner, mum!”.

My paws almost lost their strength with the news “2400…moons? I slept for…2400 moons?”.