Do You Still Remember When We Were Younger?[C]

Before all the lies
Before all the hurt
Before all the anger

Who was I?
Who was I under the mask that I had been so determined to wear?
Had I ever needed that mask?

I see all these cats around me. I see the smiles on their faces.
Are those real? Or are they a mask?

I can't tell. I want to believe they were a mask, but if they were these cats must be brilliant crafters. I want to believe that I'm no different from others, that what I feel is the same as others, but I know...

I know I am no where as kind as them. I know I will never be as brave, as smart, as strong. I know I am nothing, a pitiful creature with too much of an ego to admit that she crawls lower than rats. Too proud, too mean, too selfish. Too naive. Had I not been told that the stars would have a place for me? That after death I would at last be at peace? That was what I was told by the cats I trusted most. By the only cats I ever trusted. Then why am I here, in these endless lands of mist so thick I can't see my own paws? Why does my throat still hurt? Why can't I talk? Where is my tongue?

Where is my sister?


Copperlark had been walking for as long as she could remember. How did stars look like? She no longer remembered. How had her kits looked like? Or her mate? Her sister? She struggled to hold onto her memories, trying with all her strength to stop the last things she had from slipping away from her. But she always failed, time and time again. She could only remember that she once had someone important to her, but their faces had long since faded from her memories, along with their names and their scents.

Here in the mist, she couldn't stop walking. She had to find her way out of this place before she forgot everything. Each step she took was painful, her paws heavier than she had ever remembered them being-- or had they always been this way? Navigatting the fog-covered land had become muscle memory, the careful threading and slidding so natural she wondered if it was how she normally walked. something told her that she had once moved much faster, but she couldn't imagine how.

She once had a sister. Her sister was the most beautiful cat, and the kindest too. Her sister was smart and nice and everything she wanted to be. Her sister's name was- it was-


"Hey, Copper, wake up! Papa's telling a story!"

"Okay, okay, I'm waking up"

"Can you really believe that the dark forest attacked the Clans? That sounds so cool!"

"I guess..."

"Good thing ThunderClan showed those flea-bags what we're made of!"

"..."

"Hey, Shrew?"

"Yeah?"

"...I'm sorry"

"wake up."

"I know."


.

.

.

sister? what are you talking about? I don't have a sister. I'm...

.

.

.

why was she walking? she knew she had to find her way out of here, but from what? and to where?

how long had she been here?

and why did it hurt so much?