private I SHINE ONLY WITH THE | dream | LIGHT YOU GAVE ME

[Fireflyglow]

@DAWNGLARE

The smooth stone beneath his paws is cool to the touch, sending a shiver down his spine. A crisp, bitter wind sweeps through the tunnels of Mothermouth, hefty paws tucked beneath a maned chest for comfort. He is aching from the journey, but there is comfort in knowing that Greeneyes is right outside of the cave which harbors many of the medicine cats. He is slightly uncomfortable with the idea of dreaming tonight, but he knows that his duty is to commune with his ancestors. If one had something to tell him, or if his father wished to scold him for his bold, cruel words to Dawnglare- so be it.

His nose presses gently against the sparkling stone, eyes fluttering shut as he lets a fitful sleep come over him. Before he knows it, he is drifting off into smoke and stars. It isn't until he opens his eyes again does he realize that he dreaming. Soft blues peer around the meadow of stars and pale grass, the edges of his vision blurry and glitching. He had never experienced a dream like this, where eerie silence causes doubt. Was nobody here to see him?

His head swivels, blinking once- then twice. He can see a pale figure not too far from him, in his peripherals, a pale figure that is all too scarily similar. He must be having a dream. This couldn't be StarClan.

"..Dawnglare?" Fireflyglow calls out warily, soon finding that he cannot move. He is bound in his standing position. His eyes flick downwards, and he notices that his paws are murky and fuzzy- he wasn't solid, like he normally was. His nervousness is betrayed by the shaking in his form. Had something happened?​

SKYCLAN MEDICINE CAT ✦ 26 MOONS ✦ CHUNKY, BIG-FOOTED SEAL POINT ✦ TAGS​

 

[DAWNGLARE]

Fireflyglow awakes to a breathing field.

The place of endless hunting; to them, it would seem empty. Blades of grass, dew-dropped and lit with mist set about a melancholic sway. Ahead of them, there would be no starry visage to meet them head on — for the one they are destined to meet is but a coward in prophet's wool.

" Fireflyglow, " The voice rings out before it has a mouth. It's held to his chest, the sorrow ridden deep in that sigh. Fireflyglow deserved the whole of it, didn't he? Left in the aftermath of Dawnglare's own disaster, he deserved every placating press of his skull. He deserved apologies uttered between the streaks of snot and tears. Perhaps Dawnglare had only been thrust here to do just that. To right a wrong.

He had begged so fervently for the right to say goodbye... and yet the moment he has it, he finds himself incapable. Was it the furrow of frustration in that new moon-spot of a face? Was it the realization, seasons late, that oh, he has grown? His frame is large, his paws steady... Fireflyglow had not allowed the ice over his eyes to keep him from capability. And not so long ago... Dawnglare had loathed the thought. An insult, to say his teaching had not been sufficient. A threat all the same to his livelihood, a paw that could mend the way his had been able to... Dawnglare had not been reborn the moment he'd died. No, he cannot feel something as clear and as tangible as relief.

But he dares to hope for SkyClan's future as he glimpses the paws that would replace his own. ( What sort of ghost did it make him, if he still trembled at the very thought? )

He appears suddenly, the hunched form of a mourning wraith, slotting into place the moment Fireflyglow's gaze shifts sideward. Though clouded eyes were not deigned to meet him fully, who would miss the swirl of auburn-and-white? The prim point of a muzzle? A wrinkled, pink nose? ( Selfishly, Dawnglare hopes that he will; and that he will continue to for many moons more. )

Fireflyglow would feel a familiar pelt graze his own. The cooling of his body is perhaps, too new for him to feel so different from before. The both of them hang on a word, the call of his name, disbelieving... A hollow frown has settled onto a pale maw. Furrowed is the face that Fireflyglow would not have the chance properly see. There is a long moment of silence before Dawnglare rests his muzzle atop the head of SkyClan's one and only Medicine Cat.

Burrowing into Fireflyglow's skull would be the mutterings of Twolegplace. Upwalker's chatter, the bustle of unthinkable machines, a monster's roar. In the distance, the bellowing of a dog.

In this shell of his former self— with eyes that stab holes through iniquity, with a look now devoid of the ugly repentance of a fool— he could not apologize. Not in a way that any other would. He would bid them this, instead: an invitation to his own unraveling. " Come find me. "

He cannot bear to utter another word.​

 

[Fireflyglow]

The strawberry and cream tom's movements are snake-like, his chilly form brushing against the seal point's own. Fireflyglow is still so, so angry- he wants to curse out Dawnglare, to call him a traitor and coward. He wants to tell Dawnglare that he meant nothing to him, but that wasn't- that wasn't right. He would be lying if he said those words. He bites his tongue, shining blues flicking to meet the seafoam blues.

His ears twitch, the weight of a muzzle laid across his cranium. Ever-present, like a spirit lingering near a friend's grave. His jaw trembles, flashes of sounds surrounding him. A vision, tunneling and racing through the forest. The roar of a monster, the snarl of a dog, twolegs and their incessant chittering. Fireflyglow gasps as Dawnglare pulls away from him, making eye contact momentarily.

Come find me.

His voice echoes in the dream, a pit in his stomach as he nods ever so slowly. "I-" He exhales a shaky breath, unable to say the words he needed to. Instead, a panic consumes him. Was Dawnglare in trouble? Oh, stars.. He hoped not. He goes to talk again, wanting to ask questions, but the dream fuzzes and glitches, Fireflyglow falling into the usual void as his awareness returns to him. Other cats are still dreaming around him, the hard ground beneath his paws a reminder that he was not dreaming any longer.

His paws quickly carry him through the tunnels then, leaving the others behind in favor of meeting up with his mate outside of the den. He spares Greeneyes a desperate look before he takes off running. "I need- I need to get to camp!" Fireflyglow calls out to the cat behind him, rushing through the grassy lands in an attempt to get home faster.

Something was wrong.​

SKYCLAN MEDICINE CAT ✦ 26 MOONS ✦ CHUNKY, BIG-FOOTED SEAL POINT ✦ TAGS​