The Fourth: Snowpaw.

[lio]

Speak up.

Since leaving the Rivercats, Snowpaw had been wandering the land aimlessly. She met a few others, who were kind enough to feed her and give her shelter for a while. But she couldn’t have stayed with them, she had a mission. Snowpaw wanted to find herbs, wanted to learn more about them. Even if she was no longer a Rivercat, having slipped away to be on her own a long while ago, she still wanted to learn how to help others. Regardless of if she was learning on her own or if she had anyone to help her, Snowpaw was determined to expand her knowledge.

So far, she hadn’t done much. These last moons were focused on surviving. She couldn’t do much if she was hungry and sleepy, could she? Well… even if she wasn’t sleepy, she seemed to fall asleep at random moments. Snowpaw couldn’t figure out what had happened to cause this, nor did she know how to figure it out, but it simply- well, not simply, but still- added a bit more of a challenge to her everyday life in the Outworld. She was thankful for the cats that had helped to feed her, seeing as she had little to no training and her fainting made finding food rather difficult at times. Still, determination filled the little fluffy she-cat’s body, and she refused to stop working toward her goals.

Even with the cats she had met along her way, Snowpaw found herself feeling lonely. She missed her family. She missed Daypaw and Cloudpapa and Otterkit and she still wished she could see Fawnmama and see all the Rivercats again. But she had nothing left with the Rivercats. Her family was gone. Stonepaw wasn’t her friend anymore. Of course, there were some nice Rivercats! But Snowpaw needed out. She needed to learn on her own. She would just have gotten in the way if she stayed. This way, Snowpaw could learn all she needed in the Outworld.

She padded through the Outworld, a chilled breeze causing her to shiver. Despite her fluffy fur, she was still rather cold. A part of her missed the warmth of the apprentice’s den, missed the camp, missed it all. That was behind her, though. She would never sleep in a Clan’s den again, she would never step paw on Clan territory again. The Outworld was her home now… albeit being a little harder to survive in, especially when on her own. But she was alive and this was where she belonged.

Snowpaw had always struggled speaking with her quiet, stuttering voice, her odd way of saying words, and her inability to remember names. It was as though no matter how hard she tried, the words became stuck in her throat. Like her voice had escaped her. Speaking up, speaking out, it wasn’t something she found easy to do. She would always be little, stuttering Snow who couldn’t talk correctly. She didn’t… want to be that, though. She wanted to find her voice. She wanted to help others, spread what she knew, and speak up about what she felt was right. Even if it made others upset, even if it wasn’t ‘right’ to them, even if it was against what anyone else told her to do, Snowpaw wanted to stand by her thoughts, her motivations, her actions. Just like she had when the Rivercats had been injured and Stonepaw wasn’t doing much. Snowpaw had knowledge- although she wanted to learn more- and she was her own cat with her own ability to make decisions. She wasn’t a kit anymore. She wasn’t even an apprentice anymore. She was just Snow.

It was becoming dark, the cold biting at her more and more. Another shiver passed through her body and she looked around. She needed somewhere to stay. It was so, so cold. Surely, if she stayed here, she would turn to ice.

Snow sped up her pawsteps, seeking out shelter. She didn’t know this area at all, the unfamiliar land creating a spark of worry in her mind. It was dangerous. She didn’t know what could be lurking in the dark. Quickly, she rushed toward an… admittedly unstable abandoned burrow, unknowing whether or not anything was hiding inside. But this was better than being out in the cold, wasn’t it? So, she curled up, still shuddering and hoping that she was safe for the night.

And she fell asleep.