Journey Through The Beyond

      Stone's Dream

                                Prologue

                                                        River

    The silver moon shined brightly in the sky, as the trees covered a gray she-cat.

    The slim gray she-cat glanced around before placing her kits in the bushes.  The she-cat took a step back from the bushes, seeing if the kits were visible.  And thankfully, they weren't.  She took more steps closer to her children, looking at them one last time.  The female was a fire-coated kit, while the male was gray-coated like the mother. 

    The gray female turned around, hearing the sounds of sticks breaking and leaves crackling, the sounds of her mate calling her reaching her ears.  

    The gray she-cat panicked, and ran away from the bushes, hoping she had hidden the kits well.  It would be too dangerous for her kits to be seen, and the last thing she wanted was her kits to die or to be raised in the hostile environment.

    She ran towards the rocky area her clan was scared of... the Rocky Cliff.

     Taking notice that the prickly ground was turning into flat cold surfaces, she knew she was

almost there.  She glanced behind her, hoping her mate was not there anymore.   

   And unfortunately, he was.  His orange-pelt was practically glowing under the pale moon’s light, his green eyes were blazing with fear.

    The she-cat turned away, feeling the gaze burn into her.   He called her name louder and louder as the she-cat took a breath as she realized she was at the cliff, only seconds before the she-cat ran off the cliff.  She never tried it before, but all she could hope for is that she was skilled enough.

    And with that, she jumped off the cliff, her mate calling her one last time.

   "River, no!"

                                  Chapter One

                                     8 moons later

                                          Stone

   Stone woke up with start. He leaped up, with his fur up, and hissed. Stone calmed down and blinked. He just hissed at the kitchen. Thinking about the kitchen, Stone realized he was hungry. 

   Stone padded into the kitchen careful not to wake his sis, Blaze, and his friend, Shade, and sat beside an empty cat food bowl. He now was glad that it was morning. 

   Stone sighed and padded his way up upstairs. The carpet rubbed against his toe beans, making him feel uncomfortable... well, it usually doesn't feel like that, but for some odd reason, it did. 

     He stopped at the second set of stairs and looked at the only picture on the green wall he liked.  The picture showed an autumn forest, a beautiful river that divided two areas, and trees aligned on each side. Except, the leaves hadn't fallen yet, the leaves were all orange, brown, or red.

       But now... it didn't seem so beautiful. Why did he feel like something bad happened?

To get his mind off things he thought about the weird dreams he had been having lately, the cat's falling to the ground, dead, the stench... 'no stop!' the female had cried...  He shook his head involuntarily,  trying to get her begging face out of his mind.

  Stone turned and padded up the second set of stairs, with his heart thumping. When he got to the top he turned to the right, and there laid the door, which was cracked open slightly.

   He stopped and looked through the crack. Why did I stop? The white carpet seemed to be fine, and he saw a half of the bed. 

   He hesitated again but managed to slowly open the door by pushing it with his head. 

   "Mrroow?" he meowed weakly, filled with fear.                                          

    Nothing. He thought, his head spinning with fearful thoughts. What happened?

    Taking a small step, he meowed again.

    He pricked his ears. A small whimpering filled his ears. He walked forward and jumped on the bed.  

    It looked like the long-haired owner was crying over the man, who still wouldn't mo-

    Thump.  

    Stone looked dumbfounded as he realized he was pushed off the bed

   "Go... go... away.... stupid cat." Came a sound of more whimpering.

    Based on being pushed off the bed, he felt he was un-wanted so he left.

    What is happening? If only I could stay on the bed for a few more minutes... just may- 

     Suddenly, when he was on the middle floor of the stairs, he was barreled off the rest of the stairs abruptly by laughing noises. 

     His life flashing through his eyes he saw a flash of orange. By rolling, the first stair felt like nothing, but the others... that was a different story.

    When he was stopped rolling down the ten long stairs, he regained his vision. And there was his worst enemy.

    "Haha.  I beat you." said his sister,  who was sitting on his chest proudly, her amber eyes beaming.

    He couldn't speak, the breath was knocked out of him. His sister seemed to be in no rush to get off of him.

   From his left he could see Shade, hissing at Blaze, "Blaze! Get off him!  Something- or someone- is here!  Can't you hear those sirens!?" 

    Blaze stepped off Stone, and perked her ears up, straining to hear what Shade was hearing.  Storm did the same, only to wish he hadn't.

   Loud sirens continuously rang in the air causing the three to bend their ears down, trying to block out the horrible noise.

    "Make it stop!" Blaze wailed, bending her ears back farther.  

   As if to make it worse, the door suddenly banged open, and the sounds of yelling humans also filled the air.

    There were three humans, all wearing blue shirts and blacks pants, and a black belt separated the two, a yellow badge on their hearts.  Each wears black sunglasses and black hats, and guns hung on their sides, as long with weird metal sticks.

     Stone, Blaze, and Shade ran out of the way of the coming people, skidding into their beds.  The weirdly dressed people ran upstairs shouting, "It's gonna be okay!" For no known reason.

The people carried this weird white bed with them.

  Blaze, the most curious one out of the trio, ran up the stairs, followed by Stone, who too wanted to know what was going on, ever since he was shoved off the bed.

  Shade, as quick as she was, jumped in front of the two, forcing them to skid to a stop.  The two siblings almost ran into Shade, but she didn't move, and she narrowed her eyes at the two.  

   "Where do you two think you're going?"  she said, her voice barely audible over the sound of the sirens and yelling, especially since the trio were still holding their ears down.

    Blaze smiled, casting a glance toward Stone, flicking her tail as a sign to jump over her after she was done doing whatever.  Even if it wasn't obvious, Stone knew his little sister was always the mischievous and curious one. 

    Stone nodded slightly back, reading for the signal.

    "We're going upstairs!" she laughed, flicking her tail against Stone.  The two suddenly jumped over Shade, leaving her behind.  

     The two siblings ran up the stairs, knowing Shade was following them.  Stone and Blaze ran down 

 the long hallway, skidding to take the turn to enter the bedroom.  The people pulled their owner on the bed, rushing out of the room, almost running Shade over, who was just entering the room.

   "Get out of the way, stupid cat!" the man said, about to kick Shade away.  Shade hissed, jumping out of the way, glaring at the human.

  Shade, even though the human couldn't understand her, she yelled, "You get out of the way, stupid human!"

    Stone looked at the two confused.  Weren't they worried about the male who was being taken-  Stone had to nimbly dodge the foot that came flying at him at the last second, yanking him out of his thoughts

   Stone looked up at the human,  noticing it was their female owner, her head in her hands, still whimpering.  Stone mrrowed at her, asking her to stay with them.  Their owner ignored him, or couldn't hear him as she walked out of the room, leaving Stone, Blaze, and Shade alone.

 Stone sat in front of the door downstairs his owner had walked out of, waiting for her arrival, while 

Blaze and Shade were playfighting to pass time. 

    Stone had been sitting at this door for hours now, and the sun was setting.  His tail flickered nervously, and he turned to his sister and his friend, watching them pass time.  

    Shade leaped at Blaze, dodging her paw Blaze had just swiped.  Blaze quickly dodged it and leaped at her, the two tumbling on the ground, Blaze on top of Shade when they stopped, both laughing.

     Blaze turned her gaze to Stone smiling, "You wanna try against the all awesome Blaze?"  

    Stone rolled his eyes, but smiled back at his sister, "Oh, no, I cannot ever beat you, the all awesome Blaze," he laughed, getting into a bowing position.

     Blaze jumped off Shade, walking away, her tail high up in the air.  Shade laughed and padded to Stone.  "This is what happens when you compliment her," she said, sitting beside him, excitement in her eyes.

    He watched Blaze too, based on what Shade said.  Blaze was heading straight for the wall, but since her eyes were closed, and her head and tail were held up high, she couldn't see it.  Stone was about to tell his sister to watch out but realized that this was Shade's plan, so he kept quiet.

   As soon as Blaze hit the wall, Shade jumped on her, pinning her down.  "No one beats ME!" she laughed, while Blaze shook her head, trying to gain consciousness.

  "Didn't see that wall there," Blaze simply said, flinging Shade off with her back paws.  Shade, who was surprised by the move, didn't have time to move, tumbled to the ground.  In a second Blaze was on top of her.  

   Shade laughed, "And you didn't see this coming!" Shade about to move away from Blaze's grasp was stopped.  Blaze and Stone froze in place as the door suddenly opened, their owner bursting through it, running upstairs, leaving them alone yet again.

   When the moon was shining brightly when the trio decided it was bedtime, and yet, it had been hours since they decided that.

   Stone laid back down on his bed and curled up into a ball.  Stone couldn't sleep; He had woken up again from that same haunting dream.  He glanced out the window and sat up.  Stone padded to the kitchen, and jumped up on the marble smooth counter, and carefully padded to the sink.

Above the sink was a window.  Stone jumped on the window sill and closed his eyes, the moon's pale shine comforting him, and started purring himself to sleep.

                                      Chapter 2:

                                                  One week later 

  Stone skidded to a stop just in time as the monster's huge yellow claw reached towards him, about to cut him in half.

  The monster's claw dug deep into the ground, barely missing Stone, and lifted up a huge chunk of the ground.  Storm watched in terror as dirt fell through the cracks in the claw.

   Stone instantly turned around and ran, not taking his chances with the monster.  The putrid scents of blood, dirt, and cats were all he could smell.

    The gray tom ran, hitting a slim white she-cat, who was also running.  She was running toward the injured cats, leaves in her mouth, her green eyes filled with panic.

    ...Only Stone didn't hit the she-cat.  He ran straight through her.  He turned to the she-cat, the same fear in his eyes as the she-cat also stopped, and stared at the spot Storm was in.

   They stared at each other for a moment longer before a scream echoed through the air, somehow being louder than the yellow monsters.

    The she-cat shook her head, as if she was seeing things, and ran toward the direction of the scream, gripping her herbs tighter.    

     Stone stared at her in confusion and shock.  The she-cat had ran through him if he was just air.  He stared at the white she-cat a moment longer before the sunlight blinded him.

     Stone squinted through the sunlight that was blinding him, and when he regained his vision, he stared in fear at the yellow monster that the she-cat barely missed, inches from its claws.

      A tree fell to the ground, almost causing Stone to fall over.   After he regained his vision, he realized that it just wasn't one monster, but four, who were rampaging the forest.

     They all looked the same, and Stone took a step back, deciding he'd prefer if he was farther away from the things.   He ran towards the white she-cat for two reasons.  1. He was interested in seeing what the she-cat was doing.  2.  He was most likely safer with another cat, rather than these... creatures.

     The white she-cat was pretty fast, but Stone played chase to many times to be slower.  Stone ran

behind the creature, the she-cat just dodged and caught up to the she-cat, who was now standing in place, staring at something beneath her.  

    Stone was at her side as the she-cat grabbed a wounded cat's scruff.  The cat was brown and had black paws, one of his paws was bleeding out, a rock in the tom's leg.  The she-cat helped the tom up to his paws, fear in both of their eyes.

   Stone stepped forward, and went to the wounded tom's other side and went up against him, trying to help support him.

      The gray tom almost fell, realizing once again he was like air to them, most likely including that the cats would not be able to hear him if he spoke.  

      Instead of trying to help the tom, he glanced around to see where the two were heading.  They were heading for the forest.  Stone stopped in his tracks.

      The place isn't safe for them, I need to stop-  Stone stoped in the middle of his thoughts.  Why can't I touch them?  Because this was most likely a dream, Stone concluded, remembering the dreams he had been having for a while.  It was exactly like this, except there was not the white she-cat, or the tom.

...but there was a she-cat in it.  One who had been haunting him day and night, dream or not.  The gray-blue she-cat had been begging for his help, actually seeing him.  

     Stone shivered, taking in a few breaths, and caught up to the two cats.  Stone was on the side of the white she-cat, and she opened her mouth, but nothing came out of it.  The male did the same, only wincing as he did so.

     The gray tom frowned and strained his ears.  Were they talking?  It seemed like it, even if Stone couldn't hear it.   Stone sighed, realizing once again, he couldn't make contact with them, or talk to them, probably meaning he couldn't hear them either.

     Once the three got to the forest, the white she-cat laid the brown tom down, and she laid down her leaves.  The white she-cat bent over and picked the rock out of his leg, and spat it on the ground, wincing as she did so.  Half the rock was covered in blood.

     The white she-cat then grabbed a few of her leaves and she chewed on the leaves in her mouth and spat them down on the bleeding spot on his leg.  The tom winced in pain, and said something.  The she-cat nodded, and picked a leaf from the remaining leaves she had left.  

    She laid down the leaf in front of him.  She said something and gestured toward the leaf.  The injured tom frowned, then muttered something that made the white she-cat glare at him.  

    And much to Stone's disgust, the tom ate the leaf, and when he was finished he glared at the she-cat and snarled something that the she-cat decided to ignore, and say something else.  The tom gestured his head in a direction, and Stone and the she-cat turned in that direction.

     There was another tom, who didn't seem injured but was being circled by the yellow monsters.  The tom was brown, just like the tom here, but instead, he had a white stripe down his back, fear clouding his eyes.

      Fear was an emotion Stone was starting to see a lot within his dreams.

      The white she-cat nodded, and said something to the injured tom, and ran towards the circled tom.  Stone sighed and followed her, the grass feeling weird as it rubbed against his toe beans, most likely because of the big paws of the yellow monster running over the grass, smashing it in, and because of their big claws, digging into the ground, pulling chunks of the ground up.

      The white she-cat moved to the side for some reason, causing Storm to look at her in confusion, but

as soon as he did so, he regretted it.  Stone started slipping down what seemed to be a big hole, probably from one of the yellow monsters.  He slid all the way to the bottom, his momentum forcing him farther down the hole.

    The hole was surprisingly big, and Storm was shocked he didn't see the hole in the beginning.  Stone tried to scramble back up with his claws clinging onto the dirt, but the dirt wasn't very sturdy, causing Stone to slip back down.  He tried it again once more, and again in a different direction, getting the same results.

   Even if this was a dream, (A nightmare actually, as Storm had figured out earlier.) and even if no one can hear him, the gray tom cried out, "SOMEONE HELP ME!"  With nothing in response, (As he expected) he sat down, curling his tail over his paws, sighing as he did so.

   Something,  just something, made Storm lookup.  Suddenly, a blue-gray she-cat poked her head over the hole, a smile on her face.  "Stone," she started, laughter hinting her voice, "do you need help?"

  Stone frowned at the she-cat, straining to keep his patience "Yes, can you help me?"  The she-cat nodded, and Storm climbed half the way, the she-cat grabbing his scruff, pulling him up the rest of 

the way.

  He smiled his thanks at her as he felt the grass beneath his toe beans.

    "Come with me, I want to show you something," she said softly.  Stone nodded, not knowing what else to do.

     The she-cat ran in a spot in the forest, Stone following close by.  The she-cat suddenly ran in front of a cat who just appeared through thin air.

     Stone turned beside him, seeing the same she-cat, nodding toward the herself and a cat.  Storm cocked his head confused.  There were two of her, one beside him who looked perfectly fine, the other beat up a bit, a fearful/worried expression on her face and standing in front of a ca-  Storm stared at the new cat in shock.

     The gray pelt was familiar, but a scar on his ear wasn't.  His blue eyes shone of fear, but determination, and as soon as the she-cat cried, "Please... help me..." 

       Stone immediately knew who the gray tom was.

       Stone was staring at himself.

                                                 Chapter 3:

    Stone didn't have time to figure out what just happened, because he was yanked out of the dream, and into reality.  Stone jumped out of bed quick, panting.  And as usual, he calmed down quickly.

    He glanced up, the same house, same room, same bed, except something was different.  His friend was staring at him in shock.

    "Stone! Are you alright?" Shade asked, rubbing her side against Stone as a greeting and for reassurance.

     Stone nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine." 

     Shade backed away, "Blaze sent me to wake you up.  She wants to have a meeting in the kitchen," Shade said, laughing at the word meeting.

    Shade made her way to the kitchen, gesturing him with her tail to follow.  Stone stretched and  followed the black cat.  When they got to the kitchen, Stone could see his sister trying to sit as politely 

as she could, an elegant smile on her face.

Shade sat down in front of her, and Stone sat down beside Shade.  Blaze, clearly trying to hold in a laugh, turned around and jumped on the counter behind her, landing perfectly.

     As soon as she cleared her throat, Shade laughed, unable to contain it.  Blaze ignored it, and said, "Well, as you all can te-" she stopped, and jumped off the counter.  "Alright, I'm done playing around." she laughed.

    Stone, being the oldest, thought it was needed to be more mature than his younger sister, and his friend, but couldn't keep a laugh in.  After they all stopped, Blaze looked actually serious, rather than elegant.

   "We've been having... problems," she started, and Shade straightened up her shoulders, flicking her tail, "about our owners," she said.

     Shade nodded, "How do we fix it?"

     Blaze sucked in some air and breathed it all out.  "I absolutely have no idea."

     And then they turned to Stone, and Stone looked baffled.  He straightened his position, and tried to act serious, brainstorming on ideas.  When Storm couldn't conclude, he just sighed, his shoulders limping downwards, "I also have no idea."

   Uncomfortable with their gaze on him, he turned to Shade, "Do you got an idea?"

     Shade looked a bit annoyed and lashed her tail over the whole situation, "If I got an idea, why would I-"

    Stone pricked his ears up, the sound of someone coming down the stairs echoing through them.  He could tell Blaze and Shade were doing the same thing as him because the two padded out of the room.  Stone followed them, only to see their owner heading toward the door, a look of determination on her face.

  She opened the door, staring at them as if expecting them to do something.  Blaze yelped in pure bliss, hopping outself, her nose pointed toward the sun, looking as if she was having the greatest day ever.  

 Stone hesitated, but as he was about to leave the house to understand why Blaze was so happy, Shade

stopped him by stepping in front of him, her blue eyes searching his face.  "Doesn't this feel wrong to you somehow?" she meowed, her eyes glancing towards their owner, who stared at them, moving the door slightly as if motioning them out.

"Yeah," Stone said, "yeah, it does."  Stone wasn't lying when he said it felt wrong; it did, but it felt even more wrong being indoors all-day.  He stared longingly outside over Shade's shoulder, at his sister who was prancing around in the soft grass, her paws swatting at a butterfly.

Shade followed his gaze, a look of disappointment flickering in her eyes before it hardened.  "You really want to go, huh?" she said, moving out of his way.

"Yeah, yeah I do," he said before running out into the sunlight.  The sunlight was warm compared to the house's temperature.  His sister hopped around him, laughing, the sunlight making her pelt look warm and vibrant.

Her amber eyes were sparkling with happiness, "Oh, Storm! Isn't this the greatest?" she asked, breathing in the air as if she couldn't breathe before.

He copied her stance, closing his eyes, breathing in the air, feeling overwhelmed by the scents.

He opened his eyes, wondering briefly if that was what a bird smelled like. 

Blaze still had her eyes closed, savoring the smell.  "You guys are lovesick over some stupid air!" Shade shouted, from her place from the door.  Stone jumped at her voice because he had forgotten she was there.  

"It's amazing, Shade!" Blaze said, opening her eyes, "So many smells! How could've we lived without this?"

"Food," Shade said dryly, "shelter and water. You know, the nessicities,"

Stone snorted at her response, "Shade, come on! You'll love it!" Stone said, hopping around, flexing his paws on the grass.

"Don't make me drag you out!" Blaze shouted, hopping around happily.  

Shade stared at her and Stone guessed she was wondering if Blaze was being serious on her threat.  Before Shade could step outside, the owner suddenly shouted, and Shade jumped outside in alarm. 

Right when Shade jumped, the owner slammed the door.

 Shade hissed and leaped at the door, scratching at it.  Blaze stopped jumping to focus on their situation. "Is this a punishment? Cause it feels a lot more like a reward," Blaze said.

 Stone had a sinking feeling that seeped inside of him as Shade spined around, her hackles rising, giving Blaze a cold-hard look, baring her teeth, as she voiced his fears, "No, you idiot! She is done with us; She abandoned us!"

                                      Chapter 4:

"Why?" Stone hissed, offering his only hope, "We've done nothing to her!"

Blaze was glaring at Shade, "Yeah!" Blaze's resolve faltered slightly, her eyes searching Stone's face for answers, like they always do, "I mean, there was that time when I shredded the couch she had brought," she mused.

 Stone stared at her for a few seconds before turning to Shade, expecting an answer.  "There are many reasons why a person would abandon us!" she hissed, her eyes scanning the air as if she thought something was going to attack her from above.

"Why is that so bad? It's great out here!" Blaze tried to soothe.  "It's not the end of the world, Shade."

"No, it's only the end of our lives!" Shade hissed, claws unsheathing. "And it's your fault!"

Blaze's hackles raised, making her seem larger than she would appear, her claws unsheathing in the soft dirt beneath.

Before Stone could step between them and stop the fight that was so obviously going to break out, the smell of gas so strong entered the breeze, distracting them all and Blaze gagged. 

"What is that?" Stone hissed, his claws unsheathing to ground himself because it reminded him distinctively of the monsters in his dreams.

"It's coming from over there!" Blaze said before running forward, hopping athletically over their white picket fence, her tail vanishing from sight.

  Stone groaned, forgetting his fear and following his sister before she could get into any trouble.  He hesitated at the fence slightly, before steadying his pounding heart and hopping over it, his tail lightly brushing again the smooth wood.

He gagged as the smell grew stronger and he followed Blaze to where she stood beside a long black road, where Stone couldn't see the end of it.

Stone sniffed the rode, hissing at the smell, arching his back. Blaze didn't seem to notice; she looked distant, her eyes scanning the surroundings.  "Has the world always been this big?" she 

asked, her eyes still focused on the area around them.

"Blaze, move, this could be dangerous," Stone said, his gaze on the black pavement.

Suddenly the ground started to shake and Stone hissed, wishing he was still dreaming. He grabbed Blaze by his scruff, pulling her away just as a red monster rode by, blowing Stone and Blaze's fur.  Blaze looked amazed and stopped struggling in his grip, her eyes following the monster.

"What was that?" Shade asked from behind her and Stone dropped Blaze in surprise because he didn't hear her.  Her voice sounded more controlled than before.

"A monster. I've seen them outside the windows before," Stone answered.

"It was huge!" said Blaze, her eyes sparkling.  Stone sighed at how naive his sister was.

  "It seemed dangerous," Shade hissed, her voice low and Stone turned to her.

  "Yes, it's dangerous, but that doesn't mean-"

  "What's got your tail in a twist?" Blaze demanded, looking angry at Shade's pessimistic thoughts as she spun around and Stone knew that Blaze meant why Shade had an attitude.

"Have you even heard what I have been saying this entire time? We're stuck out here! We have no where to go, absolutely no experience, and you're brushing it off like it's nothing!" Shade hissed, slashing the air with her tail as her claws unsheathed into the earthy ground below.

  "At least I'm not acting like a brat! Even if you're upset, that doesn't meant you have to be a jerk about it!" Blash said, her eyes narrowing to slits as her fur bristled.

  Stone had seen them fight plenty of times before, but never had it been real, never had it been like this.  This had to stop. "Guys, stop before someone gets hurt-"
  "Oh, brother, I think we're a little past that point," Blaze meowed, keeping her sharp gaze on Shade, who also didn't bother to look at him.

  "Little past? You're insane if you actually think we have a chance out here!" Shade hissed out and it was clear Blaze had had enough of her crap.

  "At least I'm thinking," Blaze shot back, venom lacing her words.

  "You little-" Shade decided not to finish as Shade leaped at Blaze tackling them to the ground.

 Both she-cats hissed and Stone moved forward to stop them, his heart feeling heavy at the turn of events. 

  Right when he was about to stop them, they rolled, paws flying in the air as both females viciously whacked each other in a sort of dominance, their eyes flashing with rage as they slashed.

  They were too close to the-

  They rolled again onto the black path right when a smell of monster gas breezed past him.

  Stone's head jerked up, his eyes going wide as he hissed furiously, his back hunching once his blue eyes found a red truck speeding toward-

  Blaze and Shade.

  "GUYS, MOVE!" Stone shouted, knowing way too well it would be too dangerous if he went out there to save them.

  Both females pulled away from each other as if finally noticing the rumbling in the ground. They scrambled to their paws but froze like deer in headlights because that's exactly what they were in.

  The plain yellow color reflected in both of their eyes, their bodies frozen and stiff as they stared at the truck in horror, their hackles raised and the scent of fear wafting off of both of them.

  Violent honking sounds echoed in the air as the person within the truck tried to stop, but it was too late and Stone could only watch in horror and dismay as the monster ran over his sister and Shade.

                                  Chapter 5 -

 Fear.

  It's something Stone hadn't felt often, but now, he was overwhelmed by it as the car went by, wind brushing harshly against his fur.

  He felt grounded to the ground, unable to breathe properly, unable to blink as he stared, a million thoughts racing through his head at once.

  Was his sister and Shade... dead?

  Oh no, please, anyone-

  He felt so helpless, time feeling like it was stopping as long with his heart, but it couldn't continue like that forever he knew, the time speeding up and riding by harmlessly, the man not bothering to stop to even check if the cats had survived.
  But at least the monster rode by to reveal two trembling she-cats who had huddled together and