Lost Creek Hollow Should've never ever ever forgot

Mae is trespassing so injuries are fine if that's how things go <3

It wasn't long before Mae got bored of Kvarsheim and began to wander. She'd found herself calling back to those dark, blurred memories of her time in Riverclan. She remembered a few things. The scent of milk and the voices of those who had given it. @Shadowpup. @Stormpup.

Possessing little sense of boundaries when it came to their allies, Mae quietly invited herself in. She didn't announce herself, but neither did she try to hide her presence. Her silver eyes flitted here and there as she walked. For the moment she only took in the dark, quiet peace of the Hollow, and lost herself in snippets of memories.

Shadowpup didn’t know why she stirred. It was as if she was a trout plucked from a river by a fisherman - an unwilling candidate caught on the hook and pulled from its dreams.

In the waking world, the dark child stirred in her nest; a pile of old leaves in the corner of the rendezvous site. She began to sleepwalk, only half-awake, through the woods.

With each step, Shadowpup began to rouse and become more aware of what she was doing. Where she was going. Kismet crossed her path with Mae and suddenly Riverclan’s child, aptly named, stared directly at the mirror image of herself. A large, starless, shadow in the darkened wood.

The faint memory of the younger girl seemed to materialize before Mae's eyes. From the gloom of the Hollow emerged a mirror of herself, a smudge of shadow with bright eyes, gold where she was silver. She blinked in surprise, then laughed.

I remember you, She trotted forward with tail asway. Ooh, you got a spot. Mae reached out to press her nose directly against the white diamond on the girl's forehead. She hadn't seen this before! Was it new? Or did she just not remember? Mae couldn't decide.

The Riverclan child’s lips parted, mouth agape in wonderment. Her shadow spoke! Friendly. Confident. Assured. All the things she tried to be. “Y-you do?” Shadowpup stammered.

This wasn’t a dream, right? Her sunflower gaze darted around in an attempt to grasp reality and ground herself. The trees have leaves. They’re blowing in the wind. I smell the summer air…

A touch to the forehead. It felt so real! Surely she was awake.

Shadowpup’s paw reached up to touch her own forehead where the star was.

“Who are you?” she asked her shadow.

The girl seemed shy, uncertain. Mae smiled softly, hoping that it would reassure her. I'm Mae, She watched the girl touch her own forehead and wondered if she'd never seen her own reflection. Your eyes are real pretty. Like sparkly pee.

Well, pee would be pretty if it sparkled, so Mae thought it was a fitting description. Certainly her flirting technique would improve with time; she was only five months old, after all.

Mae.

Despite having shared a milk mother, Shadowpup could not remember her shadow’s name. Akavir’s children had lived among Riverclan at a time when Shadowpup was just an infant, her eyes still closed.

But the kind nature of the other girl disarmed the child. Certainly, this was not an intruder, but a comrade. A friend.

And then, a compliment. “Really?” she said. Her lashes fluttered, gaze darting away bashfully. But wait… shiny pee?? “H-hey!” Shadowpup exclaimed, the edges of her voice spiced with laughter. She gave Mae’s shoulder a playful shove. Yup. Definitely real.

“Do you want to see my secret hideout?” Shadowpup offered in an attempt to make a good impression.

A secret hideout! Mae's eyes went wide. Duh! Let's go! She returned the girl's shove, laughing. The moment they started to move, she remembered to ask: What's your name? If anyone had ever told her, she didn't remember. And though it was tempting to call her Sparklepee, Mae didn't think it made a very good name.

It was more than just her eyes that sparkled, anyway. Her fur was shiny and gave the impression of being soft, and something about the way she held herself seemed to sparkle too. Or maybe it was just the feeling that was sparkly, the strange frenetic sensation in her stomach whenever she looked at the other girl. Mae wasn't sure. Maybe she would just call her Sparkle.

“Okay!” Shadowpup whispered excitedly. “Not even my brother knows about it!” So it was super-secret and special. “This way.”

For a minute they followed a well-worn hunting trail before cutting away into the forest. Shadowpup skillfully led Mae through the thick foliage of the Hollow where a larger adult could not tread. “My name’s Shadowpup… but soon it’ll be Shadowpaw, when I become an apprentice,” she explained.

She paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder to make sure Mae was right behind it. For a brief moment, her gaze met the other’s – and Shadowpup thought it was like two silver moons looking back. She smiled.

“Come on, we’re not far!”

Eventually, the duo arrived at a large and ancient dead tree, the base of it hollowed out and filled with trinkets Shadowpup had collected. Large ferns surrounded the spot and the rush of a waterfall could be heard in the distance – the perfect cover for secret conversations.

Oh, oh wow!! Not even her brother! Mae glowed under the indirect praise, certain that this must mean she was very special. She watched the other girl carefully, placing her paws exactly where she did; even so, Mae felt she wasn't as graceful as the golden-eyed girl, not attuned to this territory the way she was her own place of birth.

But when Shadowpup looked back at her and smiled, nothing else mattered quite as much. Mae smiled back. She wondered what an apprentice was.

Then her attention was swept away by the big reveal; Mae was immediately impressed. Cool, She breathed, sniffing all around the ferns before ducking toward the hollowed-out base of the tree to investigate the items within. What's in here? She asked, not touching anything. Mae was accustomed to a certain degree of possessiveness in herself and her siblings, and by now knew better than to snatch someone else's toys without asking.

Shadowpup’s chest puffed out with pride when she saw Mae’s enthusiasm and curiosity. The star-marked girl was eager to share and show off her secret spot!

“Let me show you,” Shadowpup chirped with excitement. The other girl’s sincere interest made the usually shy girl open up like a flower in bloom. “On this side, I keep treasures I found,” Shadowpup’s tail wagged as she moved aside to give Mae a better look. On a makeshift shelf was an assortment of things: a red feather from a cardinal, a shiny snail shell, a piece of quartz that glittered, a perfectly shaped maple leaf, a dried-up yellow flower…

“And over here are my toys. Uhm… I like to play pretend,” Shadowpup explained and pointed to a pile of river rocks in the corner. “That is where I keep my food.” A gathering of grass in the other corner, “and these are my herbs.” Three fat pinecones. ”And these are my puppies!“

Shadowpup looked at her new friend. "Do you want to play?" she asked.

I have a treasure too, Mae explained quietly as she studied each of the things Shadowpup showed her. They were all beautiful, though it was the quartz that caught Mae's eye the most. It's called amber. It's back home, but maybe I'll show you one day! She cast a hopeful glance at Shadowpup as she said it, thinking that maybe the other girl could come to Swiftcurrent Creek.

But there were other things to see, and Mae was fascinated by the concept of 'playing pretend'. Between her silent brothers and her Uncle Arric, such games had never featured in her life. She studied the pinecones, trying and failing to imagine them as puppies. Why did Shadowpup want puppies, anyway? They were so boring!

She did want to play, though. Yeah, let's play. Are we gonna play pretend? Mae was curious but unwilling to take the lead; she was an unimaginative child except when it came to finding new ways to swear, and even that was more a gift from Arric than her own talent.

Shadowpup made an impressed OOoooOOoo sound when Mae explained that she, too, collected treasure. It was like they were kindred spirits! Furthermore, there was a chance that Shadowpup would get an opportunity to peep this rare amber Mae possessed.

“Yeah!” she agreed. It would be fun to see Mae’s home too… wherever she came from.

Shadowpup thought to ask, but the conversation steered away.

“If you wanna,” Shadowpup responded with cautious optimism. Then, she saw the opportunity and claimed the reigns. “Okay – ahem,” she stretched out her paw and cleared her throat like a maestro. “It’s the most coldest winter we ever saw. Our pack just had a huge hunt… but I got hurt. You can be the medicine wolf.” Shadowpup quickly handed her some grass and bark before she could say anything.

Stage set.

Then, the star-girl sprawled out on the floor dramatically and groaned, pretending to be hurt. “The antler… it went right through my leg,” Shadowpup held her knee for effect. “I cannot hunt. Without food… how will our family survive? My pups… they’re so hungry….” She looked to Mae with pleading eyes.