I'm assuming talking to someone who seems to have lost touch with reality is hard. The continuous dull stare at everything sprung in their face, the short speech they use when they talk, and the lack of energy dwelling in them is something hard to talk to. I've never had a friend or someone I know who used to be this wild and crazy person and then the next day, they turn into a puppet on strings. But to those who have lost touch with someone they know, I'm sorry.

There are some kind of people who do their very best to talk with them again, get them to say something back to them. They beg and plead for a single word out of their friend, and each time their friend or someone gives them that monotonous look, they remember the real person. A part pains to see them like this and they seek the old person back, the one who was them, not this person who just took their appearance. 

Is it possible to bring them back to their old selves? 

X X X

"Don't worry, I'll make sure Hailbreeze doesn't scold us, okay?" Runningpaw desperately begged, hoping to get a reaction out of his sister. Sitting on a rock was Olivepaw, staring dully at her brother's words, the only movement was her soft breathing. For the past few minutes, the apprentice had done nothing but convince his sister to say something. The patrol had stopped for a break on behave of Speckleflash's request, claiming she caught a whiff of Deerleaf's scent. Ashstar stayed behind and looked worn out, exhausted to the bone. 

Beside Olivepaw, her older brother embraced her, burying his nose in her black pelt, eyes watering. Runningpaw pulled away and desperately shook her. His little sister only swayed back and forth like a clinging leaf in the wind. Mothpaw hadn't heard her friend utter a single word since they left the ruined camp. The gleam in the black she-cat's eyes had disappeared and a thick, heavy fog clouded her vision. Worry crept through her, wishing her best friend would pull through and bounce back to the cheerful cat she always knew. 

"Say something," Runningpaw pleaded, gritting his teeth, forcing himself in her face. Olivepaw shifted her heavy gaze, reflecting the face of a dead cat. Mothpaw flinched and Beechpaw turned to stone, breath hitched in his throat. "Say something, Olivepaw! Say something already! Please! It's your own brother!" He shouted, nearly lunging at her had not Rabbitbranch side-stepped over and caught his striped tail between his paws. 

Defeated, the apprentice sagged to the ground at the paws of the warrior. Towering above him and with a dense monotone-like cloud surrounding her was Olivepaw, looking at her very own kin through apathetic lens. 

Her green pools fell on him, unable to move from that spot. Mothpaw could sense something changing in her friend, and she stepped forward, hoping her words would be able to reach her. Behind her, she heard Beechpaw's light footsteps follow, supporting her. Too busy sobbing, Runningpaw didn't hear them approach his sister. Olivepaw heard the two but she didn't look up or move a single whisker.

"Hey, just leave her alone for now," Rabbitbranch said, clamping his other paw on Beechpaw's tail. "She's just in shock right now."

"I still want to try," Beechpaw argued. "She's my friend and I can't sit here and watch her die."

She can't be dying, she's still here, Mothpaw thought, blinking away tears before she could reach the black apprentice. Ignoring the senior warrior's advice, she crouched down, tilting her head to meet the green pools. Olivepaw didn't react to her arrival, the monotonous ensnaring her in place. 

"Olivepaw, are you okay?" she started, heart sinking when she didn't respond to the question. Mothpaw tried again. "Are you hungry? Is there something you want to be done?" Still no response, but at least she got the apprentice to look at her. The look in her eyes sent icy thorns throughout her skin, reaching out for any memory of her when she was active and happy. Refusing to believe it, she shut her eyes, avoiding the gaze, hoping that would melt the feeling. 

"Come on, Shatteredstar's gone and dead," she persuaded. "There's no way for her to hurt you. We're all here for you, you don't have to hide anymore." Mothpaw let out a loud cry at the silence emitting from Olivepaw. It hurt her ears so badly, it crushed every part of her body, it hurt to hear nothing enter her ears. Screaming and shouting didn't help either, it was all absorbed by the shell of her best friend who wouldn't break free. She threw herself around her friend, hoping to feel the warmth of her black pelt, the same pelt that always comforted her when she was little.

And the sheer ice stung her. Heartbeat dull, it thumped in a struggle to stay alive. Mothpaw couldn't stay around Olivepaw any longer. She couldn't stand knowing that her best friend, almost like a sister to her, was an empty body that had lost its fuel. Perhaps she was overthinking things, knowing the rambunctious cat, by this time tomorrow, she could always be on her feet again, outdoing her brother in some kind of competition. 

Yes, she was only overthinking it. Just overthinking things.

I'll get you back, I swear! She promised, holding back another yowl of sorrow in her stomach, causing all of her organs to spam, cramming themselves together to keep it down. A comforting tail wrapped around her, and the warmth of her brother sent a swarm of support, nearly tipping the scale over. 

"She'll be back to normal once she sees her mother," Beechpaw reassured. "It's Olivepaw, you know. She'll be back on her feet yowling to the entire camp that she was the first one to catch a piece of prey out of her littermates." 

"The idea of it is better than the reality," Mothpaw coked out. "Can you feel anything in her? Anything at all? Olivepaw... I know she's not like this. She can get better, right? All she needs is time, right?"

"I... I think so," Beechpaw declared, stomping his feet on the ground. Olivepaw did shift her head, the loud noise drawing her attention. The two apprentices stared at each other, one gaze full of life and raw determination, a fire burning brightly that tried to reach the other's stone, black and white gaze. Mothpaw lowered her ears, holding her tongue back.

She promised she'd stay alive for Runningpaw. She promised. She accepted the fact that she was going to be forced to become mates with my brother and she faced it on, even if she hated the idea. Now she's paying the price. What did she ever do? She thought, unleashing her claws into the soft soil. Mothpaw lifted her gaze to the cloudy sky, face morphing with a single ounce of rage. 

StarClan... You did this, didn't you? she cursed, curving her claws. You did this to her, why? Or are you helping her right now? Or are you ignoring her when she did nothing wrong? A spark ignited in her, firing the blood in her. Mothpaw barred her teeth, pouring her emotions to the deaf cats above. Starry cats who were supposed to be watching over them who turned a blind eye to their loved ones. 

What kind of ancestors are you? Even if we're supposedly in different worlds, we're still family and you're not going to help us. Why do you even exist? What have you ever done that even gives you the right to think you're so grand? Mothpaw felt her chest heave, breath coming out as angered snarls. 

"Mothpaw," Beechpaw said, snapping her out. The fire died like she hurled herself into a stream of ice-cold water. Olivepaw sensed a change in her and both of them gave her looks. The brown tom gave her a weak smile. She froze, heart beating to regain her cool. Eventually, after what seemed like moons, her body returned to its normal pace.

"I'm not too sure what happened," he mumbled, coming closer. Being around him again, Mothpaw let herself sink into his embrace. "But it's okay. I don't want to lose you like her." She heard a small pulse in his heart beat for Olivepaw, and she closed her eyes, standing on her toes to reach his ears. 

"You love her, don't you?" she whispered. "It hurts to see her like this, doesn't it?"

"I don't know what I feel toward her," he confirmed. "I just can't see her like this anymore. Like it or not, not after Honeypaw left us that day, she, Runningpaw, and you have been my only family. If Shatteredstar took Olivepaw to the grave with her, I cannot forgive that rogue, even if she's gone."

And I feel the same way, she purred, sister and brother embracing one another. Runningpaw pushed himself to his feet and touched noses with his sister, shutting his eyes, and whispered unknown words to the apprentice. 

Then Speckleflash came back, dragging a lump of bright fur with her that let out snarls. Mothpaw and Beechpaw both stopped their embrace and whirled around at the she-cat's arrival. Ashstar and Rabbitbranch turned their attention and Splashpelt stayed near Tumblekit, shielding his only kit. Runningpaw let out a startled yelp and whirled around, tail accidentally whipping his sister in the face.

Locked in the cream she-cat's jaws was a bright patch of golden fur that Mothpaw had only seen once. Seeing this, her eyes widened and her heart spiked once again, body trembling. Beechpaw shared her shock and choked, coughing out small snippets of words. The rest of the cats looked shocked as well, but the two siblings held the most horrifying joy in them, exploding out of them at the sight of the prisoner. 

"It's not exactly Deerleaf, but I found her," Speckleflash growled, throwing the cat onto the ground. The golden pelt hit the ground and when she got back up, her blazing, green eyes instantly rooted onto Mothpaw and Beechpaw. 

And seeing her again, the two siblings ran toward their long lost sister.