Soul was vaguely aware of something prodding its back. Brain sluggishly coming to life, it tried to work out where it was. Perhaps having a look around might help. Summoning every ounce of concentration, it managed to crack open an eye. It was a strange place, rocky and glowing, the splashing sound of water everywhere. The jabs to its back were more noticeable now...

And Soul leapt to its paws, energy buzzing through its limbs, brain suddenly very awake as it realised where it was. Startled, the bird that had been pecking at its back flapped its wings, squawking in outrage.

Nice to see you are awake Soulblaze.

"So-rry! I haven't experienced sleeping before. And you could have found a better way to wake me up. "

Very well. Next time we shall push you into the waterfall.

"No! I don't mean like that!"

Then what do you mean? It is a perfectly plausible solution. We imagine it would be a pretty invigorating awakening.

"I would rather not wake up to find myself being pummelled to death by water! Use some of your fancy powers or something more noticeable than a bird peck."

Our 'fancy powers' as you put it, do not include magical alarm clocks. Unless you would like us to enter your mind and wake you up?

"I'm fine not having other cats in my head, thank you very much."

As you wish. Now may we proceed to more pressing matters? There is more to discuss than awakening preferences.

"Oh, of course."

A cat's out line appeared in front of Soul and beckoned it to follow. As they padded deeper into the cavern, the spirit noticed the light began to grow dimmer and the noise of the falls less prominent. The ceiling crept lower and the walls narrower until they were walking single file down a tunnel. Just as the walls were growing uncomfortably close, the passage widened into a large chamber, sloping gently upwards to a flat-topped rock at the far end. Being in almost complete darkness, Soul had to rely on the softly glowing cat in front to guide the way.

They paused just before the rock, waiting. Behind them the chamber grew steadily brighter as more and more Highers appeared. When the chamber was finally full and blazing, two figures flared into existence and settled on the rock. Immediately, silence fell, the humming Soul had not noticed before disappeared.

Welcome, guardian, to the Chamber of Thought-sharing. I am Just, and this is my sister, Wisdom.
The white and gold cat on the left flicked its tail towards the white and purple cat next to it, who dipped its head in acknowledgement.

"So you do have names!"

They seemed a bit confused
Of course, why would we not?

"You haven't used any before now, so I thought you didn't. "

Just because one doesn't show something, doesn't mean they don't have it.

"Oh. Sorry."

So, as you already know, we need your help.

"You mentioned something about there being other 'Highers' than you"

Yes. We are the positive spirits of this realm, the 'light' side if you will. We embody the values and skills of the Clans; Loyalty, Honesty, Agility and so on. Everything that keeps the Clans together. Our siblings embody the things that drive clans apart, things that destroy them like Deceit, Greed and Mistrust.

"So let me guess. Your evil brothers and sisters want to take over the Clans and cause chaos. And you want me to fight them."

Alas, if only it was that simple. In order for the Clans to survive there must be balance up here. When things go wrong down there, it usually means our siblings have gained more power than us. They do this by exploiting cats both alive and in StarClan. We need you to find the cat in the Clans and rid it of the spirit inside.

"Ok. So you want me to become a spirit-hunter. "

Yes.

"You do know I have literally no idea how to recognise another spirit. Or how to fight them, right?"

They stared at it. Wisdom arched an imaginary eyebrow.
That's why you are here. Did you really think we would send you away with no training?

~~~~~~~~~

Connect with the matter around you. Feel its power, feel how it binds everything together. Join it, become one with it, and you will discover power. And with this power, anything is possible.

"You've been saying that since sunrise, and it's nearly sundown!"
Soul was completely fed up. For the whole day it had been sitting in this clearing, trying to 'connect' with the 'matter' around it but to no avail. It had felt nothing and was quite sure there was nothing to be felt.

To begin your training, you must first learn to draw on the energy around you. There is only one thing that can affect us, and that is the power of the Universe. Nothing else will physically harm us.

"Is there not an easier way to gain this power? A cheat way for spirits who have things to and very little patience?"

No. Not to gain the level of control you will require.

"Ha! So there is another way! Why can't I do it the easy way so I can go find this stupid possessor and kick its sorry ass?"

The cat opposite it sighed.
Because it won't work. There is no easy path to achievements. Perhaps we should call it a day, you clearly cannot or are unwilling to make any progress in this state of mind.

"Thank you! Somecat does have a shred of decency here!"
Stretching its cramped legs, Soul padded off to the Waterfall Cave to rest, glad to be rid of its irritating mentor and their mind-numbingly boring task.

You will return here next sunrise, and we will continue with this.
The Higher called after it.

Soul sighed. Yay! Something to look forward to, another day of sitting around and achieving nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~

Well Honesty, how goes the training?

Poorly, though why do you ask? I know you were watching as well.

We would like to hear your opinion. How soon will Soul be able to return to the Clans?

Honesty snorted darkly.
It is unlikely Soul will return for at least 4 seasons. It is lazy and lacks focus, it will be a while before it can even attempt basic attacks, let alone identify another spirit. Are you sure this is a wise path to take? The spirit seems useless.

Do you question my decision?

Yes. The fate of the Clans and us rests upon this one spirit. If it fails, we are doomed. For the sake of all those innocent cats who will be slaughtered due to this spirit's incompetence, please reconsider this.

Silence.

I want you to skip this part of the training. Proceed immediately onto fighting techniques.

But it cannot hope to master any of the moves without first learning to control the power!

Do it.

Honesty bowed its head in submission.
As you wish, Leaders.

Soul eavesdropped with wide eyes. It wasn't sure wether to be insulted or unsurprised by Honesty's blunt comment on it. But because of that comment, it was now going to start battle training. That was going to be fun....

Soul recognised now what they were trying to do, and was thankful they did it. Though it wasn't so thankful at the time...