"Couldn't do anything..."
"Try harder!"
"It's no use..."
"Is there another way?"
"StarClan will take him soon."
~*~
"Fallenpath! My father is dying! Why? His wounds are healed, what is wrong with him?!" Iceshadow hissed, his claws unsheathed.
"I'm sorry, I've done everything I could-" The young she-cat try to say, but was cut off.
"Answer me! Why is he dying?" The silver tabby tom demanded again.
"Grief. He is dying from grief, Iceshadow." Before the warrior could reply, she continued. "Losing Snowfall was too much to bear for him. It's too late now to save him." But the young tom shook his head, refusing to listen. She waited for a few more heartbeats, but he did nothing more. Just stared straight ahead, as if he was trying to forget all of this. "I'll go get Goldenbreeze." She mewed quietly.
~*~
I'm not ready... I'm not ready! The pretty young she-cat was yowling in her head, standing before her dying leader. "Cloudstar... Cloudstar please hold on!" Was the only thing she could get out.
Fallenpath shook her head. "It's no use, I can't do anything more."
"Are-Are you sure that- Is there another way?" As she saw Fallenpath's grim expression, she shook her head. She knew the answer. After a few moments she whispered, "Is he in pain?"
"No. No, he isn't in any pain. I gave him just a few poppy seeds. StarClan will take him soon." She meowed quietly, almost not even audible.
"How can you say that?!" Iceshadow demanded, his eyes narrowed. "No! I will not believe this... I refuse to! My father would never leave the Clan like this! Never!" He knew that the rest of the Clan could probably hear him, but he ignored it. "Do something! Please..." Looking defeated, he rested beside his father, trying to offer him comfort, even though he knew the leader probably couldn't hear him.
"Iceshadow! My son..." Cloudstar gasped unexpectedly, and his eyes flew open.
"C-Cloudstar?" Iceshadow meowed, astonished.
"StarClan... They come for me.... They tell... Me many things... Which I will not..." He wheezed, and tried to collect himself.
"Father! You shouldn't speak, you are wasting your-" But the gray and white tom payed no attention to him.
"They tell me many things, many things that I will not believe.... Iceshadow... You, you must... You must become leader after me... You must. I will not allow it if you don't...." His eyes widened suddenly, then softened. "My ancestors are calling me.... It is... My time... My time to go..." He gasped suddenly, his body convulsing, then suddenly becoming still. "Farewell, my dear Clan..."And the leader for OakClan for so many seasons, was gone.
Goldenbreeze widened her eyes in horror, watching the last breaths of Cloudstar before he lay still. Her eyes welled with tears, but she only allowed a few of them to trickle down her cheeks. "C-Cloudstar!.." she murmured. She wasn't ready to take on Cloudstar's leadership, so she was a little thankful that it was Iceshadow's job to fulfill the job of his father's death. She stood as still as stone, watching him. Her lower jaw shook with fear.
ReplyDelete--Goldenbreeze
Stormfang perked his ears towards the leader's den, hearing wails and cats objecting. What just happened? he thought curiously. But then it dawned upon him; Cloudstar must've died. He sat there wide-eyed, trying to take it all in. He couldn't believe it!
--Stormfang
Dragonpaw emerged from the apprentices den and started chewing on a mouse. He then heard wails and curiosity pricked through him. What happened?!
--Dragonpaw
"What?" Iceshadow almost screeched, then whipped around to Fallenpath. "He didn't mean it, right? That can't happen! I can't be leader, he was dying, he didn't know what he was saying...." Shock pushed away his grief, and he stared at the Medicine Cat, waiting for the answers. Ans what did he mean that StarClan told him things that he couldn't believe? Great StarClan... What's going on?!
ReplyDeleteFallenpath met Iceshadow's slightly wild eyes. "It was Cloudstar's final wish," she said. "You should honor it." Fallenpath took a breath and realized she was shaking. She stared at the leader's body. It was the first time she had seen a cat die. She looked at her paws, feeling very small and helpless all of a sudden.
ReplyDelete~Fallenpaw
Goldenbreeze turned to Iceshadow and Fallenpath, shaking. She noticed that Fallenpath looked sad, so she went over to her. "It wasn't your fault, you said he died of grief, right?" she murmured into Fallenpath's ear.
ReplyDelete--Goldenbreeze
Iceshadow's ears were ringing, still trying to process what had happened. When should I go to the Moonpool to get my nine lives? Was a thought that kept on swarming through his head, though he pushed it away stubbornly. Mousebrain! I can't be leader... How I am supposed to lead this Clan? And with a rogue attack on the way, who knows what will happen...
ReplyDeleteGoldenbreeze glanced over at Iceshadow. "I'm in full support of you taking over OakClan leader; I'll be by your side through everything," she meowed to him.
ReplyDelete--Goldenbreeze
"Cloudstar is dead." The report came from Badgerkit, who was sitting infront of her mother stiffly; as a loyal subject would to a ruler.
ReplyDeleteShadowsplash's tail lashed back and forth slowly, her pale eyes focused on the dark entrance to the leaders den. She was nuetral about the tom's death. Clawkit wasn't old enough to take advantage of the passing, and she herself was in no position to do so either. The only thing on her mind was who would be Cloudstar's successor. Goldenbreeze doesn't seem fit for the job. Out of experience, the Queen could sense the chaos in the movements of the others and the wails from the den.
Clawkit stared at his sister, seeing the wounds on her pelt as clear as day; no one else would. Shadowsplash had used her cover up skills to make the kits seem as soft furred and healthy as they were a quarter moon ago. It only took a bit of mud, berry juice, leaf pulp, marigold, and other assorted plants the young tom knew nothing of to hide the gouges of tiny claws. As he watched the small calico she-cat, he hated the way she preened at pleasing their mother. Spying in the leaders den would be thought of as a dirty trick to any morally right cat, but Badgerkit took it as a golden opportunity. Clawkit wondered what Cloudstar's death would bring, with the rouges on their way.
Ravenkit let out a pathetic mew as he learned of the news. How terrible it must be for Iceshadow to lose his father. Then again...it wasn't for me.