Blood Moon Rises
Cedarstar’s Dreams
Cedarstar followed his apprentice quietly through the shadows. What was she doing out here? She was supposed to be doing her chores by taking care of the elders! He had been warned that she was slacking off and when he spotted her slip out of camp, he had to find out why. What was so important that she was risking getting her apprenticeship prolonged because she wasn't doing her chores?
Her black pelt blended with the shadows and Cedarstar probably would've lost her if it weren't for the fact that her tail was too low and leaving tracks on the ground--he'd have to address that during their next training session. At first, Cedarstar thought she was heading for the Burnt Sycamore and he lashed his tail. It would be just like her to try and get in some extra training. Did she think that increasing her skills would make up for her skimping out on chores? How was that proving she could be responsible enough to become a warrior? Instead, Cedarstar's apprentice veered away from the Burnt Sycamore, which only peeked Cedarstar's curiousness even more. Where was she going?
They ended up at the Carrionplace. She was definitely trying to lose a tail by the round-a-bout way she went from camp to the Burnt Sycamore and now back to the Carrionplace, but Cedarstar kept up with her. What exactly was she trying to hide? Cedarstar remained crouched in the shadows, his eyes narrowed on his apprentice as she stepped into a clearing of the Carrionplace. She looked around as if making sure she was alone, then sat down to clean her paws. Not a few moments later, another cat came into the clearing. It was her brother. Cedarstar flattened his ears, the two of them shouldn't be out here by themselves.
"Alright, I'll show you what I did in training today." Cedarstar's apprentice immediately stood up when she spotted her brother. "We'll prove to the Clan that you can be a warrior!" However, her brother didn't look as convinced.
Cedarstar let out a quiet sigh of understanding. How could he be so foolish? Of course this was what his apprentice was doing. He looked over at her brother. The tom had a pelt as black as pitch and when he turned his head, Cedarstar got a full view of his eyes, which were also as black as pitch. As much as it should've startled him, Cedarstar felt nothing when looking at the tom's gaze as if those eyes were as normal as the pines were green. Yet, as strange as it was that the tom's eyes were pure black, there was a reason for it. He was blind.
Cedarstar got up and padded into the clearing, shaking his head as both his apprentice and her brother flinched when they realized he was there. "What are you two doing?"
His apprentice flattened her ears, she glanced at her brother then looked fully at Cedarstar, the white moon of fur that wrapped around her blue eyes burned into Cedarstar's mind. "We're training!" She stated bluntly, confidently. "My brother is going to be a warrior! The best warrior in ShadowClan! No matter what anyone else says!"
"Calm down." Cedarstar sighed and flicked his tail. He lowered himself to a sitting position to make sure he didn't get caught up in his apprentice's passion. He knew better than most that her determination was like a fire spreading through the Clans. "Are you making any progress with these secret sessions of yours?"
"No." The brother deflated and flattened his ears, his voice was a miserable mutter. "None at all."
Cedarstar's apprentice grit her teeth. "We just haven't figured out the best way for him to learn yet, that's all!"
"The best way for a blind cat to become a warrior?" Cedarstar flicked his ear twice in betrayal of his doubt, he looked over at the brother, having a hard time keeping a frown from his face. "There has never been a blind warrior in the Clans before, it may not be possible."
"Anything is possible!" Cedarstar's apprentice snapped back at him like a fox trap. "There's no reason why he can't become a warrior! He's meant to be a warrior!"
Cedarstar shook his head, his pelt prickling at her blunt disagreement. However, deep down, he did consider the challenge. He knew the blind tom wasn't getting the special treatment he needed to become a warrior. The tom's mentor hardly spenttime with him anyway. Cedarstar often tore his claws into the ground when he saw the disregard of the blind tom's mentor. How could anyone treat their apprentice like that? The challenge of training a blind cat was definitely greater than training a normal apprentice. The she-cat in the clearing may have been Cedarstar's first apprentice, but he would've welcomed the challenge of turning a blind cat into a warrior. He could almost imagine it. What would the Clans think of him if he trained the blind tom into one of the greatest warriors in all the Clans? Cedarstar took a deep breath and looked back at his apprentice. He wanted the challenge and they looked like they needed the help. When she saw the contemplation in his eyes, Cedarstar's apprentice perked up. She took a step toward him and though she would never say the words out loud, Cedarstar saw the plea in her eyes. Those sparkling eyes of deep blue. "Show me what you've been doing." Cedarstar gave in, there was no way he couldn't. "Maybe I can help."
"Alright!" Cedarstar's apprentice dropped into a battle stance with her excitement. She turned toward her brother with a wide smile on her face. "Show him what you can do!"
Cedarstar looked to the brother only to find the young tom was staring right back at him. It made Cedarstar's gut curl. That didn't make sense, the blind tom never looked anyone in the eye. Yet, the young tom's pitch black eyes were fading to a deep green, one that was so familiar, but Cedarstar couldn't place it.
"Go on without me, Cedarstar. Save yourself!"
The voice that came from the young apprentice's lips didn't belong to the apprentice. Cedarstar took a step back and fear crept within his heart. This didn't make any sense. Suddenly, a loud pop occurred from behind and when Cedarstar whirled around the entire territory was up in flames. Fire towered as tall as the pines and the coolness of the Carrionplace was chased away with stinging heat. A gasp of agony broke from Cedarstar's throat and when he looked down at his paws, his legs were twisted and mauled with black burns. Cedarstar whipped back around to the apprentices, he had to get them out of here! However, the she-cat was gone and in the blind tom's place was a ragged black warrior with green eyes. Weak coughs were coming from his throat.
"Crowfur!" Cedarstar darted forward, panic picking up his heart rate. He tried nudging the warrior to his paws, but Crowfur was too weak to stand. Cedarstar then grabbed him by the scruff of the neck to drag him out of the flames.
"No...go, Cedarstar." Harsh coughs broke from Crowfur's lips and he blinked weakly up at the ShadowClan leader. "Save yourself!"
"I can't leave you!" Cedarstar spoke through the tom's black fur. Every step he took was in vain. He could see the safety of Fourtrees where the air was clear and the grass was green, but with his every step it stretched further and further away. "I can't!"
"You have too..." Crowfur body slowly fell limp and anguish racked through Cedarstar's heart. "It's too late..."
"No!" Cedarstar dropped the warrior and shoved him with his paws in attempt to keep the consciousness from fading from Crowfur's eyes. "You can't....I'm sorry! Crowfur, no! I'M SORRY!"
Cedarstar woke with a jolt of fright spiking through his veins. He sat up quickly, sweating with his heart beating like a wild drum. He frantically looked around, fearing the fire was bearing down on his neck; yet, realizing he was in the leader's den brought him some relief. It was just a dream. Cedarstar licked his lips, his throat having gone dry. Pain from his sudden movement flared through his burns and he grit his teeth in order to hold back a groan. The ShadowClan leader slowly laid back down, unable to stop the rapid flicking of his ear caused by the fear that came over him. It was just a dream and yet it didn't make any sense to him. He wasn't surprised he was having nightmares about the fire, he was still wrecked with guilt about not being able to save the eighteen clanmates that died in the flames, but the two apprentices that the dream started out with...
I haven't seen her in a long time...Cedarstar thought back to the she-cat, the white moon on her face burned into his mind. He used to have reoccurring dreams with her in them, but those dreams were vastly different from this one and he didn't even know who she was and yet now, she had a brother? Cedarstar shook his head. It wasn't important. He had once wanted to be a great mentor like his father. That dream had been dashed away when he became leader, so his subconscious mind was probably just trying to cope with losing it. He laid his head back down on the ground, wishing that Starrylight was with him, but he knew she was helping clean up the camp since he couldn't.
Just forget it. He told himself. The dream wasn't important. What was important was that he rested and got better so that he could be there for the Clan. Yet, he didn't think he could sleep anymore, not with the threat of nightmares looming over him. Instead, he tentatively sat back up, being careful of his burns. Snowdance or Opalmist hadn't been back to reapply herbs to him, so he took this time to clean the puss from his wounds the best he could and do everything in his power to not think about the dream.
"I don't see how this is going to help, we've tried EVERYTHING."
Cedarstar flicked his ear in light annoyance as he led the blind, black apprentice through the forest. He had his tail stretched out so the apprentice could use it as an anchor to guide him through the territory. Their destination was the Burnt Sycamore. Cedarstar's apprentice was covering for the two of them while Cedarstar took her brother out for a training session. He was getting annoyed with how much the young tom was complaining. Cedarstar knew how much this tom wanted to be a warrior, but complaining wasn't going to do him any good. Though, perhaps all the discouragement he's received from the Clan has given him that nasty habit. "Well, you haven't tried things my way yet. I suggest you don't give up before we even begin. Is that what a warrior does?"
"No..." the apprentice muttered.
Cedarstar nodded curtly. "Good. We're almost there." He glanced back over his shoulder at the young tom. The apprentice's black eyes were directed at the ground, but unable to see it. His ears remained forward and didn't even twitch when prey broke a twig a couple paces to their left. What's more is that the tom's paws hardly left the ground. He tripped on things just because he wasn't lifting them high enough. Cedarstar sighed. He didn't know any other blind cats, but he swore this young tom was the laziest of all of them. When it came to his own apprentice, Cedarstar made sure that laziness didn't last. It was time to do the same to this young tom.
Cedarstar suddenly bounded ahead, whisking his tail away from the apprentice as he did. The blind tom immediately stopped and he straightened his posture, ears finally alert. Cedarstar was only five paces ahead, but the apprentice looked like he thought Cedarstar had disappeared completely.
The blind tom said his name, but Cedarstar couldn't make out the words. "Where did you go?" The apprentice asked. He took a step forward, trying to reach out with his nose to locate Cedarstar's tail. He called out the warrior's name once again.
"Scent for me," Cedarstar instructed. "And meet me at the Burnt Sycamore."
"But I don't know the way!"
"Scents are your markers." Cedarstar flicked his ear at the apprentice's resistance. "While cats who can see use visual markers to remember their way, you will have to remember scents. Each part of the territory has its own scents. Like that clementine right next to you." Cedarstar motioned to the herb, but he didn't know how he knew that was clementine. "Remember it as something you pass on your way to the Burnt Sycamore. The Burnt Sycamore even has its own scents that identify it. You have to rely on every sense you have to get around." Cedarstar watched the apprentice calmly. The blind tom was listening to him, that he could tell, he just hoped he made enough sense. "Feel the territory through your paws, hear its very heartbeat. You can do this."
"I can do this." There was hesitation brought on by fear in the young tom's voice, but his ears fell back in determination. He parted his lips and perked his ears and Cedarstar felt a sense of pride.
Yet, the whole territory warped in front of his eyes. Cedarstar blinked and took a step back when the pitch black of the blind tom's eyes and pelt suddenly bleed into the territory around him. The world darkened, the trees turned black and their leaves fell away only to phase to shadows that haunted the air like a heavy mist. The brightness of the sunlight that had dappled the territory was snuffed out and when Cedarstar looked up, he thought night had fallen; however, not a single star of silverpelt shone in the sky. The edges of his pelt itched with fear when he realized what the world had become. Yet, the fear was unable to penetrate his heart. He felt nothing as he looked around the Dark Forest. The cold wind didn't chill his spine, the starless sky didn't haunt him. He felt nothing. He felt...empty.
Cedarstar looked for the blind apprentice. Blackness was still slipping from the apprentice, revealing a white pelt with ginger and black patches underneath. Cedarstar blinked in surprise when he recognized his mentor. It was Cliffheart--no...Cliffpaw? Cliffheart was young. As young as that blind apprentice had been which meant he was still Cliffpaw. Either way, Cliffpaw looked absolutely terrifying. He faced Cedarstar with a delighted snarl upon his lips. His ears were pinned back, his pelt was ungroomed, and more importantly, blood stained his unsheathed claws. That's when Cedarstar noticed the pain in his shoulder. He was bleeding. It was his blood on Cliffpaw's claws. As much as that should have scared him, Cedarstar still felt nothing. Nothing but annoyance. He flattened his ears and glared at his former mentor. Yet, his glare only caused Cliffpaw to hiss in delight. His tail waved in anticipation. He wanted this fight.
Fine. Cedarstar narrowed his eyes and slid his own claws out. It was time to teach this kit what a real warrior of the shadows could do. With a hiss of his own, Cedarstar charged and Cliffpaw immediately pounced. Their claws met in a fury and blood spattered the ground. Cedarstar jolted awake and immediately regretted it when pain from his burns seared up his shoulder. He blinked rapidly to get the crust away from his eyes and he found solace when he realized he was back in the leader's den. He hadn't even realized he drifted off. Cedarstar looked toward the den's entrance and the little light to him that evening would soon drop to night. He idly wondered how the Clan was doing. Had Cloudscar come to visit him? Starrylight? Anyone? He parted his jaws to scent the air for lingering scents and determined that whoever had come to visit him had left when they realized he was asleep.
Cedarstar flicked his ear a couple times and laid his head on his paws, the dream drifting back into his mind. He had been with that blind apprentice again and this time, the moon-printed cat wasn't around. The first part of the dream hardly bothered him. In a way, it satisfied his desire to be a mentor. However, when the dream phased to the shadows of the Dark Forest...Cedarstar shuttered at the image of a young Cliffheart. He knew his former mentor's past as well as anyone; however, he couldn't imagine that Cliffheart had been that terrible.
It was probably brought on by recent events, Cedarstar reasoned. Cliffheart had just found out about Owlshadow and knowing he was destined for the Dark Forest, he would never see her again. Cedarstar shook his head and looked toward the den entrance once again. He hated having dreams like these. Ones that start off so innocent with the moon-printed cat and the blind tom, only to shift to something he didn't want to see. I need to get out of this den before these dreams drive me mad, he huffed.
Exhaustion held Cedarstar captive within deep slumber. He laid stretched out, a position most cats wouldn't forgo; yet, it was best for his burns and when he had hit his nest. His breath was heavy simply because his aching muscles desired much oxygen. In his deep slumber, he hardly moved except the occasional twitch of his ear.
"You can't be serious!" A silver she-cat hissed from atop the Great Rock, her yellow eyes were glaring at the pitch black tom beside her. She had a bite as fierce as her claws and a tongue not as soft as her name. "A blind cat becoming a warrior?! That could only happen in a world where hedgehogs fly!"
"It's simply impossible." One of the other leaders shook her head. Her body was long and lengthy, and her eyes held secrets no one could know. "There are too many ways to take advantage of a blind cat. Why, in SkyClan, they wouldn't even be able to climb!" She looked right at the pitch black tom. "Has ShadowClan lost their minds?"
"What's more is that you're giving this cat to a mentor who already HAS an apprentice." A large gray tom snorted and shook his head. In the moonlight, his fur rippled like waves of a river. "That is against the warrior code!"
"Having multiple apprentices is not against the warrior code!" Cedarstar lashed his tail, standing up as he faced the leaders. A few of the cats around him looked at him in surprise of his outburst, but the pitch black leader on the Great Rock said nothing. "There is only apprentices having to spend one night in silent vigil to their Clan. There's nothing about a mentor not allowed to have multiple apprentices!"
The silver leader huffed and narrowed her eyes on him. He never did like her and her filthy ThunderClan stench. "You are the mentor? Didn't you only become a warrior a couple moons ago?"
"I am the warrior most dedicated to the apprentices of ShadowClan!" Cedarstar curled his lip back at her. "It doesn't matter my age, I won't fail either of my apprentices! BOTH of them will become warriors known throughout the Clans!"
"A blind cat will certainly be known throughout the Clans, but not for his skills as a warrior." The silver leader narrowed her eyes on him with disdain. "What makes a young cat like you capable enough to train a blind cat into a warrior?"
Cedarstar slid out his claws, his fur spiking to make him appear bigger. "Why don't you come down here and find out for yourself?"
"Would you really risk displeasing StarClan with a fight?" The last leader spoke up. He was a skinny tom with fur the light color of dirt and eyes the same color of the moors he lived on. The way he sat gave him an arrogance that made him seem better than everyone else. It was no surprise though, since he thought he was the closest cat to StarClan. "Starting a fight at a gathering?"
Cedarstar frowned back at the leader, but didn't say anything. The silver she-cat also appeared to back down, but she held anger in her eyes when she looked at Cedarstar. Before anyone else could speak, the pitch black tom finally spoke up. "I have made my decision." His voice was as cold as the northern wind and he didn't even bother to look at the other leaders. He didn't even look at Cedarstar. He just acted like the whole conversation was a waste of time. "And my decision is law." He idly glanced at the silver ThunderClan leader. "Why don't you mind your own business instead of voicing your opinion where it isn't wanted or even needed. Continue with the reports of the night, so we can get this dreadful gathering overwith."
The other leaders reluctantly agreed and Cedarstar was ignored. He lashed his tail in irritation. How dare the other leaders speak like that about his apprentices. They had no idea the hurt they were causing! Cedarstar looked at the young, blind tom beside him. His moon-printed apprentice was glowering at the other leaders, but the blind tom had his face pointed at the ground. "Don't listen to them." Cedarstar spoke surely to the young tom. "They don't realize you'll become one of the greatest warriors in all the Clans."
"They might be right," the apprentice muttered. He wouldn't even lift his head. "I still can't catch a frog let alone know my way around the territory..."
"It'll take time." Cedarstar nudged him with an encouraging smile. "But you'll get it. I promise."
"Why do you even care?" The blind tom finally lifted his head to look in Cedarstar's direction. Cedarstar got a full view of his pitch black eyes. "Why did you even speak out? The other Clans--ShadowClan even--will scorn you for that."
"Because I refuse to give up on you," Cedarstar smiled softly and he made sure the young tom heard the warmth in his tone. "I'm never going to give up on you or your sister."
"But everyone gave up on you."
Cedarstar turned around at the whisper that split through the crowd. However, as soon as he looked away from the blind apprentice, the world twisted and warped into a mass of shadows. Fear pricked his heart at the sudden change and he slid his claws out to protect his apprentices; yet, his apprentices were no longer there. No one was. Every cat that had been in the gathering clearing disappeared into a haze of black mist. Cedarstar looked to the Great Rock and the leaders were gone. Only darkness remained. His heartrate and breath quickened. The four great oaks stretched all around him and morphed into a tangled wood of blackness. Even the ground beneath him shifted to a murky and unpleasant state. Cedarstar lifted his gaze to the sky and his ears fell back in dismay when no stars shined upon him.
"Everyone gave up on you." The whisper sounded again and Cedarstar couldn't identify its source. "No one cared. No one believed. You were nothing but a body to be buried after your usefulness was ended."
Cedarstar shook his head to chase away the whispers. He started forward, pushing through the darkness as if he could leave the whispers behind. Yet, they still followed him. With every word, his heart sank further. There would be no escape from the whispers, the doubts, and the torment. This forest stretched on forever and nothing resided here. Somehow, he knew he was one of the only cats here. There was a medicine cat from ThunderClan and a warrior from RiverClan, but that was about it. No one ventured here. No one communicated. There was no Adderstar, no Robinstar, there wasn't even a Blackadder. It was just him. Alone. With the whispers.
"Even StarClan gave up on you."
Sorrow pierced Cedarstar's heart at the new words that continued to whisper. He found himself believing it. What did he do wrong? What didn't he do that he should've? He had begged StarClan, but they didn't answer him and now he was here. Did he really deserve this? Or did StarClan just turn their backs on him?
Cedarstar continued on through the forest, but he paid no mind to where he put his steps. It didn't matter. He had no destination. No purpose. All he had were the whispers and all he could do was listen to them, and the more he listened, the more he believed they were true.
Cedarstar jumped up on Clan Rock and he breathed out a sigh of relief when he made it with no issues. Shaking out his fur once again, he turned toward the Clan. "Let all those old enough to stalk the night gather beneath Clan Rock for a meeting!"
Cedarstar remained quiet while the Clan came together. It uneased him to see how collectively skinny they all were. With the fire and leafbare, he was grateful they found what prey they had and the other Clans didn't mess with them at Fourtrees. He thanked StarClan every night that no one had gotten sick or starved to death over leaf-bare, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Hopefully the ceremonies lifted everyone's spirits. "As you all know, Spottedkit and Rustlekit have passed the age of six moons." Cedarstar looked down at the three kits with apologetic smile. "It's about time they became apprentices! Please, Spottedkit and Rustlekit, step forward!"
Rustlekit perked brightly, righting herself to properly make her way forwards, trying to walk as straight as possible, following her leader’s voice and her brothers’ scents.
Spottedkit bumped against Rustlekit affectionately before stepping up in front of Cedarstar. The kit's eyes wide, he had never been this close to Cedarstar before! He never realized how large the other tom was before.
Cedarstar purred down at the three kits. The excitement in their eyes bringing a warmth to his heart. His tail flicked only in the frustration that he wasn't going to be able to be a part of their training. "Spottedkit, you shall be known as Spottedpaw until you receive your warrior name." He searched the crowd again and gave a single nod to Spottedpaw's new mentor. He had noticed how strong-willed Spottedpaw was and how his size was often a hinderance. He felt a calm mentor who knew how to train a smaller cat into a strong warrior would do him good. "Lynxdapple, you will mentor Spottedpaw. You did a fine job with Littlemoon, I know you'll train Spottedpaw into the best warrior he can be."
Lynxdapple smiled at the assignment, glancing towards Spottedpaw with a welcoming look. He had enjoyed mentoring Littlemoon immensely, and hoped that Spottedpaw would be as eager to learn as she had been.
Rustlekit purred as her brothers were named as paws, shifting a bit as she waited patiently and curiously for her turn.
Spottedpaw puffed his chest out, looking over at Lynxdapple with pure adoration in his eyes. He moved over to his mentor to touch noses with him.
Cedarstar then looked down at Rustlekit. He had thought long and hard about who he was going to give the blind kit to train. He wanted to give her to Ratmask or Moonpetal, since their parents were blind, but both of them had apprentices already. Then, he thought of the senior warriors: Bumbleskip was patient and Swirlheart was kind; yet, neither of them had much experience around blind cats. He wanted to give Rustlekit to Closesky. If anyone could train her, it would be him, but Closesky had given up the life of a warrior. He finally decided to go with someone that both Mouseclaw and Spiderfang trusted. Someone he trusted more than anything in the world.
"Rustlekit, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rustlepaw. Your mentor shall be--" Cedarstar cut off when Rustlepaw's gray tabby markings darkened right before his eyes. Her fur became as black as night and her pupils dilated until her eyes were pitch black. She looked just like the apprentice from his dreams and he could not hide the shock from his face, but when he blinked, she was back to being grey tabby Rustlepaw with blue eyes. Cedarstar stilled and curled his tail over his paws. The more he thought about it, those dreams showed him how to train a blind cat. Perhaps...perhaps he could use them to train Rustlepaw into a full warrior? Cedarstar flattened his ears. He didn't know if was his desperation to get back into mentoring or something else. He jumped down from the Clan Rock and landed in front of Rustlepaw. "I will be your mentor."
Rustlepaw blanched with surprise. She could feel the faint thrum of Cedarstar’s paws landing upon the ground before her, feel the small flutter of wind as he landed, brushing against her fur. He was standing right in front of her, wasn’t he? She lifted her chin up towards her leader, aiming her surprised face towards his voice.
Cedarstar leaned forward so that Rustlepaw could touch her nose to his. He breathed out gently so she would know he was there. "I hope to do you proud, Rustlepaw."
Cedarstar nodded to Snowdance. He looked back at his son to make sure Palepaw was following and slipped after the medicine cat. He was glad to see Hazelblaze in good spirits talking to Cinderspeck, and had to step around Snakesong and Smokestorm. Cedarstar did pause by Foxshadow to get a look at her wound. He flicked his ear twice, remembering catching Ashrock using something on the herb. He hoped his brother didn't cause too much damage. "You were very brave, Foxshadow. Thank you for saving my life." He flicked his ear again, not sure if the poppy seeded warrior heard him, but he padded over to Snowdance.
Snowdance grabbed some cobwebs to wrap around Palepaw’s paw to stop the bleeding before turning to inspect Cedarstar’s wounds. She started chewing up some marigold and applied it to his injuries. “Did you learn anything new about these prey maulers?” She asked Cedarstar as she worked, flicking her ear. She could only imagine what could have happened if Longkit and Lightkit had been caught by the strange creatures, and it made her shudder thinking about it.
Cedarstar sat down so he wouldn't move so much for the medicine cat. He had to look away when she assessed the scratches and scrapes along his burns. "We learned what they looked like. Dog-like creatures that run in a pack. They weren't afraid of our patrol which tells me they may attack us on sight. They were afraid of the twoleg's 'death stick'--as Talltalon calls it." Cedarstar looked back at Snowdance. "I don't think you and Opalmist should go anywhere in the territory alone."
Snowdance finished applying the marigold and sat back with a slight frown, “I suppose you’re right about that, and I doubt I would be able to get myself up a tree any time soon either.” She said, not liking the thought of having to inconvenience some of the warriors just to gather herbs. “Palepaw, why don’t you go and have Opalmist take a look at your paw, the bleeding should have stopped by now.” Snowdance mewed to the apprentice before looking back at Cedarstar, “There’s something else that I need to talk to you about.” She added quietly.
Palepaw blinked at Snowdance and glanced at his father. He wanted to continue to sit and listen to Cedarstar and Snowdance, plus, he didn't like the idea of walking on the cobwebs, but when his father flicked his tail, Palepaw inwardly sighed and got up to hobble over to Opalmist. He didn't like the feel of the cobwebs on his paws.
Cedarstar flicked his ear and looked at Snowdance once his son padded off further into the den. The fur on the back of his neck did prickle. Did Snowdance send Palepaw off because she wanted to talk about something she didn't want anyone else to overhear? She had several talks like that with Northstar, and Cedarstar didn't like the thought of what it could be. Speaking with the medicine cat already felt different since he became leader. She reminded him of how so much was expected of him. Cedarstar awkwardly shifted. "Like a...'in the leader den' type talk?" he asked, not knowing how else to say it.
Snowdance’s whiskers twitched in amusement at Cedarstar’s question, “Yes, one of those talks. It would be easier to talk there, we should let the injured get some rest.” She mewed, moving past the current occupants of her medicine den. She also didn’t want any curious ears to be eavesdropping on her conversation with Cedarstar.
Cedarstar swallowed in attempt to hide his nervousness. "Right. Um..." he got up and flicked his ear twice when he glanced at the den entrance. "This way then." Cedarstar padded outside the medicine den and attempted a smile at Starrylight and their daughters when he passed them to reach his own den. Cedarstar stopped outside it to make sure Snowdance was following.
Snowdance followed after Cedarstar and gave him a nod when he checked to see if she was behind them. Once inside the den, she sat down and curled her tail over her paws gathering her thoughts and waited for Cedarstar to get settled before she would start. Snowdance knew she would need to tell him about the dream from Northstar first, she had waited far too long to tell him and it couldn’t wait any longer. She flicked her ear, shaking away the lingering guilt she had from forgetting it in the first place. Although she felt the second part of their conversation would be the hardest. The fact of the matter was simple, Ashrock couldn’t be kept in the medicine den any longer.
Cedarstar slipped into the den and hesitated a moment as he looked around. Snowdance looked so confident in what she was doing, he could tell she'd been in here a million times before. Yet, Cedarstar wasn't sure if he should sit on his nest or next to it, or stand...
Cedarstar cleared his throat and moved to the back of the den, deciding to stand since he was anxious enough as is. His ear flicked twice in betrayal of his awkwardness. He tried to keep his head up when he looked at Snowdance. He, honestly, hadn't expected a one-on-one talk like this so soon with the medicine cat. I can do this, he told himself. Whatever she has to say can't be that bad. Unless she decided to tell him he was doing a terrible job as leader…
Cedarstar flicked his ear twice to chase away his doubts. His voice came out a little tighter than he wanted it to. "What did you want to talk about?"
Snowdance pulled herself out of her thoughts when Cedarstar spoke and turned her attention to him, “Northstar came to me in a dream and told me of a prophecy.” She said, taking a deep breath as she remembered the words Northstar had spoken, “To be honest, she appeared before me the first half moon she passed. But unfortunately due to the recent and ongoing events, it had slipped my mind.” Snowdance admitted, her ears flattened against her head as she spoke. She doubted that she would be able to forgive herself for letting that happen.
Cedarstar blinked in surprise. Northstar spoke to her? A prophecy?
I didn't think prophecies happened anymore. Cedarstar swallowed his nerves. He heard tales of prophecies. Like the 'dead will have their revenge' one his father told him about when Blackadder terrorized the Clans, but in all his life, a prophecy never occurred.
What am I supposed to do? He missed the fact that Snowdance said she received it some time ago due to his fretfulness. He tried to collect himself. "A prophecy..." His words were slow. If Northstar visited, it had to be important. "Of what? What did Northstar say?"
Snowdance nodded her head in confirmation, flicking her ear and repeating the words Northstar had spoken to her, “The past is alive. It can bring strength or destruction. A starless warrior with a second chance could lead the clan to Darkness. Seek the Moon for guidance.” Snowdance fell silent once she finished speaking, letting the words sink in.
Cedarstar pinned his ears back when Snowdance recited the prophecy. "The past--what? A starless..." His mouth hung open for a second. "Darkness?" Panic fluttered his heart at the thought. "Like the Dark Forest? I don't..." Cedarstar trailed off, utterly bewildered by the words Snowdance spoke. How do you seek the moon for guidance? Cedarstar's tail flicked restlessly. He had to sit down. "Do you have any idea what it means? Was that all Northstar said?"
Snowdance shook her head, “It’s… difficult to say. She spoke of two clanmates with the past being alive in them, one that’s older than even Closesky…” she said, closing her eyes as she tried to remember everything Northstar had told her at that first Medicine Cat meeting. “She told me that if they were heeded, strength will be brought to ShadowClan. But if we forsake them, it will bring destruction to us.”
Cedarstar tapped his tail and glanced around the walls of the leader's den. He wished Northstar could show up right now to explain what she meant. "Past being alive? Older than my father?" He kept his ears back. He knew from his father's stories that they had to learn from the past. The mistakes, the successes. He tried to learn from Northstar about what he should do as leader. "If only one is older than..." Cedarstar fumbled a frown. "Did Northstar give you a timeframe? My father's lived a long life. Maybe he can help us figure out the one not older than him?" His heart thundered. This was the last thing they needed. They were still rebuilding from the fire. Still trying to get through leaf-bare. Dealing with the Prey Maulers. Now, a prophecy? Cedarstar flexed his claws in his anxiousness. "There's so much going on. Now, the past could destroy us? Hasn't ShadowClan gone through enough?"
Snowdance shook her head, “No, no timeframe unfortunately. It’s something that we will have to figure out ourselves. That’s how most messages from StarClan are.” She mewed, looking at Cedarstar. “And the past will only destroy us if we let it. If we figure out what it all means, then we can prevent this destruction and focus on bringing us the strength it offers.” She added, wishing there was a clearer way to understand the prophecy Northstar had spoken to her.
Cedarstar let out a sigh of annoyance. "I guess you're right. I just wish there was something I could do to help the Clan. With Prey Maulers in the territory and leaf-bare chasing away what prey we have..." He trailed off with a shake of his head. "Thank you for telling me about this...prophecy, Snowdance. Maybe StarClan will speak to me about it? Maybe Closesky can help? I just want us to be prepared." He glanced at the medicine cat. "You wouldn't know what Northstar would've done if given this prophecy, would you?"
Snowdance flicked her ear, looking at Cedarstar. “I think Closesky might be able to add some insight to this. And perhaps it’s time for a trip to the moonstone. Northstar did say to look to the moon, perhaps the moonstone is what she meant.” She suggested. She thought about his second question for a moment before responding, “Northstar… I believe she would have trusted the Clan and go with what we have.“ Snowdance said.
Cedarstar flicked his ear twice. The moonstone. He hadn't thought of that. It was a good idea, but he hadn't visited the moonstone since his nine lives ceremony, and he wasn't exactly thrilled about going back. When Snowdance gave her opinion on Northstar, Cedarstar took a deep breath. That was what he expected. Northstar was never caught off guard by anything and her faith in the Clan was unshakable. Where his...Cedarstar didn't want to think of it. "The moonstone is a good idea. If my father can't provide insight, then I'll consider a trip there. Or perhaps you'll learn more during the next half moon gathering?" He flicked his tail and nodded to Snowdance. "I'm sure we'll both think it over." Cedarstar glanced at his nest. The exhaustion from the day was catching up to him. "If...If that's everything..."
Snowdance flicked her ear, now came the hard part. She took a deep breath, “Actually, there’s one other thing I wanted to talk to you about.” She mewed, hesitating for a moment, “It’s about Ashrock. His punishment needs to end. It’s been long overdue now.” Snowdance said firmly, looking Cedarstar in the eyes. She wasn’t going to back down from this, not this time.
Cedarstar immediately frowned. "Ashrock?" They had Prey Maulers and Prophecy's going on and she wanted to talk about Ashrock? "His punishment is just. He still doesn't have a respect for your herbs. I saw what he did to Foxshadow's leg."
Snowdance flicked her ear in confusion when he brought up Foxshadow’s leg, “Cedarstar, that was Alder bark Ashrock put on her leg. Which is the same thing I would have done if I had come across them in the territory like that. A temporary solution, but just enough to keep an infection from setting in and making it worse than it was.” She said firmly, giving a slight frown. It seemed Cedarstar was blinded by his mistrust of his brother that he couldn’t see how much Ashrock had grown and learned in his time in the medicine den. “Ashrock has done more then prove to me that the lesson has been taught and learned. There is no need for him to continue on in the medicine den.”
Cedarstar flicked his ear twice. He couldn't believe his clunk-head of a brother could think to use such a herb on Foxshadow's leg. "Yet, it was Northstar who said he would be in there until you and I see fit, and I see him unfit to return to warrior duties after what he did to me. He doesn't even show remorse for what he did or his neglect to Coalpaw's training."
Snowdance heaved a heavy sigh and closed her eyes in frustration at Cedarstar’s stubbornness. It seemed like they were running in circles every time she brought Ashrock up, and nothing ever got through to him. The medicine cat opened her eyes again, a sharp glare in them as she spoke, “Cedarstar. Enough is enough. I refuse let my den be Ashrock’s permanent imprisonment. Have you ever just once in all this time of his punishment stopped to see how far he’s grown? You barely even look at him! I have spent several moons with him now, how can you say he’s unfit when you’re too blinded by your own mistrust and anger with him!” Snowdance lashed her tail in annoyance as she thought of the time Ashrock had spent in the medicine den, her claws digging in the dirt. “You certainly weren’t the one who had to put up with the attitude and temper tantrums when his punishment first started, I was! And since then, Ashrock has earned my trust back and I can confidently say that he won’t make same mistake twice.” She said sharply, raising her chin defiantly.
Cedarstar's fur prickled at Snowdance's sharpness. He had never known her to be so firm or even glare at anything before. Yet, he grit his teeth. Ashrock had undermined him when he was deputy, humiliated him in front of the entire Clan, and what's worse, put Coalpaw's warriorship at risk all for his blind ambition.
My own brother turned against me, Cedarstar raked his claws in the dirt of his den.
I have to make sure he doesn't get that chance again. Ashrock couldn't threaten his leadership if he remained punished.
"We're not talking about this." Cedarstar lashed his tail. "If you've nothing more to say then you should go back to Foxshadow and Hazelblaze."
Snowdance’s fur bristled at Cedarstar’s clear dismissal of her and she stood up, taking a step closer, “No. I’m not leaving this alone until you come to your senses. I have already said that I refuse to have Ashrock in my den anymore, and I plan on keeping my word on that. I won’t be his keeper anymore, Cedarstar! I have far too much on my paws as it is with his punishment added on top of that!” She snapped, tail lashing behind her.
Cedarstar scowled and leaned away from her. He wasn't entirely sure what to say. He'd never seen her so...passionate and about his brother no less. "And you think I don't have a lot on my paws either? I'm not talking about this, Snowdance." Since she clearly wasn't going to leave, Cedarstar got up, slipped around her, and pushed out of the den himself. His fur was bristling, his teeth were clenched, but his chest felt tight. When he spotted Ashrock sitting next to Stonesong outside the medicine den, he bared his teeth, but a small part of him wondered if maybe Snowdance was right?
No, Cedarstar looked away from his brother.
I won't make the mistake of trusting him again.
Snowdance hissed lightly as Cedarstar swept past her and back out into the camp. Lashing her tail again, she stormed after the leader, the fur along her shoulders still bristling in annoyance. She cursed the stubbornness of both of Closesky’s sons, and was tired of constantly being caught in the middle of it.
How am I supposed to make this stubborn fool see sense, Northstar? Snowdance thought to herself. Once she had caught up to Cedarstar, she planted herself in front of the leader, “So that’s it, huh? You don’t want to talk about something that upsets you and you just run away instead of facing the problem head on?” She snapped at him, her claws digging into the dirt. “Is that what a leader does? Run away?” Snowdance challenged him, holding her head up high.
Cedarstar stopped in his tracks when Snowdance planted herself in front of him. He leaned away from her, ears tilted back and surprise lighting up his green eyes as he never expected her to follow him out like this. He had to take a moment to register what she said. He parted his lips, but the conflict in his chest kept anything from coming out. He wasn't running away, he was...she was just being so...and, he...Cedarstar grit his teeth and swallowed. He didn't know what to say.
Snowdance lashed her tail when Cedarstar stayed silent at her challenge. Had she gone too far? Perhaps. But at this point, she just didn’t care anymore. “Tell me. How can a leader lead his Clan when he won’t even trust the word of his own medicine cat?” She snarled, taking another step closer to him, “How can you lead when you act like a kit throwing a fit?! How can we see eye to eye on Ashrock’s punishment when every time I bring it up you turn tail and run?! I’m not some Kit sitter free to watch your unruly brother when he misbehaves!” With each sentence she spoke, Snowdance took step after step towards Cedarstar until their muzzles were almost touching, an icy glare in her eyes. “My duty to the Clan is to be its healer and connection to StarClan, but I can’t even do that when I’m so exhausted from dealing with not only Ashrock’s stubbornness and temper, but yours as well!” Snowdance couldn’t even remember the last time she had actually managed to sit down and thoroughly groom her fur, and it was starting to show with her unkempt fur. And it seemed more silver appeared on her muzzle with each passing day. “I’m not letting you run away from this, Cedarstar! Not this time! I’ve had enough!”
Cedarstar took one step back when Snowdance got in his face. He was floored by her shouting. Floored by the furious look in her eyes. He might have taken to her anger, apologized, and done...something, but then he realized he was in the middle of camp. Every eye aimed their direction burned on his skin like the fire that made his scars. He was ShadowClan's leader. He had to be strong for the Clan, sure of himself for the Clan, and yet, Snowdance was scolding him like a kit!
The shame pounded in his ears. What must the Clan think of him now? If they saw him roll over and give up his convictions, would they lose his faith in him?
I'm not giving into Ashrock. Cedarstar scraped his claws in the ground. He blinked slowly and held Snowdance's furious gaze. Ashrock made his choice. Ashrock betrayed him, the warrior code, and the Clan when he dosed Cedarstar's prey back then. He can't be trusted to put others over himself.
"I'm not running away from anything." Cedarstar's tone came out low, like water simmering in the sun. He couldn't let Snowdance's words about him bring unfaith to the Clan. "Ashrock is only here because Northstar allowed it, but I refuse to allow him to return to being a warrior. What he did betrayed the Clan and he's shown no remorse for it. I can't have untrustworthy warriors defending the Clan, but I do trust you and Opalmist to handle him, just like Northstar did." He shook his head. "I won't risk Ashrock putting his own ambitions over the sake of the Clan."
Snowdance gave a small shake of her head and let out a sharp laugh, “And here we’ve come, full circle again. How many times am I going to have to repeat myself, Cedarstar? I am not and will not be his keeper. Ashrock betrayed
you, Cedarstar. Not the Clan.” She hissed, refusing to let him intimidate her, “Let me tell you something. In the past seasons Ashrock has been in my den, not once has any of my herb stock gone missing. He has treated many of the clan and not once has any come to me with complaints. He delivered Cherryvine’s kits, for StarClan’s sake! And he did as good of a job of it as if it was Opalmist or I that had delivered them! He knows what each herb I keep in my den is and how to use them. Ashrock is almost as learned as Opalmist is!”
Snowdance lifted her chin again, not breaking her gaze away from Cedarstar’s. She knew it was going to be difficult to convince him to end Ashrock’s punishment, but she wasn’t giving up as easily as she did the last time. “A word of advice, if you would bother to listen to it. Don’t trust me to handle him, because I won’t anymore. This is your problem. So you fix it and leave me out of it!” She growled.
Like claws to his heart, Snowdance's blunt statement of who Ashrock really betrayed hurt Cedarstar. He grit his teeth and stole a brief glance at his brother. Because of what Ashrock did, he couldn't take prey anyone offered him. He had to get his own. The doubts that maybe Ashrock would've been the better choice for deputy all along haunted him. He trained with Ashrock his whole life. Him and Kinkfire. Yet, he didn't have his own brother's support. That fed the fear that maybe he didn't have the support of his other Clanmates as well. He couldn't believe Ashrock turned a new leaf. Learning the herbs? His brother hated herbs. Abused them! Why would he learn them? He was desperate for something to say, but the turmoil inside him stole even the thought process. He opened his mouth anyway.
"Lay off her, Cedarstar."
Surprise cuff Cedarstar like a blow to the head when Ashrock stepped forward. The gray warrior had his ears tilted back and his eyes as unfriendly as Cedarstar remembered them. Ashrock motioned to Snowdance. "Has she been punished enough?"
Cedarstar bared a tooth. "Snowdance wasn't being punished."
"Yeah?" Ashrock scoffed. "Could've fooled me."
Cedarstar raked his claws in the ground. What is he doing? He watched his brother with narrow eyes. Ashrock's stance was rather causal, like he didn't care he was talking back to a clan leader.
He's trying to undermine me again! With the whole Clan watching, that had to be what Ashrock was doing. He was trying to discredit him. Prove again, that Northstar made the wrong choice. "You don't get a say in this, Ashrock."
Ashrock rolled his eyes. "Oh? Why? Because I'm being punished? I betrayed the Clan? I've been in the fox-dunged medicine den for longer than Stormfury was in the prisoner's den when he first got here!"
Cedarstar stepped toward his brother, baring his teeth. "Stormfury proved himself while you're mocking what you did! You disrespected Northstar by your actions. You broke the warrior code, and what's worse? You neglected Coalpaw's training! He was almost killed by those rogues in the territory because you didn't properly train him! What kind of mentor does that to their first apprentice?"
That shut Ashrock up. Cedarstar finally saw a flicker of something other than coldness in his brother's eyes. He even glanced away. Cedarstar lashed his tail. "If you're sick of the medicine den, Ashrock, then maybe you could spend the rest of your life in the apprentice den to learn to respect them next."
Snowdance blinked in surprise when Ashrock suddenly got involved and started to argue with Cedarstar, stepping back when he moved towards Ashrock. She rolled her eyes and let out a scoff at Cedarstar’s last statement, “If you ever bothered to pay attention to Ashrock- or Coalpaw, for that matter- you probably would have noticed them sneaking off to train together.” She said bluntly, pushing herself in between the two brothers in case they decided to lunge at each other. “Haven’t you noticed Coalpaw has managed to keep up with his siblings and other apprentices in their training? Or the fact that he’s hardly ever taken out to be trained by any of the warriors here in camp?”
Coalpaw felt his anger turn to horror as he heard the words that came from the medicine cat. Almost instantly, he knew that there would be no reason for Snowdance to lie, and thus her words would be taken to be believed. There couldn’t be any hiding it anymore, and the thought of it frightened him. Cedarstar was clearly displeased, and while he agreed with Ashrock’s defense of himself, he also felt a pang in his heart remembering the awful rouges who had given him all his scars. Even so, the black-furred tom knew he had to take it in stride now, and he felt the words spill out of him in a flash as he shouted suddenly.
“Oh, what else were we supposed to do? Every time I went out with the other Warriors, they all trained me completely differently, if they even had time to focus on me when their real apprentices always came first! You never gave me anyone else! I… I was upset that Ashrock didn’t train me at first, when he acted selfishly towards you and the Clan back then, but… but I made him promise that he would train me like he said he would when he became my mentor, and he has! Better than anyone else could!”
Coalpaw stood to his paws, nearly as large as Goldberry beside him, who seemed surprisingly even-faced at this revelation. Honeypaw was clearly incensed, though Crystalpaw was staring at her paws with a saddened look.
“I was stuck in the medicine den with him for a while too. Snowdance isn’t lying. Ashrock’s learned so much about herbs that even I’m starting to memorize them with how much he talks about them when we go out training… Cedarstar, I’m strong now! I can hunt and fight, just like Honeypaw and Crystalpaw, and Ashrock hasn’t broken his promise. I… I trust him again, I do!” Coalpaw decided firmly.
Cedarstar blinked in surprise at Snowdance's words. He looked at Ashrock just in time to see his brother's eyes widen. Cedarstar pinned his ears back. "You what--?!" He cut off when Coalpaw spoke out. He stared at the black apprentice. Guilt pricked at him like thorns. He should've assigned Coalpaw a new mentor, but between the fire, his leadership duties, patrols, training Rustlepaw, and other things, it had slipped his mind. He glanced at his brother. Ashrock really had been taking Coalpaw out? He must have if the young apprentice's view of the ashen warrior had changed so dramatically. Ashrock, himself, pinned his ears back like he didn't like Coalpaw speaking out. Cedarstar's tone grew as cold as a leaf-bare blizzard. "What do you think you're doing, Ashrock?"
Ashrock flicked his gaze to Cedarstar, his ears still back. "I'm making things right. You think any of the other warriors could train Coalpaw?" Ashrock scoffed. "Give me a break. Northstar chose me for a reason, frog-brain. Look at him." He flicked his tail toward Coalpaw. "He was a puffball, now he's ready to become a warrior. Maybe you're right and I did fail him, but not anymore."
Cedarstar's heart pounded in his ears and once again, the stares of his clanmates made his scars itch and burn. Ashrock couldn't stop doing it, could he? He couldn't stop making him look like a fool in front of his clanmates and openly insulting him. "So you decided to do this behind my back?"
Ashrock shrugged. "I knew you would say no, but I put Coalpaw first."
Cedarstar hissed. Why, in all of StarClan, did he have to have a brother like Ashrock?! To make things right with Coalpaw, Cedarstar could understand, but he felt stung that his brother didn't care to make things right between them. Cedarstar stepped around Snowdance. "Are you sure you put Coalpaw first? You've never been one to ever care, Ashrock. You don't care about rules. You don't care about our way of life. You just act for yourself. Sneaking out of camp only proves that I can't trust you! I can't have some rogue clunk-head in the warrior ranks."
Like spikes, Ashrock's fur bristled. He stood up, paws spread. "You think I don't care? Don't you forget this clunk-head was side-by-side with you when the camp was on fire! I hate herbs. Really hate them, yet I learned every single one so I could be useful to Snowdance. I even delivered that fox-dunged, rabbit-chaser's kits! You're the stuck-up arrogant one, Cedarstar, and you have been ever since you became leader!"
Cedarstar's eyes narrowed on Ashrock. "Do you enjoy this? Undermining me in front of the entire Clan? Haven't you done enough already?"
Ashrock smirked and flexed his claws. "What are you going to do about it? Run away?"
Snowdance moved out of the way when Cedarstar faced Ashrock again and sat down, feeling exhaustion rush through her body. She had said what she needed to say, and made sure Cedarstar had listened to her. Now it was up to him and Ashrock to figure everything else out.
Starrylight couldn't watch them fight anymore. Moving forward she stepped up beside Cedarstar and placed her tail on his shoulder. "Cedarstar, what's done is done. Ashrock trained his apprentice as he should have from the beginning. Please don't let your emotions overtake you." Her voice shook as she tried to stay calm, her eyes darted around at all of their clanmates watching. She hoped they wouldn't see Cedarstar poorly for this outburst.
Cedarstar snarled at Ashrock, but when Starrylight stepped beside him, he tried to let his fur lie flat. He hated to admit that she was right, but even if Ashrock did train Coalpaw that didn't mean Ashrock's training did the apprentice any good. He looked at his mate to say something.
Yet, Ashrock couldn't shut his fat mouth. The way Cedarstar turned away snarled fury on Ashrock's lip. Just as Cedarstar was hurt from Ashrock's betrayal. Ashrock was hurt he couldn't get his brother back. "I guess there you have it. ShadowClan's leader can't fight his own battles, but are you even our leader with Starrylight telling you what to do? If that tiny, she-kit is the one really leading the Clan, we're doomed."
Insults to his person, Cedarstar could endure. Insults to his skill, his leadership, his efforts, he'd tried to look the other way like Northstar did, but insults to his family...
Rage ignited in Cedarstar faster than the carrionplace exploded. He lunged at Ashrock and Ashrock met him head-on. The two brothers locked in a fury of claws. Ashrock's greater size was able to bat Cedarstar away, but Cedarstar jumped high in the air, twisted, and landed square on Ashrock's shoulders. He dug his claws into his brother's long fur and used his weight and momentum to roll and throw Ashrock a couple tail-lengths away.
Ashrock bit the dirt with a grunt. He pushed back to his feet and spat mud from his mouth. "Using dad's move? That's not fair."
Cedarstar lashed his tail. "You're just jealous you were never able to get it right."
With a growl, Ashrock lunged at him. He rose up on his hind paws and when Cedarstar ducked for a low strike, Ashrock threw his whole weight down at him. Cedarstar was shoved into the ground, Ashrock's thick fur smothering him. "Think I'm jealous now?" Ashrock scoffed, yet he cried out when Cedarstar managed to twist and bite him in the tender skin of his lower stomach. Ashrock backed off his brother.
Cedarstar snickered as he pulled himself to his feet. "Still got the same soft spot, huh?"
Ashrock pinned his ears back and flicked his tail to brush the spot Cedarstar bit him. His thick fur protected him from most attacks, but the fur on his lower stomach was thinner than everywhere else. Kinkfire figured it out during a spar when they were apprentices. The only cat she ever told was Cedarstar and Ashrock made them swear not to mention it to anyone else. Ashrock snorted. "You think you're so smug, don't you?"
Cedarstar widened his stance, his gaze fixed on Ashrock. "Don't disrespect my mate."
Ashrock released a low growled and ran at Cedarstar. The two exchanged several blows and Ashrock had Cedarstar backing up. The ShadowClan leader jumped to the side to dodge and managed another great leap to land squarely on Ashrock's shoulders. He clamped his jaws on a chunk of Ashrock's fur before jumping off his brother, ripping the fur right out. Cedarstar landed in front of his brother and spat the fur to the ground.
Ashrock lashed his tail, glancing at his pelt where his fur was lost. He rudely motioned to Cedarstar's scars. "Trying to make me look like you?"
"I'm concerned, Ashrock." Cedarstar smirked, more amused by Ashrock's comment than outraged. "If you trained Coalpaw like you're fighting now, he'll never make it to warrior."
Ashrock huffed. He missed this, he realized. The friendly banter in his brother's eyes as they goaded each other, challenged each other.
I lost sight of this, Ashrock swallowed. He got so caught up in the competition, the ambition...
I am the reason I lost my brother. Ashrock grinned, focusing on the friendly rivalry that sparked in Cedarstar's eyes. "I trained Coalpaw to fight better than this." He angled his head upward. "Come on, Cedarstar. Let's end this. Dad's rules."
Cedarstar crouched and he allowed Ashrock to adjust his stance. Ashrock flicked his tail, the signal that he was ready. When Cedarstar nodded, the two brothers clashed once again. Blow by blow swapped between them until eventually, Ashrock was able to hook his front paws around Cedarstar's neck and drag him down. They rolled. Cedarstar kicked Ashrock in the stomach and Ashrock shoved Cedarstar's face in the dirt. Cedarstar kicked out to knock Ashrock's back paws from under him. When Ashrock hit the ground, Cedarstar pinned one of his front paws under his own and he deflected Ashrock's other before pinning him down completely.
Cedarstar touched his nose to Ashrock's neck.
The brothers stilled. Each one panting from the effort of the spar. Cedarstar closed his eyes.
I did it. He beat Ashrock. Proved to himself he could match his brother. He could defend the pride of what he loved most. Cedarstar slowly got off his brother and kept his head up when the burning feeling of the Clan watching him returned.
Ashrock deflated when Cedarstar's nose touched his neck. Their father's rule. First \ to touch their nose to the other's throat wins. He slowly sat up and watched his brother. Though he didn't care the whole Clan was watching, Ashrock knew it bothered Cedarstar.
I can't let them look down on him. Ashrock flattened his ears.
I was the one at fault this whole time. Not him. Ashrock took a deep breath.
He's my brother.
"I'm sorry, Cedarstar."
Cedarstar blinked in surprise at the two words he never thought he'd hear come out of his brother's mouth. He looked back at Ashrock.
"I'm sorry." Ashrock looked Cedarstar right in the eye. "I never should have dosed your prey all those moons ago. You're a great leader."
Cedarstar blinked slowly at his brother. He had never known his brother to apologize for anything; yet, his doubts had no room to argue insincerity. Ashrock had a tough exterior, but Cedarstar saw the remorse in his eyes. It took a lot for him to apologize in front of the entire Clan.
Cedarstar walked up to his brother and gently nudged him to his feet. "The..." Cedarstar shrugged. "The medicine den is a little crowded. You should sleep with the warriors."
The thought of returning to the warrior's den almost knocked Ashrock over. StarClan, how badly he wanted to get away from the medicine den, he almost choked up, but he cleared his throat and smirked. "I'm sure Snowdance would thank you. My snoring keeps her up at night."
Cedarstar huffed in amusement. "I don't doubt it. You're as loud as a croaking toad."
Ashrock chuckled. "Better than your fidgeting."
Cedarstar playfully swiped at him. "Clunk-head."
“Frog-brain.”
Snowdance didn’t bother getting up when Cedarstar and Ashrock lunged at each other, seeing both Closesky’s and Kinkfire’s signals to the other warriors to stay out of it. It didn’t surprise her that it had come to a fight between the two of them, she had only stepped in between them before because she hadn’t finished saying her piece just yet. The medicine cat watched as the fight unfolded before her, inwardly flinching every time one them managed to hurt the other. As the fight reached its end, she gave a tired sigh as Ashrock finally apologized and Cedarstar ended his brother’s punishment, “It’s about time.” She mewed quietly to herself.
Snowdance stood up and padded towards her den, letting her tail tip brush lightly against Ashrock’s shoulder as she passed to show that she held no ill will towards him. She slipped back into her den quietly, moving to check on Hazelblaze and Foxshadow. Snowdance gave a light smile, seeing the two injured warriors sleeping soundly through the argument that had happened not far from her den. Her smile faded as her eye caught sight of a loose poppyseed that had been missed and flicked her ear. It was hard to believe all of this started because of Ashrock’s arrogance and some poppyseed. She was glad that he had grown out of it though, and hopefully things would be better now.
Ashrock blinked gratefully at Snowdance when she walked past. He flicked his ear and glanced at his brother, for once, unsure of what he should do.
Cedarstar had to shift his stance. The early patrol. The search for the kits. The chase and fight with the Prey Maulers. Now fighting his brother? His legs were trembling with how exhausted he was. He tried to keep his head up, but his tiredness washed over him like rain. I'm not done, Cedarstar closed his eyes and took a deep breath to gather just a little more strength. He looked back at Ashrock and a smirk broke onto his face when he related to the awkward look Ashrock held now.
"Oakstalk! Kestrelgaze!" Cedarstar raised his voice, picking out the warriors through the crowd. He looked at his brother and nodded. "Ashrock. Make sure Honeypaw, Crystalpaw, and Coalpaw are at the Burnt Sycamore at first light tomorrow. I'll oversee their warrior assessments myself."
Ashrock perked up. He lashed his tail and stood up, a smirk sliding onto his face. "We'll be there."
Cedarstar purred when the black apprentice pulled off the complex battle move. “See? You got it. You even did better than your sister.”
The dark apprentice sheepishly smiled, black eyes looking off, but Cedarstar knew his ears were focused on his voice. “Thanks. I didn’t think I’d ever get it.”
“You gotta have more faith in yourself.” Cedarstar walked forward and flicked his tail across the apprentice’s ear. He parted his lips to say more, but a strange sense crawled upon his skin. Cedarstar stilled and scanned the edges of their training area.
“Is something–” The black apprentice cut off when Cedarstar sharply shushed him.
Cedarstar moved forward, squinting through the shadows. Something was out there. He felt it. He took another step and low growling sounded from the darkness. Cedarstar turned to shout for his apprentice to run, but the black tom had disappeared. “Where did he–”
Before Cedarstar could finish, a Prey Mauler burst from the shadows. It snapped its jaws at Cedarstar and he was barely fast enough to dodge. “They’re on the territory?!” Cedarstar backed up and hissed, swiping at the mauler to get it to go away, but it lunged for him. “I have to lead it away!” Cedarstar turned tail and booked it for the border. He couldn’t risk this thing finding the camp!
He swore he felt its hot breath on his heels. Cedarstar glanced over his shoulder, but his eyes grew wide at what he saw. The Prey Mauler was gone. In its place was a fox and it was bolting toward the black apprentice. The young tom didn’t know it was coming. “Run!” Cedarstar ran back toward his apprentice. “What are you doing? Run!”
The moment before the fox would’ve snatched up the apprentice, Cedarstar collided with it. He knocked it to the ground and slashed at its face. The fox yipped out and thrash, knocking Cedarstar back. It lunged on top of him and Cedarstar cried out when it bit into his shoulder. He raked his back claws across its chest, but the fox lifted him up and threw him against a tree. It started for the black apprentice.
Cedarstar shook off his daze and partly stumbled, partly ran at the fox. He jumped onto its back, digging his claws in to get a good hold and bit down on the back of it’s neck. The fox yipped again and bucked to get Cedarstar off. It threw him into another tree and Cedarstar lost his hold.
Fear split through Cedarstar when he was knocked to the ground. He looked up just as the fox’s jaws lunged at him again.
Cedarstar jolted awake. He looked wildly around the den and the white of Starrylight’s fur made him fear the white tipped tail of a fox, but he found his breath in realizing it was just Starrylight. Cedarstar steadied himself, holding his nest as if it was a log on water about to flip. His shoulder and neck burned in the places the fox had bit him in the dream. It was just a dream, he reminded himself. There were no foxes on the territory. No Prey Maulers after them. They had chased the Prey Maulers off. When his heart started to slow, Cedarstar leaned into Starrylight, taking in her sweet and calming scent. He eventually relaxed, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, so he started grooming Starrylight’s pelt. Cedarstar glanced out of the den. Sunrise wasn’t too far off.
I’ll need to depart for the Burnt Sycamore soon. He couldn’t risk letting Honeypaw, Coalpaw, or Crystalpaw down. The thought of preforming a warrior assessment allowed excitement to chase away the fear of the dream.
I'll have to be tough. He may have forgiven Ashrock, but that didn't mean Ashrock properly trained Coalpaw. Testing young cats to make sure they were prepared for their warriorhood. It would be a nice change after everything that's happened recently.
The moon shone bright on Fourtrees. Cedarstar did his best to keep his head high as the gathering continued. He already gave his report and warned the Clans about the Prey Maulers. Now, all he wanted to do was leave. Spiritstar gave her report about the normalcy happening in SkyClan and Cedarstar remained stoic to not disrespect her with his doubt. Everything she said was typical as if SkyClan didn’t have a care in the world.
Echowing steeled her resolve, standing to her paws as she stormed through the crowd of cats around her. She stopped in a clear spot, calling up loudly.
“That is not the only announcement about Skyclan tonight! One that involves every single clan at this gathering!” She shouted, her eyes trained up at the leaders and deputy, singed with fire.
Cedarstar pinned his ears back at the outburst of the SkyClan warrior. He shot a disapproving look at Spiritstar when he realized the leader was as surprised as they were and when she continued to remain silent about it.
Whitesun, deputy of SkyClan, turned his head and looked at Echowing in surprise and stood up, “What is the meaning of this, Echowing?” He said, his tail flicking back and forth.
Echowing snapped her gaze sharply to Whitesun before she growled. “The meaning of this is the truth! The Warrior Code binds us, and it’s been trampled on this night, as it has many nights before!”
“Echowing! What are you-“ Frostyfoot’s ears fell as he tried to rush to his daughter. He stopped though as she whipped around angrily.
“What I’m doing is telling the truth about your LIE!” She howled, before she shouted to all the Clans. “When my father brought me and my siblings to camp, it was believed that our mother was some wandering rouge who left us! For moons, we knew who our real mother was, but we had to hide it for the sake of this excuse of a traitor!” She spat hatefully at her now stricken father.
“Our mother was not some wandering rouge! Our mother is Opalmist! Medicine Cat of Shadowclan!” She exclaimed.
Snowdance stiffened and looked at Opalmist in shock. “It… can’t be.” She whispered, ears flattening against her head. How did she not notice the symptoms? Or any of it?
Cedarstar's fur prickled like needles at Echowing's claim. He couldn't even move. How dare this warrior accuse Opalmist of breaking the code; yet, the look on Frostypelt's face. The way Opalmist had been distant the past couple moons. He flicked his gaze to her and his voice came out tight. "That's a bold claim. Opalmist, you're a skilled medicine cat of ShadowClan. Is what that young cat says true?"
Opalmist hung her head as Cedarstar's gaze pierced through her, unable to look at her leader. She stood, padding forward in front of the crowd. Her legs shook as she turned to look everyone, her eyes finally resting on Frostyfoot. "Echowing is telling the truth." she stated lowly. "She is my daughter, and Frostyfoot is their father. I have lived with the weight of my decision for too long, I will not hide it anymore."
Frostyfoot stared at Redspring for a long moment, before his eyes closed and he swallowed when Opalmist made the admission. He took a long breath, before turning to look at the cat he had loved so tenderly back then… who he still loved, and had always loved, every day they’d been apart, hiding their secret. He gave Echowing a mournful look, able to see the raw hate in her eyes. It destroyed him.
He turned to pad towards Opalmist, slowly turning at her side and looking at everyone. He lifted his head, voice wavering, but steady in honesty. “It… is true. All of it.”
Cedarstar's lips parted with his shock. StarClan, it was true. He flicked his gaze from her to Frostyfoot and back again. How did no one notice? How could Opalmist...His heart fell. She broke the medicine cat code.
All those times, Cedarstar blinked and the fur on his shoulders rose.
All those times we needed her. Now that he thought about it, Opalmist had gone out to gather herbs quite often. Queens kitted or someone got hurt and Opalmist hadn't been around to help them.
She was with him. Cedarstar shot a glare at Frostyfoot, but hurt stole his gaze back to Opalmist. They trusted her. He trusted her. She vowed to give her all to ShadowClan just like the rest of them.
She betrayed us. Cedarstar thought coldly.
Our medicine cat betrayed me.
Cedarstar struggled to breathe. Agony ripped through his stomach, shoulders and chest. "I don't want to die."
The nest he laid on was sticky and warm. His own blood leaked further into the den. Cedarstar's eyes filled with tears, he locked his gaze on the tom standing over him. "H-help me…pl-please."
"You're bleeding out. I can't stop it."
"N-no." Cedarstar pinned his ears back and fear welled in his throat. This couldn't be the end. The world was growing fuzzy, but he fought it with all his might. "I don't want to die." Why couldn't StarClan hear him? He had dreams he hadn't achieved, and his apprentices…Were they okay? "I'm not ready."
"You don't have a choice." The medicine cat flattened his ears. "There's nothing I can do. You're in StarClan's paws now."
Cedarstar weakly lashed a claw at the medicine cat, but the tom stepped back to dodge. Cedarstar bared his teeth. His vision grew so fuzzy, he couldn't focus on the tom, but he recognized his empty paws. "You're not even trying." Cedarstar looked at the herb stores. There was moss and cobwebs, and a lot of leaves of green. "Do something."
"I..." the other tom hesitated. "I can't. It…it won't matter…anyway."
"You can't just sit there! Do...do something!"
The tom hung his head.
"H-Help me!"
The tom's tone was tight. "I won't."
"Worthless!" Cedarstar spat blood at the tom. "What good are you if you won't even try? I want–" Cedarstar fell back against the nest. Every breath felt shallower and shallower. He stared at the wall with unblinking tears rolling down his cheeks. 'I don't want to die.' He didn't have the strength anymore to say another word, but he stared at a speck on the wall, resisting the dark void. 'My dreams…I just wanted…' His thought cut off with an overwhelming sense of grief tightening his chest. The pain of his wounds didn't matter. How could StarClan be so cruel? How could their medicine cat be so uncompassionate? 'I hate them,' he thought. 'StarClan. Medicine cats. I hate them.' He did everything for them and this was how they repaid him? 'I'll never trust them again.' Darkness encroached on the edges of his vision. Cedarstar watched his dreams fade away. 'I just wanted...'
Like a gust of wind the memory hit Cedarstar. Hatred prickled every hair on his pelt. His gaze found Opalmist's and he slowly curled his lips to bear his fangs. This is the last time a medicine cat betrays me. "Get. Out."
Snowdance’s ears flattened against her head at Cedarstar’s harsh tone and looked up at him. She flinched at the sight of the cat before her, felling her fur bristle in surprise to see his scars gone. It was Cedarstar, but at the same time, it wasn’t. Snowdance shook her head sharply and looked back at her apprentice, “Opalmist… what have you done..?” She murmured quietly, taking a small step towards her.
“What?” Frostyfoot whipped around to look at Cedarstar with shock. “You can’t mean-… Opalmist can’t be banished, she- she’s crucial to Shadowclan! Please, reconsider! I pushed her to hide it, I told her to let me bring them to Skyclan, please!” He tried to plead with the Shadowclan leader.
Cedarstar bared his fangs at Frostyfoot. "Silence! You have interfered with ShadowClan affairs enough already. The both of you knew the codes you swore to and yet you still chose to betray your clans." He looked back at Opalmist. "ShadowClan has no place for a medicine cat who can't put her clanmates first."
Spiritstar let a spark of anger guide her back into focus. "Echowing! What is the meaning of this?!? I did not give you permission to speak for SkyClan at this time of peace! I demand that you remain silent for the remainder of this gathering, and I will be speaking with you as soon as we return to camp," she growled, sounding uncharacteristically angry for the typically reserved leader. She cared not that she was scolding her Clanmate like a kit in front of everyone. Echowing had betrayed her trust.
She turned to look back at Frostyfoot, gaze and voice softening with disappointment and sadness. "Frostyfoot. I understand that you take blame for this relationship, and I am sorry that this is causing harm to your family. However, you are involved in the breaking of the warrior code and the medicine cat code. I cannot allow you to remain a warrior." She took a breath. If she were not leader, speaking for her Clan in front of the other leaders and many others, she would have done anything else to keep him safe. "You are banished from SkyClan."
Cedarstar watched the pair leave from Fourtrees with eyes narrowed to slits. He glanced briefly at the ruckus amongst the SkyClan warriors, watching as one ran from the clearing. "Perhaps," he looked at Spiritstar. "You should have a better handle on your clanmates, Spiritstar. As a former medicine cat, I would have expected you to teach them to respect the medicine cat code better." He stepped forward on the Great Rock. The whole evening had his pelt bristling. Opalmist's betrayal...and learning it here at a gathering from a SkyClan cat. It was humiliating to all of ShadowClan. He couldn't hear his mate through the anger that burned within him. He felt such a fool! To be betrayed by a medicine cat again--
No. Cedarstar caught himself with a shake of his head. Snowdance and Opalmist are the only medicine cats of ShadowClan I know. Opalmist is the only traitor. His stomach tightened. Why did he think it happened before?
"ShadowClan!" Cedarstar raised his voice over the crowd. "We're leaving." He jumped down from the Great Rock and headed through the crowd to lead the Clan off, his ear flicking rapidly a couple times when he felt a lot of eyes land on him.
Cedarstar was silent the entire way back to camp. He led the Clan in and started for his den, only to pause when he realized he probably needed to speak with Snowdance about what happened. His stomach felt hollow. For Opalmist to betray the Clan like that...How could they not have known?
I banished her in front of everyone. His pelt prickled when what he had done settled in. His ear flicked twice in his doubt. Was that really the call?
Starrylight stormed through the patrol, whirling around until she was facing Cedarstar. "I can't believe you just banished her like that! She has served our clan faithfully for moons. I know she broke the code and she deserves to face the consequences of that but banishing her completely? Whoever that was up there? It wasn't you. I'm sleeping in the elder's den tonight, don't come looking for me until you've decided that maybe your decision wasn't the correct one." Without another word, she turned and stalked toward the elder's den without looking back.
Cedarstar stepped back, completely caught off guard by Starrylight's anger. "I...uh..." He glanced at the rest of the Clan, suddenly feeling self conscious about his actions at the gathering.
I don't know what came over me. He flicked his ear twice as he watched Starrylight walk away. She had never done that before.
Maybe I messed up? He glanced at the medicine den and his ears fell flat. Opalmist betrayed them. That's all there was to it.
Cedarstar padded over to the medicine den, looking for Snowdance. He slowly slipped into the medicine den. He flicked his ear twice, unsure of what he should even say. "Snowdance?" He cleared his throat when it his voice came out a little high. "Are you...alright?"
Snowdance lifted her head at the sound of Cedarstar's voice, turning her blank stare towards her leader before blinking and snapping herself back into focus. "I'm fine. Just trying to sort my thoughts for a moment." She said quietly, finally forcing herself to stand and moving stiffly over to Bumbleskip's still form. "He still hasn't woken up. With the shape he is in, I fear he won't make it." She murmured, mostly to herself, as she looked the senior warrior over. Snowdance flicked her ear at the thought of having failed another one of her clanmates once again.
Cedarstar blinked and looked at Bumbleskip in surprise. With all the commotion going on elsewhere around camp, he hadn't realized the state Bumbleskip was in. Cedarstar flattened his ears. There's too much going on, he thought with a quickened breath, but he tried to hide it. "You're doing everything you can for him, Snowdance. Aren't you?"
Snowdance sat up with a sigh and gave a nod of her head, still staring down at the disheveled form of Bumbleskip. "Unfortunately, there is only so much my herbs can do. Before he entered this coma he had almost completely given up, I'm not sure if he even still has the willpower to continue living." she said in a strained voice, finally raising her eyes to meet Cedarstar's. "I will do everything in my power to help him, but he has to decide for himself whether he wants to live or not. He might have given up, but that doesn't mean I have to." Snowdance moved over to Foxshadow's nest next and leaned over the sleeping young warrior, inspecting the wound on her leg. Satisfied to see the wound was healing nicely, she went to her herb store to start making a fresh poultice for Foxshadow's leg. As her paws started working and sorting the herbs, Snowdance started to feel a small bit of normalcy come in. She paused in her work, turning her head slightly to look at Cedarstar, "So, what's the plan now? ShadowClan is now short a healer, and I won't be able keep up with my duties as much as I use to. Especially with this new threat of the prey-maulers." She said, her gentle tone finally returning to normal.
"You're doing more than most medicine cats," Cedarstar muttered. He couldn't help but think of that tom from the vision he had on the Great Rock. He was bleeding out and that medicine cat did nothing. Cedarstar cleared his throat to force the thought away. The vision was strange. It was like one of his dreams except...he had been awake. Maybe he should tell Snowdance?
He blinked when he realized Snowdance was talking to him about the predicament he put ShadowClan in. "Uh." He flicked his ear twice. "Ashrock...knows the herbs. Perhaps he would be willing to help you out? He did help Cherryvine birth Stormfury's kits. Is..." he flattened his ears, finally noticing the gray on Snowdance's muzzle and the age in her eyes. "Um...Is there anyone who has shown any interested in your herbs...at all?"
Snowdance gave Cedarstar a dry smile, turning her attention back to the herbs. "Yes. Ashrock knows the herbs, but do you really think your brother will be so willing to help out in the medicine den after only just being put back on warrior duties?" She asked. Snowdance separated the necessary herbs she needed from her herb stock and flicked her ear thoughtfully at Cedarstar's question, "Mistkit has shown some interest. She has been hanging around the past few days asking about the herbs and what different properties they have. Even got Ashrock to tell her about some of them. If not for tonight's events, I would have suggested retiring soon so that she could have the option of training as a medicine cat." She said, sighing. Snowdance thought back to the Gathering, remembering the sight of a different cat standing on the Great Rock in Cedarstar's place and knew that she needed to talk to him about what she had seen. "There's something else I need to discuss with you, Cedarstar. About something I saw at the half moon meeting with the other medicine cats, as well as what I saw tonight at the Gathering. I've been trying to piece it all together, but it seems like it's one mystery after the other. I can't figure this out on my own."
Cedarstar sighed. "I don't mean Ashrock lives in the medicine den again, just help you when you need it." He knew his brother would rip him a new one if he suggested Ashrock move back to the medicine den, but surely Ashrock would see that the Clan would need his skills with herbs now that Opalmist was gone. "Mistkit?" He perked up at Snowdance's suggestion. "I could speak with her and Cherryvine about it, see if it something she wants." He flicked his ear. "She is still pretty young, though." He tapped his tail, hoping Cherryvine and Stormfury would approve of Mistkit becoming medicine cat apprentice if that's what the little kit wanted. If she convinced Ashrock to tell her about herbs, then she must want to be a medicine cat.
Cedarstar stilled his thoughts at the last thing Snowdance said. Anxiety covered his gut like crawling spiders. She saw something at the moonstone? And tonight? He hoped it didn't have to do with that prophecy she told him about. Cedarstar's pelt prickled at the thought of it. As if we don't have enough going on. "What is it?"
Snowdance set the herbs aside and faced Cedarstar, wrapping her tail over her paws as she thought back to the vision StarClan had sent her at the moonstone. "At the moonstone, I met with a StarClan warrior in my dream, one I didn't recognize. A tom with black fur and eyes, and he seemed sad and... heartbroken. He didn't say who he was, only spoke of a lost raven who had been redeemed for her sacrifice and had thrown it away. About how she chose another over him and broke her vows, and that she won't be coming home. After talking to him for a bit, he said something else before I woke up." She explained, the vision coming back to her quickly as if it had only happened a moment ago and the words fresh in her mind as she repeated them as they had been spoken in her dream. "One life regiven to be a life now forsaken. Another regiven still has path undetermined. Destruction or strength, only living shadows can pave the way."
Snowdance was silent for a moment, letting Cedarstar consider this new prophecy for a moment before she continued. This next part was still confusing to her, but after what she had seen tonight, Snowdance just knew it was all connected. "When I awoke, I looked to Opalmist and the cat I saw before me wasn't my apprentice but a black she-cat with green eyes. The vision only lasted a moment, and when I blinked it was Opalmist again. It didn't make any sense to me at the time, and for a moment I thought it had just been a trick of the light. I'd never seen anything like this before. That is, until tonight. Only it hadn't been Opalmist that had changed her appearance... it was you, Cedarstar. Another cat stood in your place on the Great Rock for just a moment. I can't explain it, but I just know that both Northstar's prophecy and this new one are connected to the both of you."
"Black fur and..." Cedarstar trailed off with a pit opening his gut. He immediately recalled the black apprentice with black eyes from his dreams. The ones he was using to train Rustlepaw. Did she mean she saw him? Cedarstar couldn't stop his pelt from bristling, but he tried to understand what Snowdance was telling him. Another prophecy? Lives regiven? StarClan, what were they trying to tell them?
"Wait." Cedarstar closed his eyes for a moment and took a step back. "Me? Another cat? What--" He opened his eyes, but his breath was heavy with the anxiety in him. Snowdance saw another cat in his place on the Great Rock and he had a vision while up there. He felt like worms were wiggling under his skin. Destruction or strength. What did that have to do with him? "So this...black tom...tells you of a lost raven then gives you another prophecy and when you woke up a different cat was in Opalmist's place. Then, tonight, you saw a different cat in my place?"
"Yes. It was you, but it wasn't. Your scars had disappeared, red specks replaced your ginger ones and I couldn't tell from where I was, but I believe your eyes were a different color." Snowdance said with a small nod of her head, looking back at Cedarstar. "There was something... dark about this appearance. A kind of darkness that I haven't seen since AdderClan." she added, her tail flicking in worry. "I-... I'm not sure what all of this means, but I do believe that there are two paths before us and we need to be careful on which one we decide to take."
Cedarstar flicked his ear rapidly. He didn't like what Snowdance was saying and he couldn't help but glance at his scars and the ginger patches on his fur. His tongue was caught in his throat. Should he tell her of the vision he saw? Of the dreams he had that felt so real? A darkness like AdderClan...
"I need to...think." Cedarstar stepped perpendicular to her and shook his head. The Prey Maulers. The wounded warriors. Bumbleskip. Starrylight was pregnant and mad at him. Opalmist was gone. He was having visions. Prophecies. Lost ravens. He couldn't spend time with his kits. Cliffheart was missing. Who would be their next medicine cat?
Cedarstar breathed through clenched teeth, trying to hold himself together. He forced his voice to be steady. "What are the two paths? How do know which one we're choosing?"
“It’s as the warrior said, destruction or strength. It won’t be easy to tell which one we choose to follow. The decisions you make along the way will be the key to finding the right path.” Snowdance turned her head when she heard a stirring in Bumbleskip’s nest, her ears perking up when she caught his quickened breathing. Glancing back at Cedarstar, the medicine cat stood and padded over to the senior warrior, leaning close to listen to his heartbeat for a moment. Giving a small flick of her ear, she sat back up, planning on keeping an eye on him for the night. She wasnt going to be able to sleep peacefully after everything that had happened that night anyways. “I know this is a lot to take in all at once, Cedarstar, but we need to get our heads on straight about this. You should get some rest, we can discuss this again once we have clearer heads. Perhaps we should talk to Closesky as well. Perhaps he knows who this StarClan warrior is, or who this lost raven refers to.” She said, looking at him.
Cedarstar grit his teeth. Destruction or strength. Why did it have to be two extremes? He glanced at Bumbleskip and flicked his ear twice. "You're right." He tried not to sound as overwhelmed as he felt. "I'll get some rest." He flicked his ear at the thought of talking to Closesky.
He'll worry if he thinks I'm involved with some StarClan prophecy. He padded over to the den entrance, but hesitated. The thought of telling Snowdance about his vision once again crossed his mind.
ShadowClan is going to think I'm going crazy if I admit to this. He muttered a goodnight to the medicine cat before slipping out of the den.
Cedarstar didn't look at anyone when he padded toward his den. He slipped inside and his heart sank seeing Starrylight's nest was empty.
What am I doing? Cedarstar padded to his nest and plopped down in it. The den felt colder without Starrylight there. She was probably right, he acted wrongly at the gathering, but how could he explain that he couldn't stop it? Cedarstar hid his head under his paws and groaned.
What is going on? He tried not to think about what Snowdance said. He needed sleep, but all he felt was hollow. He didn't think he'd every fall asleep, but hours later into the night, he drifted off.
The darkness never ended. Black trees. Deep shadows. A sky with no stars. Cedarstar lost track of how long he'd been running. How long he'd been searching. His paws should be raw, but he couldn't even bleed. "It doesn't end." A hollowness as bitter as the shaded pools echoed through his core. He huffed and kept going. His body screamed with protest for him to stop, but he couldn't still his paws. He kept looking for a sign he wasn't alone, but when he looked to the empty sky, tears rolled down his face.
"You abandoned me!" He dug his claws into the ground and screamed. "I did everything right and you left me to die!" He clawed his way up the branches of a bone chilled tree, reaching the highest point he could. "Tell me why!" He searched the sky for any speck of light. "Why didn't you help me? Was it because I trained two apprentices? Did I not obey Darkenedstar enough? Was it because I let that kittypet go? Tell me!"
Cedarstar trembled. The silence pounded in his ears. He sat down on the branch and his tears turned to smoke on the bark. "What is this place?" He scanned the horizons, but it was nothing but black. Pitch black, twiggy trees against a dull, dusty sky. Clouds of violet and black shadows rolled through the land. He saw no life. No other color. It was just blackness and him.
Cedarstar wandered through the forest when his cries were always met with silence. He paused at a tree who's bark was burnt, ash littered the ground beside it. "I had one dream." He traced his claw through the ash, drawing his best image of two cats. "That I hoped would lead to another." He added three smaller cats next to his picture. "I prayed every night for it to come true. I did everything right. I followed their path. And, they couldn't give me one thing." He swiped his claws through his drawings. The ash billowed in the air, but Cedarstar felt nothing when it reached his lungs. He understood what happened now.
He was dead, and StarClan had forsaken him.
Cedarstar woke with a harsh cough. He gagged as something tightened within his airway. Cedarstar stood up and bent over to clear his throat. Another harsh cough and a small piece of moss flung with his spit. He leaned back with the relief of a full breath, but when his eyes landed on the piece of moss, he hissed and shredded it further with his claw. His nest was a mess and he realized his claws ached like he had been straining them. He must have tore the moss and breathed in a piece in his sleep. "I can't even get a good night's sleep." Cedarstar walked over to the wall and pressed his head against it to feel something solid. It was cold with the chill of the territory, but it was colorful. The brown of the bark, the green moss hanging in front of of the den. It was a welcoming sight.
I'm alive, but that didn't make sense, he was just dead.
"No. I wasn't," he scolded himself. He looked to one of the wounds he received from the Prey Maulers. It was strained from his restless night and blood was peeking out of the cracks of his scabs. "Definitely alive. That wasn't me." It must have been another vision or a dream from StarClan--though, that didn't make sense either. Cedarstar took deep breaths to still his racing heart. "I am me," he told himself, but his ear rapidly flicked twice. "I am Cedarstar, leader of ShadowClan."
Falcontalon ducked into camp, coming from the dirtplace. He frowned as he heard murmuring coming from the leader's den. He padded forward, peaking his head in. "Cedarstar? Are you alright?"
Cedarstar jumped when Falcontalon peeked into his den. He stared at the brown and white tom, but his mind was blanking on who this cat was.
I know him, Cedarstar quietly grit his teeth, trying not to betray how torn apart he really was.
I know him! StarClan, why couldn't he remember this cat? He seemed too important to forget. Cedarstar lifted his head to hide the way his neck fur bristled. "I'm fine."
Falcontalon gave a slow nod, looking at Cedarstar sympathetically. “Are you sure? I know it can be hard sleeping alone when you used to sharing a nest with someone. Starrylight will come speak with you in the morning. She just wanted both of you to have some time alone to think. I must say I was surprised to hear about your decision Cedarstar, but I must respect it. The leader’s word is law.”
Cedarstar glanced at Starrylight's empty nest. Her scent still lingered. He slowly sat down, picturing the way she always looked when she was curled up beside him. The world felt more stable with that image in his head. He was talking to Falcontalon. How could he be so frog-brained to forget that? He was relieved Starrylight wanted to talk to him, but his tail tapped with anxiety at the reminder of what he did at the gathering. How he couldn't control himself. "I'm not going to lose her, am I?"
Falcontalon shook his head quickly, eyes wide. “Oh Starclan no! She loves you far too much for that, but she does feel betrayed at the moment. I’m sure you two will work it out though. There’s no way she would raise these kits without you.”
"I would never leave her to raise the kits alone. She and those kits are my..." Cedarstar trailed off, realizing he wasn't acting very leader-like. Why was everything so confusing? Why was there so much going on? "What would you have done?" Cedarstar looked at Falcontalon. "You were supposed to succeed Northstar. You'd probably be handling everything better than I."
Falcontalon blinked, surprised Cedarstar was asking for his opinion. "I can't say for sure what I would do standing up there in front of the other clans, but I would probably wait to make my decision back at camp." he mewed honestly. "I don't like when my emotions influence my decisions. Opalmist should have been stripped of her title as medicine cat, but I'm not sure if I would have banished her."
Cedarstar flicked his ear, feeling as if Falcontalon was hinting he made the wrong decision. Yet, a wall of defensiveness rose within him. He couldn't explain the anger he felt upon the Great Rock, but in that moment, he felt he was justified. "I won't keep getting betrayed by medicine cats. Opalmist chose her lover over the Clan and thanks to Spiritstar, that's just what she got. She's probably grateful, and I'm grateful we don't have to worry about her betraying anyone else."
Falcontalon looked confused, tilting his head at Cedarstar, "Keep getting betrayed? What medicine cat has betrayed you in the past?"
"It was--" Cedarstar cut himself of with a blink. He didn't actually know who it was. He didn't recognize the brown tom from his...his vision. Cedarstar pinned his ears back.
I'm a fool. That was the vision. That wasn't me. Cedarstar looked away from the other warrior and cleared his throat. "Just forget it," he said guardedly. "I...I just...meant Ashrock. That's all."
"Oh, alright... well I didn't come here to tell you your decision was wrong Cedarstar. I just came to check on you. You should try and get some more sleep and not think about everything for a while." Falcontalon mewed, voice soft.
Cedarstar sighed. He knew Falcontalon had every good intention. When he glanced at his nest, his ear flicked twice. He wasn't sure about getting sleep. Who knew what kind of dreams or visions would disturb him.
I keep waking up confused afterwards. Cedarstar looked at Falcontalon. The tom wasn't Closesky old, but he was still considered an elder, and Cedarstar had one name from his visions that he remembered. "Falcontalon...you wouldn't happened to know of a Darkenedstar, would you?"
Falcontalon flicked an ear, fully stepping into the leader's den. "I believe he was Shadowclan's leader a very long time ago. Moonstar's father I think. Moonstar was leader before Northstar. Why do you ask?"
Cedarstar blinked. He knew of Moonstar, Closesky told him plenty of stories, but he never heard anything about the leader before her. Why am I having dreams involving a cat so long ago? And, why was he the only name he could remember as opposed to the black eyed apprentice or the brown medicine cat? "Uh..." Cedarstar shook his head. He didn't know how to explain this to Falcontalon. "No reason. I just heard the name and didn't recognize it."
Falcontalon narrowed his eyes, not quite believing Cedarstar, "Alright, well that's about all I know about him unfortunately. Closesky may know more if you'd like to ask him."
Cedarstar bobbed his head. He wasn't sure he wanted to bring this up to his father. That would only worry him further. "Thank you, Falcontalon. I'm sorry to keep you up."
Falcontalon dipped his head to Cedarstar, getting to his paws. "No worries Cedarstar. I'm always around if you want to talk, not much to do as a old elder like me." he mewed with a smile. "Rest well Cedarstar, I'll see you at sunrise." The old deputy ambled out of the leader's den and back to his nest. He looked over at Starrylight, happy to see his daughter's side rising and falling in a peaceful sleep. He curled up in his own nest and was soon joining her in dreams.
Cedarstar tossed and turned for the rest of the night. Every time he felt sleep come to his mind, he fought it. He didn't want another dream or vision or whatever they were. He felt foolish for seeking them out to help train Rustlepaw. They were helpful and harmless to start, but now he didn't feel strong enough to fight them and they were growing so dark.
Cedarstar opened his eyes when he heard the steady patter of rainfall outside his den. "That's appropriate," he muttered to himself. The lone, cold rain was exactly how he felt right now.
Starrylight awoke slowly, bleary reaching her tail out to curl around Cedarstar only to remember where she was. She sighed, hauling herself to her paws and moving to the entrance of the elder’s den. She frowned as she looked upon the damp camp, rain pattering on the walls of the den. Steeling herself, she walked quickly across the camp toward their den. She ducked inside without a warning, blinking at her mate. “Good morning Cedarstar.” She said softly.
Cedarstar sat up when his mate entered the den. He blinked so she might not be able to tell how tired he was. He was glad to see her. "Starrylight, good morning."
Starrylight curled her tail around her paws, licking some of the droplets of rain off her shoulder. "I'm sorry I acted like that in front of the whole clan." she admitted. "It wasn't my best moment."
Cedarstar blinked, a bit surprised by her apology. He stood up and stepped toward her. "You don't have to apologize for anything. I'd rather you yell at me in front of the whole Clan than you hide how you're feeling from me. I was..." he flicked his ear, thinking back to his talk with Falcontalon. "I know my decision isn't a popular one. In the moment..." he awkwardly shrugged and couldn't look at her. "I don't know...I guess I don't really don't know what came over me."
Starrylight met him halfway, pressing her muzzle to his, "You didn't look like yourself up there. It scared me." she whispered, voice breaking as she spoke. "That was not a decision that I would ever think you would make, at least not so suddenly. I usually feel like I know what's going on in your head, but up there on that rock... it was like you were unreachable to me."
Cedarstar leaned into her, her sweet scent comforting him even when she was damp. His ears pinned back when he thought about what happened upon the Great Rock. Starrylight hadn't even crossed his mind. The dreams and visions had been harmless at first, but now...
They're affecting the Clan. He lifted his gaze to the den entrance. If he wildly banished Opalmist, what else would he do? "I'm scared, Starrylight," he admitted with a whisper. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Do you think something is wrong?" Starrylight asked in alarm. "Have you spoken with Snowdance about it?" Her ears flattened to her head, eyes round with fear as panic started to set in. "You don't think some cat's taking over your body like Goldberry right? Y-you remember everything from the gathering?" Goldberry being possessed had ripped her family apart. Her heart hammered against her chest as she thought about something similar happening to her mate. Could it possibly happen to leaders?
"No," Cedarstar spoke a little too quickly. He tilted his ears back and looked away from Starrylight. "I haven't told Snowdance, but I...I don't think what's happening is what's happened to Goldberry. I do remember..." He trailed off, scraping his claws into the ground. He remembered the medicine cat that did nothing while he laid there...dying.
But that wasn't me, he told himself with gritted teeth. "I thought this was just StarClan helping me train Rustlepaw, but I don't know anymore." He looked at Starrylight. "We can't tell the Clan. I'm just starting to earn their respect as leader. If I lose their faith now..." He trailed off with a shake of his head. He didn't think he could ever earn the Clan's trust back if they knew what was really going on.
Starrylight nodded slowly, "Right, I won't tell anyone I promise. This is the first time I've noticed you act differently, but has it happened before? Can you tell when it happens?" She dug her claws into the soft ground of the den, fur spiked with anxiety. "Oh, what does this mean?"
Cedarstar slowly sat down, his tail tapping as the weight of these dreams and visions laid on his heart. "They started off so harmless." He flicked his ear, thinking back to when the dreams started when he was still a warrior. "I thought they were just figments of my imagination, ya know? My dreams of being a great warrior like my father. And, then they started helping me train Rustlepaw, I thought they were StarClan's doing." He flicked his ear, unsure if he should be telling Starrylight this, but he needed one cat he could trust and there was no one he'd pick over her. He swallowed, thinking of the vision he had at the gathering. "I haven't lost a single life and yet, I know what it feels like to die."
"What do you mean they were helping you train Rustlepaw? What were the visions showing you?" Starrylight asked curiously. Her face fell into mild horror though when he brought up knowing what death felt like. "You watched a cat die and felt what it was like? Can you see the cat?"
Cedarstar flicked his ear, unsure how to explain the answers to her questions. He also felt like everything he was saying was foolish, and he didn't want her to see him strangely. "No one in the Clan has trained a blind cat. No one knows how. When Rustlepaw was born, I started having dreams that I was training a young she-cat who's brother was blind." He grit his teeth. "But his mentor--who was also the deputy--neglected him. He wasn't even bothering to train him." Cedarstar huffed. "So, I trained them both--or, the cat who's eyes I was seeing through trained them both. I figured it was StarClan sending me visions of how to train Rustlepaw. I--or the other cat--trained both apprentices in my dreams. The tactics are brilliant and have helped me get Rustlepaw to where she's at."
Cedarstar looked away from Starrylight and flicked his tail anxiously. "On the Great Rock..." he let out a slow breath. "I didn't watch a cat die. I
was the cat dying. I felt their pain, their anguish, and the betrayal they felt as the medicine cat did nothing. He had a full stock of herbs and he just sat there and watched me die."
Starrylight's ears flattened, her head spinning with all her questions. "I'm assuming you didn't recognize the medicine cat, which means either it was a vision that never truly happened or... like a memory? Was it Shadowclan's camp? Or could it have been a different clan?"
Cedarstar shook his head. "It was ShadowClan. Same pines. Same camp." He closed his eyes, trying to remember any details from his dreams. "Darkenedstar. That's the only name I remember from these dreams, but I don't know who that is."
Starrylight hummed, wracking her brain to think if she had ever heard that name before. "You should try to get an answer from your father. He's the cat most likely to know as the oldest in the clan. Or, you could go to moonstone and see if Starclan has answers for you? I'm sure Snowdance would accompany you."
Cedarstar immediately shook his head. "No. Closesky's retired and if he finds out about this, it'll only worry him. He's not fretting over me like he did when I first became leader. I think he's finally believing in me. If he finds out about this, he'll never think I'm capable of leading on my own." He flicked his ear a couple time. "I could go to the Moonstone, but would I tell the Clan? Do you think they'll believe me if I say I'm going to consult StarClan about medicine cat stuff?" Though, he wasn't sure he wanted Snowdance to tag along. She'd push the prophecy and he didn't exactly want to tell her about his dreams.
"Sunpaw is close to her earning her name is she not? Perhaps you could join their journey to moonstone before her final assessment? I don't think it's that unusual for leaders to join, especially with the threat of prey-maulers about. Or you could use the prey-maulers as an excuse. Tell the clan you'd like guidance on how to deal with them." Starrylight offered.’
Cedarstar slowly nodded. Those were good excuses to redirect the Clan. He pressed against her. "What would I do without you?
Starrylight smiled, leaning into his touch. She closed her eyes, feeling her previous anger melt away as she took in his familiar comforting scent. "Be lost. The same as me without you. If there is one thing I will never doubt, it's that Starclan destined us to be together, I will always come back to you." She promised with her voice soft but firm. Whatever they were facing, she would face it alongside him. She could never watch him suffer alone.
Cedarstar purred softly. He agreed with her. The way he felt about her could only be destiny. "If that's all that we have, then we have everything." He felt better about facing whatever came their way with Starrylight at his side. "Come on, we have a Clan to take care of. I'll see if Moonpetal thinks Sunpaw is ready for a trip to the moonstone. Maybe a trip to consult with StarClan is what I need to figure out these dreams."
Starrylight nodded, "Go tend to the clan, I am going to see how the other queens are faring in this weather. I'll see you later." she mewed, touching her nose to his cheek before ducking back out of their den.
Cedarstar followed her out of the den to watch her walk away. He curled his tail, reminding himself once again how lucky he was. He looked around the camp, but didn't see Moonpetal right away. She was probably hunkered in one of the dens. Cedarstar started for the medicine den to check on the injured.
“Cedarstar.” Honeycrest called as he noticed the leader finally slipping from his den. The golden tom padded towards him, dipping his head once before he asked. “I just need one small moment of your time, in regards to something I overheard at the gathering. I believe that it is highly important for you to know of, at the very least.” He mewed, not wanting to beat around the bush.
Cedarstar paused to give Honeycrest his attention. He flicked his ear, fully knowing the tom had a knack for eavesdropping on conversations. "Something highly important? And what's that, Honeycrest?"
Honeycrest was far too focused on reporting to the leader than he was about the mud on his paws, and the rain on his pelt. He mewed, steady and honest. “After Echowing’s outburst and what was revealed, a Thunderclan apprentice blurted out that he was grateful that Frostyfoot’s banishment was the only news to come from Skyclan, rather than Spiritstar speaking about what sounded like a collaboration with Thunderclan. I’m convinced that Thunderclan and Skyclan are currently in an alliance.” He explained.
Cedarstar blinked slowly. An alliance between ThunderClan and SkyClan? It left a cold sense of dread in his gut. He wanted to call Honeycrest out. Say the tom didn't know what he heard. They shouldn't be jumping to conclusions, but Honeycrest was too careful. Cedarstar knew that much. He wouldn't tell me this unless he was sure. And, apprentices were notorious for letting information slip. "ThunderClan and SkyClan," Cedarstar repeated slowly. "Lightningstar and Spiritstar. I wonder why they've come to this."
“I’m under the impression that they must be trying to share resources. The only issue is that with both clans against our border, I am concerned that they might think such an alliance will give them the foolish ego to try and encroach on Shadowclan territory. I can’t say for certain of course, but I thought it would be useful to consider in case we want to pre-emptively enforce the border.” Honeycrest nodded once, a part of him feeling a bit honored to be taken seriously by the leader. His respect for the tom only grew stronger.
Cedarstar flicked his ear twice at the thought of the two clans turning on ShadowClan. "Let's hope they're only allied for resources." He nodded to Honeycrest. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll have Cloudscar send more patrols that way. We can't let them get any ideas. I'll inform the Clan as well."
“Thank you, Cedarstar.” Honeycrest dipped his head again, before he was silent for a moment. After a second, he spoke again. “I also want you to know, that I saw the logic in your decision at the gathering. I know the Clan will be conflicted about Opalmist’s banishment, but when forced into a such a striking affair amongst every Clan, a firm paw speaks louder than a gentle heart. I know that my word may not mean much as a new Warrior, compared to cats my senior, but. I just wanted to be honest about my thoughts on the matter.”
He nodded once more. “I won’t keep your time any longer. I know you must be busy.”
Cedarstar blinked at the tom. He appreciated Honeycrest's words, but he felt Honeycrest was the only one who saw his decision that way.
It wasn't really my decision, he told himself.
I just acted on the feelings from the vision. StarClan, he wished he could stop thinking about it.
Not knowing what to say back to the warrior, Cedarstar simply nodded and tried again to head to the medicine den. Padding inside to check on the injured, his eyes lit up when he saw Bumbleskip awake. "Bumbleskip! You're alright."
Bumbleskip's eyes widened as Cedarstar entered the den, he dipped his head to the leader as guilt and shame roiled through him.
Hazelblaze sighed as she looked between the leader and her father. "He woke up early this morning. Snowdance gave him some herbs and he was able to eat something."
"That's a relief," Cedarstar padded further into the den, nodding his thanks to Hazelblaze for the update. He smiled at Bumbleskip. "You had us all worried." He flicked his ear twice. "I feel I owe you an apology, Bumbleskip. I hadn't realized the state you were in. I should've done more to help."
"I didn't want anyone to worry about me Cedarstar. I apologize for the way I've been acting, I don't think I realized how much my grief had swallowed me." Bumbleskip murmured, voice still hoars from misuse. "Redspark, she visited me while I was sleeping. She scolded me and promised that Starclan wasn't punishing me." He raised his eyes to meet Cedarstar's, determination filling them. "I promise to be the senior warrior I'm supposed to be. I'm sorry I haven't been fulfilling my duties to the clan."
Cedarstar smiled softly. "Redspark met with you? Well, it's good to know our lost clanmates are still with us. I'm glad to see you back on your paws, Bumbleskip. The Clan could use this good news. When you're ready, Cloudscar can get you on a patrol to help you get back into it, but I would stay clear of the back half of the territory until you're feeling much stronger. We can't risk anyone not up to full strength running into the Prey Maulers."
Bumbleskip nodded, "I understand Cedarstar. I won't let you down again. I have missed too much in my sulking. My grandkits are already several moons old. I have a lot to make up for."
Cedarstar purred. "I'm glad to hear it, Bumbleskip. I'll leave you to your rest. Perhaps your grandkits can come visit you?" He looked at Hazelblaze, wondering if Cherryvine would be willing to bring the kits and if Snowdance would allow them in her den for some time. He looked around for the medicine cat.
Hazelblaze flicked her ear, unsure if Snowdance would allow four rambunctious kits into the medicine cat den. "While you're here Cedarstar, I will be able to return to light patrols soon as well." She mewed with a smile, "Snowdance said my shoulder is healing very well."
Bumbleskip laid his head back down with a yawn after nodding to Cedarstar, "Perhaps, I hope to go visit them in the nursery soon enough anyway."
Cedarstar looked over Hazelblaze's shoulder and breathed with light relief. As serious as her injuries had been, he feared damage might be as permanent as his scars. "That great news, Hazelblaze. We could really use your skills out on the patrols." He flicked his ear, thinking about what Honeycrest had told him.
I'll tell the entire Clan together, he told himself. It was good to hear Hazelblaze would be back at it soon. They'd need all the warriors they had to fend off the Prey Maulers and the alliance between ThunderClan and SkyClan. He spotted Bumbleskip's yawn and nodded to each warrior. "I'll leave you two to your rest. Again, I'm glad you're both feeling better." He flicked the tip of his tail, feeling rather awkward about the departure, but slipped out of the den. Cedarstar took a deep breath. Bumbleskip and Hazelblaze feeling better was just the kind of good news he needed to hear.
Thistlestalk yawned as he stepped out of the warrior's den, his ears perked when he noticed Cedarstar exiting the medicine cat den. He hurried toward the leader through the rain with a dip of his head. "Cedarstar! I wanted to speak with you for a moment about the patrol Burninghope, Poppyflame and I went on while the clan was at the gathering."
Cedarstar paused when Thistlestalk came up. He twitched his whiskers when a raindrop landed on his nose. "Is something the matter? You didn't find evidence of Prey Maulers, did you?"
Thistlestalk shook his head, looking a bit nervous speaking to the leader directly. "No, no signs of prey-maulers. It was something else. When we were at the Skyclan border we scented a strange mix between Thunderclan and Skyclan scents. Poppyflame suggested maybe a cat was breaking the warrior code and may have a forbidden relationship, but there were too many scents for that. It almost smelled like the patrol that went by included both Skyclan and Thunderclan scents."
Cedarstar flattened his ears. "That's concerning given what Honeycrest just told me." He took a deep breath, fearing that Thistlestalk was comfirming his fears. "Tell me, Thistlestalk. Would you say those mingling scents could suggest an alliance between those two Clans?"
Thistlestalk frowned but gave a small nod, "We did discuss the possibilities. Do you think they'd be so bold to be so open about it? It didn't even seem like they tried to disguise the mixed scents."
Cedarstar shook his head. "Honeycrest overheard an apprentice talking about it at the gathering. I wouldn't put it past Lightningstar to flaunt this in our face. I just hope Spiritstar can stick up to Lightningstar and he doesn't take advantage of Spiritstar's softness."
Thistlestalk scoffed, hoping he never caught Fuzzypaw accidentally revealing clan secrets at the gatherings, "Apprentices never learn to be quiet enough do they? Oh, one more thing Cedarstar, the scents seemed to be headed toward the twolegplace. We didn't follow it far enough to be sure that's where it was going, but there was really no other explanation on where the patrol could have been headed."
Cedarstar knitted his brow. "Twoleggedplace? That is odd. Maybe if we run into Gregory again, we can ask him if he knows what's going on. For now, all we can do is make sure our borders are strong. Thank you for telling me this, Thistlestalk."
Thistlestalk dipped his head to Cedarstar, standing up to take his leave. “Of course, I’ll let you know if we find anything else on the next patrol.”
Cedarstar nodded curtly. "Very good." He stepped away, heading for the apprentice den as he wanted to check on his kits.
Very good? He repeated to himself.
That sounded so dumb. Why did I say that? He flicked his ear twice and let out a huff. Prophecies, visions, now an alliance in the forest? As if this rain wasn't enough.
Cedarstar paused to let his eyes adjust when he entered the apprentice den, he parted his lips to answer Spottedpaw, but stilled when he realized Whorlpaw and Duskpaw weren't there. Palepaw was curled up in his nest napping after a morning patrol.
Cedarstar knitted his brow when he realized Fuzzypaw wasn't there either. He just spoke with Thistlestalk, so she wasn't out training. "Where are my daughters? And Fuzzypaw?" He looked at each of the apprentices for an answer.
Lightpaw looked over from where she was giggling and chattering with Strikepaw, her eyes owlish as she answered. “Oh! I saw Fuzzypaw go off with Duskpaw and Whorlpaw to the other side of camp when Strikepaw and I went to get the mud off my fur. I thought they just went to hang out at the Warrior’s Den! Are they… not there?” She asked, confused now.
Duskpaw took off through the territory, mud splashing up onto her pelt with each stride. He heart thudded against her chest as she pushed herself to run as fast as possible. They needed to save Cliffheart and fast. As they got closer to the camp, she began to yowl. "HELP! HELP! CLIFFHEART NEEDS HELP!"
Cedarstar shot out of the den when he heard his daughter's call. He pinned his ears back. Though it was clear they had gone out of camp, he had to focus on what was urgent and that was Cliffheart. "Lionscorch, Mouseclaw, Eaglesight, let's go! Duskpaw, lead the way." He shot Whorlpaw a look, wanting one of his daughters to stay behind even though he didn't know the danger. Whorlpaw lightly shrunk under her father's stare.
Eaglesight jumped up, eager to go to his father.
Duskpaw was trembling but she nodded to her father, "He's not in good shape." She warned, giving a slight nod to Whorlpaw before she took off again the way she had come.
Mouseclaw followed the apprentice, looking at his son with worry. Had the prey-maulers gotten Cliffheart? What was the tom doing out alone?
Lionscorch quickly rushed to join his father and Eaglesight’s side, worry for Cliffheart clear in his eyes. He looked at his father, sharing Mouseclaw’s concern.
Cedarstar's expression fell grim at his daughter's words. He looked back to see if he could spot Snowdance.
"I'll help her get prepped." Ashrock nodded curtly to Cedarstar, receiving his brother's grateful blink. Ashrock slipped into the medicine den. "Snowdance, Cliffheart is wounded. We need to prepare for the worst."
Cedarstar darted out of camp to follow Duskpaw. 'Hang on, Cliffheart,' he silently prayed. It couldn't be time for his former mentor to die, yet.
Duskpaw led them to the tree, ears flattening when she saw Cliffheart's limp tail again. "Fuzzypaw! Waspflame! I brought help. He's up there and won't wake up. We'll have to find a way to get him down." She mewed, turning to face the patrol.
Mouseclaw sucked a breath in when he noticed the blood trailing down the tom's coat. He looked up at the tree grimly, "It's not going to be easy, that's for sure."
“Thank Starclan.” Waspflame sighed with relief, calling down to Duskpaw. “You’re a life-saver, Duskpaw! Shadowclan’s fastest cat, I’d even say.” He praised, before he called down to Cedarstar’s patrol. “Fuzzypaw and I are trying to stop the bleeding with these cobwebs, but they won’t last long unless we get more… I think…” He swallowed, knowing that he would probably be in trouble for going out with two of the leader’s kits and another apprentice. Though, finding Cliffheart alive made it worth the punishment.
“Cliffheart’s still breathing, but Duskpaw’s right. We need to get him down.”
Cedarstar slowed when they reached the bloody scene. He flattened his ears when he realized Cliffheart was in a tree. If the tom was as wounded as it sounded, Cedarstar was amazed Cliffheart made it up the tree at all. "Fuzzypaw, climb to a different branch." He looked at Mouseclaw and Eaglesight. "Start looking for more cobwebs. Lionscorch keep an eye out for prey Maulers. Duskpaw, stay with Lionscorch."
Eaglesight darted off.
Cedarstar started for the tree, sinking his claws into it to start hauling himself up. His frame was larger than Cliffheart's so he was sure he looked rather clumsy doing this, but at least Cliffheart drilled the technique in him as an apprentice. Cedarstar was still a decent climber.
He waited until Fuzzypaw was off the branch before slowly adding his weight. Cedarstar's expression grew grim at the sight of Cliffheart. "We have enough warriors. If we can stop the bleeding we can ease him down. We just have to be careful to not caught the bleeding to start up again." He hated thinking it, but he wished he brought Ashrock.
"Yes Cedarstar." Mouseclaw murmured before taking off in the opposite direction as Eaglesight, searching the brush for cobwebs.
Duskpaw licked her chest with embarassment at Waspflame's compliment, her fur growing warm. Her eyes flicked up in surprise though as she watched her father climb the tree, he was able to do it so well! She inched closer to her cousin, frowning at Lionscorch. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
Waspflame quickly made as much room as he could on the branch, stepping back to quickly hop over Cliffheart’s body and perch on the farther edge of the branch. He thanked Starclan for his lither build, knowing Cedarstar’s heavier weight made the branch risky. Even so, he looked at his leader. “He was bleeding alot from his head wound, and the gashes on his side. He… he must have climbed up sometime this morning or last night.” He shook his head softly. “I didn’t scent any prey-maulers until we scented the blood.”
Lionscorch nodded firmly, the large tom shouldering his way around the perimeter of the tree, eyes sharply peering around as he made sure Duskpaw kept close to him. He looked at her and mewed softly. “Cliffheart’s one of the strongest cats I’ve ever known… he’s come back from the dead before. I was there, when it happened.”
Fuzzypaw had snaked up to a branch a fox-length above where Cliffheart, Waspflame, and Cedarstar were, looking down at the scene with wide, worried eyes. What can I do to help?!
The apprentice looked around herself, up, down, sideways, plotting out the arrangement of branches with her eyes as best as she could. The branch below where Cliffheart lay was sturdy, and there was another below that...
"Cedarstar," she called out meekly. "I think if, if you and me and Waspflame and everyone work together one at a time..."
Fuzzypaw paused for a breath, nervous beyond belief that she was making a fool of herself, but pushed on anyway. "The branches are staggered just enough, I think if we take turns passing him down, we can get him to the bottom!"
Cedarstar eased closer to Cliffheart to assess the tom's injuries. He believed Waspstrike was right, Cliffheart must have made it up here sometime in the thick of the night to the earliest light. He parted his lips to say something when he spotted a minor scratch on Cliffheart's shoulder. It didn't match the rest of his wounds. It was from a cat's claw and it was fresh.
Cedarstar lashed his tail, causing the branch to sway.
So much for top apprentice. He should know better than to get a scratch like that while training! Cedarstar grit his teeth in disappointment. He about snapped at the unconscious tom, but he caught himself when he realized Cliffheart was unconscious. Cedarstar glanced at the pine trees and his pelt prickled when he realized he thought he was the in the dark mists of that starless place.
It was Fuzzypaw's timid suggestion that helped him refocus. He looked at the apprentice, then followed her motion to the lining tree branches. It was a good idea. A lot better than his of carrying Cliffheart down the tree like a kit. "Good eye, Fuzzypaw. We can do that as soon as the others get back." Cedarstar tilted his ears back and glanced at Waspstrike. He kept his voice low. "We need to wake him up. Now."
“I tried to wake him.” Waspflame rasped with a hint of disappointment and sadness, before he shook the moping aside. He wasn’t an emotional little apprentice anymore. He hadn’t been for moons now. Instead, he looked at Cedarstar and nodded. “But. I can try again. Maybe with you here, he’ll recognize your voice better than mine, and wake up.” He inched close to Cliffheart again and tried tugging an uninjured scrap of his fur with a determined huff. “Wake up! Come on, Cliffheart!”
Duskpaw craned her head up trying to make out what was happening in the tree above them, diligently staying next to Lionscorch. Her eyes seem to catch the dark ginger of Waspflame's pelt the most, standing out against the dark sky and leaves.
Mouseclaw returned after a while carrying a messy heap of cobwebs. He looked nervous as he began to scale the tree, he had only climbed once or twice in his life. He stopped at a lower branch, reaching up on the trunk to pass the cobwebs to the warriors and Fuzzypaw above.
Lionscorch inspected a patch of blood near the trees, his eyes sharpened as he growled lightly. “Rotten prey-maulers. They edge right over the border… surely they can smell the scent marks. I can’t imagine them being smart enough to know what Clans are. But, I don’t like how they got away with this.” He dug his long claws into the ground, wanting to sink his teeth into a prey-mauler for what they did to Cliffheart.
Eaglesight had a pitiful collection of cobwebs when he returned to the group. He lifted up on his back legs to try get a look at his father. "Is he alright? What's going on?"
Cedarstar swallowed tightly when he noticed another new scratch on Cliffheart's nose. He gingerly stepped toward the tom, trying to jostle him awake. "Come on, Cliffheart. Come back to us." Cedarstar glanced down the tree when he saw movement. "Mouseclaw? Eaglesight? Did you find cobwebs?"
"Come on, Cliffheart..." Fuzzypaw mewed worriedly. "Please, please, please wake up!" Her blue eyes found Duskpaw's below, and she had to avert her gaze. Her friend looked so anguished, and Fuzzypaw couldn't help but feel the weight of guilt on her shoulders. "ShadowClan needs you..." she pleaded in a whisper.
Mouseclaw nodded from his perch lower in the tree, "Here Cedarstar." he mewed through the webs, passing them up to the leader and Waspflame.
Waspflame reached his paw down to take some cobwebs from Mouseclaw, before he turned to start pressing them on some wounds that his last swath had been unable to cover.
Eaglesight climbed partly up the tree after Mouseclaw to pass off his small amount of cobwebs.
Cedarstar nodded gratefully to the two warriors. He took Eaglesight's amount and pressed it to the wound on Cliffheart's head. When he did, a soft grunt came from the senior warrior. Cedarstar perked up. "Cliffheart?"
Cliffheart could barely open his eyes. The whole world was fuzzy. He didn't recognize where he was, but he did hear voices and he was relieved to know he wasn't back in the Dark Forest. I'm...still...alive? He thought weakly. His whole body ached and he wasn't sure he could move. Cliffheart blinked slowly. All he wanted to do was rest his eyes, but he knew if he did, he'd go right back to the Dark Forest. I have to...stay awake... He fought with haggard breath.
Cedarstar sighed with relief when he saw Cliffheart's eyes open. "He's awake." He called to the others, "but I don't know how long he'll last. Position yourselves down the branches like Fuzzypaw suggested. We're getting him back to camp."
Eaglesight gasped with relief that his father was at least conscious. He climbed up the tree, more nimbler than the other warriors to reach one of the upper branches to bring Cliffheart down.
Waspflame quickly moved to a lower branch, settling himself into a position to assist Cedarstar and Eaglesight in letting him down. The young Warrior was relieved to see Cliffheart had awoken.
Lionscorch called from the edge of the underbrush. “The prey-maulers seemed to have moved on, back over the border. I don’t think they’ll come back around for a second fight. Do you need me over there to help carry Cliffheart to camp?” He asked the other cats.
Mouseclaw stayed on the lowest branch, his heavy bodyweight making the tree branch sway as it was, he was nervous to climb higher. He braced a paw on the trunk, ready to help lift Cliffheart down.
Cedarstar nodded gratefully to Waspflame for moving lower, then looked at Lionscorch below. "Can you fill that gap between Eaglesight and Mouseclaw? We'll ease him to the ground then carrying him back together. Duskpaw, Fuzzypaw keep guard as we lower him down." He looked back at Waspflame. "Are you ready?"
Eaglesight took a deep breath, posed a branch lower than Waspflame in preparation.
“Can do!” Lionscorch boomed, quickly pouncing upon the tree bark with powerful legs. As heavy as he was, Lionscorch’s raw strength made up for it, allowing him to brute force his way up the tree in clumsy but successful strides. Once he was upon the right branch, he nodded.
“I’m ready.” Waspflame called up with determination, lifting his head to reach out his muzzle for when it was his turn to carefully pull Cliffheart down to his branch.
Cedarstar took a shaky breath. StarClan he hoped they didn't drop his mentor. Cliffheart's eyes were still open, but appeared more in a daze than anything. "Alright, Cliffheart," he mewed softly. "We'll get you back to camp. Here we go." He grabbed the warrior by the scruff of his neck and though Cliffheart grunted in pain, Cedarstar gently dragged him along the branch to the thickest part toward the truck. He caught Waspflame's eye before he braced himself against the trunk to ease Cliffheart as far over and down as he could.
Duskpaw trembled as she watched her father lower Cliffheart down to Waspflame, she sent a prayer up to Starclan that they would successfully bring him down.
Waspflame nodded to Cedarstar, grunting lightly at the sudden weight as he took Cliffheart’s scruff in his jaws. Bracing the older tom with his body, Waspflame used all his strength to slowly lower him down onto the base of the branch he was on. He ignored the strain in his neck, instead looking down to make sure the next cat was ready to take Cliffheart.
"Thanks, Duskpaw," Fuzzypaw said, looking down at her paws bashfully before moving to watch the marshes for any danger. She kept stealing furniture glances as the warriors lowered Cliffheart through the tree, ready to jump in to help at a moment's notice.
Eaglesight lifted on his back paws to reach out and take Cliffheart from Waspflame. His heart lurched, not realzing his father looked this bad. The wound on his side was bleeding again. He nearly slipped when took all of Cliffheart's weight, but with a frightening breath, he kept his balance. Eaglesight paused, letting Cliffheart rest on the branch a moment. His father was breathing heavier, but his eyes were wider as if he was trying to figure out what was going on. He never moved. "You're going to be okay," Eaglesight pressed his nose into his father's fur. "Stay with us, father." With a deep, anxious breath, Eaglesight looked to Lionscorch and carefully passed CLiffheart along so Lionscorch could pass the warrior to Mouseclaw near the bottom.
Cedarstar watched from his branch. His ears were pinned back and he kept waiting for one of the warriors to say Cliffheart died on the way down. He nearly cried out when Eaglesight slipped, but breathed in relief when the young warrior caught himself.
Mouseclaw braced himself, ready to reach up and help Lionscorch in a flash if his son struggled at all to take the other warrior's weight.
Duskpaw tore her gaze away from the warriors above her to check their surroundings again for prey-maulers. She wouldn't let her father down.
“Nearly there. Just keep holding on. I’ve got you.” Lionscorch mewed to Cliffheart with a hint of gentleness. He was able to handle Cliffheart’s weight much easier than Waspflame, only giving the faintest of grunts as he began to lower the Warrior down to where Mouseclaw, his own father, was upon the last leg of the lowering.
Mouseclaw grabbed Cliffheart's scruff from his son, grunting with effort as he took the other warrior's full weight. He inched toward the trunk, digging his claws in to lower Cliffheart down to the apprentices below.
Duskpaw placed her paws up on the trunk and dug her claws in, motioning to Fuzzypaw to join her so Mouseclaw could lower the injured tom onto their shoulders.
Once the apprentices were in place, Mouseclaw placed Cliffheart onto Duskpaw and Fuzzypaw's shoulders.
Duskpaw huffed with effort under the weight of Cliffheart, hoping the patrol would climb down the tree quickly to help.
Cedarstar bounded down the tree once Cliffheart was with the apprentices. He even beat Eaglesight down. Cedarstar slipped up to Duskpaw to take his former mentor's weight from her. "You're doing great, Duskpaw," he smiled softly at her. "We'll get him back to camp in no time."
Eaglesight jumped down from the tree, and paused to scan the area. He didn't offer to help carry Cliffheart, his leaner frame not as strong as the other toms.
Fuzzypaw puffed with the effort of holding Cliffheart alongside Duskpaw, wrinkling her nose as blood stained her fur. She sighed with relief when Cedarstar took some of the tom's weight, slipping out to let a stronger cat take her place. Her eyes caught Cliffheart's open ones and she felt herself freeze, anxiety coursing through her.
Mouseclaw scrambled down the tree clumsily, assisting Cedarstar in removing the warrior from Duskpaw and Fuzzypaw's shoulders. "Cedarstar and I can carry him back on our backs. Lionscorch & Waspflame help lift him up for us? Eaglesight, keep an eye out of the prey-maulers."
Duskpaw breathed a sigh of relief as the weight of Cliffheart was removed from her. She grinned at Fuzzypaw, "We did it! Snowdance can treat him now, he'll be okay."
“Yeah, I’ve got him.” Lionscorch nodded, padding towards Mouseclaw as he carefully began to help lift the injured tom onto the two toms’ backs. He was impressed by Waspflame’s silent yet helpful assistance, seeming to be pushing through what he had to see by focusing on the duty at paw.
Once upon their back, Waspflame let go of Cliffheart and looked over at Duskpaw and Fuzzypaw. “You both were really great… I’m sorry that it had to turn out this way.” He looked at Cedarstar then. “The patrol here was my responsibility. If any of the apprentices told you otherwise, it’s not true. I’ll accept whatever punishment you wish to give me.” He tried.
Fuzzypaw wanted to cry out indignantly, tell Cedarstar that is was her fault in the first place that any of them were out here, that Waspflame was a big help, but…Fuzzypaw slumped against Duskpaw, the little she-cat exhausted beyond belief. "Yeah," she meowed. "He'll be okay, now. He's gotta be."
Cedarstar lined up beside Mouseclaw to try and keep Cliffheart as still as possible as they carried him. It made him nervous that Cliffheart's warm blood seeped into his fur. He'll be alright. He nodded to Mouseclaw, lifting a paw so that they could step in sync and move Cliffheart back to camp as smoothly as possible. He flicked his ear in acknowledgement of what Waspflame said. He didn't look at him as he stayed focus on what he was doing. "A kind sentiment, Waspflame, but I know my daughters. We can continue this conversation after Cliffheart is in Snowdance's care.”
Eaglesight glanced around, trying to remain vigilant, but his gaze kept flicking back to his father.
Waspflame looked ready to argue, though the young Warrior knew better than to question Cedarstar’s words, especially with the current situation. So, Waspflame fell into step behind the patrol, glancing once at Fuzzypaw and Duskpaw as he walked.
“You found him.” Lionscorch rumbled with assurance to the younger cats. “Had you not… who knows what his state would have been. So, I think the end result was worth the risk.” He murmured, trying to cheer them up.
Mouseclaw followed Cedarstar's lead and began the trek back to camp slowly. He could feel blood seeping into his fur from Cliffheart's wounds but he knew traveling faster could lead to more wounds opening.
Duskpaw looked at her paws guiltily as her father called her out. She couldn't help the small smile though when Lionscorch praised them. "I'll explain everything when Cliffheart is safe." she murmured, meeting Waspflame's eyes for a moment.
Cedarstar called out when they neared the camp entrance. "Snowdance! Opal--" He clamped his jaws shut, remembering what he did. The long, slow trek was causing his muscles to ache. "Someone, assist us in getting Cliffheart to the den!"
Mouseclaw was struggling just as much as Cedarstar, Cliffheart was not a small tom. He looked around the camp, hoping someone would come assist them.
"Coming! I'll help!" Coalhaze lumbered over towards Cedarstar and Mouseclaw, thanking Starclan for his naturally large build, knowing he could certainly help with some heavy lifting. He moved to take some weight off of Mouseclaw, pressing his shoulder under and beside them for support.
"Father!" Songbreeze cried out when she spotted the state of Cliffheart. She ran forward, but Eaglesight got in her way.
"Let them get him to the medicine den." Eaglesight pressed against his sister, glancing briefly over at Smokestorm to check on his brother. Tears rolled down Songbreeze's face. She recognized some of those scratches on Cliffheart. Those were Dark Forest scratches.
Smokestorm backed out of the way for Coalhaze to help Cedarstar and Mouseclaw get Cliffheart to the medicine den. He stumbled into Snakesong, heart racing at the thought that this might be it for Cliffheart. There was so much blood.
"To the medicine den," Cedarstar grunted and nodded gratefully to Coalhaze. He glanced over at Eaglesight and his siblings, and silently prayed StarClan would be able to intervene on Cliffheart's behalf. He followed to the medicine den. "Snowdance, can you help him?"
Ashrock pinned his ears back when he saw Cliffheart's injuries. He got up and padded closer to the medicine den, deciding to be nearby in case Snowdance needed him.
Cliffheart vaguely made out the dens of ShadowClan's camp. He didn't know how he got here. He couldn't make out what any of the voices were saying, but he recognized the voices of his clanmates. I'm home, he thought with a long breath of relief.
Coalhaze obediently assisted Cedarstar in carrying the senior warrior towards the medicine den. He mewed out. "Anything you need, Snowdance, I can help you! Just like the moons I was in here with you and Ashrock." He offered, wanting to be as helpful as he could.
Mouseclaw grunted with effort as he helped lower Cliffheart to a nest in the medicine cat den. He stepped back, out of breath as he gave room to Snowdance.
Snowdance hurried forward once Cliffheart had been brought in and quickly set to work to examine his injuries, a frown on her face as she took in the sight. She motioned to Bumbleskip to start applying the poultices that she and Ashrock had prepared before she looked at Cedarstar, “I’ll do everything I can to help him, but I’m not sure if I’ll have enough herbs for all of his wounds. Can you send at least a couple of warriors out to collect what I need? Coalhaze, grab that wet moss and start cleaning his wounds of any dried blood. Bumbleskip will follow behind with applying the poultice, I need to take a look at his leg real quick.” She instructed, moving to look at the injured leg. She didn’t like the way it looked twisted.
“On it!” Coalhaze nodded, quickly scooting out of the den for a few moments to conveniently wet some moss clumps with the falling rainwater. Content with the fill, he carried them over to Cliffheart to start carefully rubbing them around the edges of the wounds to clear the drying blood. He hummed, kind and encouraging. “We’ll fix you right up! I bet you’ll be just fine! You’re tough.” He mewed.
Cedarstar nodded to Snowdance and slipped out of the den. "Ashrock, take Flintclaw, Burninghope, and Ravenflight and search for more herbs."
Ashrock nodded curtly. "On it." He looked to the other warriors Cedarstar called and flicekd his tail for them to follow him through the camp entrance.
Cedarstar paused outside the medicine den, taking a moment to catch his breath. But, worry for his former mentor quivered his heart.
Starrylight hurried to Cedarstar's side, pressing against him. "Are you alright?"
Cedarstar bobbed his head and gave Starrylight a tired smile. He didn't want anyone to see how overwhelmed he was. At least Bumbleskip was out of his funk, but the visions, the prophecies, prey Maulers and alliances. He didn't know if Cliffheart was going to live or die. "There's a lot going on," he mewed softly to Starrylight. "I'm worried about Cliffheart, but I trust Snowdance. She'll do everything she can."
Starrylight ran a soothing tail along Cedarstar's back, "She's the best in the forest, if anyone can save him Snowdance can." She sighed, looking over to where she had left Whorlpaw. "Now, what do we do about our daughters sneaking out of camp with Fuzzypaw and Waspstrike?"
Cedarstar took a deep breath and flicked his ear twice. He looked across the camp where Whorlpaw was eyeing Duskpaw and Waspstrike with suspicion. "Of all the warriors, they picked Waspflame to go with them." He shook his head. "If they hadn't gone out, they wouldn't have found Cliffheart." He stood up and scrunched his brow with thought as he watched his daughters.
Palepaw slipped out of the apprentice den, looking as confused as could be at everything happening in the camp. He went on a late night hunt, Cedarstar sighed. He had no doubt Palepaw would've gone with his daughters, but he had been asleep, resting up after the long hunt.
Cedarstar looked at Starrylight. "What do you think? I'm proud they found Cliffheart, but if they had run into the Prey Maulers they could've..." he trailed off, unable to bear the thought.
Starrylight shivered at the thought, she didn't know what she would have done if their daughters had been caught by the prey-maulers. "That's basically what I told Whorlpaw. That I was proud that they found their clanmate and brought him home, but it was reckless to go out there alone. Cliffheart would have surely died without them though..." She shook her head, sighing softly. "I don't know what to think. I don't know if we should punish them or praise them.. or both?"
Cedarstar let out a sigh. "Come on." He brushed his tail against Starrylight as he started over to the apprentice den. "Whorlpaw, Duskpaw, Fuzzypaw!" He called.
Whorlpaw had been so distracted watching her sister's interaction with Waspflame, she didn't notice her father start over. She flinched when he called her name. Oh, StarClan, we're in trouble. Whorlpaw looked at her sister to Fuzzypaw. She kept her head low as she stepped toward her approaching father.
Duskpaw flinched from where she was sitting beside Waspflame, "Oh, um well... bye Waspflame. Remember what I said!" she called before she scampered over to her parents. She approached with her head down sheepishly, unable to look Cedarstar and Starrylight in the eye.
Starrylight walked alongside Cedarstar, staying close to him as she settled down in front of the apprentices.
Fuzzypaw gave Thistlestalk a tired smile before stiffening and deflating at Cedarstar's call. "Oh, mouse-tails," she muttered, shooting her mentor a guilty look before skulking towards the leader and the sisters, looking appropriately apologetic with her ears and tail down, muddy and fur unkempt.
Cedarstar stepped up to each of his daughters and nuzzled their cheeks with his own. "I'm so glad you're alright." He looked at Fuzzypaw and used his tail to gently lift her chin. "All three of you. And, you have my thanks. You've saved Cliffheart's life tonight.
Whorlpaw blinked in surprise, and smiled softly at her father's loving touch. "It was my idea," she said quietly. "I convinced Duskpaw and Fuzzypaw to disobey your orders to find him."
Cedarstar twitched his whiskers in light amusement. "Something tells me it didn't take much convincing."
Fuzzypaw was warmed by Cedarstar's words but furrowed her brow at Whorlpaw's, looking to face her.
"Whuh- nuh-uh! I disobeyed all by myself!" she said indignantly. She looked over at Cedarstar again. "Er, that came out wrong," she mewed. "I mean, um, we all chose to go. Whorlpaw didn't make us do anything! And I threw a pinecone at him, so."
Duskpaw nodded, "It was a group effort. I mentioned how worried I was about Cliffheart and the plan formed quickly. We couldn't let him out there alone any longer."
Cedarstar listened quietly to each of the apprentices, before speaking slowly. "Regardless of who's idea it was or threw the initial pinecone, all three of you disobeyed orders. Those orders are in place to keep you safe. What if you would've run into the Prey Maulers out there? As skilled as Waspflame is, he is not strong enough protect all three of you from them. Had you another warrior or two on your patrol, I would not have considered your patrol as disobeying my orders." He looked steadily at Whorlpaw and Duskpaw. He would rather endure a lifetime of his mysterious visions than lose either one of them. "The Clan can't lose the three of you. You saved Cliffheart's life and for that, you should be commended, but you disobeyed the word of your leader." He took a deep breath, not liking the next words out of his mouth. "By the warrior code, the leader's word is law, and you can't go unpunished for breaking the warrior code."
Whorlpaw dipped her head. "I understand." He hoped Cedarstar wouldn't be too harsh in his punishment.
Fuzzypaw flattened her ears, looking down at her muddy paws. She hadn't even thought about the fact they were technically breaking the Code! What if Cedarstar made her stay an apprentice forever? Or kicked her out?!
"Yes, Cedarstar," she said quietly.
Duskpaw sighed but nodded along with the other two she-cats, "I understand. We won't do it again, promise!"
Cedarstar flicked his ear twice. He wasn't sure what the best punishment would be in this situation, but he did want these three to stay safe with the prey Maulers out there. "Until the next gathering, you three will be Snowdance's personal assistants. Whatever she needs, you help her with. Whether its gathering herbs, tending to wounded, or even keeping the medicine den clean. You'll still need to keep up with your own training and assist the other apprentices with normal chores. Duskpaw, until Cliffheart gets better, I want you joining in the training sessions with other mentors. You can join Rustlepaw and I sometime. Learning from different mentors can help you expand on different methods, but only Cliffheart can finish your training. Do you understand?"
Whorlpaw blinked at her father. The three of them helping to assist Snowdance? That didn't seem so bad. Though, it being on top of their other chores, she wasn't sure how much down time they would get.
Fuzzypaw blinked owlishly at Cedarstar, a little surprised by the "punishment." Helping Snowdance wouldn't be so bad! And she could learn something new along the way. With Opalmist...gone, Fuzzypaw figured the old she-cat could use all the help she could get. And on top of her other chores, she'd always have something to do!
"I understand, Cedarstar," she meowed.
Duskpaw drooped with relief as Cedarstar told them their punishment, "Yes! We'll do whatever Snowdance needs." The thought of training with Rustlepaw and Cedarstar excited her too, especially with Cliffheart's recent lackluster training sessions. She couldn't wait!
Starrylight nodded to the apprentices before looking up at Cedarstar with gentle eyes, "You've given them their punishment, they should go rest now. They've had a long day."
Cedarstar nodded to his mate. "You're quite right." He looked at the apprentices. "Get something to eat if you're hungry. Otherwise, get some rest."
Whorlpaw dipped her head to her father. She didn't feel like hunting and instead headed to the apprentice den to get some sleep.
Fuzzypaw nearly fell over then and there, her paws heavy with exhaustion. "Thank you," she said, dipping her head low to Cedarstar, Starrylight, Whorlpaw, and Duskpaw before trudging off towards where the fresh-kill pile had been moved closer to the camp wall, out of the rain. She pulled out a small frog, her favorite, before padding towards the apprentice's den. There was a puddle nearby that hadn't been too muddied, so she quickly and begrudgingly washed away as much grime from her pelt as she could before heading into the apprentice's den.
Duskpaw gave Waspflame a smile from across camp before she dipped into the apprentice's den with a yawn. "I could sleep for a moon after that."
Starrylight leaned against Cedarstar, hiding her head in his shoulder with a heavy sigh, "Well, they seem enthusiastic about helping at least. Hopefully it will keep them out of more trouble."
Cedarstar watched his daughters go, and nodded to his mate. "I'm glad they took it well. I always worry about being to hard on them." He spotted Waspflame and his ears tilted back. "Waspflame." He beckoned the warrior over with his tail.
Waspflame looked at Cedarstar as the leader beckoned him over. The dark ginger tom readied himself for the conversation, taking a breath. He stood and made his way over to the leader, dipping his head to him. “Yes, Cedarstar.”
Cedarstar couldn't help his frown when Waspflame walked up. "Tell me, Waspflame. In what way did you think it was a good idea to bring three apprentices--two of them being my daughters--to the back border where we KNOW the Prey Maulers can be found with only yourself as protection?" He tapped his tail. "Do you think you can handle the Prey Maulers by yourself?"
Waspflame kept his gaze on Cedarstar, accepting the leader’s stern tone. “Duskpaw, Whorlpaw, and Fuzzypaw approached the Warrior’s den in hopes of finding a way to go about searching for Cliffheart. I was… frustrated, at Cliffheart’s neglect of his duties and apprentice over the past few days, and storming off from a training session. I offered to go to see if we could find traces of him back at the pine trees where the training session took place. We didn’t plan to go anywhere near the back border… until the faint traces at the training area turned sharply into blood-scent and Cliffheart.”
He mewed, honest and steady. “In that moment, we didn’t know if Cliffheart was still actively in danger, but… we couldn’t risk leaving him alone if he was. So… we agreed to take the risk to reach Cliffheart. Once we realized he was wounded in the tree, Fuzzypaw and I did what we could to stop the bleeding… and we instructed Duskpaw and Whorlpaw to return for more help. That was what happened.”
The young Warrior paused. “No. I don’t think that I can handle the prey-maulers by myself. But in that moment, Cliffheart hadn’t been able to either. We-… I did what I thought was best. And I accept any punishment for it, but I don’t regret following that scent until we found him. Duskpaw at least deserved to know Cliffheart was found…” He mewed, hiding the embarrassment and fear he would have felt before the Great Fire behind his newfound wall of duty and courage.
Cedarstar lashed his tail. "The moment you realized there was blood scent, you should've sent the apprentices back to gather more warriors. What if the Prey Maulers had been there? Would you expect the apprentices to fight them?" He shook his head and his ears fell back. "I value Cliffheart too. He was my mentor. He doesn't deserve what's happening to him, but we can't put the future of the Clan at risk when there are plenty of warriors capable. You will be on every dawn patrol for the next moon, Waspflame. Learn from the older warriors on how to consider every outcome of a patrol."
Raccoonmask panted as she ran into the camp, eyes sweeping the clearing for Cedarstar or Cloudscar. "Cedarstar!" she mewed, spotting the leader. "Lightningstar, Peachdapple and a Thunderclan warrior are headed toward camp. They want to speak with you. I ran ahead to make sure the camp was... in order before they got here."
Cedarstar cut off his conversation with Waspflame. He pinned his ears back when he realized what Raccoonmask said. Lightningstar was coming? Why in StarClan's name was he coming here? He tensed his jaw at the thought of the alliance Honeycrest and Thistlestalk suggested. He genuinely hoped Lightningstar wasn't coming to threaten them. He tried to swallow down his misgivings, but his voice still came out tight. "What reason did he give for coming?"
Raccoonmask hurried toward the leader, speaking quietly in order not to alarm everyone. “Peachdapple says the dark forest is rising again. They attacked one of their warriors and killed him in his sleep. They wanted to speak with you and Snowdance about it.”
For a moment, Waspflame was tempted to fiercely argue with the tom, though a more sensible part of himself reminded him that it would be best to accept it. Punishments meant nothing compared to knowing that they had saved Cliffheart. So, he dipped his head once. “I understand, Cedarstar.”
He turned his head sharply when he saw Raccoonmask, tail lashing with disdain at the announcement of Thunderclan cats on the border.
Cedarstar's pelt prickled and he couldn't help a glance toward the medicine den where Cliffheart was. He had suspected Cliffheart was in the dark forest while unconscious on that tree branch. Cedarstar flicked his ear twice. "Snowdance is tending to Cliffheart right now. I'll speak with her. If Lightningstar arrives before she's ready..." he glanced around the camp. He couldn't have Lightningstar wait in his den, his nest was still a mess from his restless night, and he didn't like the idea of Lightningstar being in the same den as his father. Cedarstar spotted the neglected prisoners den. "Guard them in the prisoners' den. Snowdance and I will come get him when she's ready. I do not want those ThunderClan cats doing whatever they please around the camp." He stood up and a deep breath escaped his lungs. Was there anything else that wanted to happen today? Cedarstar spotted Cloudscar across the camp and he grit his teeth remembering what the deputy had told him. With another two flicks of his ear, Cedarstar headed back to the medicine den.
Raccoonmask dipped her head to the leader, "You got it Cedarstar." She watched him go for a moment before heading for the entrance of camp again, slipping right outside to wait for the patrol to catch up.
Snowdance was just finishing cleaning off the dried blood that had covered Cliffheart’s eye when Cedarstar entered her den, murmuring quiet words to the senior warrior as she worked. The medicine cat lifted her head to look at Cedarstar, pausing in her work. “He’s in bad shape, and he’s lost a lot of blood. If he loses consciousness, I fear he won’t wake up again.” She informed the leader, her tail flicking in worry.
Cedarstar's heart sunk at the sight of his former mentor. He still had Cliffheart's blood clinging to his drenched fur. "I know you're doing all you can, Snowdance." He carefully stepped around her so he could see Cliffheart's face. The tom's eyes were barely open, but they were fixated on Snowdance's white fur. "Eaglesight and his siblings are outside. Perhaps, they can help keep Cliffheart awake? You can instruct them on what to look for too." He flicked his ear twice and his eyes grew distant with his nervousness. He lowered his voice. "I've just been informed that Lightningstar and Peachdapple are on their way here. They want to discuss the Dark Forest and something about one of their warrior's death."
Snowdance froze and looked up sharply, “The Dark Forest?” She mewed in surprise, her pelt bristling slightly. She sighed and turned back to Cliffheart, finishing wrapping up the cut on his head with more cobwebs. “Give me a few moments, I’ll be done here soon. If you send his kits in here, I’ll instruct them on how to keep him awake.” She said, glancing over at Ashrock as he dropped off the extra herbs that she needed. Snowdance gave him a small nod of thanks as he left before looking back at Cedarstar, “You should go clean your fur off. I’m sure you don’t want to speak with Lightningstar while covered in someone else’s blood.” She added.
Cedarstar flicked his ear twice when he glanced at his bloody pelt. "Right." He cleared his throat, a bit surprised to see Ashrock slipping out of the den. "I'll send Eaglesight and the others in here. As for Lightningstar, Raccoonmask is going to hold him in the prisoner's den until you're ready. I'll come find you." He glanced at the others in the den before departing.
Eaglesight sighed. He appreciated Lionscorch trying to ease him, but the guilt still tore into his heart. "That's no excuse." He would've said more, but he still when Cedarstar approached. "Cedarstar, how is he?"
"He’s conscious," Cedarstar took a deep breath and looked from one sibling to the others. "And he needs to stay that way. Snowdance is finishing up wrapping his wounds and she'd like you three to sit with Cliffheart. Keep him conscious." He looked at Lionscorch. "Lionscorch, would you mind staying near the nursery? Lightningstar is coming to visit and I'd rather the warriors he brings with him stay clear of the queens and kits. Snakesong, I know the kits like to explore the camp, and it doesn't bother me, but when Lightningstar arrives I want them herded into the nursery."
Eaglesight glanced toward the camp entrance in surprise. "Is that what Raccoonmask said to you?"
Cedarstar nodded. "Don't worry about it, Eaglesight. You should tend to your father."
Eaglesight shifted, partly torn between family and duty, but he nodded. With a glance at his siblings, he headed for the medicine den.
Songbreeze pressed against Lionscorch. After everything happening, ThunderClan was on their way too? "Keep those untrustworthy cats away from our kits, okay?"
Smokestorm glanced at Snakesong before getting up to follow his brother.
Lionscorch's fur bristled lightly at the mention of Lightningstar coming to the camp, though he quickly relaxed and nodded sharply. "No kit will be out of my sight, or anywhere near them. As much as I want to trust their medicine cat, I'm not to keen on Thunderclan after the gathering." He admitted, touching his nose to Songbreeze and mewing. "Leave it to me."
"We'll get them all in." Snakesong promised softly, the love she had for every kit in the clan visible in the way she was antsy to get back to the nursery.
Cedarstar nodded to the two. "Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me." He turned away from and headed in the direction of his den. Cedarstar plopped down on his side once he was away from prying eyes. He laid next to his nest, not even bothering to try straightening up the tattered thing. What else will happen? Cedarstar sat up to clean his pelt. His chest tightened with anxiousness at the thought of facing Lightningstar. Every encounter he had with that insufferably confident leader left a bad taste in his mouth and Lightningstar was coming here? The only leader that visited ShadowClan while Cedarstar was leader was Swiftstar and that was to express his gratitude for the warning of the fire.
I hate him, Cedarstar bit at some blood that was caked to his fur to try and work it. He holds the fact that we couldn't get a patrol to them over us even after I helped him take back ThunderClan. Not to mention, Lightningstar made Cedarstar feel like a fool.
He's been leading ThunderClan longer than any other leader. Northstar could square up to him, but I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. And, he was pretty sure Lightningstar saw right through him. Cedarstar rolled back and stared at the ceiling of his den. Maybe Snowdance and Peachdapple would do most of the talking during this meeting?
Cedarstar was still trying to get a clump of blood out of his fur when Raccoonmask poked her head in. He flattened his ears, "Already?" he didn't mean to say aloud. He cleared his throat and stood up, trying to smooth out his pelt with his tail, but his scars how drenched he was made it hard. Let's just get this over with, Cedarstar gave up on his pelt with a sigh. He had announcements he needed to make after Lightningstar left, and if he was going to go to the Moonstone, he needed Lightningstar to go...now. "How'd they seem?" Cedarstar stepped after Raccoonmask to leave the den. The smallest of sheepish smiles graced his lips. "I'm not going to be walking into a cranky conversation, am I?"
Raccoonmask shook her head, "No the patrol was calm, and seemed thankful for the cover from the rain even if the den is small. I hope it goes smoothly for you." she mewed, a little nervous to be talking directly to Cedarstar. Even if her sister was his mate.
Cedarstar nodded. Hearing the patrol was calm was a good sign. "Thank you, Raccoonmask." He slipped off through the rain back to the medicine den. "Snowdance?" Cedarstar slipped inside, but tried to offer Eaglesight and his siblings space. "Lightningstar is here."
Snowdance looked up and nodded to Cedarstar, standing up to join him at the entrance of her den before looking back at Eaglesight and his siblings, “I’ll be back soon. Remember, if anything changes while I’m gone, come and get me right away.” She mewed before following Cedarstar out of the medicine den.
Cedarstar walked beside Snowdance, partly leading the way to the prisoner's den. "Some day, huh?" He muttered to the medicine cat. "And it's not even over." His pelt prickled when he caught sight of the ThunderClan cats. Cedarstar took a deep breath and lifted his head in an attempt to walk tall.
“Yes, it’s looking to be a long one today.” Snowdance said with a sigh, already feeling exhausted. “But we’ll get through it. And so will Cliffheart.” She murmured the last part quietly as they drew closer to the den holding the ThunderClan leader and medicine cat.
Russetshade stood up when she spotted Cedarstar and Snowdance coming over. She flicked her ear, noting a spot on Cedarstar's pelt where he missed some of Cliffheart's blood.
It's in the black of his fur, Russetshade thought to herself. The fur was dark, Russetshade only saw it because of the lighting.
They might not notice it.
Peachdapple turned her head as the familiar scent of Snowdance filled her nose. Concern was visible on her face as she swore for a second that she scented blood. Even so, with how active the padding was, she pushed the concern away to focus on the task at paw. She shuffled into place, hopeful to see her long-time friend. Snowdance would understand, better than anyone, how serious this was. After all, they had braved Adderclan's bloody battles and losses at the same time, having to grow into the position that they hadn't ever expected to be in. But they made it their own, and they knew the powers of the Dark Forest.
Cedarstar idly bobbed his head. He took a deep breath when they approached the prisoner den, trying to get his fur to lay flat even though the rain had it sticking in every single direction. Let's just get this over with, he told himself. He lifted his head high as he slipped into the den. "Lightningstar," Cedarstar greeting the ThunderClan leader with a single nod. He nodded in greeting to Peachdapple and Silverfox as well--though, he couldn't remember Silverfox's name. "Raccoonmask tells me you have something urgent to discuss?"
Lightningstar had been grooming some of the water from his fur. He lifted his head when he heard Cedarstar enter. “Hello.” He greeted with a respectful dip of the head. “I hope all is well.” He spoke with a curious glint in his eye. “I’m sorry to disturb you but I felt it necessary to come and warn you.” He spoke. “I believe the dark forest is rising again.”
Cedarstar blinked slowly, his thoughts drifting to his dream last night and his suspicion with Cliffheart. "The Dark Forest," he said slowly. He sat down and curled his tail over his paws. "What makes you say that?"
Snowdance felt the fur along her shoulders bristle slightly, the idea of the Dark Forest rising again making her feel uneasy. Could the recent prophecies she had received from StarClan be connected in some way? She stayed silent, wanting to hear what else Lightningstar and Peachdapple had to say.
Peachdapple looked at Snowdance and Cedarstar with a serious expression, the weight behind her eyes immense. “The Dark Forest ambushed my brother in his sleep. He fought valiantly against our father, but… it was in vain. I was there. I only managed to get out because of my connection to Starclan, but he never made it back. Yarrowcloud’s spirit now resides in the Dark Forest, trapped. We believe that was their intent, our father’s intent. But beyond that, the intent for the next attempt of the Dark Forest rising again.” She looked knowingly at Snowdance.
Lightningstar looked at Peachdapple as she told her part of the story. “The fact they pulled cats means they are plotting something.” He spoke. “The fact they can even have enough power to summon cats means they are growing in power.” He spoke with a serious look at Cedarstar.
Cedarstar flicked his ear. The hairs on his neck prickled. He suspected something was going on in the Dark Forest with how Cliffheart had been acting, but he didn’t like his fears being confirmed out loud by ThunderClan’s leader and medicine cat.
“The Clans know,” a black tom with golden zig-zags on his pelt raced up to Cedarstar, his breath heavy. “That runt Cliffpaw told Northstar everything. What’s worse is that Duskstar abandoned our mission in ThunderClan. Our followers there have no one to follow now!”
Cedarstar was in the middle of cleaning his paws. He let out a long sigh. “So?”
“So?” The tom growled at him. “This will impact our influence on the Clans. If leaders start butting in, we may lose followers. We’ll never get back on StarClan if that happens!”
Cedarstar tapped his tail and yawned. “Blackadder probably has a plan.”
The black tom continued like he didn’t even hear Cedarstar. “Some Lightning-rat-star is the new leader of ThunderClan,” the tom growled in annoyance. “Probably some stuck up, self-righteous, noble nobody who will interfere with everything.”
“I really don’t care.”
“You should care!” The black tom got up in his face, but Cedarstar wasn’t phased. “Do you want to go back to your lifeless wandering? Blackadder turned you into something down here. If all this ends, you’ll be nothing again. Is that what you want?”
Cedarstar grit his teeth. He looked away. “No.”
Cedarstar closed his eyes and slipped his claws into the soft earth for some sort of grounding.
Not now, he almost hissed. Why did the visions have to come now? He opened his eyes and trained his gaze on Lightningstar, trying not to act like nothing was wrong, but he couldn’t shake the dread that this one cat was in the way of everything the Dark Forest was accomplishing in ThunderClan.
“Yarrowcloud’s spirit is trapped in the Dark Forest?” Cedarstar forced his gaze on Peachdapple in attempt to push through the lingering feelings of the vision. “They tried to do that to Cliffheart a while back, but Northstar gave him one of her lives so he can redeem himself in StarClan’s eyes. Are you sure the attack on Yarrowcloud isn’t just one instance? One condemned spirit, your father, lashing out? You, Northstar, and the leaders before dealt with AdderClan. We all heard the story of how Blackadder's very spirit was slain. Why would they rally again if they were already beaten once?”
What Cedarstar didn’t know was that when the vision overcame him, his pelt changed once again in the eyes of the star-touched. His burns were replaced with thick fur and the ginger dapples on his pelt stained red. When he opened his eyes, they were more amber instead of green. However, when Cedarstar got more control over himself, the image of the other cat faded away.
Peachdapple seemed to stiffen then, her eyes flashing with shock as she swore she could see Cedarstar change right before her eyes. A different cat, completely different, flooded her gaze, before reality flew back into clarity. Her blood ran cold with unease, and a protective sense filled her as she slowly stood to her paws, positioning herself ever so slightly as if protecting Lightningstar from an invisible threat. She looked sharply at Snowdance, wondering if the other medicine cat had just seen what she had.
“Cliffheart’s past actions are vastly different than Yarrowcloud’s. There was no requirement for redemption, Yarrowcloud’s soul has been innocent since the day we were born. This was a pre-mediated attack, and only made recognized by Yarrowcloud’s assurance that the Dark Forest had been spreading their battle moves to many cats, here in the waking world.” Peachdapple mewed, before she shared a look with Lightningstar.
“Adderclan was no be all to end all with the Dark Forest. All we did was delay them from their ambitions. All of us who were alive then, we always understood that deep down, they would return to do what they did before, and manipulate the living to spread their darkness. I can only imagine that they’ve finally begun recouping their numbers…”
She quieted, still shaken up by Cedarstar’s odd change, but knowing that Lightningstar would be best to continue the persuasion and warning to his fellow leader.
Lightningstar noticed a slight change in Cedarstar when he was quiet. His body language seemed to change and he was tense and claws in the ground. He flicked his tail in interest but didn’t speak about it. “Perhaps I’m just being a paranoid old tom,” he started, “but something about this doesn’t seem right to me.” He spoke. “Something feels wrong and it feels like they are rising again.” Lightningstar looked at Peachdapple. “Yarrowcloud mentioned he noticed dark forest moves in an apprentice training session. If they are training cats in Thunderclan then I suspect they are training cats in all clans.” He looked back at Cedarstar. “I wanted to warn all the leaders to be watchful. This is a threat against all of us and when it comes to the dark forest we must all stand together against them.”
Snowdance glanced at Cedarstar when his demeanor changed, giving a flick of her ear when she saw him change before her again. At this point, the change in her leader didn’t surprise her anymore and now she was only curious to know what exactly caused this change in him. She turned her gaze back to Peachdapple, catching her eyes as she did. Had the ThunderClan medicine cat seen Cedarstar’s change as well? “The Dark Forest thrives on chaos and destruction. If they are on the rise again, then we must be vigilant.” She mewed, remembering the dark days of AdderClan. Snowdance dipped her head to Peachdapple, a sad look in her eyes as she spoke, “I’m truly sorry for the loss of Yarrowcloud. He was a strong warrior.”
Wrenflight's a fool for lashing out. He'll ruin everything. Cedarstar struggled to resist the flashes of visions that flitted across his eyes. Training sessions with Cliffpaw, a little black apprentice, and Stormfire. If Lightningstar knew about it all, it would end. He'd be alone again.
No, Cedarstar looked at Snowdance, his face tense from his plight, but he used the medicine cat as a grounding.
The Dark Forest needs to end. But, then why did he feel so terrified?
He could see the pride in the apprentices' eyes as they mastered a sinister move. Each time the quiet one won, their confidence grew. These scared little apprentices were becoming warriors by his training methods. They believed in themselves. Thought for themselves and not solely for StarClan. He had been helping them.
Through Cedarstar's plight, the aura of the other cat flickered on his pelt like a flame trying to rise from ashes. Yet, when he met Lightningstar's gaze, Cedarstar looked fully like the other cat.
"It's bold of you to accuse other Clans of having apprentices training in the Dark Forest. Just because ThunderClan's training methods aren't enough to satisfy, doesn't mean ShadowClan's are the same. Your warning has been received, Lightningstar. Perhaps its time you take your leave?"
For a second, Peachdapple felt a prickle of aggression as her fur bristled, now able to see only the oddity of a cat that seemed to be Cedarstar. Something was wrong, even his words sounded wrong, yet his accusation towards Thunderclan’s training being to blame for the Dark Forest’s meddling made her want to lunge right at the Shadowclan leader with the ferocity of a Warrior.
It was only her moons as a medicine cat, quelling her temper, that made her resist her anger. Cedarstar was not… Cedarstar, right now. She could see it, and she could feel a dreadful sense rolling from him. So, she looked at Snowdance instead, eyes softening as she nodded. “Thank you, Snowdance. He would have been honored, to hear you say such a thing.”
Turning back to Lightningstar, she mewed quickly, tersely. “…Perhaps we should indeed be taking our leave. We need to make haste to reach the other clans.” She tried to urge, inwardly just wanting to get her leader away from Cedarstar right now.
Lightningstar was a bit surprised by the response of Cedarstar. He had expected the leader to take his warning seriously but it appeared that wasn’t the case. “Very well.” He spoke, standing up. “Thought I do hope if you have any information in the future about the dark forest you will share it.” He looked towards Peachdapple. “Come on. We best head back to camp.” He spoke.
Peachdapple nodded once in quick agreement, inwardly prickling with the need to remove herself from Cedarstar, lest she start to believe that she was going mad. Something was very wrong, and she gave Snowdance a quick look, hoping to be able to discuss it more with her at the next half-moon gathering. Peachdapple motioned for Silverfox to stand as well, continuing to position herself between the young Warrior and where Cedarstar and Snowdance were standing. She forced her tone to be polite and warm as usual. “Thank you for allowing us to enter your camp, and your hospitality.”
Snowdance glanced at Cedarstar in surprise at his response to Lightningstar’s warning. She looked back at Peachdapple and stood up as well, “I will see you at the next half-moon meeting, Peachdapple.” She mewed, giving her a small dip of her head.
Cedarstar stood up, the aura of the other cat still resting on his pelt. He didn't respond to Lightningstar or Peachdapple and instead padded out of the den. As he did, he shook his head like he had water in his ears and the aura on his pelt fizzled. Cedarstar blinked several times, his ear rapidly flicking when he realized he was standing outside the den and not in it. He glanced back at Lightningstar, Peachdapple, and Snowdance and it clicked what was going on when he saw them following him. "Raccoonmask, Stormfury, Lynxdapple, Russetshade, please escort our guests back to the ThunderClan border."
He kept his head high, but his pelt prickled as he recalled what occurred in the den. Did he seriously just accuse ThunderClan of not having a satisfying training regiment? Why did he say that?! Cedarstar swallowed tightly and parted his lips to say something, but he had no idea how to rectify what just occurred. Instead, he decided to at least hold onto pride as he watched the patrol gather to take the ThunderClan cats out of camp.
Russetshade padded over when Cedarstar called her name. She didn't notice Cedarstar's prickling pelt since it was disguised by the rain.
“Yes, Cedarstar.” Lynxdapple nodded, approaching the Thunderclan cats with the same energy he had before, though he wondered idly why Cedarstar didn’t seem more tense, especially if it had to do with the Dark Forest. He supposed the leader wanted to seem as strong as possible in front of Lightningstar. Looking at the Thunderclan cats, he mewed. “We’ll get you back to the border before the rain can soak you too much.”
Lightningstar casted one last glance at Cedarstar before following the rest of the patrol from camp. He stayed quiet, clearly thinking to himself.
Cedarstar flicked his ear twice while watching the ThunderClan cats go. He turned to Snowdance, but his words were lost when he realized she headed back to the medicine den. He sighed unintentionally and padded to his den, but he didn't go inside.
What is wrong with me? He asked himself with gritted teeth. His words to Lightningstar could bring the entire ThunderClan/SkyClan alliance on him and his clanmates.
They were just trying to warn us of the Dark Forest, why did I send them off so fast? Yet, Cedarstar feared he knew the answer to his question.
I didn't want Lightningstar to get suspicious. But, that doesn't make sense. I'm not the cat from my visions! He lashed his tail and let his anger go with an anguished sighed. Cedarstar looked to the medicine den. If Cliffheart pulled through, he wanted to speak with his old mentor about the Dark Forest. In the meantime, he had quite a few things the Clan needed to know about. Cedarstar caught Cloudscar's gaze across camp and frowned. On top of everything else...
Cedarstar bounded over to Clan Rock. "Let all cats old enough to stalk the night gathering for a Clan meeting!"
When the Clan gathered, Cedarstar swallowed. As many times as he jumped up here during his leadership, he didn't feel it ever got easier. Especially with everything going on. "ShadowClan." Cedarstar flicked his ear twice. He wasn't sure where to start, but he spotted his daughter in the crowd. "Thanks to Duskpaw, Whorlpaw, and Fuzzypaw, Cliffheart is back safe and sound in camp. They, with Waspflame, found him on the territory, having been attacked by Prey Maulers. Snowdance is doing all she can for him." He fumbled a frown in betrayal of his worry for his former mentor. "I want to reiterate that no one should be going anywhere in the territory alone. Our patrols have been keeping vigilant watch for the Prey Maulers, but like with Cliffheart, they can catch even senior warriors by surprise. For going out on their own, Duskpaw, Whorlpaw, and Fuzzypaw will be assisting Snowdance with whatever she needs over the next moon and Waspflame will be assigned to every dawn patrol." He glanced at Cloudscar to make sure the deputy knew, but flicked his ear rapidly when he remembered what the deputy asked of him. Cedarstar forced himself to not stress over it. "Does anyone have any questions about that before I move on to other reports?"
Cedarstar waited a few moments give his clanmates enough time to ask their questions. Yet, with the lingering silence, he awkwardly cleared his throat to continue. "I'm sure you're wondering why Lightningstar was here. He and Peachdapple suspect the Dark Forest is rising up again." He caught bristling from his father and siblings. "The ThunderClan warrior, Yarrowcloud, was killed in his sleep by Dark Forest warriors not unlike Cliffheart was some moons ago. Yarrowcloud's spirit is now trapped in the Dark Forest and he is unable to go to StarClan because of it. Lightningstar fears this action against Yarrowcloud means the Dark Forest is gaining strength. I don't need to remind you all of the stories we heard about the Dark Forest and AdderClan nor do I need to remind you how the Dark Forest effected our own Clan by going after Cliffheart and his kits. I believe in ShadowClan's own strength, but if the Dark Forest has approached any of you or if they do approach any of you, you must escape them."
“What?!” Spiderfang growled, her eyes flashing with anger as Cedarstar revealed what Lightningstar had come to warn about. Yarrowcloud was dead? Killed by the Dark Forest? Her claws unsheathed as she hissed. “They’ll just never stop, will they?”
“No… no no…” Goldberry whispered, his voice low as the news made his body stiffen.
Lightpaw gave Longpaw an inquisitive and faintly confused look, before she read the atmosphere and felt her ears flatten a bit. The Dark Forest, Leaffrost always said it was full of bad cats who did bad things. Why would they come in a cats dreams?
Talltalon growled deeply next to Spiderfang, just as enraged as she was.
Fuzzypaw pricked her ears, eyes wide as saucers. She'd heard muttering of the Dark Forest, but nothing in detail.
Oakfall hissed. He'd heard plenty about the horrors of the Place of No Stars.
Oakstalk watched with narrowed eyes. The dark forest? Not again. He growled to himself. They would never rest. As much as the Shadowclan warrior didn’t trust Thunderclan, he knew Lightningstar’s warning did not come from nothing. If the old leader suspected it it was probably true.
Pinefeather looked at Shademoon in concern. They had been young when Adderclan was here the first time.
Ferretclaw shifted uncomfortably. The dark forest… he had been there. Many times. He looked at his paws. The training he had there…
Falcontalon’s heart pounded as he listened to Cedarstar’s announcement. His tail swept around Pearlkit, holding her close. The dark forest couldn’t be rising again!
Starrylight gasped, ears flat as she heard that Yarrowcloud was trapped. “That’s awful..” she whispered
Thistlestalk wrapped his tail around Poppyflame, but could not meet her eye.
Spottedpaw’s claws dug into the ground below, his parents had told him many stories of their kithood and apprenticeships in Adderclan. He couldn’t even imagine going through that.
Poppyflame’s fur bristled at the announcement, her ears flattening against her head. This can’t be! She looked at Thistlestalk, noticing how he avoided her eyes. Poppyflame turned her attention back Cedarstar, feeling a stab of guilt in her chest.
Snowdance had stayed by Cliffheart’s side as the meeting started, having done everything she could with her herbs and stopping the bleeding in his wounds. Now all she could do was keep a sharp eye on him.
Foxshadow glanced at Ferretclaw, noticing how uncomfortable he was and gave him a light nudge, “Are you okay?” She asked quietly, looking at him worriedly.
Ferretclaw flinched away from Foxshadow. “Yeah I’m fine.” He said, voice right and dismissive. What he had learned wasn’t bad. He was just trying to help Shadowclan. What he was doing wasn’t wrong?
Shademoon pressed against Pinefeather, his tail lashing angrily. “It seems like the Dark Forest just doesn’t know when to quit.” He growled.
Pinefeather shook her head. “We can’t ever just have peace.”
Cedarstar felt a bit of relief at some of the reactions of his clanmates. It appeared most of the warriors still believed the stories told to them by their elders. "If anyone is contacted by the Dark Forest, please let me or one of the senior warriors know. They offer power, but the cost of it is too great. True warriors don't need their help anyway," he repeated the words Closesky said to him long ago. "The Dark Forest is something that all clans should stand against and should we have to unite like the Clans did against AdderClan, ShadowClan will fight. That being said..." Cedarstar flicked his ear. "Honeycrest has informed me that he overheard a SkyClan apprentice mention an alliance between SkyClan and ThunderClan. Thistlestalk and his patrol further confirm these suspicions by detecting ThunderClan scent along SkyClan's border. It's possible they're allying to journey into twoleggedplace for prey, but we shouldn't let them believe we're intimidated by their potential alliance. Cloudscar--" Cedarstar bit his tongue when he remembered he wouldn't be able to rely on the deputy for this task. "We've already got extra border patrols going to the back of the territory, but I'd like more along the SkyClan and ThunderClan borders as well to remind those clans that we are still strong."
Honeycrest watched Cedarstar’s announcement with a firm nod, glancing around at any cat who looked his way. This was not something he would lie about.
Thistlestalk gave a small nod toward the leader as their patrol was mentioned. His eyes wandered toward Cloudscar though at Cedarstar's strange pause. Was something wrong with the deputy?
Cedarstar took a deep breath, he wasn't sure how the Clan would fair with his next announcement. He didn't want to seem incapable, but he was at his wits end--especially with the visions. "With everything going on, I've decided to seek wisdom from StarClan. Tonight, I'll travel to the Moonstone." He looked through the crowd until he found the cats he was looking for. "I'd like Moonpetal, Sunpaw, and Palepaw to come with me. Sunpaw and Palepaw both need to journey to the moonstone before they can become warriors." He glanced at the apprentice den, knowing how his daughters would react. "Others would have gone had they followed the rules of camp," he added knowingly.
Palepaw perked up with excitement at the thought of journeying to the Moonstone with his mentor. Though, he did feel guilty that his sisters wouldn't be able to join them.
Starrylight leaned down to Palepaw, "Watch over him for me okay? We'll hold down the camp while your gone." she mewed with a small smile. Fear for her son and mate though ate at her belly. With the prey-maulers out there she didn't know what to expect. Would they make it to moonstone safely?
Palepaw purred at his mother. "Don't worry, I will. Nothing's going to get to us. Father and I make a great team, after all."
Moonpetal smiled and looked over at her apprentice with pride. She was proud of how Sunpaw's training was coming along.
Ashrock blinked in surprise. Cedarstar wanted to go to the moonstone? He always felt his brother was afraid of it after how Cedarstar couldn't even talk about his journey to it when he received his nine lives.
Closesky smiled softly at Cedarstar's admission. He was thankful his son wasn't so proud to admit he needed guidance from their ancestor. Northstar will help him, Closesky thought surely.
Houndthroat frowned. Cedarstar was going to leave the camp? Was that a good idea?
Ratmask squinted. A leader, a warrior, and two apprentices. Was that enough for a patrol to the Moonstone? I suppose he doesn't want WindClan getting suspicious since they'll have to cross their territory.
Cardinalblaze looked a bit uneasy at that, not liking the idea of such a small group going out when there were prey-maulers about. Even so, he knew Cedarstar well enough that when the tom was set on something, he could not be talked out of it.
“If Cloudscar’s going to head the camp when you’re gone, would you like some extra guards for camp tonight?” Talltalon called up to Cedarstar, always rather dutiful when it came to keeping the camp safe.
Cedarstar flicked his ear twice at Talltalon's words. "Extra guards is a good idea. However..." He trailed off with a sigh. He didn't want to do this next part. If anything, it was terrible timing, but he had to respect Cloudscar's wishes. "Cloudscar has expressed his desire to retire and join the elders."
By the looks and whispers swapped between his clanmates, Cedarstar knew they weren’t taking the news about Cloudscar well.
They’re probably wondering who I’m going to pick to replace him, Cedarstar flicked his ear. He often wondered the same thing the moment Cloudscar told him he wanted to retire. Cedarstar took a deep breath and stood up when his deputy approached Clan Rock. "Cloudscar, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior, of deputy, and go join the elders?"
"It is," Cloudscar nodded.
Cedarstar tried to hold his expression still to not make Cloudscar feel guilty or let the Clan know how stressed he was in losing the older warrior's aid in leading the Clan. "Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest."
The clan cheered for the newly named elder, but Cedarstar felt their gazes burning into him as they all seemed to ask the same question. Cedarstar watched the former deputy move back to the elders before slowly sweeping his gaze over the Clan. Who would he pick to replace Cloudscar? Cedarstar flicked his ear twice in betrayal of his anxiousness. He cleared his throat. "I'll announce the new deputy before I head to the Moonstone. I...I need to think." Cedarstar didn't look anyone in the eye when he jumped down from Clan Rock. He felt so overwhelmed like the pine trees themselves were standing on his shoulders. He hoped he wasn't expressing this weakness to his clanmates. The last thing he wanted was for them to lose faith in him, but he feared his stress was as plain as the scars on his pelt.
Cedarstar slipped into the privacy of his den and released a heavy breath he didn't know he was holding. He glanced at his messed up nest and pinned his ears back remembering the dreams. Snowdance's prophecy said to look to the moon. The Moonstone has to have answers, but, before he could go, he had to pick a deputy…
He paced. Out of all the things happening, Cloudscar telling him he wanted to retire was the last thing Cedarstar expected. Cloudscar was reliable in getting patrols out. He was confident when Cedarstar was an anxious mess. How could replace the most experienced warrior in the Clan? Who could he turn to for guidance? Cliffheart was half-dead. Bumbleskip recovering from depression. He needed someone he trusted to show him the right path. "No." Cedarstar stopped himself. "I don't need guidance." He lifted his head in timid courage to glance out of the den entrance. "What would they think of me if I kept looking to the seniors to help lead the Clan?" He had been leading the clan for a couple moons now. He should be growing in confidence, settling in his leadership. "There's just so much going on," he sighed again. He wished Starrylight would accept the position as deputy. There was no one he trusted more than her. "But I need someone I trust." Cedarstar started his pacing again.
His first thought for deputy was Ashrock. All because he knew it was his brother's dream. "I may have forgiven him, but I don't trust him as deputy." His next thought was Kinkfire and it made him wince. His sister was a great warrior, but she didn't care enough to be deputy. She'd probably laugh the position back into his face. His sister's mate, Stormcloud, could be a good deputy, but Cedarstar was always unsure of his relationship with him. Plus, who knew what embarrassing things about him his sister told Stormcloud? Cedarstar kept coming back to Oakstalk. He was experienced and respected, but Cedarstar wasn't sure about his sternness. He knew he, himself, could be quite stern, he didn't think ShadowClan needed a stern leader and deputy.
Cedarstar slowed. "That's happened before," he realized. ShadowClan once did have a stern leader and deputy. A harsh leader and deputy. Cedarstar swallowed in nervousness. Darkenedstar had been harsh, a force to terrify the whole forest, and his deputy...Cedarstar grunted. "What was his name?" He flicked his tail, brow scrunched with thought. "Something-claw, I think." Cedarstar shook his pelt out. Whoever Darkenedstar's deputy was, he wasn't going to make ShadowClan go through that again.
"I don't want someone who will try to guide me." Cedarstar nodded to himself. He was trying to figure out what he wanted and needed from his deputy. An older cat like the senior warriors would probably try to teach him about leading, guide him into making decisions when Cedarstar wanted to start making decisions on his own. "I need someone I can trust." He stilled when he looked at his messed up nest. The visions were getting worse and he couldn't deny they were effecting his decisions. He needed someone who would be able to help keep him focused and on track and not swayed by the visions. Someone who wouldn't tell the Clan about the visions. "So, who do I trust?" Cedarstar sat back. He hated that the answer to his decision came down to this. He felt he was betraying most of the Clan with this one question: Who did he trust most besides Starrylight?
Cedarstar paused. He finally made up his mind, but his ear flicked twice. He hoped the Clan would agree with him.
I don't have any more time to think about it. I have to get going if I'm to make it to the moonstone on time. His choice would either go poorly or be his best idea yet. He didn't see any in between.
I need someone who will work with me, and I can think of no one better.
Cedarstar slipped out of his den. He didn't look at anyone as he headed over to Clan Rock and jumped up on it. "Let all cats old enough to stalk the night gather for a Clan meeting!"
Cedarstar watched his clanmates gather and awkwardly curled his tail around his paws. He cleared his throat. "I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of ShadowClan is Cardinalblaze."
The look of surprise that swept through the Clan didn’t catch Cedarstar off guard, but he watched his clanmates for their opinions. His father looked thoughtful and seemed to approve. His sister and Russetshade scrunched with disappointment. The young apprentices appeared happy for Cedarstar’s choice.
Falcontalon was the first to ring out Cardinalblaze’s name in celebration.
Cardinalblaze’s small grin to Houndthroat had dropped like a falling stone, his eyes widening with shock as Cedarstar called his name. He… he just called his name, didn’t he? He could instantly feel the Clans’ eyes on him, and yet it was Houndthroat’s pointed turn and leave that really struck him into realization.
Cedarstar wanted him as his deputy. Not Mouseclaw, or Spiderfang, or Pinefeather, Shademoon, or the senior Warriors. He wanted him, a cat with a stain on his blood and who didn’t fully even know who he was yet. For a moment, Cardinalblaze wanted to refuse, to flee into the Warrior’s den and away from the eyes of cats he knew didn’t expect or want him in this position.
And yet… looking into Cedarstar’s eyes, all he could see was the same cat who had consoled him during the worst day of his life, when Goldberry revealed the secret. Cedarstar had given him courage and confidence to be a better cat, a better Warrior. Cedarstar meant more to Cardinalblaze than any cat he could think of. And if Cedarstar could shoulder Cardinalblaze’s heaviest weight, then Cardinalblaze felt that he owed it to him to accept. It would be the most difficult thing he had ever do, but a duty like this was not one he could say no to. He loved Shadowclan too much to leave it without a deputy, if Cedarstar truly believed this was what was needed.
Hiding the tremble in his pawsteps and the ache in his chest at Houndthroat’s leave, he padded forwards and nodded once. “I accept, Cedarstar. I will not let you, or Shadowclan, down.” He called up, taking all he had to not let his anxiousness show.
Cedarstar rumbled with a purr when Cardinalblaze accepted the position. He nodded to his former apprentice. "I'll know you'll do us proud."
"Cardinalblaze! Cardinalblaze!"
Ashrock's loud and sturdy shout even caught Cedarstar by surprise. He looked at his brother, having expected Ashrock to be bitter and resentful of the choice. Cedarstar had feared Ashrock would give Cardinalblaze a hard time, but the gray tom was standing with a crooked smile at Cardinablaze. Though Cedarstar saw the hurt trying to be masked on his brother's face, when Ashrock looked him in the eye, Cedarstar knew he had his brother's full support.
"Cardinalblaze! Cardinalblaze!" Many warriors echoed.
Cedarstar waited for the cheers to die down. He looked to Cardinalblaze. "Before I head out tonight, I would like us to speak. Bumbleskip or Ashrock, Snowdance is still tending to Cliffheart, would one of you be able to prepare traveling herbs for Sunpaw, Moonpetal, Palepaw, and I?"
"Bumbleskip can do it," Ashrock stated immediately. Though he supported his brother, he did not support himself as a medicine cat. He looked at Bumbleskip. "You know the traveling herbs, right?"
Cardinalblaze could only nod at Cedarstar, utterly itching to ask why Cedarstar was so sure that he was the best choice. Even so, he knew he needed to journey to the Moonstone. Cardinalblaze had no time to fret or complain, if Shadowclan needed him to handle the camp. This was going to be a difficult task, but he didn’t have a choice.
Bumbleskip gave a small nod between Ashrock and Cedarstar, "I think I remember what they are." he mewed, trailing off. "I can prepare them for you Cedarstar."
Cedarstar nodded his thanks to BUmbleskip and jumped down from Clan Rock. He looked over at Cardinalblaze and flicked his tail in motioning for the tom to follow him into his den. Once inside, Cedarstar grit his teeth, realizing his nest was still a mess. He tried to cover it up by sitting on it.
Cardinalblaze padded towards Cedarstar, finally allowing his intense emotions escape to his face as he mewed out. “Cedarstar… I… I don’t know what to say, it…” He tried to clear his throat. “Deputy duties, right, okay.” He breathed deeply, before looking at his mentor. “Okay. I’m ready.”
Cedarstar smiled. "I know you're going to do your best, Cardinalblaze. You always do. I'm sorry you'll have to lead camp on your own your first night. To be honest, I wasn't expecting Cloudscar to want to retire so soon."
“I certainly wasn’t expecting him to retire either.” Cardinalblaze admitted, wincing when his voice sounded a bit high. He took another breath to really calm down, looking at Cedarstar. “Leading camp won’t be hard. I’ve seen Falcontalon do it as early as my kithood, and Cloudscar, it’s just…” He hesitated, before he finally admitted. “I didn’t expect me to to be your choice. I’m sure the Clan wasn’t either, I’m just…”
He wanted to say ‘not important’ or ‘not deserving’, yet he knew it was the voice he had spent so many moons trying to combat, that Cedarstar himself helped him combat. Being deputy, it didn’t make him feel powerful or ambitious, not at all, but it made him feel special, he couldn’t deny it. The only problem was, if that was good or bad, to feel special about this. He continued.
“I just want to know if this is really what you think is best. I’ve always supported you, and I always will, I just can’t bear the thought of me being a reason any of the Clan would doubt you…”
Cedarstar smiled at Cardinalblaze with sympathy. "I know you feel. I wasn't expecting Northstar to choose me either, but I know you, Cardinalblaze. You're going to be a fine deputy." He took a deep breath at the words his former apprentice said. "There are plenty of warriors capable of being deputy of ShadowClan: Oakstalk, Cliffheart, Leopardshadow, and Sandflower just to name a few." He paused and flicked his ear twice in hesitance of what he was going to say next. This is the reason I picked him, Cedarstar reminded himself. But it's still hard to say. Cedarstar looked off, a furrow in his brow. "As fine of warriors as they are. There's more going on than anyone in ShadowClan realizes. I need a deputy I know I can trust no matter what happens. If the Clan doubts me because of it, well..." Cedarstar flicked his tail, taking a line from his sister's book. "They'll get over it. We'll just have to prove them wrong."
Cardinalblaze listened to each word Cedarstar said, his ears perking up when Cedarstar clearly implied that Cardinalblaze was a cat he trusted deeper than most. For some reason, that held more warmth and weight to Cardinalblaze than any kind of compliment or honor in the rank could have offered. If Cedarstar needed him, Cardinalblaze knew that purpose could override any fear he felt. Cardinalblaze finally spoke again.
“I am who I am because you trusted me to meet your expectations, Cedarstar. Even though I still have alot to work on with how I feel about myself, I never doubt that I’ll always want to show that you can trust me too. If Shadowclan has to face hard moons, then you’re right.” He looked up, feeling himself steel with determination, for Cedarstar’s sake. “We’ll show them what we can do together, all over again.”
Cedarstar smiled softly. "It relieves me to hear you say that. I know I'm not going to regret my choice." Cedarstar took a deep breath and flicked his ear twice.
Cardinalblaze has a lot to get use too, Cedarstar thought his conflict over. He didn't want to overwhelm the young and new deputy by telling him about his dreams and visions.
I'll see what StarClan has to say about them at the Moonstone and go from there. Cedarstar looked back at his new deputy. "Good leaders listen to the advice of counsel, but make decisions themselves. You know if you ever need help fitting into the role of deputy, you can come to me or Falcontalon, and I'm sure you'll likely get unwarranted advice from my father as well," he said with a twitch of his whiskers. His face grew more serious. "I want us to be a team in leading ShadowClan. Others might think it unwise for such a new leader like myself to pick a younger warrior as my deputy, but I want trust and accountability." He flicked his ear twice at the last word he said, knowing full well that his visions were affecting some of his decisions.
“I understand. I imagine Falcontalon will have plenty to tell me once I leave your den…” Cardinalblaze suddenly seemed conflicted, and he spoke. “And if I’m to be your deputy, I need to be fully honest with you… Cedarstar, I believe that I was given a vision, by Starclan.” He finally admitted, now that he had Cedarstar’s private audience.
Cedarstar's sense of dread he had earlier returned tenfold now. Cardinalblaze was given... "What?"
Cardinalblaze nodded once. “I… admittedly thought I was hallucinating, or that I had a vivid imagination, but the more I saw, the more I realized that it meant something. I was on a hunting patrol, and a branch fell before me. When it landed, the ground changed into a cliff, right below my paws. The branch plummeted down into the endless gorge below.” Cardinalblaze explained, ears flicking with conflict. “It was what was on the branch afterwards, when the ground returned to normal, that intrigued me. I swear, Cedarstar, I saw a crescent marking on the bark of the branch, the sap was as dark as blood. For a moment, I thought it was blood…”
Cedarstar blinked almost dumbfoundedly at Cardinalblaze. A falling branch dropped down a cliff to an endless gorge? Then the branch had a blood mark on it? What in StarClan's name was that supposed to mean? He flicked his ear twice, but forced himself to think about it. The cliff and the endless gorge concerned him, especially with his suspicions about Cliffheart. But the branch...he was grasping at mouse tails. "Ookay..." He said slowly. "Uh...I suppose that's one more thing to ask StarClan about tonight. That's all that StarClan showed you?" At least it sounded like Cliffheart's visions weren't like his own.
“That’s all I could recall. Admittedly, I was shaken by it. How close the branch fell, it almost struck me.” Cardinalblaze admitted, before he mewed with concern. “The moon-like marking, and the blood- sap, I think? That part was very pronounced. I just… wanted to let you know. I couldn’t get you alone to tell you until now.” He averted his eyes a bit sheepishly at that. “You’re busy with so many other Clan tasks and happenings, for what could very well be me speaking nonsense. I really hope this doesn’t mean I’m destined for something, I really don’t want to be a medicine cat.”
Cedarstar glanced off. A branch with moon like marking as red as blood. The only moons he could think of were the moonstone and the moon-printed apprentice from his visions, but what did that have to do with a branch and blood? He shook his head and focused on what Cardinalblaze said afterward. Cedarstar's ears tilted back with guilt. He hadn't even the time to talk to his own clanmates, train his apprentice, or spend time with his mate and kits because of everything going on. StarClan, I hope you have answers for me at the moonstone. He looked back at Cardinalblaze. "I'm sorry we haven't the chance to talk, Cardinalblaze, but we'll have plenty more to come. I'm not sure why StarClan sent you a vision, but I don't think its because they want you to be ShadowClan's medicine cat. Perhaps, when I'm gone, you could talk with Snowdance about this vision." He flicked his ear twice. "She would have more insight than I would. I'm...I'm afraid I'm clueless on what it might mean."
“That’s alright, Cedarstar. I just wanted to tell you before it drove me wild. I don’t want to hold you up too long, when you have a long trek ahead of you. I’ll make sure the camp is guarded… Cedarstar, please be careful out there. Make it safely.” Cardinalblaze pleaded, giving him a long and deep look.
Cedarstar nodded. "I plan to be careful. Between this rain and the Prey Maulers, we'll be on high alert every step of the way." He stood up, actually feeling a little relieved at the prospect of going. Surely, StarClan will have answers for him about the prophecies and visions. He was looking to the moon, after all. "I know I can count on you, Cardinalblaze." He twitched his whiskers in amusement. "Don't let Ashrock give you a hard time either." With a nod to his new deputy, Cedarstar started to exit the den, he blinked at Bumbleskip gratefully seeing the tom had the traveling herbs prepared. Moonpetal and Palepaw were padding over.
Cedarstar led Moonpetal, Palepaw, and Sunpaw out of camp. Palepaw was looking especially proud.
TO BE CONTINUED