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Post by slash on Sept 15, 2007 22:12:37 GMT -5
-cries- NOOOO! Hawkwing! -mourns beside Silverpool- Curse those birds..
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Post by Tigerfur on Sept 16, 2007 9:44:35 GMT -5
Tigerfur: Thanks for the comments guys! I'll tell Sunsetfur, and Hawkwings death is sad. You are right Autumnstorm, it is ironic, heres the next chapter, enjoy! ;D Sunsetfur: Thanks again to everyone! Sorry I killed poor Hawkwing; it's all part of the plot and his death will have a huge impact on Silverpool's life.Chapter 10 Breath[/u] I remember desperately not wanting to believe what Reedwhisker had told me as the last colors of the day were draining from the sky, slipping away with Hawkwing’s soul, forever lost to the skies. I knew deep down in my heart that Hawkwing had stopped breathing; I could feel his flank steadily growing cooler and cooler. Death is a curious thing, a cursed thing. It is easier for us to imagine it never happened, to bottle up our grief inside us and store it away, while deep in our hearts, our souls—we feel greater pain than any physical wound could ever inflict upon us.“Silverpool,” Reedwhisker whispered. I did not look up—I did not want to ever look up from Hawkwing’s fur. I did not know what was happening anymore. “Come on, Silverpool. You need to get that side looked at or it could become a much more serious injury. Please, Silverpool…for your own sake.” I heard the desperation in his voice and reflected upon how much I would need a good friend like him in the days to come. Groggily, I lifted my head. My vision was blurred, and all I could see was the black shape of Reedwhisker and Hawkwing’s blood-soaked fur in front of me. I shook my head and the world came into focus. The RiverClan tom’s anxious face peered at me in worry. “We really must go, Silverpool,” Reedwhisker meowed quietly. “Willowleaf has already gone, she left a while ago.” “I know,” I croaked, pulling myself to my paws shakily. I stumbled over a stone and almost fell, but recovered myself as Reedwhisker rose in alarm. He grimaced as he put weight on his injured leg. We did not speak as, together, we gently pulled Hawkwing’s body behind the same gorse bush he had always waited for me behind. Pain stabbed through me as I remembered those blissful evenings we had spent together, as if death were nowhere in the background or in our futures. “Silverpool?” Reedwhisker placed his tail on my shoulder. I turned away, padding away from the WindClan border, from Hawkwing’s body, from the battle-scarred clearing where two dead eagles lay, sprawled on the ground with scarlet feathers scattered everywhere. I did not care anymore. I wove my way around scatterings of trees, down the familiar unseen path to the RiverClan camp, head hanging, facing the ground, tiny drops of blood still trickling down my side. We plodded on in silence, Reedwhisker frequently stopping to lick at his broken leg, muttering angrily under his breath. When the camp finally came within sight, I noticed four cats sitting outside the entrance—Splashstream, Mothwing, Voletooth, and Ripplefur. The golden medicine cat and the blue-gray queen raced up to meet Reedwhisker and me, both looking horrified. “Where is everyone?” I mewed faintly, staggering through the camp entrance with Mothwing on my left and Splashstream at my right. “They’re all out looking for your kits, Silverpool,” Splashstream replied instantly, settling me down in the same mossy nest I had slept in after the Gathering at which my kits had been born. “It’s just us—me, Mothwing, Ripplefur, Voletooth, Scarletfire, and Mosspelt. And Splashstream’s kits and Willowleaf, but she’s in pretty bad shape as it is.” “Willowleaf? How is she?” I rasped, wincing as Mothwing sniffed at my wounds. “Oh, she’s fine,” Mothwing meowed quickly, not looking at me. When she saw the skeptical look I gave her, she relented. “Well no, she’s not, but she’ll live. Severe wounds on both hindlegs and one of her ears is pretty beat up, but with time she’ll be her normal self again.” Mothwing bustled into her den and reappeared a moment later with several various herbs in her jaws. “StarClan, I need her help. Ripplefur, could you get me some broom?” Ripplefur nodded, and slipped into Mothwing’s den. The RiverClan medicine cat pushed several leaves into her jaws before laying the pulp onto my long wound. It stung and burned, but I clenched my teeth together to prevent myself from screeching at the she-cat. “That’s horsetail,” Mothwing told me, “and here’s some marigold. The wound’s stopped bleeding, and the horsetail and marigold should help, but I’ll give you some cobwebs in case it starts bleeding again.” I blinked in gratitude as Mothwing lay the crushed marigold onto my wound and swathed it in cobwebs. “You can have a poppy seed, too.” She left me to lick up the small gray seed and bent over Reedwhisker, who was lying in a nest not far from my own. “Now you,” Mothwing meowed, sniffing his leg. “Oh StarClan…it’s broken all right, but should heal in time. You’ll be off-duty for at least a moon.” The black tom groaned, and I couldn’t help myself laughing. “Now you’ll know what it’s like to be a queen.” Reedwhisker gave a sort of half-pained, half-amused grimace as Mothwing carefully prepared a poultice for his leg. “Ripplefur—you can put some cobwebs on the bleeding wounds, and just a little bit of marigold on the others. The only severe injury he has is this leg.” I heard a small grunt from the medicine cat’s den, and saw a gray shape slide out from behind the ferns. Willowleaf padded out and over to me, wincing at her numerous scratches. “How are you?” I asked gently, laying my head down and tucking my paws underneath me. “Okay,” the pale gray she-cat mewed, sitting down beside me. “Exhausted, but okay.” I stared at her for a long time. She gazed back at me, her eyes full of sadness. “You don’t have to talk.” “I know,” I whispered. I slept for a long time, dreamlessly. I was awakened suddenly by Willowleaf, prodding me with her paws anxiously. “Wake up Silverpool! They found your kits!” I leapt up, wincing in pain as the long cut in my side burned. Sunlight streamed through the branches of the tree above me; it was already sunhigh of the new day. I stumbled out of the medicine cat clearing, disregarding my still-stinging wounds. The sight I saw took my breath away. Blackcloud, Dawnflower, and Shadowpaw were each carrying a tiny limp form. The three cats looked exhausted, with pelts clotted with dust and tangled with twigs. Tumblepelt walked before them, his pale brown pelt streaked with mud and his tail limp from exhaustion. He looked up at me when I skidded to a halt before him, breathing heavily. “What happened?” “We found them near the greenleaf Twolegplace,” Tumblepelt mewed heavily, walking beside me as my kits were escorted to the medicine cat clearing, where Willowleaf and Mothwing both waited anxiously. “Just inside of the ShadowClan border. We guessed that they’d gone exploring and gotten lost.” The tom let out a deep, shuddering sigh before continuing. “They were unconscious when we found them. They must have been out all night. They…they were huddled together beneath a fallen tree.” I let out a cry of pain and spun around to follow the three cats who had been carrying my kits. They had been settled into a nest near Reedwhisker’s; the black tom was watching them with a haunted expression. “What’s wrong with them?” I shot at Mothwing, who was examining Glowkit’s dusty silver pelt. “I don’t know,” the golden she-cat admitted, turning her face to look me in the eye. “I’ll have to wait until one of them wakes up. That’ll probably be Tigerkit, since she’s the strongest of the three. They were outside in the cold all night, Silverpool—they could have anything from a chill to whitecough.” A faint mew interrupted the medicine cat, and I snapped my head down to see that Mothwing was right—Tigerkit was shifting herself in the nest of moss and reeds, blinking in the light. I gasped and curled myself around her shivering body as she gazed up at me, wheezing violently. “What happened, Tigerkit?” The tiny brown-and-gold she-cat gazed at me for a moment, before beginning in a choked whisper. “We…we went exploring, Mum. It was my idea, because we were bored. Well, Darkkit was bored, so I suggested we go find a neat place to hang out together for a while.” Tigerkit broke off, gasping and coughing. “Here.” Willowleaf appeared, carrying a swath of moss seeping with a sticky, translucent golden liquid. “Honey for your throat, little one, and don’t worry, it tastes great.” Tigerkit lapped at the moss, her green eyes growing brighter as she tasted the honey. “It’s good!” She mewed to Willowleaf happily, sounding much more like her old self, but still shivering. Seeing my curious look, Tigerkit hastily mewed, “Oh, right, the story. We…we snuck out of camp while you were asleep, Mum,”—here she paused and gave me a shameful little look—“and pretty soon we were walking through t-these meadows. Then we didn’t recognize where…where we were, so we panicked. We were near this big stinky place all covered in black stone.” “The Thunderpath,” Mothwing supplied. “The small one at the ShadowClan border.” “I…I guess so,” Tigerkit meowed softly. She coughed violently once again. “Then it got dark, and Darkkit and Glowkit and I were really scared. But we hid under a log and fell asleep. And now…we’re here, and I feel terrible.” Tigerkit dropped her head onto her paws and shuddered with another series of coughs and wheezes. Mothwing leaned over anxiously and immediately froze. She watched Tigerkit’s shivering with such intensity that I instantly knew that she had detected something wrong. “What?” Mothwing let out a long sigh, then mewed stiffly and quietly, “Tigerkit may have greencough.” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
What have I done?
Too bad. *avoids the claws of Tigerkit, Glowkit, and Darkkit*
Stay tuned for Chapter 11: Despair
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Post by Lightningstrike on Sept 16, 2007 11:30:35 GMT -5
*gasp*oh noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!thats horrrible!!*cries*keep writing so we can find out what happens to Tigerkit!!!:'C
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ghostfeather
Junior Member
......boredom kills.....
Posts: 76
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Post by ghostfeather on Sept 16, 2007 15:48:01 GMT -5
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Autumnstorm
Full Member
Warrior of the Fan-Fic Boards
Posts: 102
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Post by Autumnstorm on Sept 16, 2007 17:03:24 GMT -5
Tigerkit! Nooo!!!!! Please continue!!!!
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Post by Tigerfur on Sept 17, 2007 17:28:07 GMT -5
Tigerfur: Thanks again for the comments! Once again i'll tell Sunsetfur, heres the next chapter, enjoy! ;D
Sunsetfur: *dons 2-inch-thick armor* Pweese don't kill me after this chapter...
Chapter 11 Despair[/u]
Greencough. It couldn’t be. No cat in RiverClan had died from greencough since my mother. I could not have ever fathomed any greater despair than the despair I felt then. Hawkwing was dead, part of some crazy prophecy that I had not wanted to get caught up in. And now all three of my kits had a potentially fatal deseise. What else could go wrong?
I lay beside Reedwhisker that night, the two of us drawn together with fear and grief. I was still distraught over Hawkwing’s death, but now I was about to cope with a deadly illness Mothwing had just informed me that all of my kits had.
“I don’t know, Silverpool,” Willowleaf croaked, shifting from her place beside my three wheezing kits. Her pale gray fur was still clotted with dried blood she hadn’t bothered to clean off. “They’re strong kits, especially Tigerkit and Darkkit.”
I nodded half-heartedly. I was concentrating on the prophecy: Peace will be shattered as the emerald hunter falls. Two will fall with the hunter, and the last is the only one who can penetrate the darkness there is to come. Were “the two” the pair of eagles that lay dead back at the clearing by the WindClan border?
Lost in thought, I lay my head on my paws and soon found my eyelids drooping. Cool, comforting darkness took over my vision, and soon I was lost in a series of dreams. They at last came into focus¸ and I found myself standing beside the Moonpool once again. A throng of starry warriors surrounded me in a half-circle, their eyes sparkling.
“What do you want?” I hissed as Feathertail and Leopardstar stepped from the ranks of StarClan. “I’ve had enough of that mouse-brained prophecy to last a lifetime.”
“It is not what we want, Silverpool,” Feathertail mewed softly, her star-sprinkled silver fur waving gently as though moved by a breeze, yet no wind stirred in the clearing of StarClan. “It is what he wants.”
As if prompted by an invisible sign, every cat in the clearing rose to their paws and drifted away. They walked with a light gait, as though floating over the ground, yet their paws left a slight sparkle where they had touched the dark green grass. I turned slowly, wondering if I should follow Feathertail, before I saw one solitary figure sitting beside the Moonpool, tall and regal, outlined by moonlight.
“Hawkwing,” I breathed, and sprang over to touch my nose to his. The golden-brown tom chuckled.
“Silverpool,” he replied, his green eyes glowing. Everytime he moved ever-so-slightly, a tiny glimmer would shine at the tips of his fur.
“I was afraid you were gone forever,” I mewed. “But something aweful’s happened. The kits—they were found near the greenleaf Twolegplace—have greencough.”
Hawkwing’s eyes clouded. “I know,” he replied sadly. “But don’t worry, Silverpool. I’m sure Willowleaf and Mothwing will figure something out.”
“Can’t you see anything that will happen?” I demanded.
“Afraid not,” Hawkwing meowed, a slight edge of annoyance to his voice. “I’m too new to StarClan to be able to glimpse the future just yet.”
I growled softly. “What about Feathertail, or Leopardstar?”
“They do not often speak of the future. Their foresight is weaker than those of great warriors, like Bluestar and Tallstar.”
“But Feathertail was a great warrior! She killed that terrible mountain cat and saved the Tribe in the mountains!”
“I know. But still…” Hawkwing sighed, and I could almost see the sadness radiating off of him in waves.
“Then what hope is there for me?” I asked in despair. “They’re kits, Hawkwing, and they don’t stand a chance against greencough.”
“What makes you say that?” Feathertail had reappeared. Her blue eyes shone with concern. I gazed at her in disbelief. She matched my stare, looking at me calmly before speaking. “They have Hawkwing’s blood—and yours.”
I woke with a start, an icy chill in my fur. I looked around me and saw that the sun had just slipped beneath the trees. Just like the night Hawkwing had died. Sitting up, I saw Reedwhisker asleep beside me. Mothwing and Willowleaf were nowhere to be seen, but their scent came powerfully from inside their den. The air was still and silent. Somehow I knew—something had happened while I was asleep.
Glancing down at my kits, a wave of shock hit me. There were only two kits beside me, Darkkit and Tigerkit.
I sprang to my paws, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. Sprinting into the medicine cats’ den, I yowled, “Where is she?”
Both medicine cats turned, sorrow gleaming in their eyes. Mothwing stepped forward, her mouth open, but Willowleaf placed her tail on her mentor’s flank and drew closer to me.
“I’m sorry, Silverpool,” the gray she-cat mewed softly. I suddenly realized what my friend was about to say, and I was a heartbeat away from yowling at her to stop. “Glowkit couldn’t go on. She was the worst affected by the greencough. She came wandering in here, dazed and confused…then she had a coughing attack…but she is in peace now, Silverpool.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came forth. My thoughts blurred and images swam before my eyes—the anxious faces of medicine cats from all four Clans on the night of Glowkit’s birth, her silver-gray fur and green eyes just like mine and her impeccable logic. Instead, I brushed past the two medicine cats to gaze at Glowkit’s tiny motionless form. I leaned down and pressed my nose to her cool flank.
She will be safe with us, came the voices of Hawkwing and Feathertail.
Straightening, I let my gaze drift onto Willowleaf and Mothwing, who were watching me closely, sadness in their eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered. “You did all that you could. I cannot ask any more. Truly.”
Willowleaf and Mothwing nodded, each touching their nose to my pelt. “I will tell Mistystar,” Willowleaf meowed. She padden silently out of the den.
Mothwing looked up sharply as a quiet moan of agony came from outside the den. Glancing at me, she hurried over to Reedwhisker, who was leaning over Tigerkit and Darkkit.
“Oh, StarClan, no,” I whispered in shock.
“Mothwing,” Reedwhisker croaked, “there’s something wrong.”
“No,” the golden medicine cat mewed. She stumbled over to the kits and nosed both of them forcefully. I heard a small mew from one of the kits, followed by a sharp intake of breath from Mothwing.
“What?” I half-whispered, half-cried. “Are they both dead, too?”
The golden tabby medicine cat turned to me slowly. Her expression was unfathomable, yet her amber eyes were somber. “No.”
I saw the gold-and-brown flank of Tigerkit shift, and saw her tiny head come to rest on Reedwhisker’s black paw.
But Darkkit was motionless.
“Oh, Reedwhisker,” I meowed. I stumbled over to him and burried my nose in his black fur, sobbing gently. He awkwardly placed his tail on my shoulder.
“Er…Silverpool?”
I wasn’t listening.
Two will fall with the hunter, and the last is the only one who can penetrate the darkness there is to come.
I SWEAR I did not kill off the kits just to anger you guys! I wrote this chapter a week ago.
Be ready for Chapter 12: Shattered.
~Sunny
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ghostfeather
Junior Member
......boredom kills.....
Posts: 76
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Post by ghostfeather on Sept 17, 2007 20:30:30 GMT -5
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Post by Tigerfur on Sept 18, 2007 16:30:00 GMT -5
Tigerfur: I know, it's really sad isn't it. But don't worry things will get better, heres the next chapter, enjoy! ;D Sunsetfur: Thanks all. Chapter 12 Shattered[/u] The deaths of Darkkit and Glowkit left my soul scarred with pain. I felt sick, angry, and distraught—Hawkwing, my one love, one joy in life, had been taken from me, slaughtered for sport by the vicious eagles that had attacked. And now Darkkit and Glowkit had fallen victim to greencough due to my stupidity. I remembered my apprentice ceremony, my first Gathering, my first prey. I remembered Bluefrost. Was this how she had felt when my sibling had died at birth?The days went on and on, in a never-ceasing blur of pain. Tigerkit was sent to be cared for by Splashstream, as I was in no condition to play with her or even speak to her. Occasionally Reedwhisker or Willowleaf would stop by my nest in the medicine cats’ clearing to try and comfort me, but their attemots were in vain. I shut out their voices from my mind, shut out their presense from my senses. I wanted to be alone, I wanted them to leave me in my black nightmare of grief. I wanted Hawkwing back. “Silverpool, please.” Willowleaf’s pale shape appeared in my scope of vision as I opened my eyes a tiny slit. Night lay upon the camp, and long shadows were stretched across the clearing. A strong breeze ruffled me, cooling my burning skin and fur. A rabbit lay at my friend’s feet. “Willowleaf?” I mewed hoarsely, struggling to lift my head. She anxiously bent down over me, sniffing my flank. A moment later the pale gray medicine cat slipped away into Mothwing’s herb store and returned clutching a few pale leaves in her jaws. “Eat these,” she advised, placing her burden down at my paws. “What are they?” I asked suspiciously. “Catnip and chamomile. Brightfire showed Mothwing an excellent spot to find them the other day.” I obediently swallowed the bitter herbs, and slowly, my vision began to clear. Suddenly I found myself ravernously hungry, and quickly pulled Willowleaf’s rabbit over to my jaws and bit down greedily into the juicy flesh. “You havn’t eaten in days,” Willowleaf meowed softly, sitting down in front of me. I flicked my tail in response, intent on consuming as much of the rabbit as I could. “I know.” The moon was out tonight, a silver-gold orb suspended in an indigo sky. A claw-scratch on Silverpelt. I concentrated on the rabbit, willing myself not to think of Hawkwing. I wondered where he was, and if he were thinking of me as well. I sensed Willowleaf watching me closely. “Is there really such thing as a happy ending, Willowleaf?” I blurted out suddenly, gazing up at the moon. A wave of emotion swept over me, and I felt emptier then I ever had before. The pale gray she-cat did not meet my eyes. She seemed absorbed in thought. “Yes,” she finally replied. “But they don’t come easily.” “Well, they should,” I meowed in a soft, hissing voice. “I’ve lost everything.” Willowleaf moved closer to me and placed her tail on my flank. She opened her mouth to speak, but another voice interrupted her. “You still have us.” Reedwhisker had arrived. His green eyes shone softly, and several long red scars still stood out boldly against his black pelt where the vicious talons of the eagles had attacked. He padded over to me and sat down at my other side and wound his tail with mine. When I did not flinch away from his touch, he lay his head next to mine and whispered, “And Tigerkit.” I touched my nose to Reedwhisker’s cheek. “You tried to save him,” I whispered. The black tom did not respond, but coninued gazing down at me. I felt giref welling up inside me. “I don’t know how I every hated you so much,” I choked, and burried my nose into his neck fur. For the first time, I didn’t mind the blissful look in his eyes as I drifted asleep beside him. ... With a heavy heart, I left the medicine cat’s den the next day. Clouds had moved in overnight, and a light fog had fallen over the woods. The river seemed to move slowly, sluggishly, as if it had lost all will to run. Willowleaf and Reedwhisker by my side, I padded the familier path to the WindClan border. The same trail I had followed countless times to visit Hawkwing seemed dark and depressing now. The clearing was now in sight. The bodies of the eagles had been removed and burried by Willowleaf several days before, but feathers were still scattered all about, some crusted with dried blood. The moss underpaw was damp with dew and crackled under my paws. A single mound of earth was visible just within the WindClan border, by the same gorse bushed we had sat by moons ago, quietly sharing tongues as darkness fell. They were our bushes, our own little quiet world. “I went to tell WindClan already,” Reedwhisker explained, again twining his tail with mine. I slipped away from him and dropped myself onto Hawkwing’s grave. My heart felt as if it were shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, scattered across me like the stars in the evening sky. His scent lingered there still, and for a moment I felt that he was beside me once again. There were his green eyes, his swishing golden-brown fur… And his voice echoed in my mind: “I will wait for you, and meet you as your soul departs with the colors of the sunset because I love you always...no matter what choices you make or whom you give your heart too. I know you can’t wait for me forever. So enjoy life, have some fun, and don’t be afraid to love again.” Then, as suddenly as he had appeared, Hawkwing’s presense was gone. I hung my head and pressed my nose to the mound of soft earth. For several moments, I did not think, I did not feel, I simply lay there with my nose against the ground, drowning in memories of Hawkwing. I stood and turned to face Willowleaf and Reedwhisker, my oldest friend and my newest friend. Maybe, with luck, he would mean much more to me someday. “Come,” I meowed, beckoning with my tail. “Let us walk. Let us loose ourselves in the night, in the gathering darkness around us.” The two cats exchanged a startled glance, then obediantly padded over to me. Together we made our way along the WindClan border, breathing in the cool night breeze. The shadows grew longer and gathered together to form the blanket of night. The fog soon vanished, and the clouds moved away, bathing the forest in soft moonlight. All was quiet except the soft thudding of our pawsteps. I thought of Hawkwing, and how StarClan had left me Tigerkit, the one kit that bore resemblance to him. What did this mean for her future? Peace will be shattered as the emerald hunter falls—that obviously referred to Hawkwing. Two will fall with the hunter, and the last is the only one who can penetrate the darkness there is to come—did that mean Tigerkit? Was this little kit destined for greatness? She was a troublemaker, and would need strong guidence from her mentor. I thought of perhaps appealing to Swallowtail or Mistystar if Reedwhisker could mentor her. Willowleaf slipped up to me and meowed, “We’re nearing the camp. Do you want to go back now?” “Sure,” I replied, looking up. “And you don’t have to treat me like an apprentice, Willowleaf. I feel fine,” I added gently. The pale gray she-cat nodded, then fell back into step with Reedwhisker and muttered something into the black warrior’s ear. From the corner of my eye I saw him nodd swiftly. I wondered what had passed between them, and if I would ever be truly happy again. waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah Next chapter coming soon, preferrably before the new year: Chapter 13: Compassion.Sunset comes out Dec. 26th! Have fun reading all! ~Sunny
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Post by Really good on Sept 18, 2007 17:51:23 GMT -5
I really like it, but i think it's really sad that Hawkwing, Darkkit, and Glowkit die. I hope Reedwhisker becomes her new mate.
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Post by Tigerfur on Sept 19, 2007 17:07:16 GMT -5
Tigerfur: Oh, you'll find that out sooner or later! In the meantime, heres the next chapter, enjoy! ;D Sunsetfur: Final chapter before the epilogue! A sequel WILL come soon, I promise! After reading Sunset, I realize that tiny bits 'n' pieces of this story don't correspond w/ the book, but I can't fix them now. Chapter 13 Compassion[/u] Glowkit and Darkkit are still burried by the river, two tiny mounds of earth beside a patch of wild daisies. Both the kits loved to chase the white flowers as they whipped about in the wind. I still miss them, still remember their mischevious faces and Glowkit’s logical attitude and Darkkit’s more solemn manner. Their spirits still linger there, protecting the other kits of RiverClan from falling to a watery death in the river.The leaf-fall leaves deepened in color and more and more of them fluttered down to the ground. Tigerkit spent her mornings waking early and romping off to watch Shadowpaw and Larchpaw train with their mentors. One day, out of nowhere, Tigerkit bounded up to me and Splashstream and lay a shrew down at my paws. Barkkit and Morningkit were bounding after the brown-and-gold she-cat, radiating excitement. “I caught it by myself, Mum!” She sqeaked. Her bright green eyes were sparkling as Hawkwing’s used to whenever he spoke of kits in WindClan. “Well done, Tigerkit,” I meowed, pulling the she-cat closer to me and licking her gently on her head. “That’s your first prey, no?” “Yep!” Morningkit piped up. “I saw her—she caught just as it was trying to sneak off into its burrow by the training hollow. Tumblepelt told her that she hunted with more accuracy than Larchpaw or Shadowpaw could ever hope!” I chuckled, and Splashstream asked, “And what did those two say to that?” “They immediately dove after a vole that was right by the river,” Tigerkit replied. “They both jumped at the exact same time.” “They would have caught it if they hadn’t collided with each other and toppled headfirst into the river,” Barkkit finished, his voice growing higher with amusement. I twisted my head around to look over at the apprentices’ den, where I indeed saw the two brothers flopped outside in the sun, licking at their sodden pelts and looking very disgruntled. “And I thought they were bad as kits,” Splashstream whispered. Dawnflower had padded over to her sons and was apparently repremanding them for their exploits. It had been one moon since I had visited Hawkwing’s grave with Reedwhisker and Willowleaf. The two had become great friends, and once or twice I would sneakily hiss to Willowleaf whether she regretted becoming a medicine cat. Morningkit and Barkkit were nearly five moons old, and nearing their apprentice age. One day not long ago Mistystar had called Splashstream and me over to the Blackstone to discuss mentors for our kits. Tigerkit was barely two moons old, and I was surprised that the gray she-cat wanted to know so far in advance. Splashstream requested Shadeleaf and Blackcloud, while I voted for Reedwhisker. Life was gradually falling back into place. Once in a while I would escape down to my beloved river, seemingly unchanging even through all that had happened to me. Golden leaves would sometimes would be caught in the silvery water, and I would remember the days when there had been nothing but Hawkwing and me, the sun and the moon. And then there was Reedwhisker. The black warrior had been a loyal and friendly companion for so long. I knew deep down in my heart that he still would love me no matter what happened. Yet I was not at all ready to return any kind of love, as my heart was still set deeply in the gentle slope of earth just within the WindClan border. Maybe one day I’d grow to love him in return. My thoughts snapped back to Tigerkit as the brown-and-gold she-cat asked, “Mum? When am I going to be an apprentice?” “Not for quite some time, Tigerkit,” I meowed lightheartedly. “You’ve just turned two moons old, and you become an apprentice when you’re six moons old.” “Oh.” Tigerkit looked greatly dissapointed. “So Morningkit and Barkkit will become apprentices before me?” “I’m afraid they will,” Splashstream answered. But not too long before you. And it’s not like they’ll be gone forever once they’ve graduated to the apprentices’ den.” “I know,” Tigerkit sighed, “but when they’ve gone I won’t have anyone to play with.” “Maybe another she-cat’ll have kits,” I pointed out. Yet I knew this could not be true—she-cats waited to have kits until the end of leaf-bare so they’d be born in newleaf or greenleaf. “Come on, Tigerkit,” Barkkit meowed. “Shadowpaw and Larchpaw are going out to train again with Tumblepelt and Nightshadow.” The gold-and-brown she-cat mewed, “See you!” before scampering after Morningkit and Barkkit towards the river. I watched her pelt away with her two best friends and wondered how the little kit would fare alone in the nursery with only me for company. “Splashstream,” I meowed, standing up. “I’m going for a walk. Will you watch out for Tigerkit if she comes back before I do?” “Of course.” The blue-gray she-cat placed her head between her front paws and closed her blue eyes. Quietly, I padded across the silent, vacant camp clearing and slipped under the thorn bushes. I traveled along through the trees, not particularly caring where I was going. A gentle whirr of unnatural sound caused me to look up, and I saw that I had wondered over to the greenleaf Twolegplace. A vibrant azure-colored moster was speeding away from the nests and half-bridge that were clustered in a depression in the meadow by the lake. I continued walking, following a course parallel to the small Thunderpath. The air was quiet and cool, crisp with the warning of leaf-bare that was not far off. Suddenly a tiny mewing split through my thoughts, causing me to jerk my head up in surprise. Had Tigerkit followed me? I slowly looked all around me, trying to glimpse the kit via sight. When nothing came into view that was out of the ordinary, I opened my mouth and drew in the scents around me. Still nothing. Was it a rogue? Or perhaps a kittypet?A high-pitched sqealing shriek interrupted me and I jumped in surprise as a ball of pale brown fur cannoned into my flank. Yowling an annoyance, I swatted at the newcomer with my paws and sent him spinning away into the grass. He did not get up again, but merely lay there mewing pitifully. Compassion for the helpless kit came over me and I gently lifted it from the ground and placed it upright. It was shivering and its matted pelt was streaked with mud and grass, giving the kit a wild appearance. “Are you okay?” I asked it softly. The kit did not reply, but merely hissed. Seeing that I would get nowhere trying to speak with it, I gently picked up the kit and began to carry it back to camp. “And you’re sure it’s not from ShadowClan?” Mistystar inquired suspiciously. “Absolutely,” I meowed. “I found him on our side of the border. And he wouldn’t talk to me—if he was from ShadowClan, he probably would have asked to return to his Clan, don’t you think?” “I suppose,” Mistystar agreed. “Mothwing says that he’ll need only a day or two to recover. He’s slightly starved because he couldn’t hunt for himself and he’s covered in mud and some nasty scratches.” Swallowtail, who was sitting beside Mistystar, added, “And you’ll take care of him?” “Yes,” I replied confidently. “Splashstream and I will keep him until he’s ready for apprenticeship. I’m guessing that he’s about the age of Tigerkit, maybe half a moon or so older.” “Good luck.” Mistystar went back to discussing patrols with her deputy and I backed away and padded over to Mothwing’s den. I found the golden tabby chewing up some herbs and laying the pulp carefully on the light brown kit’s numerous cuts. Willowleaf was on his other side, lying beside him as he snuggled up to her while the pale gray medicine cat licked the dried blood and grime out of his pelt. “Hey.” I slipped over to the kit and Willowleaf and licked its head. It squeaked in surprise and squinted up at me. “You’re the cat I saw on the meadow,” he meowed. “Yes,” I responded, eyeing the kit gently. “Do you have a name?” “Name?” The kit was confused. “It’s what you call yourself,” Willowleaf put in, purring with amusement. “Like I said that I was Willowleaf.” “Don’t believe I have one,” the light brown tom-kit meowed. “My mother left me on the meadow one day and didn’t come back. The two-legged furless cats that walk on their hind legs took her away.” “Those were Twolegs,” Mothwing murmured. The medicine cat looked up at me. “You’re going to be his foster mother, no? You should name him.” I nodded slowly and squinted at the kit, eyeing his short, wirey light brown pelt the color of a chipmunk’s brown fur. He had bright amber eyes and a few black markings over his eyes and around his paws, making him look calm and easygoing. An image suddenly flashed into my mind of Hawkwing and I sitting together under the stars, he the sun and I the moon, back in the days when everything was perfect. And of the thornbushes where he had been burried… “Gorsekit,” I half-whispered. The kit looked up at me with eyes like the sun, and I knew his name was perfect. Aww...the sun...reminds her of Hawkwing...get it? Review! ~Sunny
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Post by .Swiftclaw. on Sept 23, 2007 15:09:09 GMT -5
Aww... now Tigerkit has a friend! I absolutely love this story and Sunsetfur is so talented! Please keep writing!
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Post by Shadowstar on Sept 23, 2007 22:17:05 GMT -5
Oh, this is wonderful! When will the next next Chapter be released? I really love it!
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Post by Tigerfur on Sept 24, 2007 17:32:13 GMT -5
Tigerfur: Thanks for the comments guys! ;D I'll be sure to tell Sunsetfur, sorry I didn't post in a while, but I don't like posting the next chapter until I get atleast one comment, and speaking of chapters heres the next one, enjoy! Sunsetfur: Thanks all! Final part of story!! *tears* Epilogue The Riverside Shadows[/u] Tigerkit and Gorsekit became fast friends. Soon the brown tom-kit joined Tigerkit, Morningkit, and Barkkit in their daily excursions to watch the apprentices train or to attempt an attack on the fish in the river. Tigerkit pounced and play-fought with her friends with such surprising accuracy that with every passing day she reminded me more and more of Hawkwing.Leaf-bare had finally come. The temperature dropped, and every tree shed its last feeble coating of the few wrinkled brown leaves that had managed to cling to the branches. Every few days the camp would awaken to an early-morning chill and the entire clearing would be encrusted with a fine layer of pale white frost. The first signs of leaf-bare awed the kits—they had all been born in newleaf and greenleaf and were used to warm, lazy days. As expected, more and more cats were sent out on hunting patrols to seek out the elusive squirrels and rabbits that remained in the cold days. The first real snow didn’t come until the day before the Gathering. Neither Splashstream nor I attended, so we pestered Willowleaf and Cloudfeather to tell us what had happened when they returned. “I already told you— nothing exciting,” Cloudfeather meowed. “Just the usual random news: birth of kits in WindClan, elder died in ShadowClan, apprentices becoming warriors in ThunderClan.” The white she-cat stalked off into the warriors’ den. “What’s biting her tail?” Splashstream asked Willowleaf. “No idea,” answered my friend. “Anyway, Emberfur of WindClan had a litter, Runningnose of ShadowClan passed on to StarClan, and Speckledpaw and Snowpaw of ThunderClan are now Speckledfur and Snowfire. Hazelfur’s just joined their nursery, too. Oh, and there’s a cold running wild in ShadowClan, so you better not let your kits go anywhere near the border.” “I won’t,” I meowed darkly, remembering what had happened the last time my kits had been near the border. “Was Hazelfur there?” “No.” Willowleaf replied. She was a good friend to the she-cat as well, and looked pleased as she added, “Ferncloud told me that Spiderleg was the father. Like that was a surprise.” “Mmm.” I flicked my ears as Gorsekit and Tigerkit approached us, side by side with Morningkit and Barkkit just behind them. All four were now inseparable friends. “Mum,” Tigerkit mewed immediately, skidding to a halt at my paws. “How old are Morningkit and Barkkit?” “I must have told you a hundred times,” I sighed, playfully batting at Tigerkit. “They’ll become apprentices in a moon or so.” “Just checking.” The brown-and-gold kit scampered away into the medicine cats’ clearing, her friends on her heels. In the background, I could hear Mothwing muttering as delighted squeals rose from the reeds and ferns. “They grow up so fast, don’t they?” Dawnflower had padded over to Willowleaf and me. “You might have some company this leaf-bare, Silverpool. Shadeleaf and Flamingfur have been hanging around together a lot recently.” I purred in amusement. Suddenly feeling restless, I stood, meowed a quick farewell to my friends, and silently clambered out of the camp. A dusting of powdery snow encrusted the trees and the grass, and as I pushed my way out of the forest and into the meadow I saw that every blade of grass was stiff with frost. The gorse bushes were in view now. I placed my nose upon the cold mound of now-hardened earth. He would be with me forever, every moment of every day of every moon, for every year to come. But as I rose and padded away back into the forest, I did not feel as much pain as I had felt in the past few moons. Hawkwing would be there in the skies, roaming the mysterious forests of StarClan with the great warriors of the past. When I reached the camp, I did not re-enter the clearing, bustling with activity as the apprentices and warriors prepared for winter. I saw Mothwing and Willowleaf tugging at the last stems of marigold, brittle with frost. Larchpaw and Shadowpaw, still their same old troublemaking selves, had recently been found daring each other to eat an assortment of wild berries, resulting in a bright new fur color around the muzzle for the two brothers. I stopped by my river, placing a paw on the ice that had formed on the edges of the water. Peaceful murmuring filled my ears, and even the riverside shadows seemed more comforting than usual. “Hey.” Reedwhisker padded to my side, and sat down next to me. I recalled a day, moons ago, when we had sat here together, before the prophecy, before the grief had taken a toll on my life. “Hi, Reedwhisker,” I meowed softly. We sat in silence for many moments, watching the river move quietly towards the lake. “Gorsekit’s doing well,” the black tom commented. “He and Tigerkit are certainly getting along well. Same with Splashstream’s kits.” I smiled faintly. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me in the past few moons, Reedwhisker.” The black tom nodded slowly. Quietly, he placed his tail on my flank. “It’s what friends do, right?” I thought of Hawkwing. I wondered how he’d react if he could see us here by the river. Yet in my heart, I could feel him watching me from above, purring and with light in his green eyes as he willed me onward. Suddenly I had burst of courage. “Reedwhisker…I…I…” Reedwhisker looked up from the river. “What?” I took a deep breath, then sprang up and swatted him on his flank. “I bet you can’t catch me.” Laughing at the surprised look on his face, I took off down the bank of the river, into the meadow. I heard the black tom pounding behind me, yowling and meowing at me to slow down. I turned around and he slammed right into me, and we both rolled into the icy river. “Oh!” I yowled as freezing water seeped through my fur. Reedwhisker hauled himself out of the river, shaking his pelt out. Icy droplets flew everywhere, landing on my head as I jumped out beside him. “What in StarClan’s name were you two doing?” I looked up to see Nightshadow and Larchpaw standing over us, staring at bemusedly as we shivered and spluttered. I exchanged a glance with Reedwhisker, and saw the laughter in his eyes. “Nothing,” I replied, batting his flank as the warrior and apprentice moved away. “Just having a bit of fun.” KEEP WATCH FOR THE SEQUEL: GRAY SKIES, BLACK DAWN. Probably coming in late January. ~Sunny Tigerfur: Hi, it's me again! ;D Noooo, the story is over! But, do not worry, I will post the sequel Gray Skies, Black Dawn, but you will have to be patient for Sunsetfur hasn't finished the story yet, and I don't want to post it until she is finished, don't worry she is almost finished with it, but until then, just keep a lookout for it, see ya! ;D
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ghostfeather
Junior Member
......boredom kills.....
Posts: 76
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Post by ghostfeather on Sept 24, 2007 21:21:22 GMT -5
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Sunsetfur
New Member
Call me Sunny :)
Posts: 27
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Post by Sunsetfur on Oct 4, 2007 21:18:29 GMT -5
Hey everyone...
I just want to thank everyone who's given me such wonderful praise. I hope you'll like Gray Skies, Black Dawn just as much - I'm very proud of it, and my original fans at TSF (the forum where I first posted these stories) love it a lot. Thanks again!
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