Hola. Here is my entry for the WillowClan Monthly Writing Challenge for May, 2012. Woo-hoo! First entry! Please, read and review, since I'm 95% positive that I won't win. And I'm fine with that. This was fun to write, and I think I'll be sticking with WillowClan! They're awesome! If you like Warriors, come join us!
I do not own Warriors. Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter. (Word count, before author's notes: 2,063)
It's never too late to live the life you've always wanted. It's never too late to correct past wrongs.
A golden tomcat padded through a misty forest, his paws softly thudding on the wet ground below. His dark blue eyes were fixed on the soggy ground, and a frown was plastered firmly across his face. There was something that was wrong, he could just feel it. Somewhere deep down in his heart, something was missing. And it was all because of the choices that he had made. Those awful, awful choices...
"Willowpool, I know this is difficult to believe, but... I can't be with you. I'm sorry I've been wasting your time on something that could never be, but..." A golden tomcat scratched at the ground, not wanting to say those words but knowing that he had to.
It was a sunny day out, and the birds were chirping. A nice day in New Leaf, and he should've been enjoying it with the one day that he loved more than anything else in the whole world, Willowpool. Sure, she was several moons younger than he was, but none of that mattered to them. Pure love could flow between them, brightening their darkest nights and chasing away any doubt.
But that was all about to change. The tomcat, Palestrike, had been slowly feeling his heart get ripped out of him. He had to tell Willowpool that he couldn't be with her, no matter how much it hurt either of them. It was a tough decision, but he knew it had to be done.
Many sunrises earlier, the leader of his clan, Yellowstar, had asked him to take a patrol farther than any clan cat had gone before and see if there's anything part there. The clans were falling apart, and getting more and more vicious with one another. Yellowstar would rather leave then see his clan get ripped apart, Palestrike guessed. But he was worried, too. If he never came back from that journey, it would tear Willowpool's heart apart. And he couldn't do that to her- he loved her too much to think of her suffering!
"I have to do this," Palestrike muttered, getting to his paws and padding off into the bright, happy forest. All of that would change, though. Soon, very soon. His whole meaning for life would be ending soon.
Pushing aside some ferns, Palestrike's heart felt like it was falling apart. He could almost see the blood dripping to the ground and pooling in front of him. Standing there in the clearing, eyes shining and pelt gleaming, was Willowpool. Her dark gray fur glistened in the sunlight, highlighting the flecks of pale brown that streaked their way through her pelt. Her clear, sky blue eyes looked up to meet his eyes. His heart fell apart.
"Palestrike!" Willowpool purred, running over to his side and pushing her cheek against his. He wanted to purr, to tell her that everything was all right and that he would never leave her. To be able to tell her that would let his heart run free, and if he died would leave him no regrets.
But that would be lying.
"Willowpool," Palestrike greeted, not as warmly as the she cat was expecting.
"What's wrong, Palestrike?" Willowpool asked instantly, as if she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.
"I... This... We..." Palestrike stammered, unable to hold eye contact with the pretty she cat. Sighing and looking down to his paws, Palestrike let his claws slide out into the ground to stop him from crying. "This can't happen. We can't happen, Willowpool."
The look of horror on her face will forever be burned into my memory. "W-what?" Willowpool choked out, tears welling in her eyes. The look of confusion, pain and shock on her face told me that she didn't believe what I was saying.
"We," Palestrike meowed, motioning to both of them with his tail. "Can't happen. I'm really sorry, Willowpool." He turned back to her, looking in her eyes. Pain, slight hatred... He wouldn't care if she hated him for the rest of their lives, as long as she still thought of him. Even if he never came back.
"Why ever not?" Willowpool growled, catching me off guard. Yep, he had hurt her. A lot.
"I'm leaving, Willowpool," Palestrike muttered. "Yellowstar's sending me away to go and find a new land for the clan."
"What?" Willowpool gasped, her claws sinking into the ground. "Why you? Why not both of us? Why does he have... to separate us?"
"I don't know, Willowpool," Palestrike murmured. Sighing, he continued, "But Willowpool, we're... we're over. I can't do this anymore. It's only causing me heartache, and I can't be thinking about you while I'm supposed to be focusing on my mission."
"So you care more about that dumb mission than you care about me?" Willowpool hissed, tears falling from her eyes. Rage flickered through those sky blue eyes of hers.
No. "Yes." I'm lying, Willowpool. I'll love you forever.
"So it's over then..." Willowpool whispered, padding away from me. Every instinct told him to follow her. Every instinct in his body told him not to let her get away, to apologize and say that he was lying. Every instinct... ignored.
Sighing, Palestrike stood up and padded back towards camp. It was done, and he would only have to go through this heartache once...
Looking around the misty forest, Palestrike licked at his pelt. It was ruffled, since this land he had found was so cold. Everything was cold, like there was never a Green Leaf... He turned his eyes to the sky. Nothing was up there, though. Each of the stars was covered by a thick blanket of clouds... Clouds that would pour down snow until nothing could ever live again.
Palestrike looked around. He was the last one left. No other cat from his clan that had gone with him was still alive. Petalnight had fallen over the edge when they were travelling through the mountains. Icewhisper had frozen to death, ironically. Sunheart had jumped into the river after Silkfur, and both had drowned. Now he was the only one left. And days were torture.
Alone.
Forgotten.
Cold...
The misty forest was leaving. The trees were disappearing. The sky grew dark, and the mist disappeared. Day became night in the blink of an eye.
Palestrike sighed, digging a hole in the snow as far as he could. The misty forest was just a vision. Why'd did it have to be just a vision? A vision of home, where he belonged... Where Willowpool was.
Was she still there? Did they have to leave? Is she alright? Palestrike's heart was dying to know. He missed her so much, but he knew that he could never get her back. No, he had ripped her heart apart- not with claws, but with words sharper than claws.
"Willowpool," Palestrike whispered, her name giving strength to him. Oh, how he wished he could see her pelt again! To just hear her voice, he would send himself to the Dark Forest forever if he could just hear her voice once more.
Finishing the hole he was digging in the ground, Palestrike slowly climbed down beneath the snow. He had learned that sometimes, making a den under the snow was a lot better than staying above the snow. Especially when you're alone.
Giving up on all will to live, Palestrike laid his head down on the icy ground beneath his paws, and as he felt the first flakes of snow drift down onto his pelt, Palestrike let go and gave in to the darkness, hoping that he wouldn't awake to see the sun rise the next morning.
Opening his eyes and groaning, Palestrike yawned and looked around. He could no longer feel the ice on his pelt, nor the clod bite of the snow seeping into his skin. Where was he?
"Hello?" Palestrike called out, stronger than he thought he could. The previous day, he had been too weak to speak, let alone shout! Palestrike rose to his paws, feeling the dirt beneath his pads. Dirt?
Looking up, sunshine caught in his gaze. Palestrike could hear birds chirping, and he could see the color that he had missed most. Green. There was green leaves, green bushes, green grass all around him!
"Where am I?" Palestrike whispered. He could feel that something important was going to happen, deep down in his gut. Something was different. He was dreaming! Yeah, that must be it!
"Palestrike."
Palestrike turned his head, hearing his name. His heart skipped a beat. He would recognize that voice anywhere! Turning his head around and jumping up, Palestrike caught his breath. Standing not five steps behind him was a familiar dark gray pelt, streaked with pale brown.
"Willowpool..."
The name was whispered from Palestrike's lips, and his eyes widened more than they had in a long time. The she cat smiled, and Palestrike thought that his heart might explode. Oh, how long had it been since he had seen that warming smile of hers?
"Oh Palestrike, how long has it been?" Willowpool purred, padding over to him and pressing her cheek to his. Her fur was so sleek compared to his ruffled fur.
"Forever," Palestrike answered. His dark blue eyes locked on her sky blue ones, and he could practically feel the love crackling between them. But memories flashed through his eyes at seeing her again, and he turned away. "How? How can you get near me, Willowpool? I don't deserve it, not after what I've done."
"It's never too late to correct past wrongs," Willowpool answered evenly. "And I know about your lies. You were trying to protect me." She sighed, looking away. "Things got bad after you left, Palestrike. Things got real bad. I found... I found the real reason why it was you who left."
"The real reason?" Palestrike asked, confused. What more was there to it? He was sent to find a new land for the clan, nothing more, and nothing less.
"Yellowstar... He was jealous," Willowpool cried. "He was jealous of what we had! He... he wanted me, and knew that the only way to be able to have me was to get rid of you. He was never planning to leave the territory... He was planning to steal SparkClan's territory. They were leaving; Nightstar had already told Yellowstar that."
Palestrike felt his heart clench. No, it couldn't be true! He was ripped away from his love by some jealous leader? No, he was supposed to be finding a new land for them... He knew it!
"B-but! That... can't be true!" Palestrike looked at Willowpool, their eyes meeting. He knew it was true. "But Icewhisper, Petalnight, Sunheart, Silkfur... They all... they all died for this cause!"
"I'm sorry, Palestrike," Willowpool whispered, licking at Palestrike's cheek. "But it's all over now. There is no mission anymore. There is no death anymore. They're... they're all here, too."
That's when Palestrike noticed all of the little stars glistening in Willowpool's pelt. Each fleck of pale brown contained one of these stars, brightening her pelt tenfold.
"I'm... dead?" The words seemed foreign. They couldn't have come from his mouth, yet they were all in his voice!
"Yes," Willowpool whispered. "We're all dead. This... is... StarClan." Her eyes met his. "Welcome home, Palestrike."
Not able to talk at the moment, Palestrike gave a nod to show that he had heard. He was dead? This was... StarClan? He was...
Home?
"But... how can you forgive me so easily?" Palestrike whispered.
"Easy," Willowpool answered, turning and tailing her tail under his chin. "I love you, Palestrike. You can't hold onto the past forever, especially if you want to forgive."
"I love you too," Palestrike meowed. "Is this... the end? Is it all over, now?"
A spark of playfulness flashed through Willowpool's eyes. She snickered. "It's never too late to live the life you've always wanted." As she padded off into the bushes, Willowpool turned her head back. "And I plan on starting my life... now."
A smile formed on Palestrike's lips. He could feel his heart grow light. Getting to his paws, the soft grass feeling so much better than the cold snow, he followed her. Maybe he would start living life how he wanted it to be... now.
So hey, please read and review. And good luck to everyone else who's taking the challenge. I hope this made it into the competition in time! I have an ideea of who's going to win... Not me! No, I actually think that Shadowmist1999is going to win, but that's just me... (Good luck everyone!)