A/N: Hello, everyone! Spirit of the Brook here back with another beautiful one-shot! Haven't done one of these in a while, so I decided I would do one here. Now, we actually have REAL characters in this one-shot. (-gasp-) This has never happened before in the history of seal puppers' time (I cannot decide what to call you guys. Leave suggestions in the reviews on what I should call my fangirls and boys. Yeah, ladies first! Take that, MALES OF CURRENT LIVING WHO ARE READING THIS IN MANY OTHER COUNTRIES AND AMERICA!) Well, this one is going to be about Mothwing and maybe one of the saddest fictional moments that my heart has ever conjured (not dat sad). Well, hope you folks enjoy and sit back and read the STORY!
Hope. Hope is often the only thing that can help us from times of indefinite grief and destruction. But hope is unique; in it is something special that makes it seem like it is lost, but really, it's just building itself up to be stronger than grief and building itself up so that it can overpower destruction. Here is how hope has been proven to be stronger, in a most familiar background to you Clan cats.
Willowshine tore through the reeds, faster than a WindClan cat, faster than lightning, faster than anything. She arrived into a small sunny clearing, quickly gathering some borage leaves from a bush.
The pale grey tabby's blue eyes flashed with urgency as she rushed back into the RiverClan camp, toward the medicine cat den. Toward the back of the den, a golden dappled pelt lay in the shade, unsteadily rising up and down.
A fresh wave of grief came over Willowshine as she approached the lump of fur, which she could barely recognize as her mentor, Mothwing.
Mothwing raised her head slightly, her once-clear amber eyes cloudy and confused. "Willowshine?" she rasped then took in a deep, sharp breath. She quietly exhaled and continued. "Is that you?"
Tears gathered at the corners of Willowshine's eyes and she replied, "Yes." Mothwing beckoned her closer with her tail.
Willowshine padded forward, lying down beside her mentor's rumpled pelt. "Even though I may be dying, Willowshine, that doesn't mean that my soul is dying," she began. Willowshine blinked, confused. Mothwing noticed that and purred.
"Don't think that I'm blind," she rasped in an amused voice. "I can see that you're confused." The grey tabby felt hot with embarrassment for letting her feelings show that easily. "What I mean, Willowshine is that I believe in StarClan now."
Willowshine's eyes widened in amazement. "That's great, Mothwing, but…." she responded. "Will StarClan accept you now that you're dying?"
Mothwing furrowed her brow. "Stop looking at the dark side of things, Willowshine," she croaked. "Now, leave me to rest for a moment." Willowshine opened her mouth to speak, but Mothwing flicked her tail over her apprentice's mouth. "Go," she whispered with a clearer voice than before.
The grey medicine cat sighed and backed out of the den, but kept close to the entrance. After a few moments, she saw that Mothwing's side had stopped moving. She's dead, a small voice in her head taunted her. Your virtual mother and mentor is dead! Willowshine shook her head, even though giant tears were already streaming down her pale grey cheeks. "No!" she cried out. "NO!" She sprinted into the den, but all she saw was Mothwing's glassy, dead eyes staring up at her. "NO! This can't happen….." Willowshine whispered, grief-stricken then began to sob heavily into Mothwing's fur.
She remained there for what seemed like ages, all the while crying so hard that her throat ached. Willowshine never looked up once. But after what was a few minutes but seemed like hours, the grieving medicine cat felt a soft tail lay across her shoulder. "Go away," she mumbled through tears.
"Alright, suit yourself."
Willowshine sprang up immediately and was faced with a golden dappled she-cat with bright amber eyes as clear as they had once been. "Mothwing," she croaked, her mouth dry after sobbing for so long. It took her a few moments for her to process then she brightened and jumped at her mentor, rolling with her on the ground.
"Oh, Mothwing," she cried out, not caring if her Clan thought she was insane. "I thought you were gone forever like Scourge!" The older golden she-cat took a step back, pretending she was offended. "Oh, that old Scourge," she meowed playfully. "Trust me dear I wouldn't reside with him no matter how hard it was to believe in StarClan!"
The two laughed and Willowshine buried her head in Mothwing's chest as if she was but a small kit. "Mothwing?" she asked quietly, calming down from the sudden experience. "Yes," the StarClan warrior replied as serenely as Willowshine could think a voice could be.
"Will you stay with me forever like this?" she asked in a very sweet, kit-like voice. Mothwing shook her head slowly, a pained expression replacing her smile. "No, Willowshine," she meowed. "I'll always be with you, but sometimes you won't see me. But trust me, I'll always be there when you're sad or you feel alone." Her grey apprentice thought for a moment then looked up again.
"But why me, Mothwing?" she asked. "Because dear, I love you," Mothwing whispered, touching her nose gently on Willowshine's cheek. "I'll always be there for you even if you can't see me." Then the golden dappled she-cat slowly began to fade away. Willowshine watched sadly until Mothwing was gone.
Willowshine was immediately returned to the present and felt no longer like a young, joyful kit. She felt like the mature, older medicine cat in the Clan, the only one in RiverClan. But she knew that no matter how alone she felt, Mothwing was always with her, letting her know that they were together and always would be.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed, folks! Drop a review or a PM; whichever suits best for you!