One second there was blood. Lots and lots of blood. One second she was in the dark, crouched on her belly, paws pulled close to her as she struggled to stay calm. Her chest fur was wet with something dark, and Ivypool was mewing insistently for her to remain awake, to keep her eyes open, and as much as the she-cat wanted to, she found the darkness wrapping around her, falling heavily upon her head until she submitted to it. The cries and sound of battle faded into a buzzing silence.
One second, there was warm, warm blood. The next, there was a cold but welcome tingling sensation all throughout her body, coming to a pinpoint where the claw slash from Hawkfrost was. She looked down. Or, where it used to be, she thought in a numb sort of humor.
Hawkfrost. Her eyes snapped open wide and she stumbled to her paws. It took a few embarrassing tries, but once she did her breath was taken away.
She was in the most beautiful place.
Paws thundered down a sunlit slope. Apprentices,she noted. Rolling hills of waving grass, thick undergrowth, and looming sycamore and oak trees. The leaves of such trees rustled softly in the breeze, whispering stories of the dead and long forgotten. Some cats play-fought in the cooled shadow of the forest, others basked in the sun in the center of the field, sharing tongues and gossiping about things only the wind could whisk away.
StarClan.
A place that she had always wanted to see, but now that she was here, without her brothers or friends? She heaved a sigh. Her tail curled in, and she set her claws into the grass in determination. How she must have looked so strange compared to the other cats.
She longed to join them, she really did, but the reminder of Ivypool screaming her name, Hawkfrost's cold eyes widening in surprise as his claws tore open her throat in a jagged line, made her shiver, and she turned away. Before she could rest she had to do something. She owed something to a few certain someones.No, she had a mission. She had to tell Firestar, or one of the other StarClan cats. Then she could sleep knowing those someoneswere safe.
She was coming.
StarClan keep her kits safe.
One sunrise later
Firestar blinked. A black-furred shape was sprinting towards him, presumably as fast as they could go. Which, considering, wasn't very fast at all, but he could see the clear anxiety radiating off of th-her?
He took a reluctant step forward. Was that…..Hollyleaf? Her face was starting to become clearer as she thundered closer, and before he could even register the searing flash of pain of her death, she was skidding to a badly planned stop a few tail-lengths away.
The fire-colored tom was correct after all, it seemed. Before stood his long furred grandkit, and he smiled kindly at her panicked expression. Coming to StarClan was certainly warrant for it. But as she regained her breath and opened her mouth, he had a sinking feeling it was something more than that.
"Firestar" she started, "I-I need to check on someone. A few someones. Is that-Can I do that? How long has it been since the Great Battle?"
The former ThunderClan leader's ears rotated to face her. It's not like it was a strange request, not at all, but did she truly not know how long she'd been here in StarClan?
He stretched quickly, clawing at the ground before standing tall. He layed his tail across her flank, as he meowed "Don't get your whiskers in a tangle, kin. I can allow you access. We must go fast, however. The longer you stay in their world the more pain it brings you"
Hollyleaf's ears flattened. "Physically or mentally?"
His forest-green eyes flitted over to hers.
"Both"
Aaaay it's so short XD But eh, its just a prologue. And it went by fast too, so I'm not complaining.