Hey all you people! I was bored today- so I got this idea, but didn't want to make it into a long story, so I decided to make a oneshot. I hope you like it. Upcoming oneshots (in case you care): Believe: Side oneshot to Drifting Fox and the Melting Dawn and "Untitled": side oneshot to The Heart of a Warrior.
I do not, nor will I ever, own Warriors.
"From this moment on, you shall be known as Gorsepaw. Hareclaw, you are a storn, wise warrior, and I expect that you will train young Gorsepaw well," Larkstar called, watching with her green eyes as the small tabby she cat padded up and touched noses with her dark tabby metor.
Why am I always the last? Gorsepaw thought to herself. She was the last kit left in the nursery when they were to become apprentices, though Lilypetal was expecting kits in about two moons. She was the last of the litter born, which meant that she was the last of her littermates to become an apprentice. Which probably means I'll be the last to become a warrior, too!
"You're doing great," Hareclaw whispered as she touched noses with her mentor. Gorsepaw noticed that her legs were shaking some. Dumb legs... I'm not worried about anything!
"I can't believe that we're apprentices!" Gorsepaw's all-to-happy sister, Pebblepaw, meowed happily. Her gray and white fur was all fluffed up, as if it was cold outside, and her eyes were bright.
"I know," Gorsepaw meowed. "I've been waiting for this moment for six moons! Now we're finally here!"
Just then, all of the cats turned around at the sound of a lot of coughing. Lilypetal lay near the nursery, coughing and wheesing.
"Lilypetal!" Addarpelt yowled, racing to his mate's side. "Everything's okay... everything's going to be okay... Rushingstream, what's wrong with her?" Addarpelt's eyes were wide with fear as he licked his mate's fur. Lilypelt continued coughing and groaning, as if it was hurting her to cough.
"I-I don't know," Rushingstream meowed, rushing over to the coughing queen. "I've never seen anything like this before... it doesn't look like a normal cough..."
Gorsepaw noticed some blood on Lilypetal's mouth. Is coughing affecting her so much? How can that be? Does she have greencough?
"Does she have greencough?" Addarpelt echoed Gorsepaw's thoughts.
"What's going on?" Larkstar asked, casting a worried glance at Lilypetal. Lilypetal was her sister, so she was as worried as Addarpelt.
"Bring her to my den," Rushingstream commanded. "I can give her catmint there." Rushingstream flicked her tail to some warriors- Ivyfoot, Addarpelt and Streamfur. The three cats grabbed the coughing queen and brought her over to Rushingstream's den.
"I wonder what's wrong," Pebblepaw muttered, casting a worried glance around the camp. All cats were silent, and all cats' eyes were focused on the medicine cat's den.
"It was a warning from StarClan," Racepaw, the black medicine cat apprentice, meowed at last. "The time has come for the clans to be lost in time, with all but a thorn leaving what they used to be."
"W-what?" Many cats gasped at the apprentice's ominous words.
"What do you mean by that?" Moleblaze, one of the warriors, called out. "I demand to know what you're talking about!"
"The end," Racepaw meowed quietly. What is he talking about? What end? The end... of the clans? How can that be?
Many cats turned and went to go patrol, hunt, anything to get the medicine cat apprentice's words out of their ears. But no one succeeded- they were all stuck listening to those words... those deadful words.
It was one moon into Gorsepaw's training. More and more cats- from all clans- had gotten sick. Lilypetal had died, followed by Addarpelt and Ivyfoot. Streamfur, Moleblaze, Liontail and Willowfrost were all sick in the den, and a couple of cats were lightly coughing.
Gorsepaw was worried. She was watching cats die all around her, it felt like. Cats that she talked to at the gathering turned up to be dead the next moon, and cats sometimes refused to go to gatherings, since they didn't want to be around other cats. There were no new kits in the nursery, since Lilypetal had died. Larkstar seemed hollow lately, not wanting to do much of anything. She had heard that Larkstar had three lives left, and she had already lost two lives to the sickness.
"Come on," Hareclaw meowed. He smiled at Gorsepaw, flicking his tail for her to follow him. "Time for some more training."
"Why do we train?" Gorsepaw asked, surprising her mentor. "If we're all going to end up dead sometime?"
"Why does a warrior ever train?" Hareclaw responded after a moment. "There's always a chance that anyone could die in a battle. Does that mean that we shouldn't battle train anymore, since cats might die?"
"No," Gorsepaw meowed. "But this isn't a battle we can win with teeth and claws. This is on a whole different level. We're fighting against time, and right now, it isn't on our side."
"It may not be," Hareclaw agreed. "But would you rather have everyone starve to death, with no hunting, or die in a battle, with no training, while we're waiting for time to catch up to us? Sure, many may be lost. But at least some will have to survive. We can't all go- there just isn't time for that. StarClan would never allow us all to die. Remember that, Gorsepaw."
Things went on like this for a long time. Two more moons passed. Gorsepaw sisn't even want to count all of the cats that had died. Half the clan was missing, due to the sickness alone. And apparently, one of the other clans had already died out. The survivors couldn't find a clan to stay in, since no one wanted any cats from a dead clan. So they ended up perishing.
"Gorsepaw, could you bring Rushingstream some prey?" Hareclaw asked, a slight cough in his question.
Gorsepaw nodded, casting her mentor a worried glance as she grabbed some prey for Rushingstream. Racepaw, the little apprentice who had forseen this tragedy, had not survived long, since he was helping care for the clan when they were sick, he caught the sickness himself and ended up in StarClan.
Gorsepaw dropped the vole at Rushingstream's paws. Rushingstream nodded her thanks before feeding the sick cats some more leaves.
Gorsepaw's ears pricked at the sound of coughing. She ran over to where Hareclaw was, to find him peacefully sleeping. Who's coughing, then? Gorsepaw left that patch of ferns and wandered out into the middle of camp, horror shooting through her.
"Pebblepaw!" Gorsepaw cried, rushing over to her sister. Pebblepaw's eyes were full of fear. Blood was on her lips as she coughed.
"Stay back," Pebblepaw coughed. "Get away from me. You can't get sick too, Gorsepaw." Blood splattered from her mouth as she talked.
"Larkstar!" Gorsepaw screeched. The leader appeared after a moment.
"Oh no," Larkstar murmured, her head shaking. "Not so close... to your ceremony... you were going to be a warrior, Pebblepaw..."
"Name her one now," Gorsepaw cried, watching her sister. Pebblepaw had fallen over, and was resting on her side as she coughed. A pool of blood was forming at her mouth, and her eyes were half closed.
"By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name," Larkstar called loudly, so all of the cats around her could hear too. "Pebblepaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Pebblewing. StarClan honors your bravery, and may they accept you as a warrior in your turn."
Pebblewing smiled at Gorsepaw. Her lips parted for a moment. "I beat... you... Gorsepaw... Told... you... so..." With those last words, Pebblewing's head fell down, leaving Gorsepaw all alone as she yowled to StarClan, calling for her sister back.
"From this moment on, you shall be known as Gorsethorn. StarClan honors your skill and quick thinking, and we welcome you as a full warrior of EarthClan." Gorsethorn watched, her eyes proud and sad, as her leader named her a warrior.
Pebblewing should've been here with me... Gorsethorn couldn't help but think back, only a quarter moon ago, when her sister had died. And not long after that, Hareclaw and Yellowspot had followed them. She didn't even think about how she was the last warrior to be named.
The clan was down to about ten cats left, with FlameClan and StreamClan already gone. Rushingstream had already died, which shocked most cats. But not Gorsethorn. She knew that it was just a matter of time before the medicine cat, surrounded by the sick cats, would follow them all to StarClan.
"I guess I was right, huh Hareclaw?" Gorsethorn whispered, watching the stars. "It was only a matter of time. Soon, I'll be joining you and Pebblewing. It can't be long now." She smiled, thinking of the past when her life was so full of life, hope, dreams, and... everything. Her biggest dream was to become a leader. But now, she knew that dream was gone.
Coughing split through the clearing. Larkstar collasped onto the ground, blood falling from her mouth, her flans still.
"Is that... her last life?" One of the last cats meowed. "Oh StarClan, take me too!" The cat, Nettlefeather, layed down beside his mate, licking at her fur. Larkstar's mother, Icefern, joined him. The last elder, Kestralfoot, joined them too, hoping for the sickness to spread and take away the pain.
"It's only us left," Thornfur, the last warrior other than Gorsethorn, meowed.
"It's like a game," Gorsethorn meowed. "Whoever dies first, loses."
"Whoever gets sick first, loses," Thornfur meowed. "We're both going to die. And we know that- we accept that. Right?"
"What else is there now?" Gorsethorn meowed. "We both fit... that prophecy that Racepaw had left us with. The thorn part. Thornfur and Gorsethorn."
"It was fun... playing that game," Thornfur meowed. "With you. Looks... like you're... going to survive... right? Make... some new clans... okay?" Gorsethorn watched, tears in her eyes, as her last clan mate died. She really liked Thornfur.
"That was a nice game," Gorsethorn whispered, letting her tears fall onto Thornfur's pelt as she cleaned it. She started to dig a hole- right there in the center of the camp- just for Thornfur. Once he was burried, Gorsethorn set off, out of the camp and into the forest.
Once she had gone so far, she stopped. A movement caught her eye. And a flash... of brown, ginger and gray. Three cats. Three lost clans.
"By the power of StarClan..." Gorsethorn meowed. "I give them each warrior names. Streamfur, Flamewing, and Earththorn. And I change my own name, too." Gorsethorn chuckled at the thought of changing her own name. She wasn't really, it was just... the sickness seemed to be taking for her. "By the power of StarClan, please welcome... Laststar. The last kit, apprentice, warrior and leader of the old clans. It's time... for some new ones."
She padded over to the cats, telling them of StarClan, FlameClan, StreamClan and EarthClan. She gave them their warrior names, and set them off on a journey- to find other cats like themselves and bring them back to this forset. The clans would be at peace with each other- having friends being the leaders.
Suddenly, Gorsethorn felt a cough rising in her throat. Her claws dug into the ground, ripping it up as fast as she could. Blood was dripping from her mouth by the time she was able to dig a hole in the ground- one big enough for herself. I'm coming to join you, Pebblewing, Thornfur. Wait for me. Gorsethorn's legs crumpled beneath her, and she fell into the hole the had made. With the last of her strength, she managed to push some durt over herself, looking up at the stars. A tabby and a gray and white cat appeared in front of her vision.
"Are you here for me?" Gorsethorn murmured her last words.
"Yes," The cats meowed, their starry shapes wrapping around her and bringing her to StarClan. "You have done well, and now new clans will take the place of the old."
Gorsethorn watched as the clans formed, leaving behind only memories of the old ones. Life... was back. All because of the last.
Hey, tell me how you liked this. It was only this idea I had, and thought that I should write. Please tell me if you liked it or not! And please, no flames. Flames are mean and should never happen.
