Hey, I'm back! With a new oneshot! (I'm working off of my mom's computer while mine is... dead.) This oneshot was created while I was in a mad rant about SkyClan, and how one of my fake clans resembles them except they were killed off in a much harsher way. (I killed off two of my five usual clans...)
So then I thought- what if the same thing happened again? One clan was dying and asked the others for help- would they? I didn't want to use ThunderClan, since I always love using my favorite clan, and RiverClan always has the river... and WindClan's already almost died once... so ShadowClan is was!
I don't own Warriors. Now enjoy.
The Light of Dawn
There was no way that we were going to survive if they said no. I knew that, and they knew that too. They held the future of my clan in their paws. If they denied us now, ShadowClan would fall.
"Poppytail," I called, getting the attention of the usually perky she cat. The said calico raced over and bowed her head a little before listening to what I had to say. "The clan needs food." An understatement. "Take a patrol out to find some. Take... Nightfeather, Russetpaw and Beechwing. Oh, and let Sootwhisker join you too."
"Um," Poppytail meowed, looking nervous. "Beechwing went to the Rosewillow's den... He collapsed during his last patrol."
I sighed, shaking my head. Not another brave warrior being taken down by nature's forces... not again.
"And, if I may ask," Poppytail continued, still looking nervous, "Why isn't Berryclaw giving orders? I mean, you're the leader Branchstar, but... usually Berryclaw's the one giving orders with patrols."
"Berryclaw caught whitecough," I meowed quietly, cringing at the look of horror on Poppytail's face. So far, most of the clan was sick, exhausted, or too weak to do anything. Our clan was dying, but I didn't want the other clans to know. They couldn't know about our weakness... they'd just attack us and take our territory.
"I'll take Bushfur with me, if that's okay," Poppytail meowed. Bushfur was her sister, and the two sisters were very close. I nodded. Right now, we needed to give each other closeness and comfort. We needed it.
"What about the border patrols?" Poppytail brought up a question that I didn't quite have a full answer for yet.
"For now," I meowed, hoping that I wouldn't make the situation seem worse than it actually was, "We're stopping them. We need to focus on food, not borders. I'll send one or two cats to mark the borders. ThunderClan and RiverClan should have enough food as it is, so they won't take any from us." Hopefully.
I needed to believe what I was saying to get my clan to believe it, but I could tell that Poppytail wasn't falling for it. Not wanting to question the leader's judgment, she backed away and gathered her patrol. Hopefully they would find something worth eating. Crowfood would be good right now...
Turning my attention to the medicine cat's den, I padded over to see each of the sick cats. I had to know how many cats were still in the clan. Our numbers had been dropping rapidly in the past few moons- too rapidly for any cat's liking.
Upon entering the den, I discovered Rosewillow mixing some herbs, with the help of her apprentice, Barkpaw.
"Branchstar," Rosewillow meowed, dipping her head to me. She turned her attention back to the sick and dying cats. "As you can see from the situation here," she stopped and gave one of the cats, Whiskerfoot, some herbs, "Our numbers are... decreasing." Her voice was grim.
"How many today?" I asked, fearing the answer. This was the first time today I had come to see her, which meant from last night to right now, by the look on her face, there were more dead cats.
"Ripplesong's kits," Rosewillow whispered, a tear trickling down her face. She looked exhausted, and like she had aged tremendously in the past few moons. "Sparrowkit died last night, not long after you left."
That hurt. A lot. Sparrowkit was always so full of life, always getting into trouble. I knew that he would've made a good warrior, along with his littermates. Jaykit was the calmest of the three, Sparrowkit the most playful, and Featherkit... she was the sweetest little kit you would ever meet.
"And the others?" I didn't even want to ask anymore.
"Featherkit was next," Rosewillow meowed quietly. "She was too weak to hold on. I tried to make her last journey painless. Jaykit though, he was in a lot of pain. He kept yowling and yowling..." Rosewillow's eyes closed tightly, tears threatening to fall any moment at the horrid memory. "Not long ago he quieted while I was taking care of the other cats. I should've known what happened. I... I sent Gorseblaze to bury the three of them."
"How's Ripplesong doing?" I asked. Losing a kit was hard, but losing three kits...
"She still hasn't woken up," Rosewillow mewed, shaking her head. "Branchstar, we're dying. Can't... can't you ask the other clans for help? There must be something they could do to help us!"
Fear was etched into every word she said, and I knew that she must be right. Nothing we had been doing so far was helping. All we had left was our pride, but to save the clan... we might have to get rid of pride itself.
"Tonight's the gathering, Branchstar," Rosewillow insisted, her voice and eyes pleading. "We're losing this fight- and all of our cats! How long will it be until we're all dead?!"
A few of the cats in the medicine cat's den looked over at us, clearly sleepy. They didn't know what we were talking about, nor were they able to focus on us for long before falling back asleep or falling into yet another coughing fit.
"You're right," I reluctantly agreed. Pride was what ShadowClan stood for. If we let it go... At least we might have a clan left. If we held on to our pride, what clan would there be? How long would it be before we all got sick? We were running out of herbs as it was.
"I'll ask for help," I agreed.
"Good," Rosewillow meowed. "Now, get out of my den. I don't want you getting sick too!"
"Take care of them," I whispered before exiting the den.
I looked around at the empty camp, remembering once how it was so full of life. My belly growled and grumbled again, but I ignored it. Others needed food more than me. I headed over to the nursery. My sister had been in the nursery for not very long, and I needed to check on her. Her kits were too cute; they just couldn't have the same fate as Ripplesong's kits! I wouldn't allow it!
I just poked my head in a little, seeing the tiny shape of my sister, Treepelt, lying in her bed of moss. She looked so frail with the giant wall of bedding that surrounded her. It broke my heart, hearing the tiny, hungry wails of her kits. Lightkit and Dawnkit, names of hope for a new day.
Both kits were small, and if they didn't get proper food, they wouldn't live much longer. I had to do this- I had to beg for help from the other clans. There was no other choice.
An old story came back to me. A story of a clan called SkyClan who was chased from the forest by the other four clans when they came asking for help. The leader, Cloudstar, had a mate, Birdflight, who had two small kits, not much older than Lightkit and Dawnkit. Cloudstar and SkyClan were forced out of the forest because of the other clans, when they needed help the most. Would ShadowClan be denied, and end in sickness? I sure as StarClan hoped not.
-x-
The night sky hung cold in the air. I was going to go to the gathering, bringing only a few warriors with me. Poppytail, Bushfur, Nightfeather and Russetpaw were all going with me, I had decided that. At first, I was against bringing an apprentice, but Poppytail thought it was a good idea.
Speaking of Poppytail, not long ago I had named her the new deputy of ShadowClan. Berryclaw, StarClan bless his soul, passed away earlier on in the day. The clan paid respects to him, briefly, but we hadn't much time to mourn. We were dying. More patrols had been sent off to see if any prey was left in the territory.
I took the four of them with me and headed towards the spot of the gathering, the island. We were the last of the clans to arrive, and when we did arrive, shocked whispers moved throughout the seated cats.
"Where are all of them?"
"Is that it for ShadowClan?"
"Are there only a few... because they're planning an attack on us? I wouldn't put it past ShadowClan!"
"They're so thin! Look at them!"
"Hey Branchstar, where's your clan?!"
"Shush! Don't be disrespectful Bramblepaw!"
I ignored their shock and headed straight to the center where I joined the other leaders.
"What's the meaning of this?" Harestar, the WindClan leader, asked. His tail flicked back and forth, and he looked as if blood0thirsty foxes might leap from the bushes. "Where's your clan?"
"This is all we could afford to bring tonight," I meowed, not hiding the tiredness from my voice. I participated in more than my fair share of patrols in the past few moons.
"What do you mean?" Lilystar, the gentle ThunderClan leader, asked. "Is everything alright?"
"My clan is dying," I admitted honestly, pausing to let the rest of the cats gasp in shock. My own cats hung their heads, as if they should be ashamed of the sickness and starvation.
"I'm asking you for help," I meowed to the other three leaders. I was pretty sure I could convince Lilystar. Harestar wasn't that trusting, so he might be hard. But Stormstar had always held a grudge against ShadowClan, so I wasn't sure if I could get his help.
"What happened?" Lilystar asked.
"A few moons ago, a sickness started spreading through our territory. Many of the prey creatures have died," I answered. "And anyone who hasn't caught the sickness now has to work extra patrols just to be able to find something to eat. Cats have been starving because of the sickness too, since they can't keep anything down."
"Where's Berryclaw?" Stormstar asked, eyes narrowed.
"Berryclaw's dead," I answered plainly. There was no point in holding anything back. "Froststem, Oakflower, Cloudwing, Reedfur, Darkwhisker, Applepaw, Flamepaw, Seedpaw, Sparrowkit, Jaykit, Featherkit, Ripplesong and Hollowpelt are also dead."
Many cats were shocked and scared at that. So many of our clan had died. Half the warriors, half the apprentices, three of the five kits, one of the two queens, our only elder... our deputy. They were all dead. And others were still sick and dying.
"My sister, Bushfur, has two kits. She named them after hope for a new day for ShadowClan: Lightkit and Dawnkit. Each of them isn't getting near what they need to survive right now, and I fear that they won't last much longer without help," I continued. "Four warriors and two apprentices lay in the medicine cat's den, losing the battle for life without food or herbs. We've run out... of everything."
The leaders exchanged looks. I prayed, for the sake of my clan, that they would help us. There was no way that we were going to survive if they said no. I knew that, and they knew that too. They held the future of my clan in their paws. If they denied us now, ShadowClan would fall.
Finally, they came to a decision.
"ThunderClan will help," Lilystar meowed, her eyes shining with kindness.
"WindClan will do what we can, too," Harestar meowed, his tail still flicking.
Everyone turned to Stormstar. He sighed, "RiverClan will help too."
"Thank you," I whispered, eyes wide. I could feel tears of joy running down my face. Cats from all clans cheered, accepting the fact that we were going to get the help that we needed. ShadowClan wouldn't fall.
"The clans made the mistake of not helping once," Stormstar meowed. "We shouldn't make the same mistake twice. SkyClan was lost due to our neglect. ShadowClan won't fall while I'm a leader in this forest."
"It should be added to the Warrior Code," Lilystar piped up. "No Clan shall deny another help when they truly need it." She smiled. "And ShadowClan needs it. Branchstar, do you want Bushfur to come over to ThunderClan camp for a while? She can stay in the nursery with us, so she won't get sick and she'll be well fed."
I nodded. "Thank you so much. Would I be able to send Tallheart with her? I don't think she'll go without her mate."
"Of course," Lilystar agreed.
"Then it's settled," Harestar meowed. "WindClan has no news other than our prey is running, and we're happy to share it with ShadowClan. Anyone else have news?"
The other leaders shook their heads.
"Then let us head to our camps, gather some prey, and bring some food to ShadowClan. We'll meet on the borders, okay?" Stormstar asked. I nodded. "Good. I hope you understand, we don't want to catch the sickness too. So if your warriors will meet us at the borders..."
"And I'll send a few warriors to help Bushfur and Tallheart with the kits," Lilystar meowed.
I smiled, proud of my warriors, proud of the other clans, and proud to be a leader. My clan would not fall. We would survive. Tomorrow, the light of the new day would shine at dawn, signaling the survival of the clan of the shadows. We wouldn't forget their kindness. Their brave hearts- every cat in the forest- is what will restore my clan. The hearts of the warriors.