A/N: A buddy recently got me Tallstar's Revenge as a gift (It's kinda tied with Crookedstar's Promise for fav. Super Edition), and this song (which I recently discovered) makes me think of him and his story line. It would be a great "Tallstar's Revenge MAP". (Credit me if it happens please!)
The lyrics will be removed since we're not supposed to have them in stories; I just left them for the moment so that you can know where they are (will find substitute).
Review please: Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: The book/characters are owned by Erin Hunter, the song by Of Monsters & Men.
Crystals-Talltail Songfic
Dawn washed over the moor, sky gold and dusty rose as the Sun woke. It was a clear day, the overcast that was usually so prominent staying away. Tallpaw followed Dawnstripe, a spring in his steps and the wind in his fur. In his excitement, he tripped on a rabbit hole and smacked nose-first into the scrambled dirt. Shrewpaw gave a mocking laugh. Wormpaw! Tallpaw gave him a half-hearted glare, then pelted past him with a cry of Race you! His denmate shouted indignantly and tried to catch up with him in vain.
Wind in his whiskers, causing his eyes to water, he became a blur. There was a freedom to the moor, something that sang in his heart like the rising sun. He was able to enjoy the openness, let his disdain for the cramped, dark tunnels run free without guilt. He was a moor runner! Fast as the rabbit and free as the birds.
He looked at Reena, her joy reflected in his eyes. They were friends, in a way, both outcasts. She had no problems with his parents being Tunnelers while he himself was a Moor Runner.
He tried not to let Sandgorse's glares or avoidance hurt him; he loved his father too much, but not enough to override his fear of the tunnels. He tried not to let the stinging barbs of Palebird's rebukes harm him. He was a Moor Runner, with the wind in his heart.
He watched Sparrow leave, his orange eyes burning into the tom's brown pelt. Fire burned in his heart. Dreams of dark mud fell around him, and haughty glares that belonged to the rogue watched him. There was only one thing he could do.
He would find Sparrow. Make him pay. He began his journey, to the distant mountains and further places that called him from Outlook rock. He would avenge his father, then travel the wide world. A sense of purpose filled him. He ran to his goal, black-and-white pelt a blur across the moor.
Talltail ran with Jake, the orange kittypet showing hidden skills. The days and nights were a joyful change in his vengeance, and the gain of a friend - a best friend - eased the grief that filled his heart. Clancat, kittypet; it didn't matter. They were best friends, and Talltail wouldn't wish anyone else to be by his side.
He helped Sparrow get back on the trail to camp, an emptiness filling him. He felt cold and numb. All the fire of revenge went out, and inside him was a void. What had he almost done? How could he almost kill an innocent cat, one that his father had died to save?
They left, and a he felt a hollowness at leaving Reena, but she would always stay with Sparrow's rogues. He gave her one last glance, his orange eyes reflecting the same forlorn emotion in hers. Then they left for good.
Jake would leave soon too, but where would he go? After all that he had done?
Then the answer came to him, as he pelted across the moors he once called home. As Jake's farewell faded behind him, and as the housecat's words echoed in his head and heart. His paws knew where to take him. Where he belonged, and would forever belong.
Windclan.
Home.
He wasn't a moor runner, or a tunneler. He was a Warrior, and always would be, until his last breath.
In the golden grass and purple heather, a black and white cat sprinted, over networks of tunnels and rabbit warrens, as sunset painted through the overcast sky and became golden orange, like the shining eyes of the cat going home.