"Wait! No, stop!"
Black fur streaked through the trees, not stopping as thorns and brambles snagged at her pelt and tore at her pads. The physical pain was nothing compared to the agony of her broken soul. Her life was meaningless - she was but an accident. A mistake. Her very existance shattered the laws that all Clans had lived by for countless moons, shattered the laws that she had dedicated her life to following. Many probably saw her as nothing but a stain on the Warriror Code, and all stains faded away eventually.
"Hollyleaf!" Jayfeather's rasping call came from somewhere behind her, "Stop!"
She knew her brothers were following. Lionblaze and Jayfeather would persue her to the end; she knew that. But she couldn't go back now. Not after revealing a hidden truth that had twisted the lives of so many. Leafpool, Crowfeather, Squirrelflight, even Brambleclaw, none of them would ever forgive her. She had tried to protect the secret, even gone the lengths to kill Ashfur after the heartbroken tom had found out. She had killed him without a second thought; killing him as she would a peice of prey, for the sake of her own reputation. But it hadn't been enough in the end; after doing so much to protect the secret, it had been her who had revealed it to the four Clans.
"Hollyleaf!" Lionblaze was catching up to her, pain searing in his voice, "Come back!"
In her heart she wanted to. She wished that her and her brothers could be normal; not bound by the prophecy, not bound by the lies that had formed much of their upbringing. But nothing would ever be the same. Not now. She wasn't a clan cat anymore. She wasn't anything now. The freedom felt warming. No longer a living lie, no more bound by such laws.
In a few heartbeats, she would be free.
"Hollyleaf!" Lionblaze was almost with her. Jayfeather's blindness hindered his running, and her began to fall behind amongst the trees that made up ThunderClan territory. She didn't look back. She couldn't dare cross the borders; ShadowClan were hostile at the best of times, and Crowfeather would claw her to shreds if she ever set foot on WindClan territory.
Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. But would StarClan welcome her? Probably not.
There was only one place to go.
A shiver peirced her heart as the ran towards her destination. The tunnels were dangerous; pitch black and prone to flooding. But to her it was a way out, maybe she could finally be rid of the daunting prospect of living. Wandering around in darkness for eternity seemed like her best option now. She'd never see any cat again. She'd never see anything again. She liked the thought.
The tunnel entrance was in sight. A small hole in a little hill, unstable rocks forming the enterance and surrounded by a prickley thorn bush. Her paws seemed to skim the smooth grass as she pelted for the hole.
"Hollyleaf!" Lionblaze cried from behind. His mew made her slow slightly, and emotion took over her system. Could she really leave her brothers behind?
Lionblaze had noticed her slow. He raced for his sister, hoping with all his heart that she didn't move any further towards the hole. He felt like he was running in slow motion; each agonising second taking so long he felt he would burst with worry. Hollyleaf had stopped in the entrance; head hung, tail drooping, black fur ragged and torn. Shining bood dripped from a particularly deep scratch on her side. She looked a mess; physically and mentally. She'd been broken beyond repair. Lionblaze knew that even if he could convince Hollyleaf to return with him and Jayfeather, he'd never truely have his sister back. The real Hollyleaf had gone; lost somewhere amidst all the lies and betrayal. Bringing back her shell of a body was the best he could hope for.
"Hollyleaf, dont go!" He called again as he gradually approached his battered sister.
This time she turned to look at him.
And he immeadiatly wished she hadn't.
Her hind leg brushed against the side of the hole. Time seemed to pass even slower as a low grumbling emitted from above the dark hole. The noise echoed through the trees and in Lionblaze's ears. A single rugged rock tumbled down the hill, landing beside Hollyleaf's frozen paw. Even from this distance, he could clearly see the fear glistening in the she-cat's emerald eyes.
More rocks began their desent. Hollyleaf stood, unable to move, in the shadow of the falling stones. Her sides heaved with fear and her jet black fur stood on end. Yet she found herself rooted to the cold stone entrance. Maybe it was StarClan's will that she died a painful death, crushed by falling stones, as if each stone represented a cat that she had ruined the life of. She could imagine Crowfeather's snarling face, the defeated figure of Leafpool, Breezepelt hissing at the cat who was now his half-sister. Maybe even Brambleclaw's broken gaze, Firestar's humilliation at the gathering, Ashfur's dying splutters that haunted her still. Maybe this was how she would pay for all that she had cost others. Perhaps, at least, her death would have more meaning than her life.
But it wasn't to be.
A heavy forced slammed into her side, sending her rolling away from the enterance. Loose strands of black fur fluttered before her eyes as she was sent screeching away from the rockfall, the faces of cats fading into panic. She slammed hard into a close by tree, knocking the wind from her lungs and leaving her sprawled out at the base of the tree. The soft blades of grass comforted her as she lay there; dazed and bewildered, the sound of falling rocks blocking out everything else. Scarlet clouds began to blur her vision as blood from a new wound dripped down her face. She watched each drop carefully; its delicate shape and glittering colour, before it fell like rain onto the grass below. Only when her brothers voice peirced the clammer of rockfall did she look up.
"Lionblaze! Hollyleaf!" Jayfeather screeched, skidding to a hault beside the mound of rocks. Only a few pebbles remained falling, eventually finding their place at the bottom of the pile when everything else settled. Dust swirled around in patterens around the two remaining cats. Hollyleaf caught sight of Jayfeather, crouched in fear near the foot of the rockpile. His fur stook out as hers had done heartbeats before. His fear scent could be scented clealy amongst the dust.
"Jayfeather..." She croaked, doing her best to sit up, but ultimatly failing. She slumped down again, legs unstable, paws wet with blood and sight blurred by blood and dust. Thankfully, he seemed to be able to get to her.
"Hollyleaf" Jayfeather pressed his fur into hers, "Where's Lionblaze?"
Her other brother was nowhere to be seen. His scent, along with her own and that of Jayeather was thick in the air. But the golden tom wasn't with them. Panic rose through her body and she turned to face the rockfall as she registered what had just happened.
"Hollyleaf?" Jayfeather had clearly sensed her sudden change in emotion. His sightless blue gaze rested on her, but she couldn't divert her gaze from the mound of rocks. Her brothers body was somewhere below the deadly stones. The brave tom had given his life for hers. Her fearless brother, a cat the clan depended so much on as a fighter and hunter, was no more.
And it was her fault.
"Hollyleaf?" Jayfeather repeated his question, his uneasiness spreading into her like a cold chill.
"He's dead" Hollyleaf muttered the words without thinking, "He's really dead..."
"What...?" Jayfeather couldn't quite believe it, and for once he wished for the sight of normal cats, "He..."
"The rockfall" Hollyleaf still didn't have the courage to look away, "He saved my life. He... He's dead" The words were flat and cold. She couldn't find any emotion to put into the words. Tears flooded her eyes, washing out the crimson blood and grey-brown dust. Jayfeather stiffened beside her.
"No..." His mew was thick with greif, "Lionblaze..."
If only she had shown more courage. If only she had been able to confront the cats who had challenged her. That's what Lionblaze would have done. Her brother had been loyal to the end. Not just to his Clan, but to his littermates most of all. He had made the ultimate sacrifice for a lost soul.
"Hollyleaf" Jayfeather spoke quietly, "We need to go back to camp..."
"No" She cut him off before he could suggest it, "I'm staying here tonight" Her words were hard to get out, "You go back if you want. I'm going to say a proper goodbye to him"
He didn't try to argue. Together, the two cats sat, side by side as the sun started to rise. The first rays of golden light streaked down on brother and sister, and on the rockpile that served as a grave. For now, for the last time, they were together. Both wanted the moment to last for many moons, but with every passing heartbeat, dawn drew closer.
"See you in StarClan, brother"
"What!" Firestar's horrified mew echoed off the stone walls of his den. For Hollyleaf, being encased inside the rock was as terrifying as facing Firestar himself. The flame-coloured tom was reacting badly to the news.
"He died in a rockfall" Jayfeather tried to calm his distraught leader, Hollyleaf was thankful that he had not mentioned the fact that she had tried to run away. Firestar's eyes seemed full of thought, and he paced back and fouth in the confine of his den.
"Oh, no, no, no..." Firestar seemed to be wrapped up in his own world of thought.
"Firestar?" Hollyleaf was surprised, to say the least, "Firest-"
"The prophecy!" He seemed to shout at no cat in particular, "The prophecy has failed! The Dark Forest will destroy us all!"
"What?" Jayfeather's mew suddenly turned serious at the mention of the prophecy, "Firestar, what are you talking about?"
"It is not as planned" He stared into the space between Jayfeather and Hollyleaf, looking out with eyes that did not seem to be his own, "StarClan have lost control of events. This should not have happened!"
Both cats stood wide eyed as their leader stared off into nothingness. Hollyleaf was sure that he would leap and attack either of them at any minute. She tensed her muscles, just in case.
"It is the beggining of the end!" Firestar began to foam around the mouth, his body shook and his claws slid in and out repeatedly. Jayfeather deduced he was having some kind of vision, but it was affecting him physically, "There is nothing we can do now. Dark forces will come and no cat can stop them" His head hund and his tail lashed from side to side, "All is lost!"
"Firestar, what do you mean?" Jayfeather failed to see how Lionblaze's death could cause all this, he could sense too many emotions pulsing through the ginger leaders body, "I dont understand"
"No..." Firestar's voice was suddenly normal again, the foam around his mouth had faded away and his eyes had lost the crazed sheen, "This is a dark time, Jayfeather. Be strong, for soon we may not have a clan to defend"