Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors.
|| A Burden to Hold ||
xxx
She felt her life blood flow freely.
Across her belly she felt a great throbbing sensation where the teeth had met her flesh.
The she-cat knew it wasn't a good time for humour, but as it was her nature to look on the bright side of life, she wondered briefly how her attacker could enjoy the taste of fresh mud.
Her thoughts wandered to her kits, left alone in her home, The Cave of Rushing Water.
'At least they have the Tribe,' she thought silently.
Her gold eyes shone with the discomfort and pain she was in when her attacker bit down harder.
She felt her back paw snap and she screeched in agony.
The cat felt her body begin to shut down. Her eyes closed in exhaustion, as unconsciousness washed over her.
She felt a memory resurface, from long ago.
Stoneteller nodded to two cave-guards, Fog and Claw, who waited patiently for their leader to send them on their way.
It was routine for cave-guards to patrol alone, in search of new nests for birds that could prey on the mountain cats.
'Fog, before you leave, take another cave-guard. Star isn't on duty I don't think. She will do well to accompany you.'
Fog, the bigger of the two, nodded and padded off to find the cave-guard Star That Shines on Water.
'Closest to the end of our territory, one of the prey-hunters reported a lot of eagles. I believe they have a new nest there, it is after all nesting season.' Stoneteller meowed.
Claw rumbled his agreement, glancing up as Fog returned with the she-cat Star, who had a pretty dappled coat of amber and black.
'Report to me when you get back.' Stoneteller instructed, giving the cats the order to set out.
Star followed the two toms with practised ease, as they treaded on the stones near the exit from their cavern home. The rocks were coated with water from the waterfall that gave their tribe their name.
The she-cat analysed her companions as she followed.
Fog was a burly cat that said few words, but the words he would speak were meaningful.
When she looked at Claw, he turned to blink in her direction. He was her age and a handsome brown tabby that was becoming a good, strong cave-guard. She felt her cheeks colour with embarrassment.
She was infatuated with him, although in her heart she did not love him. Star knew he liked to toy with her, because he knew that not only did she get all flustered around him, but that she was carrying his kits.
Star was not old, still fairly young. It was a wise decision to bear kits now, so once they were old enough to be to-be's, she would have her whole life to complete her duty as cave-guard.
Fog's voice broke her thoughts, when he turned to them and meowed, 'We should search around carefully. Stoneteller thinks there are eagles nesting here.'
Star and Claw nodded. Nesting eagles were very territorial, for good reason. They wanted their young to live, not get killed by some mountain cats.
As the patrol headed forward, they crouched behind a rocky outcrop. Star resisted the urge to clean off some mud that was glued to her neck in an awkward position. She had the hours of practise to ignore it; although she knew when they were out of danger she would need to fix it.
All three cats tensed when they heard a screech not far from their hiding spot.
'Sounds like the eagle found some prey.' Claw commented. Star watched as he moved without fear, towards the source of noise.
She tried to call out to him, when Fog nudged her back.
'Stay there, I'll sneak near to see. Don't worry; I won't be reckless like him.' He meowed.
Star nodded as she heard him pad quietly away. It would not be hard if the eagle found a mouse, because cave-guards could take down eagles with ease. With Fog on the way, she felt content to sit patiently.
But then she heard Fog's battle cry.
Sitting up so she could just see above the rock, her heart almost stopped at the sight.
A huge cat, easily four times bigger than any cat in her Tribe, loomed over the broken body of Claw, while Fog leapt at the beast with claws outstretched.
Star had seen enough before she too joined the fight, rushing in from one side to attack the vicious animal. As soon as she got near, she narrowly avoided a killing blow from the creature's paws, but too slow to avoid a deep gash in her side.
Fog saw her and broke rank for a few moments to hiss, 'Run Star, we can't win this. Warn Stoneteller!'
Star watched in fear as the great animal took its chance to knock Fog away with such a great force that Star cried out in surprise.
The beast that resembled a great cat turned its massive head to glare in her direction. Its jaws parted, showing razor sharp teeth.
Star turned and fled as fast as she could, towards the Cave of Rushing Water.
It was too late, she realised as she neared her Tribe's home, that she had left a trail of blood the whole way.
Star crashed into the cave, her hurt lurching with fear. Cats around her stopped to stare, wondering why she was in such a hurry.
She saw Stoneteller hurry towards her, his eyes curious and cautious as he noticed Fog and Claw's absence.
Just before she collapsed, as she heard yowls of terror as the creature that had followed her, discovered their cave home, she whispered to Stoneteller, 'Sharptooth... run...'
Unconsciously, Star squeezed her eyes closed tightly, as if the memory was hurting her.
To ease her pain, her mind flicked back to a more recent event...
Star had been asked to watch the Tribe's prisoner.
Although she had her kits, they were almost old enough to not need her, and so she had let one of the other kit-mothers to take care of her litter for a while.
Her dappled coat rippled with unease as she saw the cat called Stormfur; watch her with an angry gaze.
Another cave-guard, Crag, stood on her other side, avoiding eye contact with Stormfur all together.
The Tribe was not a cruel group of cats, and it hurt many of them to use force and keep a cat against its will. But it was Stoneteller's orders that the chosen cat, (Stormfur), be kept under guard.
Star glanced at him again.
This time a ripple of guilt washed over her.
If she had not brought back Sharptooth all those moons ago, Stormfur would not have been needed to save her home.
Star knew she had lied through her teeth when Sharptooth had left with a poor cat as prey, the day she first saw him. She could not tell Stoneteller that she had forgotten that she had been bleeding, and that she had led Sharptooth to a cave full of cats he could easily eat.
So she had told him that on her way back, Sharptooth had appeared killing Fog and Claw, and wounding herself.
Crag glanced at her sullen face, and assumed she was simply tired due to being a kit-mother. She was out of shape due to the moons of being off duty.
'Star, why don't you return to the kit-cave, I'll be fine.' He meowed.
The she-cat nodded gratefully and decided that it would make her feel better to see her kits.
As she made her way towards the cave, she heard a cat cry out, 'Sharptooth! Sharptooth is here!'
Star turned and saw with horror, the great mountain lion advancing into the cave. He looked up and chose the kit-cave to take his pick, easily flinging off the countless cave-guards that threw themselves at him.
'No!' She yowled, hurtling herself forward.
Even if the kits were of a cat she did not love, and even if her affection for them was not as strong as other kit-mothers, her instinct to protect them was great enough for her to face her fear of Sharptooth.
Star watched in satisfaction as her blows drew blood from the lion's flank.
He turned, enraged and without hesitation, snapped her up in his jaws.
Star felt only shock and pain, and she numbly heard cats calling her name, as she was taken away from the Tribe by her enemy.
Star groggily awoke, still being carried in the jaws of Sharptooth. The last memory had been of only a dawn ago.
But she realised all those moons ago, that her situation had been caused by her lack of thought in a dire situation, in which she may as well have given herself then, and saved the countless lives lost up until this moment.
Star glumly noticed her surroundings, through blurry eyes, that it was the same spot that she had first seen Sharptooth. The irony was not lost on her.
Her last thoughts before she fell unconscious once more, was that if she had sacrificed herself for her Tribe moons ago, she would have at least died a noble death.
Ok so first, I've never seen a story to do with Star That Shines on Water. So if someone else has done this... I'm sorry, but I seriously didn't know. (Although there are many about characters that don't have a definite ending, i.e. we don't know if they died, so bear with me on that.)
Second, I've looked but I didn't find a description of Star, so also bear with me if you're visual is different to mine. Mine is that she is a dappled tabby (cause I love them :P) with amber/gold eyes. When I think of her name, I don't think grey/white, I think tabby. And most mountain cats are tabbies w/mud :3
Third, I had this crazy idea, and I hope it works.
- Mooneh.