Crookedfoot sighed, limping back to the elders den. His back left foot was beginning to ache again. He sighed again and changed his direction, back to the medicine cat's den. He stuck his head in. "Littleleaf?"
"Yes?" The small medicine cat had always been dear to him. She tilted her head. "Is it your foot again?"
"You guessed it." He smiled at his half-sister.
She looked it over and muttered something. She turned back to him. "Could you lift it a little when you walk? Dragging it doesn't help it heal at all. And you got it dirty, too! My goodness, can you make my job any harder?"
He knew she wasn't really mad, just a little upset. He nuzzled her. "Sheesh, Littleleaf, you'd think I'd let the kits in here the way you're yelling at me!"
She snorted at that. "True. The kits make more of a mess." She eyes his foot. "But only a bit more." She began to clean it... again. And put herbs on it... again. And wrap it in cobwebs... AGAIN. He sighed. I really need to more careful.
Littleleaf looked it over AGAIN before nodding. "You're good. Scat."
He limped back out, making sure to keep his foot off of the ground.
So much had changed since that day.
(flashback)
He ran through the trees, feeling powerful. His foot was perfect.
He was whole.
He was Sunfur.
The patrol ran behind him: four cats. Dapplemoon, Eaglescar, Flowersong, and Echoleaf. All strong cats, capable of fighting off almost anything.
The smell hit his nose: badger. He couldn't stop; he ran right into it. The black and white beast turned to him with fury in its beady black eyes. He sprinted for the gorge.
No! A hole opened up beneath him, and his foot sank into it. He gasped in pain, pulled it out, and kept running. Right before he went over the edge, he turned and sprinted to the side. The badger went over.
He slowed to a stop. The patrol caught up to him. Flowersong tilted her head. "Sunfur?" The small grey tabby's golden eyes stared at him in worry. "Are you alright?"
He swayed and crashed to his side.
"Oh no!" Dapplemoon panicked, like always. "Eaglescar, go get Littleleaf! Come on, you guys, we have to get him back to camp!"
Echoleaf nuzzled his cheek. "It's okay, my love. Everything will be okay."
They were wrong. Littleleaf tried as hard as she could, but she couldn't make his foot work again. "The bone was shattered. I can do nothing." Her words had haunted his mind for all eternity.
(end flashback)
Crookedfoot's head bowed. He had a life ahead of him. The chance to be deputy, skill, good looks, a mate...
Echoleaf had borne his kits. She died giving birth to his stillborn young, still trying to live. She knew him, and knew he would blame himself for her death. He had loved her more than she could dream.
His heart, always fragile to begin with, had cracked like a stone in a fire. This stone, however, split in the fires of grief. The stone that had once been a heart, now a heavy lump in his chest.
He sighed and went back to the elder's den.
A kit played in a shaft of sunlight, and he couldn't resist watching.
Songkit. Yes, that was her name, Crookedfoot remembered. The daughter of his brother.
Said relative walked over. "Hi, Crookedfoot. How are you doing?"
The sympathy in Mousefrost's voice was the piece of prey that broke the cat's jaw. Crookedfoot whirled. "Be quiet, would you?"
Mousefrost blinked. "I-I only wanted to say hi..." He trailed off as the fire in Crookedfoot's eyes grew.
Crookedfoot ran from the camp. He couldn't stay. It wasn't right. He wasn't Crookedfoot, he was Sunfur. He was the greatest warrior in ThunderClan. He was the.. the...
Realization swept over his shoulders. No, that wasn't realization that did that. It was the wind of a coming storm. But the knowledge of the truth was powerful.
He was weak. He was powerless. He was lame. He could barely run the distance he had just sprinted without passing out in exhaustion.
He truly deserved the name Crookedfoot.
The fire in his foot, unnoticed in the bonfire of knowledge, suddenly blazed bright. He glanced down. Crimson seeped down through the cobwebs.
He couldn't bring himself to care. The wound would most likely kill him.
He would get to see Echoleaf again.
The first tongues of pain lapped around his foot like water. This water, however, fed the flames instead of destroying them. The agony that lanced through his entire body felled him like a Twoleg would chop down a tree. His legs buckled as his vision blurred. A voice echoed in his head. "Oh, my love... why do you torment yourself so?"
"Echoleaf? Wh-where are you?" He looked around, wincing from the pain in his foot.
"I am here, my love. Come, walk with me."
"Walk with you? Where?"
"Across the fields of stars, my love. Across the fields of stars." Echoleaf's gentle voice soothed his weary mind.
He coughed. A scarlet film began to cloud his eyes. "Why do we die? Cats, I mean."
"We die because we know that everything has an end. Even the sweetness of life." That made sense. A little.
"I will come." A strange feeling enveloped his body, a feeling of loss and gain. His vision flashed red-black before going back to normal. He sighed at the feeling of weightlessness and freedom that encompassed his body. A slight tugging on his foot made him look and, watching the appendage with razor-sharp awareness, he saw the ghostly paw straighten. It was... it was okay. It wasn't crooked anymore. His life swirled away like dust on the wind, leaving him behind.
His mate appeared before him, silver swirling in her wake and stars gleaming in her fur. She purred. "Welcome to eternity, Sunfur."
I feel like the story should have ended differently, but I like this ending. Review, please! (I feel horrible asking, you should just do it without being asked -.- Meh, maybe it's just me.)