A/N: Just another short little thing that I was messing around with. Not much, I know, but I like short things. I think they catch peoples attention better.
Run, says the voice, run fast my children.
It echoes through the forest, through the mountains, through the lake. There is not a single cat who does not hear it that night, eyes going wide and turning onto the sky. Some recognize the voice from distant memories, but most of them don't. Most of them just wonder what's going on.
It is not often that a voice comes from the sky, after all. Even more unusual is to hear it and heed that warning.
Which is not what many of them do, mind you. Most back away from whatever they are doing, turn tail and just flee to their camps. To their mothers and brothers and leaders, begging for reassurance.
Only three leave, one from each Clan.
Nightfeather - a black she-cat who has always feared the stars, for she was not always from the Clans.
Ashcloud - a dark grey tom that is more scars than fur, and takes every warning to heart.
Morningpetal - a cream pelted queen that has lost her kits, and has no reason not to believe.
So they flee and they flee and they flee, never once hearing the voice tell them to stop. At the mountains, they encounted wolves, who howl and bite and claw, but don't kill. Just maim, to the point that Nightfeather will never again be able to use her hindleg.
The voice speaks to them then, once more.
Don't leave her, it warns them, or you shall be left as well.
So they do not. Ashcloud and Morningpetal help her along, every step of the way. Eventually, they leave the mountain and they find a lake, with clear waters and much prey. They eat and they sleep and they rest. Except one day, Ashcloud does not wake.
Again, the voice speaks to them.
Stay with him, it warns them, or you shall be left as well.
So they do. They take turns watching their aged friend, who sleeps but is not dead. And one day, almost half a moon later, he wakes up. His eyes are wide and there is a new light in his eyes.
Ashcloud tells them of a tragedy and much blood that was spilt. The voice says more.
Return home, it warns, but do not expect to find living.
So they do, once more trecking through the mountains. This time, they make it unharmed and their speed is quick. This time, they are not greeted by a forest or a lake or a plain, but by burnt grass and the remnants of what once was their home.
For the last time, the voice speaks to them.
Rebuild, it says, and one day you will join me in the Stars just as your kin have done.
And so they do, making a new Clan and always listening for the voice to call to them again. After all, Moonrabbit was a grand cat in life. She is an even grander one now, in death. And her warnings should always be heeded.