A Fairytale Gone Wrong
My first one-shot! No flames please! Please read, relish, and review!
The sun's last rays shone faintly, but Forest barely noticed. He sat in his den, lost and deceived. A lump popped in his throat that he couldn't swallow. It couldn't disappear. His loss weighed heavily on his heart, seeming to grow heavier with each breath he took. His emerald green eyes were no longer sparking with the old kitten excitement everyday used to bring; instead it was bleak and expressionless, clouded, misty, and faraway. There was nothing left in this world that interested him.
A pang shook in his chest. I really looked for you, he wanted to tell her. I tried to find you… I tried to protect you from everything. If you had just let me come with you to IceClan…, with Ravenwing, and Lily- no, Lilysong now… I could have saved you from all of the trouble that happened between the Clans. I could have saved everyone perhaps… and none of this would have to happen. But then you had to come, being so remarkable and beautiful and different. If only you hadn't been, Snake would never have wanted you as a mate. You couldn't be normal and a she- cat that was like others… But then I wouldn't have fallen for you. But… why weren't you willing to be mine? Why did you have to be so alluring and dazzling? He wrapped his tail over his paws, feeling his throat convulse in pain. Holly… No, he was now Hollyshade. She was a warrior now, part of IceClan, and part of someone else's world while Forest waited for her, hoping that his first true love would come back to him.
Hollyshade, why did you have to leave me when I helped you stand up when you fell down, destroyed by your parents' betrayal? With a bleak smile curled over his lips, he closed his eyes. You would always by my Holly to me. He thought fiercely, though his head was lowered in the pain. She had another tomcat now. Snake. He was a rogue, ruthless and careless, but he was the one who caught Hollyshade's heart and ripped it, ill used her love. But still then, Hollyshade loved him to pieces. Perhaps she was startled and amazed by his fake courageousness, which would have been often called mouse-brained and stupid to others. Perhaps she was too blind to his mistakes and saw another "him", a him she imagined he was. And the painful thing Forest saw along the shadows and behind ferns was that she loved all sides of him.
I would have died for you, anytime. I would have gone to IceClan to accompany you. But you chose Snake, who didn't care… Forest blinked, pain throbbing and searing through his body. Snake didn't love you. He used you for power, for Hawkshadow's reign across the lands. And you never realized. Forest unsheathed his claws and sank them to the ground. Snake didn't want you to be a Clan cat. He wanted you to be fresh for him to use. Each word he realized sent ripples of lightning straight to his chest, paining him one by one. Forest's whiskers drooped sadly. He remembered her last words to him, after they had a brief reunion when they found each other. But by the time, Hollyshade was already carrying Snake's about-to-be-born kits. "I'm sorry Forest, but… Move on."
Forest scuffed up moss, trying to shape his nest comfortably, trying to distract himself as well. But each thought was forced in his mind, forcing him to continue to think about it. Hollyshade used to be his own. She used to be his whole future life when they became mates. She had bore his only one kit, holding back a racking cough when she bore a single innocent kit to him. But it was dead, as dreary as the new moon. And that kit meant nothing to him. Shimmer was up in the skies; probably watching painfully Snake visit Hollyshade and Snake's own kits. Hollyshade was never the same again after Snake fiddled with her. She never had the same fiery temper in him, and chose to be a queen so she could hide behind others and take care of kits after getting her mind poisoned by Snake.
She hurt him, just to fly free from her past. Was the cost of freedom so high that she had to use his pain to balance it?
A rustle in the leaves caused Forest to turn dejectedly until it felt like all the energy was restored in him, he could leap a moon's worth of times and his paws could fly in the wind.
"Holly…" He whispered, astonished and amazed.
Hollyshade twitched her tail uneasily. "I'm Hollyshade now, Forest." She mewed quietly.
After an awkward moment of silence, Hollyshade shifted her paws uncomfortably. "Do you want to talk?"
Forest felt a sudden surge of fury burst out of his chest. "No." He hissed coldly, turning away to crush his finished hare's skull.
Hollyshade sighed. "Look, I know I hurt you by telling you to move on when you were so glad to see me." She gazed at Forest, almost expecting a protest, but Forest just stared warily. Hollyshade curled her tail over her paws. "I'm happy, Forest. I'm−"
"You're happy without me." He meowed flatly, stating the obvious, his golden- brown fur beginning to bristle hostilely.
"Forest…" Hollyshade spoke more slowly and calmly, as if trying to put some sense into Forest.
Forest watched her, his eyes unreadable. "If all you wanted to do here was to apologize, then you better be going." He meowed tonelessly, the expression on his face cold and unforgiving.
"I know we had this thing going on−" meowed Hollyshade, but it was quickly cut off with a roar of rage from Forest. "We were mates, Hollyshade! How could you forget that? And now you run off with a rogue who barely cares for you, trying to use you for Hawkshadow's reign over the lake!"
Hollyshade opened her mouth to protest, but closed it, curling her tail over her paws and merely staring at Forest. The two stayed silent for a moment before Forest rose to his paws shakily, mewing softly. "Hollyshade…" He hesitated before pressing on, "Why did you have to leave me alone?"
Hollyshade didn't speak. Memories of them were swimming like minnows in her smothering emerald green eyes before hissing, "I thought you would understand! I thought you would let go of me when you knew I was happy, after I left to follow Lilysong and Ravenwing! You changed, Forest," She snarled angrily. "If you were still the one you were before, I wouldn't have to come and knock some sense into you!"
Forest didn't need a moment's pause before hissing back at her, "You changed me! I was always this weird loner always traveling alone, but then you came, lost and shattered by your parents! Those were one of my happiest moments, but then you left. And that's what changed me! I loved you!"
Hollyshade's eyes flickered with sadness. "S…Snake loves me…" She quivered, unhappiness filtering the den.
"I thought of you as a best friend, as someone I could count on…but I guess…I thought…" "Yes, you did. You thought wrong." Forest spat softly.
Hollyshade lowered her head, eyes glistening with dreadful pain. "Snake…" Her voice wavered. "He's−" Forest interrupted her, narrowing his eyes to slits. "Snake is no better than me!" Forest hissed. "He's a rogue who terrorizes innocent cats, and ruins their lives!"
Shaking her head, Hollyshade whimpered softly. "Snake…is different inside. Everyone thinks of him as ruthless and uncaring, but inside, he's different. He loves me…and Stormstar, leader of IceClan, understands that, and I hope you do too because..." He voice broke painfully. "You're my best friend, better than Ravenwing and Lilysong…so I hope to see your approval."
Suddenly, Forest could a new canopy of light shine through, a new canopy of knowledge, and a new canopy of understanding. "Hollyshade…I miss you." That was all he could say.
Hollyshade's green eyes glowed. "Me too, Forest. But you'll have to move on and let go of the past." She urged gently. "Everyone has mistakes, but I don't regret I thing…of meeting you…and then finding Snake…and then starting a new life." Her eyes spotted a rose blossom, and she purred softly. "Forest… Move on."
Forest jerked sharply toward Hollyshade. "I can never move on." Forest snapped. Hollyshade twitched her tail-tip, her face now softening. "Why? I did. And I found a new blossom, a new start, a new life."
Her words hit him like claws scraping his skin. "You're just a queen."
"Oh really?" Hollyshade's whiskers were twitching disbelievingly. "A queen doesn't only nurse kits. I hunt for the Clan occasionally, and when there are battles, I fight for my kits."
Forest sighed. "But…is it that worth destroying my love?" His eyes were now focused on Hollyshade, who flinched as if a jagged rock slammed into her. "I…I don't know." She meowed simply. Forest gave a displeased huff. "Why?" Hollyshade was about to answer, but a strike of pain hit her.
Crouching, she gave a horrified screech. "My kits are coming!" Forest widened his eyes. "Did you come alone?" He hissed frantically.
"Yes!" She panted, giving another pain-filled shriek. "You know the process, do you?" Forest growled, shifting his paws anxiously. Hollyshade gave a tight nod before screeching and the first kit slipped onto the ground, crumpled. No, no, no… Something isn't going right. Forest shivered as a spasm hit her, Hollyshade's pelt rippling in the pain, Forest lunged for a stick, shoving it to her, but it splintered in Hollyshade's mouth as quickly as he gave it to her.
Blood clogged his senses, only remembering to yowl out at Hollyshade to push.
Hollyshade gave another raspy wail, the second kit slithering into the world. Forest nudged her encouragingly, but Hollyshade could hardly feel him. She sat numbly, giving birth to the third kit as it shuddered in a pool of crimson blood.
"Tell…Snake…I…love…him…and…that…if….I had a…choice…I would've never left him…" She gave another moan, coughing out pure scarlet. Forest did not pay attention to the three kits, rasping his tongue over a blood smothered Hollyshade. "Hollyshade…you'll be alright."
But the words seemed flat toward him, and even Hollyshade gave a faint snort. "Of course… I won't…" She croaked. "Just… take care of… my kits." Her face twisted as a fourth kit tumbled out, still and motionless. Forest's face was bitter in unbearable pain. "I'll get Snake to care for them." He calmed her, but the dying she cat was weakly shaking her head.
"Can…you…keep my kits…for me…?" She gasped out before her breath grew rough and rugged, and her flank stilled.
"No…" Forest whispered. Standing on unsteady paws, he licked her cold cheek. "I'm letting you go wherever you want to go, Hollyshade. I love you."
He was almost sure that Hollyshade smiled.
A moon later…
A kit tumbled out of the ferns, purring in excitement. "Hey, Rainkit, check this out!" Forest stared blankly at Aspenkit, Hollykit, and Rainkit. The kits' names felt strange under his tongue, but he didn't mind. All three were almost the sinister shape of Hollyshade, reminding him of his true love. He had brought them to IceClan to raise them, like Hollyshade would have, and named the kits everything that reminded him of Hollyshade.
Aspenkit, because Hollyshade and him first met in a nearby aspen tree. Hollykit, because she bore her mother's name, and Rainkit, because he always remembered that Hollyshade wanted to name Shimmer Rainkit, but it didn't seem fit to a kit that was sent to the stars before it was even allowed to live.
Forest stayed in IceClan, the place where Hollyshade's kits grew, and were now warriors, Shadowfire, Ashblaze, and Spiderfoot as he drifted to his memories with Hollyshade.
Teaching her how to hunt and seeing her bring back a squirrel proudly…
Watching her protect him from a fox bravely…
"Forest!" Aspenkit's loud squeak stirred him out of his nostalgia. "Hi, Aspenkit," He rumbled in greeting. He lived in the elders' den, so Hollykit and her littermates often visited him there. "Hollykit says I can't play because I look like weirdo Snake!" Aspenkit whimpered.
Forest purred, nuzzling her in a fatherly way. "Tell Hollykit that she can come over here with Rainkit to listen to a story." He mewed, and Aspenkit sprang off, yowling out, "Hollykit, Rainkit! Forest wants to tell a story!"
Two silhouettes bounded toward Forest, squealing in excitement. "Tell me about the time when you and Hollyshade met each other!" Rainkit suggested eagerly. Hollykit shoved her fiercely. "No! Tell me about you and Hollyshade in the battle!" Rainkit gave a mewling protest, but Forest just purred, licking each of the kits. "I'll tell about the promise." He announced. Aspenkit nodded eagerly. "Okay!"
"Once upon a time..."
How was it? Please review!