The stars gleamed brightly against the neon blue sky as a single cat padded out of the clearing. The tomcat stopped to sniff around a bit, then padded out of the Windclan camp into the icy leaffall night.
He attempted hunting for a bit, but too old and too slow to catch anything, he gave up on that. This cat was extremely old. His muzzle was gray, his son Breezeclaw was a full fledged warrior,his mate Nightcloud was in Starclan, and he could already hear Starclan whispering to him to join them.
He himself knew that he didn't have much time left on this planet and everything was peaceful in the clans. The threat of the prophecies about their new (well, not new now) homes had evaporated, prey was plentiful, and all of the clans were content with each other. The tomcat intended to enjoy it while it lasted.
The tom instinctively checked behind him to see if anyone of his clanmates were following him then looked back ahead; no one was near him. He was happy with that; even if his clanmates might worry about him being gone from the camp at the dead of the night. He was a special cat in the clans, remembered for his great deed to help the clans; him, and six others, known as the Travelers who had embarked on The Great Journey. His name: Crowfeather of Windclan.
Crowfeather then decided to switch from hunting to patrolling the camp, which was easier since he had absolutely no chance of succeeding in hunting. He padded towards the Thunderclan side of the territory and looked hopefully over to see if he would see anyone of his friends. Over the many, many seasons living in the homes, Crowfeather's grumpiness and dislike for others in the clans had evaporated. He was now friendly with all of his friends, and his friends kits, like Lionfur and Hollystripe of Thunderclan and Dawncloud and Moondust of Shadowclan.
Crowfeather didn't want to be in the elder's den chatting for the rest of his life; with the time he had left on earth, he wanted to use it usefully, not wastefully. When he didn't spot anyone in Thunderclan territory, he moved on to Shadowclan, hoping maybe to see Tawnypelt.
Suddenly, as Crowfeather started to head over to the Shadowclan border, it became incredibly hard to breathe. He panted and wheezed, and started to try to head back to Windclan, but collapsed. He shuddered and wailed pitifully; he was in a lot of pain. He knew it! He knew it was going to happen soon, but not this soon!
Crowfeather closed his eyes, wishing for some herbs for the pain he was in. He wanted to yowl for help, but, he was too far away to be heard. He tried to yowl again, but only managed to make a mew of pain, barley loud enough to be heard by anyone.
Suddenly, the sound of pawsteps flooded Crowfeather's ears. Warm scents he recognized filled his nostrils. Crowfeather snapped open his eyes to meet a very worried Squirrelflight with Bramblestar, Hollystripe and Lionfur running in her wake.
Squirrelflight sniffed him around and spoke to Bramblestar, "He needs help!"
"Hollystripe, get Jayfeather!" Bramblestar commanded her. Hollystripe took one look back at Crowfeather, and then bounded off into the woods towards Thunderclan camp.
Squirrelflight, Bramblestar and Lionfur waited anxiously for the arrival of Jayfeather and Hollystripe's return. Finally, Hollystripe and Jayfeather arrived with herbs in both their mouths.
By the time Jayfeather was done treating Crowfeather, he was in absolutely no more pain. Even if it was still hard to breathe, he was calm as could be. Squirrelflight and Bramblestar looked anxiously at Jayfeather, waiting to hear Crowfeather's fate.
"Better go get Kestralfang, Barkface, and Onestar," Jayfeather muttered. Crowfeather knew what would happen to him a heartbeat before Jayfeather had spoken. He was going to die. He could feel it. Everything in his body was slowing down; when he heard Jayfeather talking, it sounded like slow motion.
"I'll go," Squirrelflight immediately stated.
"No, I'll go," Bramblestar offered
"You're on your last life, Bramblestar," Squirrelflight argued
"You should be in the elders den, but you refuse," Bramblestar argued back.
"Listen, Bramblestar," Squirrelflight mewed calmly, "Yes, I know I am long overdue and I should be in the elders den. I have thought about it a lot, and, starting tomorrow I will retire, But I still think I should go. Even if I'm not as young as I used to be, I still can boost some extra strength for a friend." And without waiting for an answer from Bramblestar, she took off into the clearing.
"Even when I'm her mate and Clan leader, I can't get her to listen to me! She'll never loose her stubbornness, will she?" Bramblestar mewed humorously
"Not our mother," Jayfeather mewed
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One more cat ended up showing up with Squirrelflight; Onestar, Barkface, Kesteralfang, and Breezeclaw, his son.
Barkface looked from Jayfeather to Crowfeather and sniffed around. Breezeclaw looked around calmly, and spoke, "he's going to die, isn't he?" He realized
"Yes," Barkface mewed
"We should bare him farewell. He is in no more pain anymore," Jayfeather mewed.
"Goodbye, you old mangy furball," Squirrelflight mewed, " We'll miss you!"
"Goodbye, my good friend," Bramblestar mewed
"Bye,Crowfeather!" Hollystripe and Lionfur chorused
"Tell Leafpool I said hi," Jayfeather mewed
"You have served you're clan well, Crowfeather," Onestar mewed, " we will always remember you as a legend, and you will be honored by all….,"
Crowfeather could hear Starclan louder than ever. He was ready to leave. Suddenly, a warm scent washed over Crowfeather. It was Feathertail!
"come, Crowfeather," She mewed, "Come on! We have been waiting for you…,"
"Im coming, Feathertail," Crowfeather spoke those final words, then surrendered to the sleep that seemed to overcome him….
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