This one-shot is for LightClan's monthly story contest. The theme this month was 'Will You Stay?'. I hope you all enjoy!
The silvery disk of the moon shone brightly in the sky, lightening up the thick fog that coated the banks of the stream, giving it an ominous feel. The dew-covered pebbles clacked together as they were shifted by four soggy-furred paws. Soon more were pushed aside as several more paws followed after. The clattering eventually slowed down as they approached their destination: a large, wooden structure that arched over the flooded river. The lead cat scowled, his features almost lost in the heavy haze. This isn't how I want to lead my clan.
The lead cat, a dark grey tom named Toadstar, was a simple tom. He grew up in a simple family with two simple warriors as his parents and two simple siblings. He had a simple mentor and became a simple warrior. The day he became deputy was the first day he thought hey, maybe my life will be a little less repetitive and I'll have some real excitement in my life. And he wasn't disappointed. His mundane life turned a full circle, and from then on, everything he did seemed to be more exciting. And as soon as he became leader, he craved excitement. From being withheld of it for most of his life, he was surprised at how much there was to go around. But as soon as leaf-bare came and changed into green-leaf…
Not now, he hissed to himself. Toadstar kinked his tail over his back and the waiting cats streamed after him over the wooden structure. As their claws clinked against the planks of the smooth timber, the leader's yellow eyes were glowing with malice. As fierce as they seemed, he didn't seem to be mad at all. His muzzle was set in a straight line, his fur was lying flat on his back, and his claws weren't out more than they typically were. The only sign of irritation or reason why he seemed so bitter was his flashing eyes and the methodical swing of his tail behind him. Tonight was going to be an interesting gathering, to say the least.
Toadstar suddenly stopped behind a line of bushes that surrounded four large, towering oaks and turned to face his clan. "RiverClan!" he started, raising his voice, but keeping it low enough so the other clans on the other side of the barrier couldn't hear. "Tonight, as you may know, comes with an important announcement that may be shocking to the other clans. I am instructing you all now to not speak of it, even if prompted to, to any of the cats you mingle with this evening, no matter what clan or cat. I must be the one to bring the news to these dark-hearted cats, so that they may remember the wrongs they have acted upon us." The group in front of him yowled and growled softly in agreement, lashing their tails side to side in anger and eyes shining through the mist. The dark grey tom nodded, smirking, before flicking his tail for the clan to go. At once, they surged forward and through the green leaves. Toadstar followed shortly after him.
The sight that met him was one of typical. They were the last clan to arrive, not that he minded, but he could tell the other leaders atop the great rock that stuck out of the Earth in the middle of the clearing were irritated at his lack of concern. He smirked internally. Let them wait.
The RiverClan leader took his sweet time making his way to Great Rock, much to the dismay to the other clan leaders. He even felt giddy when the ThunderClan leader, Silverstar, flashed his fangs at Toadstar. Eventually, the grey tom clawed his way up the side of the boulder and settled himself atop it. Silverstar shot him a glare and Speckledstar, the WindClan leader, did the same, but hissed at him as well. Ivystar, the ShadowClan leader, merely gave him an indifferent look. Glad to see not everybody hates me, he thought as he sat near the back.
Speckledstar let out a loud yowl and the clearing went silent almost instantly. All eyes were trained on Silverstar as the large tom stepped forward.
"ThunderClan has been prosperous ever since new-leaf has come, and we are happy to announce three new warriors, Beechfrost, Mottlenose, and Ripplebreeze, as well as two new apprentices, Petalpaw and Darkpaw!" The ThunderClan leader paused as the clearing erupted in cheers for the newly-named warriors and apprentices. He waited till the roar died down to speak again. "Prey is plentiful, and besides this, I have nothing else to report."
Silverstar stepped back and motioned for Ivystar to step forward. The pretty tabby nodded and walked forward, though seemed to be struggling a bit. Toadstar slid a grey paw across the smooth surface of the stone. It's not slippery. I wonder what's troubling her… His thoughts were interrupted as she cleared her throat, beginning to speak.
"ShadowClan, despite the harsh and long leaf-bare, have made full recovery. We are deeply saddened by the passing of our previous leader, Palestar, our medicine cat apprentice, Blazepaw, and all of our elders. Greencough hit us hard this leaf-bare." Mournful murmurs could be heard as all of ShadowClan dipped their heads in grief, as well as some from other clans. "But from tragedy comes new life. Mallowfur, one of our queens, has recently given birth to two kittens, Kestrelkit and Newtkit." The clans cheered lightly. Ivystar took a shaky breath and Toadstar tilted his head slightly in confusion. "I-I will also be accompanying her in the nursery soon, as I am also expecting my own kits."
Toadstar sat frozen. No emotion flickered through his face, but his mind was racing, as with his heart that he couldn't control, no matter how he tried. It roared as fast as the waters in the gorge. She… she's expecting kits? Congratulatory yowls were heard below as the clans cheered for Ivystar and… Crowfoot. The tom seemed to be gloating near the front of the rock, basking in the attention. Toadstar felt his blood boil, but masked his hatred for the tom as Ivystar started speaking again.
"ShadowClan has nothing else to report." With a dip of her head, the dark silver tabby whisked past the other leaders as Toadstar got up to make his announcement. "I'm sorry…" she breathed as she passed him, her voice almost lost in the fog. He pretended like it didn't crush his heart when he heard it.
Toadstar calmly took a seat at the front of Great Rock and looked down at his clan, as well as the others. He opened his jaws to speak and said, "RiverClan has a new apprentice and a new warrior, Lichenpaw and Berrystorm," he said quickly. Only RiverClan yowled and he fought the urge to spat at the other clans.
"No report on the territory," one cat, a ThunderClan tom, snickered to the cat beside him.
"Doesn't want to admit he isn't fit to be a leader," one added.
"I have one more thing to report before I am done tonight," Toadstar yowled, not wanting to hear more cats remind him of the reason for his announcement. He mentally prepared himself before speaking. "As you may all know by now, RiverClan has come across… problems. The barn toward the upper part of our territory has two dogs, which, during leaf-fall, had pups. These pups have now grown and killed three of our apprentices and a warrior.
"The territory is also flooded. With the mass-amounts of snowfall last season, all of the snowmelt has made our river, which runs through our territory, overflow. The excess water has washed us out of our camp and caused us to find somewhere else to live. But now the water is even reaching this part. And with the threat of the dogs up on the driest part of our territory, there is nowhere for us to go. Our clan has talked and we have come to a conclusion." Toadstar raised his muzzle towards the sky, so StarClan could hear. "RiverClan have decided to leave the forest territories."
The clearing went totally and utterly silent. The fog seemed to grow thicker and more ominous, though the stars and moon above shone still as brightly as before. None of the leaders behind him dared to speak. Fox-hearts. His gaze flicked downward when he caught sight of movement. It was a little apprentice. ShadowClan, it appeared.
"But… but RiverClan can't leave. There have always been four clans here," he spoke timidly.
A bolder one, most likely his brother, judging by his coat, rose beside him. "Yeah! StarClan wouldn't let them leave, right?"
"StarClan approves of what Toadstar has to say." The aforementioned leader whipped his head in the direction of the voice, and his claws slid out on instinct. "Look, the moon is not covered by the thick fog or clouds. They approve of his decision to leave, so why should we stop him?" Crowfoot finished.
"I agree," said Silverstar as the leader stepped forward. Slowly, Toadstar saw as more and more cats from the other clans started to agree with a happy-looking Crowfoot. Speckledstar and Ivystar didn't dare say a word. Ivystar looked upward as if saying in her mind StarClan why?
Toadstar, having enough with the other clans, send one last hateful look down at the clearing before leaping off of the Great Rock and flicking for his clan to follow him as he left the clearing. Behind him, he heard loud yowling from those who wanted RiverClan gone against those who wanted them to stay. He cast his bitter yellow gaze to his paws as they headed back to their makeshift camp. He told his deputy to lead as he took the rear of his group from the gathering.
His pace started to slow down until he came to a stop. For what reason, he did not know, but it felt right. Just as he was about to go and catch up with his clan, he heard a "stop" and froze. He knew the voice.
A dark silver tabby she-cat came out from behind a fern and lightly padded up to Toadstar. She stopped in front of the sitting tom and sat herself, looking down at her paws. She opened her mouth, looking like she had something to say, but couldn't find the right words. Finally, she spoke. "S-so… you're leaving."
"That's all you have to say to me?" he questioned her, his gaze scrutinizing her every fidgety move. "After that, that's all you have to say?"
"I'm sorry!" she cried, her eyes pained as she hunched over.
"You've already told me that too many times, Ivystar," he said emotionlessly as the she-cat before him broke down. "It doesn't have the same meaning anymore. It means nothing to me."
She sniffled and seemed to pick herself off of the ground. Her sobbing slowly stopped. "T-they're no-not his," she hiccupped.
Toadstar stopped and stared hard at her. "They… they're not his?" he repeated, making sure he heard correctly.
Ivystar shook her head and sniffled again, confirming her previous statement. The dark grey tom didn't know what to say and stared past her shoulder, his eyes foggy like the mist that swirled around them in thought.
Images flashed through his mind. A younger and more naive dark grey tom at a cold, leaf-bare gathering with his siblings. A beautiful, young she-cat across the way and a nudge in her direction. Nervously talking to her and watching her giggle when he made a mouse-brained comment. Fast forward and they're older. Sitting atop the Great Rock, neither looked old enough to be a leader, but both laid there as if they belonged. Together, or on there, they weren't sure. Fast forward once more and they're older. They're yelling at each other, both with anger plainly obviously in their eyes. The she-cat lashes out and catches the tom on the cheek with her claws. Regret flashes on her face while his are full of shock. She backs up, seemingly saying "sorry" over and over again until absolute rage flashes in the tom's eyes. He hisses something before tearing out of the clearing, leaving the heartbroken she-cat behind.
Toadstar flicked his ears slightly, ridding his mind of the memories. "They're… they're mine." Realization dawned on him, and he couldn't believe his ears when she confirmed his non-initial thoughts.
"Yes, they're yours."
The ground beneath him seemed to sway and he had to stand up to steady himself. "B-but, Crowfoot-"
"I lied to him," she mewed, casting her sullen blue gaze to the ground. "I-I had to. I couldn't tell my clan that I was pregnant with another clan cat's kits, let alone their leader. I-I'm so-" She caught herself before repeating what she knew he didn't want to hear. Before he knew what he was doing, Toadstar sprang forward and nuzzled her softly. Surprise lighted up Ivystar's eyes before she closed them and purred in content, nuzzling him back.
"I'm sorry I was mad at you before," he murmured, his breath tickling her ear fur. "And I know 'I'm sorry' has no meaning now but… can you forgive me?"
Ivystar pulled away and looked back at Toadstar lovingly. "It should be me apologizing, Toadstar. I was the whole reason for this mess. But, yes, I forgive you." They touched noses and stood there for a moment, just enjoying each other's company while they still had it. While we still have it… Toadstar came back suddenly.
"While we still have it…" he breathed while Ivystar gave him a questioning look.
"While we still have it? What do you mean, Toa-"
"Ivystar, RiverClan is still leaving. I can't just tell my clan we can't because my mate, the ShadowClan leader, is pregnant and I have to stay for her."
She shook her head slowly before speeding up and burying her nose in his chest fur. "No, I just got you back, Toadstar, I can't lose you again. I-it'll kill me."
The RiverClan leader shook his head and gave her a loving lick on the head. "There's nowhere for us to live, Ivystar. And we can't take some of another clan's territory; we've already discussed it," he said bitterly.
"What if I convinced them-"
"You can't, they already said their decisions were final. And you know we can't stay in ShadowClan; that's too far away from our territory to be able to monitor it."
They were both silent for a while. "I'm going to try and convince one of them, I promise, Toadstar. I will not let you leave for a second time."
"But what if they won't let us?"
"They have to." She looked up at him, her blue eyes shining clear through the fog. "But I have a question for you."
He nodded encouragingly. "Yes?"
"If I'm able to convince one of them, will you stay?"
He thought. He had heard those three words before, several times before when their fights always seemed to end badly. They'd always apologize for one reason or another, and it was always brought up right afterward. 'Will you stay' was a permanent reminder to him of when things got bad and all hope seemed lost; there was always the possibility of something going right. And every time one of them asked this same question, they both knew that if they stayed together, only good things would happen.
And as she said those three precious words, they struck him like a chord and he fought the urge to break down then and there. Those three precious words meant more to him at that time than she could ever imagine, because on the night they fought and spat out their last goodbyes, somehow, some way, they both knew it wasn't the end. And with those three precious words, life and hope seeped into him and he couldn't not choke down the sob.
"Y-yes, I will stay," he said shakily, giving her another lick on the forehead.
Speckledstar was eventually convinced by Ivystar to let WindClan shelter RiverClan in their camp until the territory was no longer flooded in exchange for an alliance with WindClan if war were to break out. Come green-leaf, the territory had gone back to normal and RiverClan went back to their camp to find that the pups had gone. Their original camp was destroyed in the flood, but was soon enough rebuilt.
Ivystar did eventually have her kits on a starry green-leaf night, a little she-kit and a tom. No one suspected of the father of the kits when both of them were dark grey tabbies, as their father was a black tom and his parents were tabbies. No cat beside Ivystar and Toadstar knew of the real father of the little kits, and neither told a soul for as long as they lived. The she-kit, named by Crowfoot, was Brookkit, and although that was a beautiful name, he never understood why Ivystar loved the name so much to this day. The tom, named by Ivystar, was Frogkit. No one questioned the name. And she loved her kits almost more than life itself and became a much respected mother and leader.
After the night the two lovers reunited, they made a pact that no matter how difficult it was for them to be together, they would meet every night after the full moon. And they did. They met every time, even after the kits left the nursery, became warriors, and they both retired to become Toadstream and Ivyshine, elders of RiverClan and ShadowClan, respectively. They met even when they were sick with greencough and weren't allowed to leave, when there joints hurt so bad they could barely make it out of camp, and even when they were close to death.
One day, on a patrol led by Frogstream and Brookstorm of ShadowClan and Dewwhisker of RiverClan met at Fourtrees when both of the clan's elders were missing from their nests. They followed their scents to the four great oaks and lying in the middle of the clearing, were Toadstream and Ivyshine, lying with their heads together and their paws and tails entwined. On closer inspection, both were dead, but seemed almost happy to be so. Both clans grieved of the deaths of their beloved leaders, though they could never figure out why on that one foggy morning the two of them had lain together on the mist ground. Some said it was to not feel alone when they passed, but the two in StarClan knew differently. For the first time in their lifetimes of knowing each other, Toadstream and Ivyshine could be together without borders or cats interfering with their love. And no one but the StarClan cats amongst them knew of their love story. And after both had been long forgotten by the clans below the heavens and faded away, their story was shared with every cat that had the privilege to be welcomed into StarClan's ranks, so their legacy, and love, could live among the stars forever.