DISCLAIMER: I do not own Warriors. Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter.
The flecked gray tom stood in the clearing, nervous as the water touched his paws. Earlier today, it had started raining heavily. The lake flooded, and water was approaching the camp, and fast. Specklestar, the leader of WindClan, was appreciated by the warriors of his Clan for being a fair and just leader. His age was catching up to him. Being on his last life, he was genuinely scared to die. But he had seen so much. Even if his death came today, he would be satisfied, and he would make home in the stars.
"Everyone!" he heard his deputy, Spidereyes, yowl. "Get to higher ground!"
He would make a great leader someday, he thought.
"What about-" a queen started, clearly panicking.
"There's no time!" Spidereyes meowed. "Get your kits up here, and fast!"
Specklestar turned around to look at Spidereyes and the queens. The black tom's amber eyes, filled with worry, were focused on the queens. The first cat to come out of the nursery was Seedpetal. The gray she-cat was due to start kitting any day now, he just knew it from her swollen belly.
"I'll help her," her mate, Cloudface, meowed. "Thank you, Spidereyes." The gray and white tom dipped his head.
"You're welcome," the cat meowed softly.
The next cat to come out was a tawny she-cat with fur sticking out in all directions, Pricklethorn, and her two kits, Applekit and Mossykit. The two kits looked terrified, and they stuck close their mother. The kits were almost apprentice age, too.
"Follow me," Pricklethorn meowed. The two terrified kits immediately nodded their heads, and the three cats went up the hill.
"Specklestar!" a pale gray she-cat meowed. The tom turned around to the sound. It was the medicine cat, Raindapple, who had a worried look on her face. "What about my herbs?!"
"Take as much as you can," he instructed. He looked down at the ground. "The most valuable ones, first. We still have a little time before it becomes too risky to come back down."
"Got it." The she-cat grabbed a bundle of dandelions and a few other plants Specklestar didn't know about, and raced up to higher ground.
It started rain even harder. The water was rising quickly. Thunder sounded somewhere off in the distance. The wind hit Specklestar's pelt, enough to blow him off his paws.
"Specklestar!" he heard his son call. "Are you alright?!"
He got up, and looked around to see where the mottled gray tom was. A wave crashed down on him as it rained even harder, and he fell to the ground. His ears twitched as terrified mews pierced the air.
"My kits!" the queen yowled. "Someone save my kits!"
As Specklestar poked his head above the surface of the water, he spotted two gray tabby kits, flailing their legs wildly in the air in the corner of his eye.
"Stormkit! Nettlekit" she yowled.
The water was steadily getting higher and higher. He struggled to stay above the water. In the midst of it, he heard many, many cats call his name. He flailed about in the water. He couldn't swim; he, like most WindClan cats, didn't even like the water!
Soon enough, he could no longer feel the ground beneath his paws. He steadily grew exhausted. He frantically tried to stay above water until he could no more.
StarClan is calling you, a voice in his head whispered. Do not fear your fate, Specklestar.
He let himself fall under the water, never to come back up. In his blurry vision, he could see the outlines of the cats he cared about the most in his entire life.
He closed his eyes.
He let himself sink deeper and deeper into the lake, joining the cats who lost their lives with him.
He got up from his dead body, and everything was at ease. He felt young again, and the scent of prey awaited him.
And then he walked towards the stars.
A/N: So, these are just some quick short stories from the universe of Broken Path. I'll start it off with a not-so-spoilery story. If you've read the prologue of the first book, you'd know Specklestar is dead... and he was a WindClan leader. Progress further, you'll get a mention about his death. Here's a little short story about his death from his perspective. Branchwing, out!
Next: Spiderstar's nine lives