"I'm Sorry"

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The white tom stood in the blank world overlooking his clan's newest territory. He had just lost his last life in a battle he'd begun. It was identical to the story of Shadowstar, the distrusting first leader of ShadowClan. Maybe he was just like her.

Suddenly a new scent came into the blank clearing. He cringed inwardly at the scent. This was not the first cat he wanted to talk to. He did not shift his gaze from his mourning clanmates as he greeted the StarClan warrior. "Raggedstar."

"Blackstar," returned the leader, taking a step forward. "You do not need to avert your eyes."

"What if I want to?" growled the stubborn leader. "You haven't done anything for me in my life. You look down on me. You all do. Why is it that whenever a problem comes up in that precious Thunderclan, all of Starclan is falling head over heels to help them, but you can't even warn me about the worst problems I've ever gotten in my life? Do you expect me to keep undying faith in you cat's if you don't even show your faces after I become a leader? Do you expect me, one of the worst cats in the forest, to keep the faith that so many warriors better off in life than me have lost? You expect that much of me? Where were you when I started to fall into Brokenstar's traps?"

"At that point I was still alive…" Raggedstar pointed out, desperate to try and stop the rant before it went too far.

"Where were you when I became a mur-"

"Oh do shut up, Blackfoot, you know you can't hold up that tone forever, you coward," a new voice appeared, and a sleek blue-grey tom appeared on the scene.

"What are you doing here? Why do you take every chance you get to haunt me, stupid halfclan!"

"Shut your mouth! That's what got you into trouble in the first place. You're place in StarClan is already in jeopardy, you don't need to worsen it," the blue grey warrior cut in.

"Ha!" Blackstar growled, growing practically hysterical. "Like you even care, Stonefur."

A new, this time light and misty gray, pelt stepped in. "Blackstar. Be careful. I know about the worst cat to send here was Stonefur, but everyone's seriously not sure if you'd be a good thing to have in StarClan. Cat's were lenient on Mudclaw and Ashfur, but Hawkfrost, who did a lot less in comparison to Ashfur, went to The Place of No Stars."

Blackstar seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry, Boulder. I'm sorry." He resumed watching as his clanmates in the living forest started to bring his body to the camp.

" 'Sorry' Might not be enough," Stonefur growled, refusing to look anything but aloof to the miserable tom.

"Well, what else do you want me to do?" Blackstar shot back, fire once again coming to his eyes. He once again deflated. "I'm sorry. All I've ever done has been mistake after mistake. I followed Brokenstar into exile, I murdered two cats, I helped Tigerstar, I helped lead Bloodclan into the forest, I never let anyone's opinion sway mine, I lost faith in StarClan multiple times, I caused my clan to stop believing in StarClan for a time… I'm sorry, all I've ever done is mistakes. I'm the worst leader to take Shadowclan out of the times of Brokenstar and Tigerstar. I hate them. I'm sorry."

"You made one good decision, Blackstar," Brokenstar spoke up. "You made Russetfur your deputy.

Blackstar let himself chuckle. "Funny. My only right decision is one of the many decisions I regret. Because she was deputy, we never got to be together."

Brokenstar smiled at Blackstar. "And yet she is the best cat for the job. You did what was right instead of letting your feelings get in the way. Russetfur will be a great leader. She is reminiscent of Bluestar, after all. That fiery little Thunderclan leader did impress me."

"If you're done with me testing Blackstar's ability to get along with old enemies, I'll be leaving." Stonefur meowed in the corner of the clearing.

Boulder chuckled at the two's insistence to hate each other. "I think you needed that tested before you came to StarClan, Stonefur, you seem to be the one having most trouble."

Raggedstar chuckled. "Come on, all of you, let's get back to StarClan. We've got nothing more to say or do. In my opinion, I'm getting tired of being the last leader of Shadowclan in Starclan with nine lives. If Blackstar didn't come, I'd be on what, my third appearance of the ninth life of a new Shadowclan leader? Come on, Blackstar. Welcome to StarClan."