"My car is limping, Dolores Haze, and the last long lap is the hardest…and I shall be dumped where the weeds decay, and the rest is rust and stardust."
~Vladimir Nabokov, 'Lolita'I'm going to do a quote on each chap, yay :D Every even chapter will be Dusk/Night P.O.V, and every odd will be Rowan/Lark P.O.V. Now read on! ^^Nightpool P.O.V What? What? What?
"N-no," I stammered. "No. Not me. You must mean… someone else. Not me."
Dappledpelt's eyes bore into me. Dark green. Stern. Narrowed.
"Come with me, at the half moon. Tonight. The Moonstone is waiting. StarClan is waiting, Nightpool. It is you they have called."
I was hardly aware of the speechless gazes of my Clan. All eyes were upon me. How could I be conscious of it-how, with the ultimatum delivered to me? Go on the quest and succeed, or you along with everyone else will die.
No choice.
I nodded slightly. "Yes." My voice squeaked, and I spoke louder and firmer.
"Yes. I will. I will go with you tonight."
(****************)
Prophecy, doom, death, chosen. The four words kept repeating themselves over and over and over.
Dappledpelt stopped at the gaping mouth of a tunnel. She seemed to be waiting. Seeing my questioning look, she said darkly, "The other medicine cats are coming to discuss this."
"Oh." I sat down, curling my tail over my paws. The air was growing chilly and gusty, and I shivered, but not from the cold.
A crackle behind me announced the arrival of others. I turned rapidly, and saw six cats: three medicine cats, three warriors.
I recognized them all- how could I not? I had seen moons of Gatherings.
From RiverClan was the medicine cat Cleargaze and the burly warrior Duskfur. He nodded slightly- coolly- at me. WindClan was the cats Sleekpelt and Larkflight. Larkflight was a young warrior- how had she come to be here on this death mission?- and the swiftest cat in the Clans. Lastly there was Flywing and Rowanbreeze.
We're all made of stardust, Nightkit.
You're never alone…For any reason, my mother's soft voice echoed in my head. I shuddered.
Tonight, it seemed, was full of secrets.
Duskfur P.O.V
Duskfur is my name. I'm a simple warrior of RiverClan. My kin are all dead, my mate is dead, and I just want to serve to my best paws and then pass into StarClan.
Ha. Simple! I thought so until now.
When Cleargaze prophecied darkness to kill us all, I was angry. Nothing could hurt my Clan. Nothing could kill them.
But not until now did I see how urgent this mission really was.
Nightpool from ThunderClan was the last cat I saw in this supposed 'prophecy.' It all fit. And that infuriated me.
I was to be torn away from my whole life for a quest I'd likely die on.
The stars seemed far away and cold suddenly. When we reached the cavern of the Moonstone, I backed up slightly. The pulsing, pure silver light reached into me somehow. The cold froze my bones. My heartbeat grew faster.
"All of you, touch your noses to the stone." Sleekpelt's voice came from behind the silver mass.
Whatever this stone- this quest- was, it would reach into me and test what courage I had. What I was made of.
I would not fail.
(***)
Duskfur P.O.V
When the darkness cleared away, I was in the hollow of Fourtrees. A warm breeze ruffled my fur.
A strong light, silver edged, was flooding from behind me. I turned and gaped.
Long forgotten faces of cats lost to me were in front of my eyes. There was my mother, my father, my sister…
My mate.
Bluepool…
My heart ached. In her eyes were all the words we had never gotten to say, the words that there had been no time for and yet all the time in the world.
Why the hell she had been killed so young I did not know, but all that mattered was she was here, was in my eyes, was—
Was dead. Out of reach.
I tore my gaze away. Useless pain would do me nothing. I was well aware of the three other cats behind me, but I drank in my kin and my mate's appearances, storing it so it would be mine forever.
But as I stepped forward- a slight pace, ever so small- Bluepool stepped back, her tail up to signal me back, back, back.
I stepped back, but my heart tore even more with each grass-blade between I and her.
"Darkness is inevitably coming," Bluepool said, her voice ringing around the hollow. "These four- you are chosen. Rowanbreeze of ShadowClan, Nightpool of ThunderClan, Larkflight of WindClan, and Duskfur of RiverClan." Her voice lingered on his name, and he saw sadness and remorse so profound it hurt him just to look at her.
"You will travel north."
A small puddle began to grow at her paws, until it shimmered and rippled, reflecting a long range of mountains and moor and Two-leg land
"You will cross Two leg place and then climb the mountains. After that, you will turn, heading opposite of the sea."
Bluepool looked up. "From then on you go alone."
"Alone?"
I glanced behind me to see the dark red Rowanbreeze staring at Bluepool with rage in her eyes. "Are you mad?" she growled. "Do you fancy sending us on a death quest?"
Bluepool's eyes were dull with sadness. I wanted to smack Rowanbreeze for her smart-talking to my mate like that.
"We have no choice," she said softly. "You must confront the darkness and stop it."
"Please," Larkflight piped up in a nervous voice, "Please, StarClan cat, what is this darkness? How do we stop it?"
Bluepool's eyes flashed, and she said firmly, "The answer to your question lies in the secrets of darkness…and stardust."
A heard a small gasp from behind me and saw Nightpool, her jaw dropped. I flashed her a glance, inquisitive, and she shook her head slightly. "Fine. I'm fine."
Bluepool nodded, her tail raised. "You leave at dawn."
Then she looked at each of us in turn.
"For the Clans' sake—do not fail."