AN: Sorry about the late update guys! :( I lost my notebook, and I still hadn't put on a few sentences so I couldn't continue working on it! Argh! Well, to let you know, if my updates are still kind of slow, try not to worry, for I may be beta-reading soon. If my updates are slow, take the time to check out this awesome story by FooFoo901. It's called Monster, a story about twolegs doing experiments on this cat named Redheart and how she fights to get back to her Clan, and be normal. That's basically the summary, but if you want to know more, check it out, you'll find it in my Favorites List.
Fire. Screams. Blood. Pain.
The skies had become dark. Bodies littered the ground; then coated with ash falling from the fiery heavens. Blood poured from horrendous wounds, their hosts screaming and wailing in terror. Bones covered with deep gouges and teeth marks hid in shadowy caves. Lightning flashed from tall, black storm clouds hovering above a destroyed world. The rivers ran with black ash and shining scarlet blood.
Trees laid, broken, on still blazing grass. Flames crackled in the desolate landscape, burning what was left from the destruction one had caused.
A whisper of voices flew in and out of the tree branches, gliding shadows with gleaming claws echoing it, forming an eerie chant.
"Thirteen Mistakes, Thirteen Lives, Darkness Approaches With Only One To Survive."
Fallowtail woke with a start. As medicine cat, her job was to report any signs from her ancestors- the ever mysterious StarClan- to her leader, Fallenstar. He had been the bravest, boldest cat to ever be in ShadowClan, yet strangely, he chose to remain mysterious, never boasting, never using his past achievements to push him higher.
He was the noblest cat Fallowtail had the fortune to meet. She was glad Fallenstar wasn't like the last leader her beloved Clan had.
His name was Lionstar, the great-great grandson of the one who made the journey; Blackstar. Lionstar had been a tyrant, abused his leadership, though he had been clever; he never showed the other Clans his true roots, pretending he was the greatest leader to ever rule, lying when he needed to.
But he never gave a thought to his Clan, except to kill or maim them. Lionstar had forbidden Fallowtail to do anything but sit there and watch them die. Of course, she disobeyed his orders, knowing it was her duty to help others and stop their pain. For many moons, she saved the ones simply maimed, and lessened the pain of others as they died.
Eventually, she was caught. Save for a young warrior, no one knew about her betrayal to her leader. The warrior shared her ideas. When she was captured and thrown in a hollow tree prisoner, her young friend saved her by killing Lionstar in a battle, saving the Clans from the former leader's tyranny. Unfortunately, the warrior died from blood loss soon after.
Fallowtail did everything she could to save the young cat, but it wasn't enough. It was a life for a life, you could say.
Days after, Fallowtail wondered if it wasn't just blood loss that killed her friend, but the cursed spirit of Lionstar himself, having descended from the Dark Forest, where some of the most evillest reside.
Finally she stood up. Fallowtail shook her fur, trying to shake off memories of being imprisoned. It had been terrible to be betrayed by one so great, one so promising.
Tripping over a small stone, she snapped out of her wistful thoughts. She looked up and saw the great hawthorne tree that served as her leader's den. "If only, if only..." She murmured.
"Fallenstar?" Fallowtail called softly, not wanting to wake her ever alert Clan. "Are you awake?" Expecting to hear nothing, except maybe a snore, she leaped up into the branches, only to see a pair of fatigued amber eyes staring back at her.
"Hello, Fallowtail. I assume there has been a sign from our ancestors?" His voice carried a small, tired smile as he stepped out into the brisk, moonlit night.
Fallowtail nodded. "Let's talk in the camp, shall we?" Without waiting for a response, Fallenstar leaped gracefully into the marshy clearing they called home, his smooth dark gray pelt gleaming. Smiling faintly- it always amazed her how well he could keep his balance- Fallowtail concentrated on her own pale gray paws as she soared down into the clearing. Despite some worry with her growing age, she landed safely by her leader.
"Is it bad?" Fallenstar asked absently, staring off into the sky, praying he was wrong.
Fallowtail nodded once more. "Not quite the arrival of newborn kits, I'm afraid." She explained what she saw in her dream. "It ended with a prophecy. 'Thirteen Mistakes, Thirteen Lives, Darkness Approaches With Only One To Survive.'" Fallowtail recited, having already learned the words by heart. She ended with a solemn stare at Fallenstar.
"I had a feeling something bad was to come." Fallenstar commented, looking down from the heavens to glance at Fallowtail.
"You're more sensitive than most, Fallenstar."
"Likewise, Fallowtail."
"Only because I'm supposed to be."
They sat in silence for a while, until Fallenstar remembered the guard. Fallowtail looked up as her leader inclined his head towards something in the trees. Only when something moved, did Fallowtail remember the young warrior who was to watch over the camp tonight. After receiving his warrior ceremony- Ravenpaw becoming Ravenfeather- he did as was custom, serving as guard for a night to achieve maturity and not do as his ancestors had done.
Ravenfeather had to keep silent all throughout his vigil, remembering the stories about the mistakes throughout the past, all the while keeping an alert watch for any unwelcome visitors. Hopefully tonight would not be one of those nights, Fallowtail thought soberly.
Suddenly, a male voice cut through the silence. Fallowtail started, and leaped to her paws, before realizing it was only Fallenstar. "Sorry." He said with a sheepish grin as Fallowtail glared.
"Try not to give me a heart attack, will you?" The she-cat smiled. It was impossible to stay mad at her leader for long.
"I'll try." Fallenstar promised, before beginning again as Fallowtail sat down. "Do you think we should tell Clawtooth about this prophecy?" He asked, curling his tail around his slightly cold paws.
For reasons unknown to her, Fallowtail felt a flicker of unease. "Maybe in the morning." She suggested.
Fallenstar nodded. "Sounds good. Let's get some rest before the dawn patrol."
But strangely, neither of them got any sleep that night.
Fallowtail woke up to the sounds of birds singing and leaves rustling. If she hadn't known better, she would've thought it was greenleaf-season of the sun and beautiful green leaves. But instead it was leaf-fall, the season when the leaves fell to rest upon the ground and and the days grew cold.
She stretched, stepping out into the warm breeze that was drifting through the pine trees. Fallowtail looked up, expecting to see fluffy white clouds and bright blue skies.
Instead, the sky was as dark as Fallenstar's pelt. Dark gray and foreboding, it loomed over her and her Clan.
"I think this means a terrible storm is coming." A voice said, Fallowtail immediately recognizing it as her favorite elder, Sandfeather. Shuddering at the thought of the dark, flashing sky from her dream, Fallowtail concentrated on her friend. Sandfeather had a sandy ginger pelt that was kept surprisingly clean (once, Fallowtail jokingly asked how Sandfeather's pelt was so clean and her friend had responded, saying something about there was nothing else to do in the elder's den anyways)- and alert yellow eyes that took in everything.
Fallowtail smiled at the older she-cat. The elder had always offered her sound advice, and helped her in times of need. "I hope not." She replied.
"Who knows? I'm not a weather expert myself. Maybe Darkcloud knows." Sandfeather shrugged lightly. Then, the she-cat looked at Fallowtail with concern in her gaze. "Are you alright, Fallowtail? You seem a bit worried. Did you have a bad dream? Want to tell me about it?" The sandy she-cat had always been like a mother to Fallowtail, taking her in under her wing when Fallowtail's mother died when she was only three moons old. To add to that, Sandfeather had mentored her before she decided to become a medicine cat.
Before Fallowtail could respond, however, a ear-splitting howl pierced her ears. She shared a quick worried glance with Sandfeather, before looking back at the entrance to the camp.
Clawtooth burst through the entrance, yowling, "Shadefeather and Tawnypaw were attacked by a badger!" Before running back out, he meowed that the other members of the patrol had arrived too late to help.
"Probably just trying to save his tail." A scarred black she-cat named Blackheart muttered.
"You should have more faith in your deputy, Blackheart." A dark orange tom growled.
"I don't trust him either, and you surely can't Toadfur! You don't trust anyone." Another black she-cat named Darkpaw exclaimed.
"Shouldn't we be trying to help?" Sandfeather intervened. The apprentice nodded hurriedly, sprinting after Clawtooth. Blackheart followed at a slower pace but still more of a run, and Toadfoot followed at an even slower pace, more of a walk than anything.
Fallowtail smiled at her friend, and Sandfeather winked, before they both hurried to the medicine cat den. In exchange for being briefly taught fighting and hunting, Fallowtail took Sandfeather on a crash course of healing. She didn't have an apprentice yet, but Sandfeather was the temporary healer when she met with StarClan. Sandfeather couldn't heal many of the more complicated wounds but she knew the basics.
There was another loud cry, and Fallowtail knew the patrol was getting close. "Sandfeather, you get the cobwebs, and I'll get the marigold, some dandelion, along with some poppy seeds." Fallowtail ordered, both of them running into the back of the den. He could hear the cats crashing though the entrance. She saw Sandfeather struggling to grab all the cobwebs. "Hurry!" She urged, not trying to offend her friend as she grabbed the marigold and dandelion in her jaws, before sticking a paw to some poppy seeds. Fallowtail rushed back into the main part of the den with the herbs.
Sandfeather came up behind her, panting. "I'm not as fit as I used to be." She meowed through gasps.
"It's alright. Sorry." Fallowtail offered. "Would you mind chewing these to make a poultice for me?" She asked, holding out the dandelion and marigold. "Just the leaves from the dandelion though."
"What does the dandelion do?" Sandfeather asked curiously.
"It's a painkiller."
"Sure." Sandfeather meowed, and started chewing the two herbs.
Fallowtail watched as some of the cats from the patrol, as well as Darkpaw, rushed in with the injured cats. The two other cats were Ratstripe and Redmoon. There were two injured, one the mentor of the other. Shadefeather was badly injured, Fallowtail noted, but the most troubling of the injuries was the head, where she had presumably been thrown to the ground by the badger and fell unconscious.
Tawnypaw was still awake, and quivering in fear. She was whimpering, and Fallowtail guessed that Tawnypaw had been the one who was howling earlier. She nodded at the two warriors, and they dashed off again to help, but Darkpaw lingered for a moment. "Do you need any help here?" The apprentice asked, looking at the blood-soaked figures below.
Fallowtail frowned slightly, thinking. "Maybe a few wet moss balls, but then I suggest you better go help the other warriors. Every paw counts." Darkpaw nodded, running out of the medicine cat den. She glanced down at the injured apprentice. "Tawnypaw, could you tell us what happened?"
Tawnypaw shivered from an unknown cold. "I-I didn't see w-who pushed m-me or S-Shadefeather. S-s-someone pushed us into t-t-the valley w-where t-the badger w-was. I d-d-don't remember w-what h-happened next."
Fallowtail soothed the young she-cat calmly, clearly seeing the attack was bothering her patient. "It's okay, Tawnypaw. You know that someone pushed you, and that's all that matters. We'll find that bad kitty, and exile him or her. Just focus on healing right now, Tawnypaw. Try to stay awake, because you had a bad hit on the head." She cooed, seeing the big lump on Tawnypaw's head.
Sandfeather looked at Fallowtail. "I've got the poultice done."
"Hopefully Darkpaw arrives soon. I need to get off the blood, or it may cause infection, even if we put on the poultice. We will probably need some more of that. Do you want to make some more?" Fallowtail asked.
"Sure. Keep talking to Tawnypaw, though, she looks like she's about to fall asleep." Sandfeather answered.
Fallowtail looked back, and saw Tawnypaw's eyes closing slowly. "Hey, Tawnypaw. Don't worry, you'll be able to sleep soon. You just have to stay awake a little longer." She watched the apprentice nod, forcing open her eyes. "Thank you, Tawnypaw. Just stay awake a bit longer, while I get the moss from Darkpaw, okay?" She saw a second nod.
Sure enough, the apprentice had arrived with the moss. She handed it off to Fallowtail, and dashed back to the battle. "Thanks!" Fallowtail called after the black apprentice. She turned back to Tawnypaw, and started pressing the moss against the apprentice's flank, washing off the blood. She did the same with Tawnypaw's whole body, talking to her all the while.
"What's your favorite season, Tawnypaw?" She was answered with greenleaf. Good choice, she had thought. She had started off with easy questions, using the questionnaire to find out if anyone would want to kill her as well as if she had any memory issues.
Finally, she had cleaned all the wounds, and started putting some of the poultice into Tawnypaw's wounds. She was right, it only covered half of Tawnypaw's wounds before it ran out. Most of the wounds that didn't have any poultice on it were bleeding, and she avoided them because of that fact. Fallowtail pressed some cobwebs on the bleeding wounds, pulling the off once they were soaked, and replacing them. Tawnypaw winced sometimes, but slowly relaxing as the painkiller took effect. Fallowtail started to wounds where Sandfeather had gone.
As if on cue, Sandfeather padded back into the main den. "Sorry I took so long. I made a few of them, just in case. Do you want me to start on Shadefeather as well?"
Fallowtail nodded, and tossed a moss ball towards Shadefeather. "Could I have another poultice?" Sandfeather nodded, gently setting the poultice by Fallowtail. "Thanks." She meowed, looking over Tawnypaw's wounds again. Some of them had stopped bleeding, and she put the poultice on those wounds, pressing more cobwebs on the ones that hadn't. Tawnypaw seemed about to fall asleep again. She had passed the memory test, but she needed to stay awake another ten minutes before she could fall asleep.
Sandfeather had finished most of Shadefeather already, working quicker than Fallowtail, but then her patient was asleep, and not have to be talked to, or snapped awake every five minutes.
Fallowtail smiled at Tawnypaw, pausing. "Just let me finish putting cobwebs over these wounds, and you can go to sleep, okay Tawnypaw?"
"Alright." The small she-cat replied, deciding not to just nod this time.
Fallowtail pressed more cobwebs over the wounds, and ten minutes passed quickly. Finally, Tawnypaw could go back to sleep.
Fallowtail must have fallen asleep, or collapsed from exhaustion, because at moonhigh, she was awoken by the sound of coughing. She sat up immediately, and her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She saw Tawnypaw convulsing in the darkness, having a coughing fit. "Tawnypaw!" Fallowtail exclaimed, her eyes searching for Sandfeather. She saw the she-cat asleep in a corner. She smiled faintly, before her expression becoming serious once more. Fallowtail tried to rouse Sandfeather, and finally, after a few moments, her friend awoke.
"What?"
"Tawnypaw's convulsing, and I don't know what to do. I've never seen or heard of something like this before." Fallowtail admitted. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, and Fallowtail didn't think that Tawnypaw would live. "Can you get her sister and Fallenstar?" She saw Sandfeather nod, and Fallowtail dashed off and grabbed any herbs she thought might help.
She came back and sat down by Tawnypaw. "You don't think I'll live, do you?" Tawnypaw coughed.
"Try to eat this." Fallowtail pushed a catmint leaf towards Tawnypaw.
Tawnypaw pushed it away. "I'd rather not have a precious herb wasted on a cat who's doomed to die."
"Please eat it!" Fallowtail urged, pushing the herb towards the dying apprentice once more.
"I will if it'll..." Tawnypaw coughed. "Make you feel better." She picked up the leaf in her jaws and chewed it before swallowing it. Tawnypaw coughed again. "If I die, Fallowtail, before they get back, will you do something for me?" Fallowtail nodded soberly. "Alright, then. If I die, you didn't fail.." Tawnypaw coughed weakly."Fallowtail. It was our attacker who failed, killing an apprentice, and hurting Shadefeather really badly. Please... avenge me and f-f-find our... attacker. And... tell my sister... I love her." Tawnypaw managed to meow, before coughing weakly, and lapsing into unconsciousness.
Fallowtail felt a surge of anger at whoever indirectly tried to kill this young apprentice. Then she started to weep silently, stopping when she heard the others arrive. "I can't help her any further, Fallenstar. I'm so sorry, Blackheart. She wanted me to tell you something before she died. She told me that someone pushed her and Shadefeather into the place where the badger was, and she asked for us to avenge her. But her very last words were for me to tell you, Blackheart, that she loved you."
An: I didn't mean for the end of this chapter to be so sad! Oh well. Poor Tawnypaw. I really liked her character, even though she died. I feel sorry for killing her. Not that I really care if I get reviews or not, everyone who does gets a virtual Tawnypaw plushie! Oh, I almost forgot, I have to say the disclaimer!
Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, even though I wish I did. If I owned the series, Firestar wouldn't have died.
Well, everyone, once again, all credit goes to Huntress of Sacred Dreams! You can thank her by reading and reviewing her stories!
ShadowClan Allegiances:
Leader: Fallenstar- Dark gray tom with dull amber eyes.
Deputy: Clawtooth- Dark brown tom with many scars, and flashing amber eyes.
Medicine Cat: Fallowtail- Pale gray she-cat with soft blue eyes, and a scar along her flank.
Warriors:
Ratstripe- Scarred dark gray tom with ever narrowed orange eyes.
Bloodtail- A dark red ginger she-cat with many scars and dark amber eyes.
Blackheart- Scarred black she-cat with dark green eyes.
Shadefeather- A dark gray she-cat with bright amber eyes.
Frogleap- A blue-gray tom with strong hind legs and emerald eyes.
Toadfur- A dark orange tom with untrusting emerald eyes.
Redmoon- A red ginger she-cat with black paws and sly green eyes.
Ashpelt- Black tom with ginger markings and hazel eyes.
Iceheart- Brilliant white she-cat with numerous scars and icy blue eyes.
Stormheart- Scarred dark gray tom with one green eye and one blue eye.
Silverpath- A beautiful silver tabby she-cat with sparkling hazel eyes.
Duskpelt- A dark tabby tom with emerald green eyes.
Flametail- A red ginger tom with twinkling blue eyes.
Darksky- A black she-cat with beautiful grassy green eyes.
Apprentices:
Fangpaw- A flaming red ginger tom with stormy amber eyes.
Tawnypaw- Small black she-cat with white paws and bright green eyes.
Brackenpaw- A dark brown tom with dark amber eyes.
Frogpaw- A black tom with twinkling summer green eyes.
Queens:
Fadedtail- A dark gray she-cat with warm amber eyes. Has three kits, Stormkit, Spiritkit, Ghostkit.
Moonfur- A light brown she-cat with bright amber eyes. Is expecting kits.
Kits:
Stormkit- A dark gray tom with warm summer green eyes.
Spiritkit- A silver tabby she-cat with soulful amber eyes.
Ghostkit- A gray tom with one green eye and one amber eye.
Elders:
Nightshade- Midnight black tom with twinkling yellow eyes.
Sandfeather- Sandy ginger she-cat with alert yellow eyes.
Darkcloud- A dark gray tom with cloudy amber eyes, showing his blindness.
-Faded ;3