6th challenge!
The wind howled through the forest, making the dying leaves fly off their wildly thrashing branches like droves of multicoloured butterflies. The screaming and wailing of the elements drowned out all other sounds, flattening ferns and making the driving rain fly almost horizontally. The cats of MossClan huddled in their camp, an old badger den enlarged and converted into an underground cave by the digging of countless cats' paws. No one dared to leave the shelter of their moss-filled dens and dried bracken nests, fearing the retribution of StarClan. Sunflower herself had confirmed this; she had told Fallenstar that their ancestors were angry at all three Clans, for fighting at the Gathering two nights ago.
The MossClan leader had accepted the word of his medicine cat without question. Sunflower chuckled softly in her hiding place under a fallen tree, several tail-lengths outside the camp entrance. He had never suspected that she hadn't spoken to StarClan in moons and moons... that they had abandoned her once they had discovered that Sweetie was nothing more than a veneer. He had never known that it was Sunflower, or, more accurately, Falcon, who had killed her mentor, Tigerlily. But that was moons and moons ago. No one had suspected her then, and no one suspected her now. Sunflower's deadly scheme was still running smoothly.
A loud crash suddenly shook her hiding place. Sunflower let out a startled yowl and shot out from under the tree. And not a moment too soon; one of its supports had broken, and the trunk crashed down the last few tail-lengths directly onto the spot where she had crouched only seconds before. She shivered and shook out her pelt, only now noticing that it had been soaked as soon as she had left her shelter. Muttering irritably, she started to pad away from camp. There was no point in returning now; all the cats would ask how she'd made it through the storm when she herself had told them to hide from StarClan's wrath. No, she had to pretend that she'd gotten stuck in the forest when it started, and waited it out under a bramble bush or something.
Are you sure this is a good idea? Falcon asked. Perhaps you should keep close to the camp entrance, just in case.
Just in case of what? Sunflower asked him irritably. It's fine, I'd rather act like I hid farther away. She leaped over another fallen tree and continued down the wide trail that led directly to the TreeClan border.
But you'll miss Crookedfang when he leaves on the sunset patrol. He's our next target.
I- Sunflower stopped. A slow pain was starting to build up behind her eyes, and she started to feel faint.
"Oh, no," She murmured. "It's starting, Falcon - you need to hide - Sweetie -"
I know. Falcon's voice was already fading. She winced as she heard him screech... inside her head, Sweetie, her gentle, sweet, caring side that made her become a medicine cat in the first place, was starting to take control. Her head was splitting open. As Sweetie filled her ears with a gentle, haunting melody, Sunflower's vision blurred, and she felt the blackness wrap its comforting paws around her...
-x-
Sunflower surfaced quite abruptly from the empty void her consciousness had been floating in while Sweetie took over and pushed Falcon into a deep, dark corner of her mind. She was lying on something rather crunchy, but soft, and her pelt felt cold and soaked.
She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, trying to make sense of her surroundings. The world seemed strangely distorted; the ground was sideways, the trees grew horizontally and the clouds were moving vertically across the sky...
You must be upside down, Sweetie murmured. Why don't you get up? I'm sure the Clan is waiting for you. They must be worried.
You're right, Sunflower thought to Sweetie. With a bit of effort, she sat up, and immediately collapsed again; her head was spinning.
Take it easy, dear. Perhaps you should find some lavender, and if your head keeps hurting, then some poppy seeds -
Yes, yes, I know, Sunflower snapped. She sighed deeply and tried again. This time, she managed to sit up successfully and open her eyes with minimal pain. The world seemed oddly bright.
"What happened before I passed out?" Sunflower asked herself aloud. Talking to herself often helped her make sense of the situation. "I think... Falcon was controlling me... and it was raining... and it was windy. That's why I'm soaked! And it's sunny out." She purred, pleased with her results. "The Clan is probably looking for me now. They know I have multiple personality disorder, but they don't know what my second side is, and they must never find out. It's a good thing they didn't find me as Falcon." She sighed, starting to get confused with what happened when Sweetie and Falcon were in charge. "Oh, well, it isn't important. I should go see if anyone else got stuck outside during the storm, and needed to be treated."
With a bit of effort, Sunflower managed to stumble to her paws, shaking out her pelt as if physically removing her dizziness along with droplets of water. The trees tilted alarmingly again, but she managed to keep her balance until they righted themselves. This was the drawback of having split personalities; besides feeling like she was going insane around other cats, there were also terrible headaches, faint dizziness, and even blackouts sometimes.
Sunflower looked up at the sky again. Soft white clouds were scudding across the blue expanse like big white birds, carried by the wind. The sun was painful to look at, so she looked down at the leaf-strewn ground again, blinking to get rid of the spots in her eyes. When she felt better, she finally got a good look at her surroundings.
"Where in StarClan's name am I?" She muttered. The forest looked completely unfamiliar. Vaguely, Sunflower recalled leaping over a tree... heading toward the TreeClan border... but surely this wasn't TreeClan territory? She didn't usually travel this far during her little blackouts. (Yes, Sunflower had a notorious habit of sleepwalking; usually an apprentice slept with her at night to make sure she didn't wander off.)
A faint rustling noise startled her. Instinctively, the medicine cat ducked into the ferns, but there was no one nearby. However, as she strained her ears, she thought she could hear the distant sound of cats' voices.
"Vinestar, I think we should head back to camp, to see if the others moved the queens back to the sky-camp yet."
"They'll be fine, Thornpelt. You know how wide the branches are, even the kits will climb up easily."
"Remind me again why we're out here so soon after the storm?" Thornpelt, the TreeClan deputy, asked Vinestar.
"Because we need to see the damage for ourselves, and I heard yowling. A cat might be hurt."
Sunflower stiffened, her eyes wide. They had heard her! But if they still hadn't found her, that meant that not much time had passed. Quickly and as quietly as possible, she slid out from under the ferns and began to make her way in the opposite direction of the voices, assuming that Vinestar and Thornpelt had come straight from their camp and were moving towards the TreeClan/MossClan border.
To her relief, she soon started to recognise her surroundings. There was the tiny stream that trickled through nearly the whole MossClan territory, to feed the Mosspool; there was the oak that had cracked in two during a blizzard, a few season cycles ago. Sunflower relaxed once she passed the scent markers and found the wide trail that led to the underground MossClan camp.
Hurry, Sunflower! There could be injured cats waiting - we must help them! Sweetie urged.
I know, I know, you don't have to remind me! But the thought of hurt cats spurred her to go even faster.
A few moments later, she spotted a fork in the path; the main trail made a wide curve, while straight ahead of her, there was a narrow dip in the ground with yet another fallen tree leaning over it. Most cats took the slightly longer route, because it had a nice leaf covering to protect their paw pads, while the shallow dip was strewn with pebbles. But Sunflower, intent on her mission, made a split-second decision to brave the shortcut, even for the price of a scratched paw pad or two.
She ducked under the looming tree and sprinted through the dip. The only thing she could see was the slope rising suddenly ahead of her. That was why she totally didn't expect it when the tree suddenly crashed down on her, extinguishing her life in an instant like a tiny flame.
1504 words. This story seems kind of clumsily written to me, because I had trouble with imagining how she switches from Falcon and Sweetie, and what it feels like to have them both in her head. And... the ending was kind of abrupt.
Now, for some deleted scenes!
A tree falls and narrowly misses Sunflower. Unnoticed, another tree starts to fall straight on top of her.
" Glad that the tree didn't kill me! I am invinci- " ( dead )
(c. Jaypaw)
Sunflower squeezed her eyes shut and sank to the ground, whimpering as the wind whipped the rain around her and thunder boomed.
Inside her head...
Falcon: MY HEAD! MINE!
Sweetie: Let's not fight. How about you crawl into a corner and die while I take over?
Falcon: GET OUT OF THIS MENTAL SPACE YOU STUPID DAUGHTER OF A DOG!
Sweetie: Ouch, that hurt! Can't we take the peaceful way where you commit suicide?
Falcon: I WILL KILL YOU! ARRONOMNOMRAMRRROWRARRRRHISS SSSS-
Sweetie: ALL RIGHT YOU HAVE IT COMING, YOU BIG FAT BALD BIRDIE!
Sunflower: *faints*
A faint rustling noise startled her. Instinctively, the medicine cat ducked into the ferns, but there was no one nearby. However, as she strained her ears, she thought she could hear the distant sound of cats' voices.
"Hey, Vinestar. What's that rump doing, sticking out of that fern bush?"
"What rump? Oh, that's just Sunflower, don't mind her."
"Wh-why not? Isn't she an intruder? We have to take her back to camp as a prisoner!"
"Silence, Thornpelt! You will obey your leader! I said don't mind her, so don't mind her."
"Very well, your Stardamned leadership."
"I'm not listening to you. Besides, I'm the one who dragged her in there."
"Why?"
"Because I raped her while she was passed out, and I didn't want you to have a turn, duh..."