Sorry it's been so long! Hopefully you guys haven't given up on this! Enjoy =]
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors. (if I did, Ashfur would not have died!) Pure entertainment purposes only
Chapter 9
"Come on, just a little farther . . . Don't move . . . No!" Sunpaw exclaimed, crashing to the ground. Something black was holding her to the ground, hissing. Sunpaw sighed and angrily pushed up. "Blackpaw, what do you think you're doing? You probably scared all the prey to the Great Oaks by now!"
Blackpaw shook his pelt, sending melted snow everywhere. It had been a few days since the SkyClan kits had come, and the snow was still there, although it was beginning to melt in the sunny parts of the forest. Sunpaw had actually been stalking a vole that hadn't stayed inside, and apparently Blackpaw thought it was time for training. Sunpaw gave one quick look at the apprentice before walking over to Stormhawk. The muscular brown tabby had taken her, Blackpaw, and Morningpaw out for some hunting, and they weren't having much luck.
"Blackpaw, what were you thinking?" Morningpaw asked, sitting next to her mentor. She flicked a piece of snow from her whisker.
The black apprentice huffed. "I thought she was a squirrel," he muttered.
"A squirrel?!" Sunpaw exclaimed, hardly able to hold back laughter. "I must've been some pretty big squirrel then."
Stormhawk growled something about them acting as kits, but Sunpaw took no notice. Today was surprisingly not bad at all; in fact, it was almost cheery. Leaf-bare was almost never cheery, since everyone is always worried about going hungry or getting sick, but nothing terribly bad had happened. Yes, they still had a lot of sick cats, but none of them were deathly ill . . . yet.
After the rest of the morning passed, the three apprentices carried what prey they had caught to the camp. Stormhawk had told Morningpaw to take hers to the queens, and Blackpaw was to bring his one sparrow (which made Sunpaw laugh) to Quailfeather, so that left the remaining elders for Sunpaw: Smokecloud and Blacksky.
"Hi," she said hesitantly, seeing that the two elders were resting. They both looked up and greeted her, and Smokecloud nodded over to an empty spot. With a small hint of sadness, Sunpaw realized that it was where Oceanwave used to lay.
"So, what brings you here?" the gray tom said.
"Oh, I just brought this for you guys." Sunpaw nosed her fresh-kill towards the two toms before settling down next to them. She noticed that Blacksky seemed to be staring at her.
"Blacksky?" she asked. "What's wrong?"
Blacksky's head shook, and he blinked his blind eyes twice. "Nothing, Sunpaw. I was just thinking, that's all . . . just thinking . . ."
His eyes glazed over, leaving Sunpaw confused. Smokecloud looked sympathetically at her. "Don't worry, you know how he is. Why don't you go to your den? I'm sure you must be tired, having to work out there in the cold. That's the one good thing about being an elder: I get to stay in my nice warm nest!" Sunpaw purred and left the toms to themselves. It seemed so empty in there without Nightshade's complaining and Oceanwave's kindness. Plus, Blacksky wasn't acting like himself. He didn't seem . . . normal. Not that he's ever really "normal," Sunpaw thought. Oh well, she would visit later. Now it's time for a nap. She planted herself down, trying to snuggle close in the moss for warmth, and closed her eyes . . .
"Sunpaw!" Sunpaw sighed, opening her eyes after just closing them. Who was bothering her now? But she held her tongue when she saw who it was.
"What is it, Cinderkit?" she asked, sitting up, stifling a yawn.
The gray kit took a deep breath before speaking. "Tonight I'm actually becoming an apprentice!" He spun around in a circle, unable to hold in his excitement. Sunpaw cheered with him, laughing. It was about time, too; ever since they were both very young, he always seemed so calm and collected, like a warrior.
But then he stopped and sent a sad glance at the nursery. "But I'm kind of worried about leaving."
Sunpaw cocked her head. "Why?"
He took a sigh. "There are still a lot of sick cats in there. And I feel like I'm abandoning all the other kits, especially the new ones. I was the oldest, and I looked after them since, you know, Quailfeather was so busy . . ."
Sunpaw looked at her friend with compassion, brushing up next to him. "You are the most mature kit I have ever seen," she mewed.
Cinderkit shook his head and purred. "I'll take that as a compliment, Sunpaw." He then ran off to spread the news to the warriors.
Now maybe I'll be able to get some sleep, she then thought, lowering herself down again. She breathed in the smell of the snow before closing her eyes again . . . But not until that noise stopped. She peeked her eyes open, coming face to face with Mousekit. She groaned.
"What do you want?" she asked the brown tom. He backed up, but he wasn't scared of her. Instead, he sent off a warm, excited feeling that was as strong as a piece of rotten fresh-kill, although in a good way.
"Silvermoon is having her kits! Isn't that exciting!? It's in the middle of leaf-bare with all this sickness, yet she's actually having kits!" He then sped away, almost colliding into Cinderkit.
I'll have to see them later, once the excitement has died down, she decided. But right now, I'm taking my nap and no one can stop me . . . And before anyone had a chance of disturbing her again, she lowered her head and finally began to dream . . .
Sunpaw's mind drifted to the CloudClan border. She opened her eyes, finding she was their, at least, in her head . . . The Thunderpath gave off the stench of burned rubber, which made her wrinkle her nose. Why was she here in the first place? It's not like they've been having any feuds with CloudClan.
Suddenly the sky turned black, and everything looked hazy. It was like she couldn't see. Wait a minute . . . there was a blackened sky, she couldn't see . . . Blacksky! What about him? She thought desperately.
"Be watchful of the ones dear to you . . ."
Sunpaw gulped. "Meadowleaf? What's wrong? Is something going to happen to Blacksky?" But it was too late; the scene was disappearing, and Sunpaw was left dreamless for the rest of the night . . .
As soon as she opened her eyes, she realized that something was wrong. It was dark, and it was very quiet, except for the whispers of some of the kits. Everything seemed normal, yet Sunpaw knew that it wasn't. She had to check on Blacksky and make sure he was okay.
But she stopped dead in her tracks when she made it over there. The only elder there was Smokecloud.
"Smokecloud!" she exclaimed. The gray elder abruptly woke up, blinking drowsily at her.
"What's wrong?" he asked, holding back a yawn.
"Where's Blacksky?"
Smokecloud finally began to realize she was serious. "He said he was just going out for a walk. Why, what is it?"
Sunpaw shook her head, remembering the dream. "It's just . . . I just need to talk to him." She left Smokecloud and headed to the camp entrance, only to be stopped by Whitemist. The white queen must've been on guard duty, which was weird since she was staying in the nursery.
"Where are you going?" her mentor asked. "I'm still your mentor you know; I need to know these things." Her deep gaze made Sunpaw realize that she wouldn't be able to lie, even if she wanted to. Whitemist would've known, anyway.
"I . . . I'm going out to find Blacksky. I need to make sure he's okay." Sunpaw hoped that Whitemist wouldn't press her more information, and luckily, she didn't. But her mentor didn't leave it there.
"I'm going with you; I'll go get Seastone, and I'll tell Starlight to watch over the kits." And before Sunpaw could reply, she sped off, leaving a trail of dust in her path . . .
When she returned, Sunpaw immediately led the way to the CloudClan border. Sunpaw could tell that Whitemist was staring questioningly at her, but she didn't stop. She had to hurry; she had to make sure Blacksky was okay.
And then she stopped. "Blacksky no!" It was all a blur as Sunpaw ran as fast as she could towards the Thunderpath, where the old black tom was blindly walking onto it. In the distance was the sound of a monster, coming too close too fast.
Blacksky looked back, and stared into Sunpaw's eyes. For once, his own eyes seemed alive, as if they weren't blind, as if . . . he could see. He looked up into the stars, closed his eyes, and then he was hit. He was gone.
Sunpaw wailed, trying to get to him, but Whitemist held her back. Her mentor sadly looked at her apprentice, saying, "I'm so sorry, Sunpaw. I know you two were very close." But Sunpaw could barely hear her. She could only hear the echoing words in her dream. They were supposed to have helped her; they were so she could've saved him. But it didn't happen. Now Blacksky was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it.
I'm sorry, Meadowleaf, I'm sorry I couldn't save him. She lifted her head, where another star shone brightly. Blacksky, she thought sadly. But then she thought of the pain and suffering he had gone through. At least now you can be at peace, up there in the stars. Her whiskers twitched as a dead leaf with a golden brown hue floated onto her nose. When Sunpaw looked around, she saw that there weren't any leaves left on any of the trees, and the snow was still covering the ground around her. It had just come out of nowhere.
"Thank you, Meadowleaf," she murmured.
"What's that you said, Sunpaw?" Whitemist called. Her white fur was fluffed up with sadness as she stared at the black elder. But suddenly, Sunpaw was ready to bring him back. She was ready to embrace the future, whatever it held. Besides, she added sadly to herself, it's not like things can get any worse than this.
Whitemist and Sunpaw slowly carried Blacksky back to camp, where the clan would all sit vigil for him. Then the elders would slowly carry him out of camp to bury him. Hopefully they'd carry him out with respect. He used to be their medicine cat, after all . . .
"Sunpaw!" Sunpaw glanced up, rearing back in surprise when she saw Acornpaw in front of her, healthy and jumping around.
"Oh, Acornpaw, you're okay!" she exclaimed. She jumped at him, almost burying him in snow. Her brother purred, but stopped suddenly when he looked over her shoulder.
"Is that . . . Blacksky?" he asked. She didn't answer at first, but her eyes started to water, and Acornpaw knew that it was true. They looked at each other, and he pushed his muzzle up to her neck and comforted her. Whitemist watched behind them, amazed at the love the two had. But she knew they had to get back to camp and show the clan what had happened.
"Er . . . Acornpaw, why are you out here so late at night? Shouldn't you be sleeping, or at least on patrol with some other cats?" she asked.
Acornpaw jumped, remembering why he had come out. "Oh yeah. Everyone was worried when you guys weren't in the camp, even though Seastone told us it was fine, so after the ceremony Ripplestar sent some cats out to find you guys. I volunteered to go, because I was feeling much better and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Sunpaw gave him an affectionate lick. But then she stopped. "Wait, what ceremony?" she asked.
Acornpaw cocked his head. "Cinderpaw's. He's an apprentice now; his ceremony happened right after you guys left. Deersprint is his mentor."
Sunpaw purred at the thought of their dad being a mentor again, but she wasn't happy for long. She had missed Cinderpaw's ceremony, and she had been excited to be there for him! She hoped he wouldn't be mad at her too much . . .
The two apprentices then got up, and they led Whitemist, with Blacksky on her back, back to camp, where Ripplestar was waiting . . .
