I'm back once again! Sorry it took longer then I wanted... I had one lazy day and that put me behind schedule.
REVIEWS
"Indigostartherandomkitty"- I might, or I might not, nah, probably will.
"scourge728"- I know, its sad.
"RedBirdSong"- Thank you! as you requested... Don't worry, I'm not depressed, I never get depressed. Since when did I expect you to make sense? ;)
"Nightfrost-of-ShadowClan"- I have no idea.
"Raven That Flies at Night"- Thanks for being so understanding!
"BlackBrassRevolution"- I'm sorry I made you wait five days! I'm such a horrible person *sob* jk.
Pianodevotion- Yesh, I really need to get on that.
Isabel- I know, right? my cats are all so messed up...
ShadowHawk540- so true!
Lay Watermelon- Ugh, that's so hard though!
Eaglefeather- That'd definitely be funny! It'd also cut down on ThunderClan's warriors...
"rainpool77"- If you could kill story characters, I'd say, 'go for it!'
"CrystalStar Of LighClan"- I know, how dare I...
Cindermoon2002- cute ;)
AEIOU- Glad you liked it! I know its totally messed up... but that's what makes it fun, right?!
opal090- Oh... you want me to get creative? ;D
"Leviathan48"- Have a virtual handkerchief! (wait, who has handkerchiefs anymore? I'm so old-fashioned...)
Chapter 25
"I name you Tigerface, StarClan honors your loyalty and endurance, and we welcome you as a warrior of ThunderClan," the Clan cheered the newly named Tigerface and Dewstorm. Half were cheering for Dewstorm, since she was Rockclash's former apprentice; and half for Tigerface, because he was Shadowfern's former apprentice.
Shadowfern watched silently from the entrance of the medicine-cat fern tunnel. Cobwebs strapped over where her left ear had once been; now it was just a few torn pieces of skin and fur sticking up. She couldn't hear anything on that side and it scared and infuriated her.
I wouldn't have minded losing an ear, but my hearing… Those guys are going to pay. But she couldn't spark hatred as she stared at them, she just felt empty, her life was escaping her little by little. Her wounds ached and her belly ached from the many wounds she'd received that morning.
Now however, the setting sun bathed the cats in tones of red, gold, and orange like the trees of the forest. Shadowfern turned away and limped back into the medicine-cat clearing, she ended up here much too often. She scowled; I could have used this to my advantage if not for Tigerface, threatening him to get to me… that is low.
She'd been unconscious by the time Tigerface returned and he hadn't explained what happened to the cats. So Shadowfern, mindful of Aspenclaw's warning, had given the explanation of being attacked by rogues near the Twolegplace border.
Stomrstar had sent out a patrol, consisting of volunteers of the cats that had attacked her, to check it out and they claimed to have driven the rogues away, showing a few scratches that they'd received in their fight with her as proof.
She wasn't in a mood for talking, or daydreaming, or celebrating she just wanted to sleep forever and dream the pain away, at least until morning. She curled down in her nest, nose hidden under her tail and eyes narrowed, but they wouldn't close as she stared at the sunset above the tree tops.
"Hey! Shadowfern!" a call made her right ear twitch and her other prickle in pain. It sounded so weird, hearing from only one side, especially when it was on the side opposite from where the sound came from, it made the speaker sound much further away than they really were.
"I'm tired, Foxkit, and hurt, leave me alone tonight," Shadowfern muttered, seeing the kit bound into view with his sister on his tail.
"No way!" the red tom kit laughed, bouncing around her nest and flicking her with his fluffy little tail.
"How are you feeling?" Maplekit asked gently, in her sympathetic and considerate fashion.
"Fine, but I've been better," Shadowfern sighed, resigning herself to the kits. Though, she felt better as she heard Maplekit's concern.
"Did those nasty rogues really take your ear?" Foxkit asked, hissing while in an attack pounce.
"Yeah…" Shadowfern mewed awkwardly, she didn't like to lie to the kits, they were the only cats she felt she didn't have to lie to, but there was no way she could tell them the truth. Not right now anyways.
"I'll clobber them when I see them; I'll rip 'em to shreds for hurting you like that!" Foxkit growled, showing his tiny teeth and waving his stumpy tail wildly.
Shadowfern purred, "Why do you care so much?" she asked curiously.
Foxkit glanced at her in disdain, "Because you're our friend, duh, and friends help friends," Foxkit affirmed seriously, nodding his head importantly.
"Yeah, and we don't like our friends to be hurt, not like that," Maplekit mewed sorrowfully, rubbing her cheek on one of Shadowfern's paws. "You haven't been hurting yourself again, have you?" Maplekit asked anxiously, turning her paw over.
Shadowfern purred, "Nope, see?" she turned over her paw and showed the rough skin, it had many indented and puffed up scars, but no scabs or cuts from recently.
"Good," Maplekit nodded in satisfaction "I'm glad," the kit purred while her brother rolled his eyes.
"Honestly, I thought older cats were supposed to be smarter than that," he muttered.
Shadowfern thought back to the second time the kits had come to her, they'd found another cut on her paws and made her promise to stop hurting herself or they'd stop liking her. Shadowfern had agreed and found it much easier as long as she sought out the kits when she felt the need to feel something.
"Are you hungry?" Maplekit asked. Shadowfern blinked, thinking, she felt a pang of hunger in her stomach and nodded reluctantly.
"I'll get you the best mouse on the fresh-kill pile!" Foxkit boasted, hearing a possible challenge in the request.
"No, you won't! Cause I will!" Maplekit argued. Shadowfern thought it was so funny how the kit was kind to every cat except her brother; she almost matched his personality when dealing with him.
The two cats raced out of the den side by side, still arguing with each other. A few moments after they left, Whitestripe entered, her brother gave her a quick glance but didn't speak as he finished some work that'd been left for after the ceremony.
"Are you hungry?" Whitestripe asked awkwardly.
"The kits went to get me something," Shadowfern answered, looking away and feeling as uncomfortable as he looked. She'd hardly talked to him since Cloudpatch had died, and since then, he had mostly been telling her to stop wrangling with Rockclash and his cats.
"I admit I am surprised that you're so close to them," Whitestripe mewed, trying to strike up a conversation. Shadowfern hesitated, wondering whether she wanted to talk or not, then decided she'd talk until the kits got back.
"Why do you say that?" she asked, studying her paws sheepishly.
"Heathersky is an adamant supporter of Rockclash, every cat knows it, yet she still lets her kits hang out with you," Whitestripe mewed.
"Oh, well, I don't think Heathersky is that closed minded, and I don't think the kits would accept a, 'no,' anyways," Shadowfern mewed.
"Hmm…" was Whitestripe's response.
"Hey! We got you a mouse, Shadowfern!" the high-pitched call sounded through the fern tunnel and the two kits came running in, both holding onto the same mouse and growling at each other.
"So, then who got the biggest?" Shadowfern asked with a smirk.
"We both grabbed the same one! But I grabbed it first, so technically I win," Foxkit puffed proudly.
"Did not, I grabbed it first and you tried to steal it!" Maplekit argued, both kits dropping the lightly torn mouse at Shadowfern's paws. The kits bickered and Shadowfern watched in amusement as she ate her meal quickly.
"Will you tell us a story?" Maplekit begged once she'd finished arguing with her brother.
Shadowfern had finished her meal and was carefully grooming her fur around her wounds. "I'm not really the story-telling type," she mewed awkwardly, dropping her eyes.
"Now, now, don't be so modest! You're a great story-teller! Tell those adorable kits a story in return for the meal they gave you!" Whitestripe purred, leaning his face down near her with a happily-goofy look on his face.
Shadowfern growled and leaned away, rolling her eyes in annoyance. For a moment, she felt like how she used to, happy and teasing while acting annoyed. "Well, okay, just one story… now, what should it be about…?" she mused to herself, thinking.
"Tell us a fighting story!" Foxkit decreed.
"No! I want to hear a story about the Ancient Clans!" Maplekit argued.
"You mean TigerClan, LionClan, and LeopardClan?" Shadowfern asked.
"Yeah!" the she-kit cheered while Foxkit shouted for a fighting story.
"How about both?" Shadowfern suggested.
"Is there a story like that?" Maplekit asked with wide eyes.
"Of course! Now, let me begin…" Shadowfern sat and thought about the many tales she'd heard from the elders. There wasn't just one that was good enough for the kits expectations, so she'd have to change them a little.
"Once upon a time-"
"Do you have to start with a, 'once upon a time,'?" Foxkit complained.
"Of course she does!" Maplekit answered her brother in annoyance.
"Hey! Do you want to hear a story or what?" Shadowfern questioned impatiently.
"Sorry!" the kits chorused.
"Okay, now where was I… oh yes, back many, many moons ago, when the three Great Clans still walked the forest, there was one TigerClan cat, a very beautiful and skillful female tiger named Blackwhisp," Shadowfern began, the kits captivated by the first sentence with wide eyes as they pictured the creature Shadowfern described.
"As big as a horse and with brands of orange, gold and black covering her pelt, like the floor of a red shadowed forest. Her eyes, deep gold with rivers of dazzling brightness and intelligence," Shadowfern pictured the beast now, and her tone caught onto that of awe in majesty.
She continued with the story, it was a shorter story and rather simple since it was already so late, but it satisfied the kits. Basically, it was a story of the strong cat amidst a time of turmoil, calming the cats and reminding them of their honor and winning the final battle by striking down the troublemaker and leading the cats of the forest into peace and prosperity.
"Did Blackwisp ever become leader?" Foxkit asked in awe as she finished.
"No… but I believe that she became deputy for a while," Shadowfern mused, trying to remember the original story better.
"Are you going to be the Blackwisp for our Clan?" Maplekit asked and Shadowfern stiffened. I think I fit the role of troublemaker better…
"No, that's not my job, it's up to others," Shadowfern answered indifferently.
"But if every cat thinks that, then no cat will do it!" Foxkit pointed out and Shadowfern had to purr, he's a sharp little guy.
"True, but we have a leader and deputy for a reason, it's their job to lead the Clan, I'm neither deputy nor leader," she pointed out mildly.
"But you just said that Blackwisp wasn't either!" Maplekit huffed.
"Err, I did, didn't I," Shadowfern frowned, disconcerted.
"So, that means you could if you wanted to!" Foxkit took up where his sister left off.
"But can and want are two very different things! Yes I can, but no I won't," Shadowfern huffed.
"Oh, come on! I want you to be the hero," Maplekit cried, putting her tiny paws on Shadowfern's nest and looking up at her with beseechingly innocent eyes while Foxkit nodded solemnly with his sister's statement.
"Being a hero is a tall order," Shadowfern mewed gently, knowing that arguing wouldn't get through to the stubborn kits.
"But you can do it! I know you can," Foxkit pressed, green eyes wide and trusting. He really thinks I can be a hero… Shadowfern tilted her head to one side in confusion. How can they both have so much faith in such a thing?
"Kits! Bedtime!" a far off call came from the clearing and Shadowfern took the opportunity to shoo the kits away.
"Now go back to your mother before I get in trouble," Shadowfern waved them off, nudging them away with her paw and they left sulkily, heads down in the gray light after sunset.
"You know they're right," Whitestripe spoke up from the other side of the clearing and Shadowfern jumped at his voice.
"Hmm?" she asked, giving him an odd look.
"You could fix the Clan if you wanted too, but you don't seem to have any goals other than ripping this Clan to shreds," her brother growled bitterly.
Shadowfern, without the brightness of the kits to distract her, fell into a mood of dull bitterness, though it seemed every time she was with the kits, she gained a bit back of her life. "Soorriee, but I have my reasons," Shadowfern muttered, laying her head on her paws and looking dully at nothing.
"What reason is good enough to put your Clan-mates at risk?" Whitestripe questioned angrily, his back turned toward her.
"I never said it was good, I said it was my reason," Shadowfern snapped back bitterly, "And it's good enough to me," she added. Besides, she thought, what good reason did they have to attack me today?
She angrily tried to hear out of her left ear, but to no avail. "Well, at least you seem to have two friends, though I have no idea why," Whitestripe growled.
"They're the only cats I can stand," Shadowfern defended the fact harshly.
"Humph! You've lost all your other friends, I wonder how long it'll be until those two get tired of you and leave," Whitestripe's words were biting and it infuriated Shadowfern.
"I haven't lost all my friends, and they won't leave me," Shadowfern growled in a low voice vibrated with fury.
"Oh yeah, other than the kits and the elders, who can you call a friend?" Whitestripe questioned.
"Crystalheart for one-"
"She just likes you because you help her with her position, every cat knows you two broke your friendship off a while ago," Whitestripe interrupted. "And that's the same for every other cat you might think of calling your friend," the medicine-cat continued.
"Whitestripe!" Shadowfern snapped.
"Don't use that kind of tone with me!" Whitestripe turned around and faced her, deep regret and hurting pain in his blue eyes. "I miss you, the you I knew when I was little and growing up, the character that replaced Blueshadow in my life, the cat that, yes, was secretive and snappy but fun and ambitious! I don't know this hollowed out shell of misery and bitterness, and it hurts to see that the only cats that seem to be able to bring you back… is two kits… why? Why can't I help you?" Whitestripe sat down and dropped his head in dejection.
Shadowfern was stunned to silence at her brother's sudden burst of emotional words. I didn't know he felt like that… Who else felt as helpless as him? Why didn't I even notice? Frowning, she looked down at her paws. "I can't help it," Shadowfern muttered, trying to hide her despair, that wasn't aimed at life, but at the fact she'd caused so much grief and worry to her brother. I guess I'm not totally gone, she thought, surprised at her feelings.
"Hey, Shadowfern?" a new voice spoke up as the brother and sister stared at each other in silence for a few moments.
"What?" she asked, forcing her head to turn and she wasn't sure whether to groan or purr when she saw Flameclaw. Her thoughts flashed to annoyance, but her heart started beating fast and her paws itched to move suddenly.
"Would you like to join me for a late nigh stroll?" the tom invited with much gallantry.
Shadowfern narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but her head was already nodding yes. "Now wait!" Whitestripe protested, "She's injured and needs to rest!" he stated.
"I slept almost all afternoon, I'd like to move, and I can make my own decisions," Shadowfern mewed in an irate tone.
Whitestripe growled but didn't interrupt again as she stood up and shakily moved toward Flameclaw. Once nearer, she grew more suspicious about what he wanted and her wounds burned to remind her to be careful. But last I knew he supported Crystalheart.
She followed him slowly out through the fern tunnel and into the clearing, he led her to the entrance without speaking and she followed him out into the forest. "Well?" she huffed as they reached the top of the ravine.
"Who really hurt you?" Flameclaw asked instead, his back toward her as he looked out over the forest.
"You know who," Shadowfern growled.
Flameclaw sighed, "Rockclash supporters?" the orange tom guessed.
"Took you long enough," Shadowfern retorted.
Flameclaw looked over his shoulder with surprised eyes, "You sound like your old self again," he commented.
Shadowfern huffed, "I never change, you are all just imagining things."
Flameclaw looked away and Shadowfern's thoughts grew dull as she remembered how she used to meet Cloudpatch. Even if I do get over this depression, Rockclash still has to pay.
"It's your own fault," Flameclaw's voice sliced through her dark thoughts.
"What?" she asked.
"The fact you were attacked, I warned you that what you were doing would bring trouble, and now you lost your ear, it'll be a scar forever to remind you of your hate," Flameclaw mewed, tone harsh.
"I know that," Shadowfern muttered, and it's not the only visible scar, she thought of her paw pads.
"Are you happy now?" Flameclaw sounded spiteful now, and Shadowfern looked away.
"No." For some reason, she wanted to cry again at his tone.
"Then how much more hurt and pain and chaos will there have to be until you're done?" Flameclaw growled.
"I'm into the one who started the problem, let's not forget that," Shadowfern snarled.
"But you are complicating the problem when it could have been fixed. The Clan should be getting ready for leaf-bare, not wasting its energy bringing itself down, how many cats will die this leaf-bare if we can't work together? And it won't be the warriors, it'll be the elders, queens, and kits who can't fight for themselves," Flameclaw growled.
Kits… Horror shot through Shadowfern as she thought of her two little friends dying. No, no matter what, I cannot lose them too… I couldn't handle it, I know I couldn't, I'm not strong enough. She was trembling now, shaking uncontrollably.
"T-that won't happen," Shadowfern whispered.
"It might," Flameclaw growled, "And it'll be your entire fault," he growled angrily.
The words shot through Shadowfern, my fault that they die? No… impossible… she swallowed hard. "I won't let that happen," she whispered hoarsely.
"You may not get to decide, your actions may not be able to be reversed in time," Flameclaw now sighed and dropped his head, sitting down.
"Be a hero," the kit's voices echoed in her head, "You can do it if you want to." But how do I be a hero now?
...
Yay! I'm breathing hope back into the story! artistic expressions are s fun... Uh... I was going to say something of some importance but I forgot, all well, who cares, right?!
Please Review!
Oh wait! I remembered what it was! haha, my family is trying to sell our house and move (again) So... depending on various things like extra work on the house and having to leave home for showings, updates may slow down, through no fault of my own, of course. (I just had to let you guys know)