Title: AirClan's Farewell
Challenge: Challenge #3
Word Count: 936
Ripplestar stood at the front of the camp, watching the foxes hunt and bicker outside. Lilacspring paced beside him, the kits watching in bewilderment. "The other Clans have already left!" Ripplestar snapped. "It's only a matter of time until DarkClan's fate becomes ours as well."
Lilacspring shook her head violently. "We can't leave. This has been our territory for generations." Ripplestar growled in frustration.
"Get the kits inside!" Deerpelt's yowl warned. Lilacspring bounded forward, grabbing one kit by the scruff. Ripplestar did the same, skidding inside the nursery before whipping around to face the foxes.
Deerpelt was locked in battle with a young male fox. Ripplestar swiped at its muzzle and ducked towards Birchstrike, one of his senior warriors, who was fighting a female. AirClan swarmed around him, wounds evident on their pelts. Watertail slipped, and Ripplestar batted a scarred fox away from the young warrior and turned to help Birchstrike again. Together, they drove the fox away until she collapsed, blood pooling around a mark on her neck. Birchstrike turned and nodded, panting, at Ripplestar in thanks. They turned to continue defending.
"One made it through!" Hollybreeze yowled. Ripplestar streaked past her, lunging at the offending fox. Its bushy tail waved erratically as it made for the nursery. With a screech, he leaped onto its back.
It sank down, fur bloodied and patched where the AirClan leader had torn it out. "Get. Out!" Ripplestar caterwauled, herding it to the barrier with flurried blows. The battle outside was dying down, Ripplestar's Clanmates sending the last foxes on their way.
Frogpaw let out a wail. "Crouchpaw!" Lilacspring herded the tom inside, trying to calm him down. Ripplestar felt a pang of sympathy. Almost everyone in the Clan has lost a relative. Watching the young apprentice, he realized how desolate the camp looked. Only the elders' den and the nursery still existed. When the foxes had first come, all of the other dens had been dismantled and used to reinforce the camp barrier and the nursery.
A meager mouse was laid down in front of Ripplestar. "Eat this," Heatherfur meowed. Her paws were caked in herbs and cobweb. Ripplestar shook his head.
"The queens and elders eat first," he responded. Heatherfur shoved it at him persistently, but he rejected it. Changing the subject, he asked, "Have StarClan sent a sign?"
"No," she sighed bleakly. "Honestly, I don't know if we would survive even if we left." Ripplestar ran his tail reassuringly along her flank. She looked at him gratefully before walking slowly out of his den, the mouse forgotten.
"All cats gather for a Clan meeting!" AirClan settled down in front of the sky rock. With a pang, Ripplestar realized how thin they looked. We need to leave. "I have come to ask your opinion on leaving." A murmur rose above the cats.
"We need to leave," Birchstrike called out. The senior warriors nodded darkly. "There's not enough food or shelter here anymore."
Deerpelt piped up shyly. "Watertail and I have been taking food from two legs. It's not that bad, and it's better than getting eaten by a fox for one lousy vole." The senior warriors turned on the two young warriors immediately, reprimanding them in disbelief.
Ripplestar let the hubbub die down. "Sunflight, Berryfall, what do you think?"
The elders conferred together, then Sunflight spoke for them both. "We have endured far worse than this. We believe that whatever decision we make, we must stick together as a Clan. We must not let AirClan die."
Lilacspring sprang onto the sky rock. "I think we should stay," she began. "Ripplestar, do you think we should take a vote?" Ripplestar gave his approval and jumped down from the rock so his mate had more space.
"All in favor of leaving?" she asked. The Clan muttered among themselves. About half the cats raised their tails. Ripplestar didn't vote. "Of staying?" The same amount raised their tails, Lilacspring included in the count. "With Ripplestar voting for leaving, we will have to leave," she concluded. Ripplestar shook his head.
"I believe the Clan must make this decision on their own without my influence."
Lilacspring took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Did anyone not vote?"
"I didn't!" Marshkit squealed. The rest of the kits tumbled out of the nursery, squeaking in agreement. "We want to leave! We want to leave!" they chanted loudly.
One small kit tottered out a little late on unsteady legs. "I want to leave too! No more scary foxes!" it chorused. Lilacspring hurried over, guiding Marshkit back into the den.
"You heard the kits! We need to leave," Hollybreeze argued. Her fur rippled along her spine. "I don't want to leave. This is the place where I've lived my life, raised kits, hunted, and fought for. But if we don't leave, we will die. I did not vote. I now raise my tail for leaving."
Ripplestar nodded at her. He could see her speech had touched a lot of the Clan. "We will leave at sunrise!" he announced. The Clan broke up, scattering to their recent nests under whatever undergrowth they could find. We made the right decision, he thought to himself.
The red sun rose over the camp, washing everything in a glow. Ripplestar took a final glance around the camp. Goodbye.
"We will leave now! We will face dangers, but remember we are AirClan! Nothing can hold us back!" he said. The Clan stared at him silently. Quietly Ripplestar turned and led them out of camp for the last time.