Hi! Here's some more Mistshade stuff... Also, I'm hoping to give Blackpaw her warrior name next chapter (FINALLY)
How could one single battle cause so much devastation and death? Starclan, how could you let this happen? Mistshade sat motionlessly by Ebonyfrost's body, staring down at her.
This wasn't fair. She didn't deserve this.
Goldenstar was grieving for her old friend and deputy, but she had to pick a new deputy, so she picked Sandspark. The tom had mentored Rockstorm and was a respected senior warrior, he was a good choice, and had taken over the duties with no hesitation, though he did say that he would never be able to do them as well as Ebonyfrost had.
He's right. No one could.
"Mistshade." Breezestrike's quiet voice came from behind her.
Mistshade raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Let's go hunting." Breezestrike sat beside her. "You can't change what happened to Ebonyfrost, and she would want you to be helping your Clan recover."
Mistshade gave a defeated sigh. "I suppose you're right."
She rose to her paws slowly and the two padded out of the camp, casting a last glance back at the motionless figure in the center of camp. Cedareyes had been off with his calculations. Cavernclan HAD lost just as much as Streamclan did.
Everyone who died didn't deserve to die. Just more blood on Applestar's paws, in my opinion.
She gave a small growl of fury when she pictured the reddish she-cat. She better be gone. I don't know what I'll do if she ever shows her mangy pelt around here again, but it won't be good.
They padded into the familiar cave for hunting, tunnels splitting off into different caves and forming a complicated network. It's kind of beautiful, in a way. She glanced at a certain tunnel, and remembered what had happened there not so long ago.
"I want to show you something."
Her mind flashed to Rockstorm, who had been floating in a realm between life and death ever since the battle. Cedareyes and Leopardleaf were doing everything that they could, but they had told her that eventually his life would be in Starclan's hands, not theirs.
"There's only so much we can do, Mistshade."
Mistshade stifled a hiss of anger. You're not doing enough! You're medicine cats! Isn't it your job to heal?
She shook off her anger and followed Breezestrike into a different cave, scenting carefully for mice. I guess that hunting might take my mind off of all the stuff that's happened so recently.
She began to creep up on a mouse, but her tail brushed the ground slightly, sending a couple pebbles clattering against the cave floor. The mouse looked up and noticed her, beginning to dash for escape, but Mistshade pounced, killing the creature with a messy bite to the neck. "I can't do anything."
Breezestrike sighed in exasperation. "Mistshade, you barely brushed your tail against the floor. Stop doing this to yourself."
"Sorry." Mistshade muttered, feeling in a worse mood than ever.
"The battle affected other people other than you. I'm worried about my brother as well." Mistshade glanced at Breezestrike, she noticed that she-cat looked exhausted, her fur ungroomed and messy, and her eyes looked strained and tired.
"I'm sorry." Mistshade repeated, more genuinely this time. She pushed her mouse towards Breezestrike.
"Do you want it? I know that we're hunting, but I can catch another one."
Breezestrike nodded and bit into the mouse, and Mistshade caught another while she was eating.
They hunted in silence for a while more, but decided to head back to camp soon after.
"I think this is enough." Breezestrike poked the small pile that they gathered on the cave floor with one claw. Mistshade nodded.
"Catch any more and we'll clear out the caves of prey."
Breezestrike grinned. They took their prey back, Mistshade taking two of her mice to the medicine den where Rockstorm was.
"Hello, Mistshade." Cedareyes didn't seem surprised to see her. "Your sister is out right now, and for your mate, well, I think you know where he is by now."
"I know." Mistshade dropped the mouse at his paws. "I know that you medicine cats also have an unhealthy habit of not eating enough, so there you go. Seriously though, you need to eat."
Cedareyes shrugged and began to eat, taking neat, quick bites. Mistshade padded over to where Rockstorm was lying, his breathing shallow and uneven.
"How are you?" She whispered, stroking his pelt lightly with her tail. He opened one eye slightly. "As good as I can be doing with a wound in my throat. Cedareyes did say that I am beginning to recover, though, so I suppose I'm not going to die."
Mistshade gave a small smile. "Good. You're not allowed to die on me yet."
Rockstorm grunted. "I don't really think that it's your choice to make."
Mistshade shrugged. "I don't care." She nosed the mouse towards him. "Are you hungry?"
In response, Rockstorm bit into the mouse hungrily. "Thanks." He mewed in between bites.
Mistshade nodded and sat down beside him. "You're lucky to be alive, honestly. Honeyhawk takes her killing seriously."
"And now she's dead." Rockstorm chuckled. "A Streamclan warrior killed her. That's what I heard."
"Good for them." Mistshade replied. "If only Applestar would've died as well." Rockstorm nodded. "Stormstar did get one of her lives, I think, but I guess that would be payback for the one that he lost. She's a rogue now, but I'm not going to hope that she's going to never come back somehow."
Mistshade sighed. "It'll be more of a revenge thing. Again, if only she would've died."
"Also, I'm surprised that the powers are real." Rockstorm said. "I'm just saying, it makes it even more obvious that Cavernstar's power isn't gone."
Mistshade groaned. "Well, since his power is to be invisible, have fun finding that cat."
Rockstorm shrugged. "Know anyone who's just disappeared one day?"
Mistshade gave a weak laugh. "I have, but I either usually find them or their body pretty soon after that."
"This sounds like a fun conversation." Cedareyes mewed from behind them. "I won't interrupt."
"You just did." Mistshade snapped at him. Cedareyes gave a small smile, then padded away.
"I don't understand that one." Mistshade grumbled. "It's because you don't understand medicine cats. I'm going to blame that on your mother, honestly." Rockstorm mewed cautiously.
"What did Birchears do?" Mistshade replied evenly, trying to keep her temper.
"Um, the whole Leopardleaf thing? She has a thing against medicine cats, her brother especially, something that she tried to pass on to her kits." Rockstorm sighed. "I'm not trying to throw accusations around, but I just wish that she would drop it. Cedareyes'd skills are legendary, and so are your sister's. They're the only reason that I'm alive."
"I know." Mistshade replied. "But when you've grown up with that mentality in your head, it's kind of hard to let it go."
Rockstorm nodded. "I know, I just wanted to point it out. If you start acting kinder, maybe you can end the chain that she started."
Mistshade glanced at him curiously. "Maybe." She mewed at last.
"Maybe I can."
—
(Pinemist's POV)
He had faded, to barely a memory, and he didn't know how to go back. She had told him to run, so he ran, through twisted forests and plains and Twolegplaces, through odd and familiar places. He had run until he knew that he couldn't run anymore. But he never would be safe, not when she ruled, not when she drowned the four Clans in her thirst for blood.
He would never be safe, so he had to hide.
Luckily, as some kind of lucky gift, he could hide, hide so well that he couldn't be found. As soon as he got good enough with it to hide, he did, and never showed himself, because he was afraid of being caught and transported back to that dark place, the place where cats like him lived.
Well, only one, but she was the most powerful of them all.
He padded cautiously through an abandoned Twolegplace, the streets abandoned and the monsters sleeping. They probably would never wake up again. Pinemist didn't mind, though. They probably didn't wake up because they didn't see him. No one saw him. He was a ghost, a shadow, something that no one noticed because no one looked for him, and if no one looked for him then no one could find him.
He didn't know how he hid, he didn't know why he had gotten the skill to hide so well, but he used it well. The city may have been mostly empty of Twolegs, but it was full of cats, cats that you didn't want to cross.
The war raged around him, but Pinemist kept pushing forward, ignoring everyone. What was he running from anymore, he didn't know. Angry yowls came from an alley as two cats fought over a piece of food, something stupid like that.
These depressing places, these dangerous Twolegplaces, dark forests, and abandoned homes were the sights that Pinemist had been seeing ever since he had fled the forest.
"You can only hide for so long, Pinemist. I'll find you one day, and then you'll finally give me what I want."
Pinemist knew that she was wrong. He might not know how he can disappear, but if she wants it so badly, she'll have to find him, and no cat has found him for seasons. He swerved around a rotting pile of something, wrinkling his nose at the acrid smell it filled the air with.
The sooner I leave this place, the better.
Suddenly, his paw caught on something, and he stumbled forward, his outstretched paw accidentally bumping a scrawny she-cat.
She snarled, but when she turned to growl at whoever had dared to poke her, her anger turned to fear when she saw nothing. "Who's there?" She hissed.
Pinemist froze, then slowly withdrew his paw, trying to maneuver around the cat. Her companion, a broad shouldered gray tom, glanced at where she was looking.
"There's nothing there, Dawn."
"Something touched me, I'm sure of it." Dawn protested weakly.
"You have bees in your brain." The tom scoffed. He stood up. "Come on, let's go. Whatever it was, it's gone now."
The two cats padded off, and Pinemist let out a small breath of relief. He hadn't made that mistake in a while, and felt immediately disappointed in himself. He had made it this far without being caught, he could make it a while longer. He continued to pad through the abandoned city, more cautiously this time.
A cool forest breeze blew from ahead, making Pinemist increase his pace. If I make it there, I'll be able to hunt and hopefully find shelter. Again, I need to get out of here.
It was quite crucial that he found shelter, though, as his skill, his ability to hide, just.. disappeared when he was sleeping, or if he wanted it to. But he didn't want to show himself to any other cat, in case they were working for her, but mostly because he was used to hiding.
The forest rose in front of him, Pinemist was grateful to leave the dirty city and enter the cool forest, where the cloudy sky and the rushing wind gave it a scary glow. Something about the forest looked familiar, but Pinemist shook it off, he had seen so many forests in his travels they were all blending together.
He found a little hollowed out tree, it smelled of another cat, but the scent was stale, so he assumed that he was safe. He climbed in, not even bothering to hunt, he would be able to in the morning. The sun was setting, and Pinemist remembered that her fur would always turn the color of blood in the night, the same color of the blood that stained her paws and coated her claws.
He curled up in a little ball, resting his head on his paws, and felt a gentle stir as he stopped hiding, at least for the night. He glanced at his ginger fur and white paws and gave a little smile.
I guess it's nice to see you again. But I have to hide during the day. It's the only way to keep going.
He curled up again, and closed his eyes. He didn't see the red she-cat behind him, nor the maniacal smile she had on her face, one that had haunted his dreams for many seasons.
This is probably confusing. Sorry, um, but it's supposed to be. How does Pinemist hide?
Review! Your opinion matters, and since I am still indecisive on Blackpaw's warrior name, I will take suggestions, and I just like reviews lol
Have a great day (or night) everyone, and keep writing!
-Mintflight