Chapter 10: The Ice Melts, and A Star is Lost
Leaf-bare came so quickly. Icestar's kits, now called Rusty and Princess, were living with Twolegs, with Loststar's kit, now named Smudge. Rusty had green eyes, Princess had a piercing blue, and Smudge had brown. They looked nothing like their parents, and that made Icestar and Loststar sad, because their kits would never see what their parents had done: Save the Clans. The prophecy said that the kits would look like them to fulfill the quest, but they didn't. Instead, they looked like their grandparents. (A/N: do they have names for that?)
Now, as brother and sister padded along the Thunderpath, the leaders talked about how they had already lost three of their nine lives.
Three moons ago…
Icestar paced in front of the stream. Her fur was plastered to her body from the rain. Loststar stood across the stream, his green eyes following his sister's every move. Ever since the Clans had shifted, and he had become the RiverClan leader, she, the new ThunderClan leader, had been angered. No cat knew why.
"What in the name of StarClan is wrong with you!" he spat, fur bristling.
"Why do you want to know? It's not like you care!" she hissed.
"I'm your brother, Icestar! Of course I care about you!"
She didn't stop pacing. Her white pelt and fierce amber eyes reminded him of Brambleclaw, his father. After the major greencough incident, he was determined to find the cure to the sickness. He died when he slipped on the edge of the gorge, falling to his death at the rocks below. Loststar was afraid that would happen to her, too, since her deputy, Darkpelt had died of the sickness a few days before.
"Do you want to know?"
Loststar had been too caught up in his thoughts to notice she had stopped pacing. Her amber gaze was now fixed on him.
"Yes, please."
She sighed. "I lost a life fighting with Dragontail, but…no one seemed to notice or care. He did that deliberately, so I couldn't save my own son from his death!"
He remembered Singekit. The tom looked exactly alike Singefur, and he would have been a great warrior if it weren't for that mouse-brained warrior!
Loststar shook his head. He couldn't believe that his sister had lost a life so soon.
"So you only have eight lives left? Well, so do I."
"What do you mean, brother? Did you lose a life too?"
"yes, I fought Lightstar." Loststar lowered his eyes from her gaze. "she overpowered me, and I lost miserably."
Icestar stared at him for a long while, one life down for both of them, eight to go.
Two moons ago…
The leaders slowly rose to their paws. Another life was lost! This time, they only had seven. Icestar padded out of the den first, and Loststar followed shortly after. Moonriver padded out of the nursery, nudging little Ravenkit forward. Moon watched proudly as his son made his way over to him. Icestar smiled; Loststar frowned.
"Isn't that the medicine cat apprentice?"
Icestar glanced at him nervously. "Yes," she admitted.
"You let her have kits? That's against the warrior code!"
"You think I had a choice? She was already pregnant when she told me!"
Loststar gave a snort. "You're just like that BloodClan leader, stubborn, and always a smart-a—"
"Shut you stupid, mouse-brained mouth! You have no right to just say those I front of my Clan, I would never do that to you!" Her voice was slightly high-pitched. Her amber eyes would set a whole forest on fire if it was possible. "The only reason we're like this is because we are fading away from each other. If the shift hadn't of happened, we would still be the best brother and sister in the whole forest."
"I hope you're right, sister," he snapped angrily, stomping off.
Two lives down, seven to go.
One moon ago…
She had pushed him away. This was her third life she had lost, and it was all because of him! He just had to go to Wildstar, he just had to tell him what kind of situation they were in, he just had to fight her, and take a life! HOW DARE HIM! Icestar would be glad if he was sent to HellClan instead of StarClan. He could live with his own kind; hellcats! That evil, good for nothing tomcat would lose his last life to her!
"Icestar? Are you okay?" Silverwind meowed.
"Yes," Icestar muttered.
"Loststar and Wildstar will pay!" Sun and River spat.
Sun was a beautiful cat, especially for BloodClan. River, a handsome blue-gray tabby tom, was her mate, and they were always so tense, probably from living in an alley for their whole lives. Moon was her brother, a great one to say the least, not like the tenser relationship of Icestar and Loststar.
"Yes, they will," Icestar hissed.
Present…
Now they had made up, acting as brothers and sisters should. Their quarrels had shortened to a daily routine, while their threats had vanished altogether. They would be meeting Shadow and Sasha, the two kittypets that would be living with Rusty and Princess and would be taking care of them.
Shadow had been trained as a warrior, but had left to become a kittypet since his mate, Sasha, was a kittypet. Shadow's former name and Clan were never known. His brother had left to become a warrior for the Tribe of Rushing Water, but no cat knew his name or why he left. Icestar intended to ask those questions, but forgot all about them when she saw the two cats padding down the large, gray Thunderpath.
Sasha had amazing aquamarine eyes, while Shadow had green eyes that seemed slightly distant. "Hello."
Kittypet. The thought raced through Icestar's mind, making her shiver. "Hello, Shadow, Sasha." Loststar dipped his head, nudging her to do so. The leaders exchanged foul glances as they settled down in the brush, allowing Shadow to talk about how Rusty and Princess and Smudge were doing.
"Rusty and his friend Smudge have always been on the fence in the garden, looking out into the forest. Princess, however, stays in the house because she is slightly sick," Shadow meowed.
"What do you mean 'slightly'?" Icestar inquired.
"Well, you see, Princess is…is sick with greencough, as I remember."
"GREENCOUGH!"
"Yes, greencough. Why, is it worse now in the Clans?"
"My deputy died from it three moons ago. I don't want my daughter to…"
Shadow looked at her sympathetically. Sasha looked pained. Loststar was looking away into the forest. Icestar listened to the many forest sounds around her.
"Well, we must be going," Sasha mewed.
"Why? You just got here!" Icestar protested, scrambling to her paws.
"yes, I know, but our humans will be angry if we aren't back soon."
Sasha waited for Shadow to rise, then padded away back to Twolegplace. Icestar and Loststar made their way back to their camps, not saying goodbye. As Icestar entered her own camp, she noticed a new cat sitting at the foot of Highrock, his pelt gray and black and his eyes demon-like. He looked at her; she didn't look at him, for she knew who he was.
It was Demonheart.
I decided to leave you on a cliffy, because the sequel won't come out until I have at least 15 reviews, maybe more. But here is a preview for the next story:
Inner Demons of Ice and Fire
Demonheart glared daggers as Icestar said that. His red eyes flared up like fire itself.
"Well maybe you wouldn't mind if I talk to good old Hauntstar. Maybe he would like to handle this situation!"
Icestar shrugged. "Go ahead, you will always be of HellClan no matter what." She turned away and padded out of her den, tail fluffed up.
That was a short preview, but my inner child is messing with my brain.
Inner child: It's so…pink!
Me: poke it, see what it does.
Inner child: (pokes brain)
Brain: (jiggle, wiggle)
In Loving Memory of
William Burris Andrews
