Here's another chapter! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving without Covid sticking it's head in. As for me, I've still got a ton of homework to do so... :P
Just a heads up; might not be any updates next week. Next week is hectic. Like, first it's a research paper that's due, and then a test, and then some quizzes, and then a presentation, then another project is due... I'll be super busy and stressed and I have no idea if I'll be even in the mood for writing. So yeah.
Nothing else to say really...
Also I ripped some more stuff straight from the books again. I'm sorry please don't sue me Erins.
Reviews are appreciated!
Seeing her former apprentice writhe on the ground in pain physically hurt her. His eyes were flickering from green to red and then back again, the stone in his chest glowing an intense, angry red, anger, pain, and mistrust building up within his eyes. It was influencing him again- putting in foreign thoughts and commands without his say. It was hurting him.
In that moment, she cursed whoever had sent the vision of Firestar being their destroyer to the medicine cats. Because Windclan had been so utterly convinced that Firestar was out to get them all, Firestar had been chased out from Thunderclan of all things. He was never have supposed to be driven out. There was no reason for it. They had ran her former apprentice out when he had done nothing to deserve it, and it broke her heart to see the hopelessness and helplessness in his eyes, convinced that he was nothing more than a monster.
She especially wanted to tear the whiskers off of the Windclan warriors of Starclan, most of which had backed up Onestar's lunacy. She wasn't sure if it was because they were truly fearful of Firestar or if it was because they were too prideful of Windclan. It wasn't just Windclan, many warriors of Starclan, regardless of what living clan they had once been, had feared Firestar and what he could now do. She supposed they were right to fear him- no one should be stronger than the powers of the stars.
The Three had been sent to them to be their best preparation against the Dark Forest. Three cats with the power of the stars in their paws. But then Firestar had been bestowed with something even more powerful than Starclan could possibly imagine- and many within Starclan didn't like it.
When would he turn his claws onto them next?
But Firestar was so obviously their Fourth cat, the one the Ancients promised to them that would lead the clans to victory. But what help was he when he had been driven out by the very clans he was meant to protect?
It was clear to see that Firestar had lost all the love he had for the clans. Why help the clans when they wanted him gone? It was a pointless endeavor. All the passion and love he had for the clans...gone. It had been replaced by something primal; something she couldn't make out what it was. Hatred maybe?
But he was needed. Without Firestar, the clans would be destined to fall to the Dark Forest.
She had rushed forward, hoping that with a few well-placed words, she could calm him down, fight off the stone's influence and maybe convince him to return to the clans. She knew she was hoping and asking for a lot, but what else could she do? She certainly couldn't force him to go back. She had made it to his side, urging him to fight it, and then he was screaming at her to leave him alone, and her world was engulfed in fire.
She didn't think she would die again so soon, and not from her beloved apprentice himself!
She thought it was the end... until something just... snapped together in her mind with a click. And then suddenly, she could hear it.
*Thump thump*
*Thump thump*
*Thump thump*
Firestar's heartbeat. She didn't know why she was hearing it, or whose heartbeat it belonged to until she listened closer, hearing a thrumming beating in tune that she almost didn't notice, the thrumming blending in so well. It was pulsing in tune with his heart, and suddenly the image of red lines attached to his heart appeared briefly in her mind.
Don't trust them. They only want to use you. The clans hate you.
With startling realization, she realized that she could hear the mental voice of the stone, implanting commands into Firestar's subconsciousness.
It was totally intertwined with his body, attaching itself onto anywhere it could branch out into, including his mind.
'So that's how it's influencing him...'
They are the only ones that matter.
Images of Brambleclaw, Sandstorm, Squirrelflight, and Leafpool came to mind, and then a fierce need to protect buzzed through her, followed by an intense feeling of love. Was this how Firestar felt about those four cats?
Why was she being shown this? Why was she hearing this?
'Did I connect with the stone somehow?' Or perhaps the stone connected with her; did it do so to rub in how much control it had over Firestar to her?
You can't become your truest self by following the will of those that don't care about you.
'What it is trying to do to him? What did it mean by truest self!' It confirmed her suspicions that the stone was trying to change Firestar into something else entirely- something that wasn't a cat. Something that cared for... only itself. That's why it was instilling foreign instincts into the ginger leader.
'But why? Why is it trying to change him? It is doing it just because or does it have some kind of purpose?' Her thoughts ran wild, trying to figure out why the stone was here. She strained her mind, trying to delve deeper into the connection, hoping for some kind of answer.
….
Something was keeping her out, but she could make out the faint voice of the stone- it didn't want anyone to know its purpose. But she could hear one of the reasons why it was still attached to Firestar.
Survive. A host is needed.
It needed him! Without Firestar, it couldn't complete whatever purpose it had!
'Come on, just a little more. If I can figure out what this thing really wants with him, maybe I can help Firestar-!' But it wasn't meant to be, as her connection with the stone waned, and she could no longer hear its voice. Instead of darkness, she was suddenly back within Thunderclan territory, laying on her side. She groaned as she got up to her paws, confused, only to stumble back with a startled hiss.
There was the creature that haunted many cat's nightmares- black scales covering it from head to tail, four large wings, many horns crowning its head, a small red dot in its chest- the very thing that Firestar was to turn into. The creature that the stone wanted Firestar to turn into. She was prepared to run, when she noticed the dull shock within the creature's eyes.
"No... please wake up... please..." he pleaded. She edged closer, and her fur bristled at the still forms of Brambleclaw, Sandstorm, Leafpool, and Squirrelflight underneath Firestar. He was huddled over them, gathering the four within his claws, and pleading with them to wake up.
'Oh no, this isn't good...' She started backing away as hot, angry, sorrowful tears started streaming down his face.
'My.. my treasures..." he sobbed. An aura of malice and hatred emanated off of him in waves, and she wanted nothing more than to run. But her legs failed her, and she was stuck in place and could only watch as Firestar put down the four cats gently, before a roar of sheer anger tore out of him.
"They took them from me. This world took the only things that mattered-!" he snarled. "If the world wants to see me suffer so, then I'll return that suffering back!" he roared out. He reared up and opened his jaws, and a pillar of fire rose up from his mouth, the fire raining back down onto the earth in a shower of fiery death and destruction. She screamed as the fire rained down on her, Firestar's roar of sorrow ringing in her ears being the last thing she heard.
And Bluestar jerked awake yowling, then gasping for breath as her mind registered that she wasn't there and that she was safe.
"Bluestar! You're awake!" Spottedleaf gasped. All the medicine cats presently in the den hurried over and tried checking her over, before an irate meow sounded in the den.
"Stop crowding around her! Are you all medicine cats or are you all newly made apprentices?!" Yellowfang hissed. They all stepped back and allowed the grouchy she-cat to move forward to stand by Bluestar's side.
"What happened?" Bluestar muttered.
Yellowfang flicked her tail. "Firestar got you good is what happened. Thankfully the burns weren't too terrible to treat." Bluestar turned her head and the sight of cobwebs all over her body greeted her. She turned back to Yellowfang with a grimace.
"How long was I...?"
Yellowfang and the other medicine cats averted their gazes. "You've been knocked out for a while," Spottedleaf said awkwardly.
"Seemed you had a really bad dream in order for you to wake up like that though," Yellowfang commented.
Bluestar's eyes widened, suddenly remembering the dream. "I connected with it," she gasped.
"Connected with what?"
"The stone!" All the medicine cats stiffened in shock.
"You... connected with that thing?" Yellowfang asked slowly.
"It... it has a purpose. I didn't find out what it's here for but it needs Firestar to be alive to do it. And..." she trailed off, not wanting to think about the horrible vision of Firestar destroying everything. "We have to protect them."
"Protect who?" Spottedleaf inquired softly.
"Brambleclaw. Sandstorm. Leafpool. Squirrelflight. If they die... the result will be even worse than whatever the Dark Forest will do to us."
.
.
.
.
"The time has come," came Brokenstar's rasping mew, ringing throughout the Dark Forest. Cats crowed their approval, their yowls echoing through leafless branches. "This is the last night you'll spend in this stinking forest!" Brokenstar declared from the stump. His amber eyes gleamed as he surveyed the sea of bristling pelts.
Tigerstar leaped onto the tree stump and nudged Brokenstar aside. "Tonight we will sweep away the warrior code that has robbed the clans of true honor for so long. For too many moons, the clans have nurtured the weak and rejected the strong." He swung his broad head around to take in all the cats below him. "But tonight we will rage through the clans like a storm until only the strong remain. We will build a new clan where strength and victory are prized above weakness and failure!"
"No more warrior code!" yowled a battered tabby.
"The Dark Forest will rule the clans!" Cries rose from the crowd.
"Follow me tonight!" Tigerstar lifted his voice. "And I promise you more power and freedom than you have ever known."
Hawkfrost jumped up beside Tigerstar and Brokenstar, his pelt glossy in the eerie half-light. "And if Firestar shows up during the battle?"
Tigerstar's eyes gleamed in the darkness, aware that Firestar had been chased out but was making his way back. "You all know what to do if that kittypet makes an appearance," he sneered.
Hawkfrost nodded. "Then our warriors are ready," he yowled. "Death to the clans!"
As the Dark Forest warriors picked up the chant, wind surged through the trees. It dragged at the branches, splintering bark and stripping shriveled, dead leaves. Lightning split the sky as Tigerstar jumped down from the stump. The crowd parted to let him through and he raced for the trees, Brokenstar and Hawkfrost at his tail. The Dark Forest army surged after them.
"Death to the clans!"
"Death to the clans!"
"Death to the clans!"
Oh look, a plot hole that I'll most likely never resolve! The stone has an agenda- what is it? Not sure! I haven't gotten that far yet.
I'm dumb okay? I don't plan ahead for these fics. Most of these are written in the spur of the moment. I might have something in mind for that purpose though...
I'm still debating whether to write out the battle or not, cause I'm not good at writing out fight scenes. I could just skip ahead to the point where I want to be at, but... that would be going a little too fast wouldn't it? Pacing is kind of important... More than likely I'll have two weeks to think about it though.
Tell me how I did.