Wow... I can't believe this has gotten up to 60 chapters. Months ago I was sure that I wouldn't even make it to 50. A̶l̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶l̶e̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶7̶0̶.̶
I thought about adding more to this chapter but something inside me said nah.
Two more updates and then the semester starts. Joy. ;-;
Reviews are super appreciated!
Starclan, as Leafpool would learn, didn't have borders. At least, it shouldn't have borders. Before the Dark Forest had risen, the omnipresent borders that separated the clans in life... didn't exist in Starclan. Cats could talk and play and hunt freely with someone from another clan without conflict. Territory wasn't an issue. Starclan was ever expanding, and if a cat wanted some territory to keep for themselves for a while, Starclan would expand to allow that cat some room.
Now that the Dark Forest had been taken care of, the borders that had previously separated the Starclan cats into their previous clans had evaporated into fine mist, as if they had never been there in the first place.
So with cats hanging around with who they previously liked to be around again, with space all to themselves, Leafpool assumed that finding Bluestar wouldn't be an easy task.
But no, Yellowfang pointed her in the direction of the Warming Rocks and lo and behold, there was the previous leader of Thunderclan.
The Warming Rocks of Starclan was a replica of Sunningrocks, just ever expanding for all the cats (mostly Riverclan and Thunderclan) to enjoy, and the sight of it sent a pang of nostalgia through Leafpool. The stones were nice and smooth to lay on, and she could detect a perfect amount of warmth emanating from the stones hitting her paws.
But as much as she would love to take a nap here, relaxation wasn't the reason why she had come here. She needed to see Bluestar. And the Warming Rocks just happened to be a favorite spot of hers, enough that most cats knew where to find her most of the time.
The blue she-cat was currently lounging on a large slab of stone, a reddish-brown tom nosing the cobwebs that were still plastered onto her sides in slight concern, a little gray and white she-kit running around the paws of a tom that held Bluestar's and Mistystar's likenesses nearby.
She stopped in her tracks, not sure if going up to her was a good idea. It was clear that Bluestar was trying to enjoy spending time with what looked to be her family. She didn't want to ruin that.
But Bluestar was the only cat that could remotely help her in her goal. Plus, Bluestar had been in Starclan way longer than Leafpool had. She has plenty of time to be around her loved ones; a few moments away from them wouldn't hurt her.
So Leafpool decided to approach her, taking a deep breath, her head held high. The reddish-brown tom perked his head up once she came close, and Bluestar herself cracked an eye open, recognition at the sight of Leafpool, then replaced with a glimmer of understanding at the air of solemnness around the former medicine cat.
"Leafpool..." Bluestar murmured. "Oakheart, could you help Stonefur for a bit? Looks like he's having trouble keeping up with Mosskit," she purred in amusement at the sight of her flustered son spinning in circles in an attempt to play with his sister.
"Bluestar..." the reddish-brown tom, Oakheart uttered. His eyes swapped from Bluestar to Leafpool, and then to his kits, letting out a sigh as he got up to his paws and put on an amused face as he padded over to his kits.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Leafpool finally spoke up. "So... how are your burns healing?" she inquired. She was quite aware of what her father had done to Bluestar. She was initially shocked, but was quite understanding as Yellowfang told her about his behavior; about the stone's unnatural glowing.
She wanted to believe that it wasn't Firestar who attacked Bluestar, but rather the stone. Or at the very least, it the stone that compelled Firestar into doing its bidding.
"They're fine. The medicine cats say that I'll be able to take the cobwebs off in a few days," Bluestar stated. "But you didn't come to me to talk about my injuries did you? You came for something else," she meowed, narrowing her eyes.
"You're right, I did." This was it. Her only shot at helping her father. "Yellowfang and Spottedleaf told me you managed to make contact with the stone. I want to know how you did it," she bluntly told Bluestar.
The once leader twitched her whiskers, skeptical. "You want to make contact with it yourself," she realized. When Leafpool didn't deny it, she let out a heavy sigh. "Stars above know why you would want to make contact with that thing."
Leafpool's gaze hardened. "I need to. If anyone wants to enter Firestar's dreams, they have to go through the stone first. And I need to reassure him that my death wasn't his fault."
"What makes you think that you can reason with the stone?" Bluestar murmured, eyes trailing over to her mate and kits, Mosskit climbing onto Oakheart's back, Stonefur finally laying down on the stone slab in grateful exhaustion.
Leafpool sharply exhaled. "Because I'm his daughter. His hatchling. If the stone shares even an inkling of Firestar's interests, it wouldn't keep one of Firestar's treasures from visiting him. It wants to keep Firestar happy, and he won't be happy if he ever learns that I've been trying to visit him and couldn't because the stone won't let me on the basis of me being a Starclan cat," she explained.
Bluestar have a thoughtful hum, eyes boring into her. "What if that's exactly what the stone wants?"
She blinked. "What?"
"What if the stone is intentionally trying to drive a wedge between Firestar and Starclan?"
Leafpool flattened her eyes onto her head. She hadn't thought of that before. What if this was a ploy from the stone's part in order to drive Firestar into becoming more and more like a dragon?
"When I connected with the stone," Bluestar began, "I felt fleeting thoughts and signals that it was sending to Firestar. It told him that he couldn't trust Starclan, that the only things that mattered-" She stared into Leafpool's eyes. "-were you."
"Me?" she uttered in shock.
Bluestar nodded. "You, your sister, your mother, and Bramblestar. But more importantly..." Her ears flattened onto her skull, her claws unsheathing and sheathing over and over again. "It told him that Starclan was just using him. That he couldn't become his truest self by following the will of those that didn't actually care about him," she murmured, indignation apparent in her voice.
Leafpool mulled over her words for a few heartbeats, tail puffing up as she realized what Bluestar was trying to warn her about. "You think that the stone will spin my visiting him into Starclan using me in order to get close to him again." Which would only make Firestar harbor more resentment towards Starclan, which would more than likely allow the stone to influence him further.
It was a vicious cycle that Firestar was entrapped in. How much more would it take for the stone to influence him completely? How much more would it take for Firestar to abandon Thunderclan? He already felt like he didn't fit in...
"All the more reason to get in contact with the stone so I can talk with my father. I'm not telling Firestar to regain his faith back in Starclan anyway, I'm just a worried daughter who wants to comfort her father," Leafpool said, determined.
Bluestar flicked an ear at her. "While I admire your devotion to him, there's not much I can do to help you."
Alarm jolted through Leafpool's body. Was Bluestar saying that she couldn't help her at all?
"To be honest, I'm not even sure how I connected with the stone in the first place. So I can't exactly tell you how I did it," Bluestar meowed sheepishly.
There had to be something specific that she had done. "What were you doing right before you connected with it?"
Bluestar's eyes trailed over to the cobwebs stuck on her pelt. "Trying not to get burnt," she deadpanned. Her eyes then swept over her family. "But above all, I desperately wanted to comfort Firestar; tell him that everything was going to be okay. Perhaps those feelings of protectiveness and desire, along with the powers of being a Starclan cat allowed me leeway past the stone's defenses."
Leafpool closed her eyes, thinking. It wasn't much to go off of. Would her beliefs and love for her father be the only things she needed? "Leafpool." Her gaze snapped back to Bluestar. She looked sympathetic, but also fearful. "I want to help Firestar as much as you do. But you need to be careful. That stone is dangerous. If gaining control over Firestar is what it wants, then there's no telling at what lengths it will go for that control. Even if it means hurting you," she murmured.
She would have to take that risk then. "I thought as much," the blue-furred she-cat sighed. "Good luck then."
"Everything okay over here?" Oakheart interrupted, padding up to them.
"Oh nothing much," Bluestar purred. "Leafpool here was sent by Spottedleaf to check up on my injuries. Everything's fine."
Oakheart looked skeptical. "Didn't Spottedleaf check over your dressings yesterday though?"
"Ah, well... you know how medicine cats are. You can never be too careful." Her tail twitched towards her, and Leafpool took it as Bluestar dismissing her. She tilted her head in a slight bow, letting out a friendly chirp of good-bye as the medicine cat hastily made her way off of the Warming Rocks.
She didn't know how much time she had. Was the stone taking it slow and easy at the moment? If so, for how long?
Leafpool would need to act soon.
Don't you just love cliffhangers?
Guess Leafpool's going to just have to power through in order to get to the stone.
No, it's still not being removed btw. The most she can do is tell the thing to let up some of its influence over Fires.
I've been thinking lately on how An Angel Lost in Time is going to go. Every time I think about it, I just think back to how amazingly written Simpler Times and Ouroboros are and I just sigh and think that no matter what I do, it will never be as good as some of these other fics. I'm afraid to try tbh. Especially cause I still don't have a plan for it. So whenever I do decide to start AALIT, bear with me cause there's going to be a whole lot of wingin' it.
Tell me how I did.