Chapter 12, Firestar
Shadowflight picked up the rabbit and mice and walked slowly back to camp. She was thinking about what she would tell Firestar about her wounds. She had washed off all of Skychaser's sent to make sure that Firestar wouldn't think she had been in RiverClan territory.
She entered the camp and dropped her prey on the fresh-kill pile. She kept her wounded side away from Firestar, so he wouldn't see yet. Finally she turned, giving him full view of her injured flank and shoulder.
"What happened?" He demanded.
"I was attacked by adders," Shadowflight meowed.
"Adders don't put scars like that," Firestar said.
"These did," Shadowflight meowed. "I walked right into there nest. They really got angry."
"Then there is poison in your blood stream!" Firestar panicked. "Go to Cinderpelt immediately!"
Shadowflight walked to Cinderpelt's den.
"What's the matter?" Cinderpelt asked.
Suddenly Shadowflight knew she had to tell Cinderpelt what had really happened.
Shadowflight told her everything. In the end Cinderpelt sighed heavily. "This has happened before…many times."
"What has happened before?" Shadowflight asked.
Cinderpelt shook her head. "Nothing," His eyes stared at something Shadowflight could not see.
Shadowflight walked out of Cinderpelt's den, her stomach churning. She had no idea why she felt so sick.
She walked slowly over to Firestar's den. He sat there on his moss bed, skinny, his head hunched over in the cold.
"Firestar?" Shadowflight asked tentatively.
His head jerked up when he heard her and he began to cough violently. He stood up, and Shadowflight saw that he was mostly bone. She must have been so intent on her injuries from the bear earlier that she didn't notice how sick he looked.
The young warrior padded over to him. "Do you need Cinderpelt?" She asked.
"I…already saw her…She…told me to rest." Spasms racked his frail body.
Shadowflight backed out of the den. "I will just let…you sleep then I guess." She hurried out of his den, worry creasing her face.
Suddenly Shadowflight stiffened. She was being watched. And she could tell it was by the same cat who had watched her earlier.
She felt her fur rise along her spine. Her paws prickled.
"Shadowflight!" Greystripe, the deputy raced over to her, "You hunted wonderfully. Tonight you can go on a hunting patrol, all right?"
Shadowflight nodded, her mind only half on the task Greystripe was giving her.
Her mind kept straying to one thing-Skychaser. She remembered so vividly how she had licked his wound.
They had been…together.
"Forget him," she told herself firmly. "It was nothing. You were just helping him."
But she couldn't help wondering, was it something…more?
OoOoO
Skychaser lay silently in his den, dreaming about Shadowflight. He couldn't help thinking about her. She was so kind, sometimes fierce, with a prickly tongue, but he did not care.
He tried to place his mixed feelings on something. He looked at Dawnfeather, she had recently been made a warrior, who was gazing at him with kindness and respect in her blue eyes.
Skychaser closed his eyes and sighed. She was so beautiful. He longed for a life with her, but something was telling him it was not his destiny.
Skychaser stood up and left the den. Someone was following him. He looked back to realize that it was Dawnfeather.
"Er-hi," he stammered. His heart was pounding.
"Will you take a walk?" She asked.
"Yeah-fine," Skychaser's heart hammered. What would she tell him?
The two walked out onto a little grassy place.
"Skychaser," Dawnfeather meowed seriously, "There is something I must tell you."
OoOoO
"Shrewtail! Spiderleg!" The crowd cheered the two new warriors.
Shadowflight disassembled with the other cats. She gave her shoulder a couple of licks, and watched the sun go down. She walked into the warriors den and fell asleep.
"Bluestar where are you?" Shadowflight called into the night.
She could sense the presence of Bluestar but he could not find her.
Shadowflight found herself in a dimly lit clearing. She climbed a rock and choked with shock. The sky was a blaze of blue and red light. Below her was a mile of dead, burnt grass, with leopards running across it.
"Dryness and brightness," Bluestar's voice whispered in her ear, "Can quench water and night."
Everything vanished around Shadowflight in a swirl of colors.
Shadowflight's head jerked up. She scrambled to her feet, and left the den in a panic. It was silent in the moonlit clearing.
Suddenly a thin wailing arose from Firestar's den. Shadowflight sprinted over there and entered the dark den.
Firestar was on his side, paws splayed. Behind his neck was a single wound. He was dead.
Shadowflight nudged his body, grief welling up inside her. She lay down on her stomach, waiting for Firestar to wake up, healthy, on his eighth life.
Shadowflight waited a long time, till the moon had fully risen in the sky. Firestar did not stir.
Finally Shadowflight stood up, she had to admit defeat. Firestar was gone forever.
She walked slowly out of the den. She looked up, something had caught her eye.
There sitting a few feet away with an achieved smirk on her face was Leopardstar.
Dun Dun Duunn! The climax begins! Are you enjoying my story? Yes? YYYAAAYYY!