Chapter 25 Rivershimmer's death
Four and a half moons had passed and Stormpaw was improving well during his training. He was a great hunter and a good fighter, despite a few things he needed to fix. With each passing day, Lightclaw was gaining enough confidence he had in being a good mentor. However, Lightclaw would never get his apprentice involve nor tell him of his plans. He decided it was best if Stormpaw went on to being a great and worthy warrior. But, one thing would be clear: he was never going to let any apprentice of his be a supporter of the slave law. Now it was leafbare and whitecough had struck the camp. The good news is that once cats had got it, they would recover in a few days. The bad news was that two cats weren't getting better; Rivershimmer and Poppycloud. Lightclaw had returned to camp from a hunting patrol. With prey in his mouth, he headed to the fresh-kill pile and dropped the prey. Lightclaw looked up and saw Stormpaw approaching him. He, Blizzardpaw, Glimmerpaw, Shimmerpaw, and the slave apprentices had grown since these past few moons. Stormpaw and Blizzardpaw's strength begin to show and Glimmerpaw and Shimmerpaw's agility became clear. Duskpaw, Shadowpaw, Nightpaw, and Mistypaw's hunting skills were the same as Stormpaw's and Applepaw and Gingerpaw's strength was the same as Blizzardpaw's. Lightclaw was troubled as Stormpaw looked concerned and a bit worried.
"Lightclaw, did you hear the news?" he asked.
"What news?" he asked.
"It's Rivershimmer, she has greencough." Stormpaw meowed.
"Greencough. But…wasn't she getting better from whitecough?" Lightclaw asked confused.
"No, she's getting worse. Cloudberry and Doespring are doing all they can, but I don't think she's going to make it. Haven't you notice that Rivershimmer has gotten a bit thin, recently?" Stormpaw meowed.
To be fair, as much as Lightclaw hated Rivershimmer and was glad to hear she was sick, he couldn't help but remember that for the past few moons, Rivershimmer was eating less and she was getting a bit thin. Even before Darkpaw died, he noticed that Rivershimmer was only eating small, scrawny mice. When Lightclaw was in the punishment den, Flowershine had told him that the whole clan had noticed and had overheard Brightshine telling Wolffang if it had something to do with Rivershimmer having her kits. It was so bad that Lightclaw actually felt a little bit concerned. Then again, Lightclaw realized that it started after she gave birth to her kits and she had rejected Mistypaw. Lightclaw wondered if this was hidden guilt starting to show or if her depression was getting worse. It was no secret that Rivershimmer became depressed after Icetail died. Lightclaw shook his head, the past was the past, his main concern was greencough. His stomach churned as he remembered hearing stories of the worst greencough outbreak to ever struck Lightclan. Because there was a lack of prey in the forest, a lot of cats got sick easily. Mixed with starvation, His grandmother, Snowstar, the former medicine cat, Frostydawn, Ivypool and Wolffang's parents, Rivershimmer's mate, Icetail, Darkheart and Blackfur's father, Shadowflight, Hawkfrost's parents, and Raccoonmask and Kinkfoot's parents had all died from greencough. Lightclaw feared that this leafbare would kill more cats he cared about, but he had nothing to worry about. After all, there was enough prey to go around and Cloudberry and Doespring had enough herbs to survive this outbreak. The only cats that were still sick was Rivershimmer and Poppycloud. Poppycloud had whitecough, but because she has old, there was a likely chance she would get greencough. Lightclaw shook his head again and looked at Stormpaw.
"Come on, lets head out for some battle training." He meowed.
Stormpaw nodded. He was overjoyed and he followed Lightclaw to the entrance of the camp.
"LIGHTCLAW!" a voice yowled.
Lightclaw and Stormpaw stopped in their tracks and turned around. Cloudberry was approaching them with Moonsong and Echoshine behind her.
"Lightclaw, Rivershimmer wants to talk to you." Cloudberry meowed.
"Rivershimmer?! Why me?" he growled.
"Yeah, why him? Lightclaw hates her." Stormpaw added.
Lightclaw glared at Cloudberry and flicked his tail in annoyance. Cloudberry glared at Stormpaw before looking back at Lightclaw.
"Look, Rivershimmer seems to want to talk to you, Lightclaw. She's been requesting you ever since you left camp. Please go talk to her." She signed.
"And who's going to watch my apprentice?" Lightclaw asked annoyed.
"We will." Moonsong meowed.
"Shouldn't you be watching Shimmerpaw and Glimmerpaw?" Lightclaw asked.
"They haven't left their mother's side since she got sick." Echoshine explained.
"Please Lightclaw, we'll only take Stormpaw out battle training." Moonsong pleaded.
"Yeah, we won't mess with your teachings, promise." Echoshine insisted.
Lightclaw flicked his ear and gave both cats a suspicious look. He turned around, approached Stormpaw, and bent over to his ear.
"Okay, these two might be lying. If they teach you the slave law and try to persuade you to follow it, just ignore them, got it?" Lightclaw whispered.
"Got it." Stormpaw nodded.
"Good." Lightclaw muttered.
He turned around and approached Cloudberry.
"Alright, I'll go talk to Rivershimmer." He signed.
"Good." Cloudberry nodded.
She turned around and headed to her den. Lightclaw followed her as Moonsong and Echoshine escorted Stormpaw out of camp. Cloudberry entered her den with Lightclaw behind her and Shimmerpaw and Glimmerpaw outside of the den; crying, their heads down, and their ears flattened. When there was room, Lightclaw sat down and was shocked. Rivershimmer looked horribly sick; she was thin, her fur was messy, it looked like she hadn't slept in days, and her nose was runny. Lightclaw looked at Cloudberry and she was upset and her head was down.
"I'll leave you two alone for a bit." Cloudberry meowed.
Lightclaw nodded. Cloudberry left the den and Lightclaw looked at Rivershimmer. Deep down, Lightclaw was overjoyed to see her like this. He hated her, he despised her, she supported the slave law, she rejected her own kit because she was a dark-pelt, who wouldn't have a reason to hate her? But on the other hand, Lightclaw felt a bit sorry for her. Rivershimmer looked up and gave him a weak smile.
"Lightclaw, it's so good to see you." She rasped.
"Yeah, like you even care in the first place." He growled.
"I know you hate me, Lightclaw, I don't blame you." Rivershimmer rasped.
"Then you should know that I'm not pleased with being here." He snarled.
"Please Lightclaw, I only have one request for you to make." Rivershimmer pleaded.
"And what's that?" he meowed annoyed.
"Tell Mistypaw the truth about me and her sisters, please." Rivershimmer rasped.
"Why couldn't you do that sooner?!" Lightclaw yowled enraged.
Rivershimmer coughed real hard and looked really tired and exhausted.
"Please Lightclaw, I don't have much time, I was a fool not to." She pleaded.
"Riiight. Are you sure it was just you being a fool or was it your guilt or shame from rejecting her that prevented you from telling her?" he asked.
Rivershimmer didn't answer, she looked down and her ears were flat. Lightclaw was enraged.
"You're a coward, you now that?! Being a coward doesn't make you a real warrior and I hate cowards!" he yowled.
Rivershimmer didn't respond, she was numb, but there was sadness in her eyes. Lightclaw breathed heavily and his fur bristled until he managed to calm down. Tears formed in Rivershimmer's eyes.
"I know I've said and made mistakes I'm not proud of, you have every right to say these things to me. Icetail would be disappointed in me too, he never supported the slave law." She meowed.
"But, you said…" Lightclaw meowed surprised.
"I lied. Icetail never supported the slave law, it was one of the few disagreements we had. Be…Before he died, he made me promise that if I ever had a dark-pelt kit, I would take care of it regardless of the slave law. I broke that promise, Lightclaw, my beliefs were stronger than my promise. I know that where I go, Icetail will never forgive me for what I've done. Please Lightclaw, tell my kits the truth, tell Mistypaw the truth about me and her sisters, that's all I ask of you, please." Rivershimmer rasped; pleading.
Lightclaw read her words carefully and was in disbelief. It was either the fact that Icetail wasn't really a slave supporter or the fact that Rivershimmer had actually felt any remorse for her actions. Lightclaw read no lies, only the truth, but that didn't mean he would ever forgive her for the things she's done. After a few moments of thinking, Lightclaw made his final decision. Angry, he turned around and headed out of the den, but stopped.
"I'll tell Mistypaw the truth, but for now, I'll do it on my own terms." Lightclaw meowed.
"That's all I need to hear." Rivershimmer rasped.
Later
At night, a falling star flew across the sky, unbeknownst to anyone, a cat had joined Starclan. Lightclaw was sleeping in the punishment den until he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Lightclaw, wake up." A voice meowed.
Lightclaw opened an eye and looked to see Stormpaw sitting in front of him. He looked sad.
"What is it?" Lightclaw murmured.
"It's Rivershimmer, she's dead." Stormpaw meowed.
"Dead." Lightclaw meowed; fully awake.
"She died a few minutes ago. Dad's called a meeting." Stormpaw meowed.
He turned around and headed out of the den. Lightclaw got up and followed Stormpaw. Both cats reached the camp and came across the clearing where cats had already gathered. Shimmerpaw and Glimmerpaw were at the front; both cats had their heads down, their ears flattened, and were crying with their mentors behind them and comforting them. Lightclaw and Stormpaw joined the crowd and Lightclaw looked around. The slaves and the anti-slave cats had straight faces and looked up; expecting word from Whitestar. Moonsong, Echoshine, Crystalheart, Feathershine, Brightshine, and Wolffang had their heads down, their ears flattened, and were crying and Glowfur, Blizzardpaw, and Snaketooth just had sad looks. Whitestar left his den with Daisypetal behind him and walked up the ledge of the rock; there were tears in his eyes, his ears flattened and his head was down. Daisypetal had a sad face.
"Cats of Lightclan, as you know, Rivershimmer has joined Starclan. May Starclan watch over and let there be good hunting and warmth. Since Dustfoot was her slave, I shall appoint her new master immediately. Foxwhisker, you are the last warrior to not have a slave, so you shall be Dustfoot's new master." Whitestar announced.
Foxwhisker's ear twitched in annoyance. Lightclaw saw that he wasn't pleased on having a slave. Like Icetuft, Foxwhisker seemed uncomfortable and annoyed. Lightclaw turned around and saw Cloudberry and Doespring carry Rivershimmer's body out of the medicine cat den and placed her in the middle of the clearing.
"Now, we shall remain vigil with Rivershimmer's body tonight, before we bury her at sunrise. Meeting dismissed." Whitestar meowed.
He and Daisypetal leaped down the rock, approached Rivershimmer's body, sat down, and had their heads down and eyes closed. The clan gathered as Shimmerpaw and Glimmerpaw sat next to their mother's body and cried. Dustfoot, Shadowpaw, and Nightpaw sat next to Rivershimmer's body and closed their eyes and had their heads down. The pro-slave cats surrounded Rivershimmer's body and they either cried or had their heads down, eyes closed, their ears flattened, and cried. The other slaves, Cloudberry, Doespring, and the anti-slave cats sat behind everyone else and watched on. Lightclaw walked away and headed back to the punishment den; angry, annoyed, and wondered why cats would mourn a bad cat.