Chapter 46
FearClan/Lion
Claws raked her side as she missed her attack, she whirled around to face the speedy ginger and white she-cat. Her yellow eyes glittering with hatred as a dark ginger tabby tom raced over after giving Shatter a thrashing that sent her racing back along the bridge. Suddenly a weight was on her back as needle-sharp claws dug into her pelt. Turning her head with a snarl, she saw it was a young light orange and white tom. Before she could counter, he sank his fangs into her spine making her yowl in agony before throwing herself to the ground to crush the younger cat. She could feel their heart throbbing in panic and fear as their claws dislodged themselves and allowed her to roll off without the overgrown tick. Baring her fangs in a hissing snarl, she arched her aching back and flicked her tail aggressively.
She was outnumbered and there was nothing she could do about it. Her amber eyes flicked around as the moon rose to it's highest point. Every cat was outlined in silver, their paws batting and slashing all around her. However, even she could see that, somehow, the BushClan leader had risen to his paws slowly. She blinked, horrified as she realized Willow was no where she could see. Swallowing nervously, she held her ground, her gaze focusing back on the winded cats before her. They stared each other down as they caught their breath, luckily, Lion caught hers first. With blinding speed, she darted to the side, trying to disappear into the throng of fighting cats. She could hear the yowls calling her a coward, the same yowls that burned her pelt with shame. Her mother wouldn't be proud of her, neither would her father.
Over the past quarter-moon she had dreams of her mother who kept trying to tell her that Bushstar was truly her father. The dreams had haunted her until she managed to accept it. Especially when her mother told her that she looked very much like him. She never met him in her dreams, not that it mattered. She didn't need to see him, all she needed to know was that she believed her mother even if it was a dream. As she managed to escape, a cat crossed her path, a reddish-brown and white tabby she-cat whose yellow eyes smoldered with anger. Memories of what her mother told her flashed in her mind. This was a cat who shared her blood through Bushstar's legacy. The same legacy that cause this rift so long ago. They stared at one another, before she noticed the young she-cat huddled over a white she-cat with black dappling their pelt. Sympathy filled her, she send a slight nod to her half-kin. Surprise glimmered in those yellow eyes, while her amber ones spotted Hail's red streaked pelt hurtling towards the distracted she-cats.
Without a second thought, she charged, darting around the she-cat who flung out a paw before seeing Lion trip the white tom who was sent skidding. His claws were scrabbling for a hold on the bridge, his ice-blue eyes glaring daggers. "Lion, what in the moon's name is wrong with you!?"
"Can't you see that they're grieving?" She snapped harshly.
"What does it matter? They're the enemy!"
"That young she-cat lost her mother!" She shouted, her body trembling with rage. "I will not let any cat harm a grieving cat whose lost a piece of their world. You try to fight them and I will help them give you a few scars, Hail."
The tom hesitated, before seeming to realize why she was so protective. "Do you really think that she-cat would have seen what happened?"
"Whether or not she has, seeing your mother dead is earth shattering enough." Lion explained, her mew hushed and sounding much louder than she expected.
She looked around, seeing that the fighting had stopped. The creamy brown fur of Heather was in a slump beside the massive dusky brown tom. Quail and Heather had both died, but they were so close together even Lion was sure that the two might have fought each other to the death. A cat's voice rose above the commotion, making her raise her head up as she saw Willow perched on a strange wooden wall of the bridge. His amber eyes gleaming in the moon that bathed him in silver to the point his fur seemed to sparkle like frost.
"Quail, leader of the River-Fragment has died." He meowed solemnly, "So has Heather of FearClan. There is no other leaders to challenge for the position. As the next leader in line I declare it is the loss of the River-Fragment and FearClan."
"Like we would believe the lot of you!" An aggressive dark ginger tabby tom snapped.
"As the new leader, I will take my cats back to our camp." Willow went on as though the tom hasn't spoken out against him. "I will have a long discussion with my cats, but if you can, please meet me back here next full moon so I can tell you of our decisions and I will allow you to take all the time you need to digest whatever it may be."
"And if we don't want to?" the she-cat she was closest to spoke up with suspicion in her tone.
"Then have it passed along to Hawksight." He replied back evenly.
"Like you would allow that feather-brain to keep meeting with make-believe cats!" Shadow's outraged mew rang out, his pale green eyes wide in shock.
Willow stared back coldly to his own father. "She is my medicine cat, Shadow. Anyone who does not think of her as such are free to leave the group."
"To your own father!?"
"What father?" Willow tilted his head to one side. "The only cat who actually raised me was Hawksight. I rarely ever saw you and when we did talk it was like talking to a tree. You only think for yourself and whatever Cedar had told you. You listened to her, but never to me. Cedar went to war anyway leaving us motherless. Nettle and Ant only have Dusk and Timber to thank as they actually saw those two more then I ever did. Where were you during those trying moons? Where was our father that you speak of?"
Silence met his words, yet Willow seemed to calm as he sat where he was. Lion felt a flash of pride in the young cat. Despite his savage jabs with his tongue, he was still keeping a good front of calm and respect. It was very much like she had raised the tom herself despite having nothing to do with it. A sense of pride that only a mother would ever know, she supposed. She took a step forward as the young leader looked over the cats one by one. His gaze watched as Morningstar joined him on the wooden wall. He looked battered and bleeding, but the more Lion looked, she realized even Willow was far from unharmed. The tom had slipped away from her and he was able to hold his own. He was far from the kit they all thought he was.
"We have suffered losses and I am sure you have as well." Morningstar meowed. "We will think about meeting you here and Icepath will pass along our judgment. Until then, we will go back home and rest."
"Very well. I wish you and your Clan well." Willow replied warmly. "If you need any herbs, you are free to have your cats bring Icepath over to get some herbs."
"Are you certain that will be alright?" The BushClan leader asked.
"Your Clan helped me when I needed it most. It is now my territory and I am the leader. I will follow the teachings that Hawksight had given me and give in order to receive in the future."
"Very well. Should we need it we will be sure to send her over." He promised, looking ahead. "BushClan, let us head home. We have resting and healing to do before any other duties that we can do." With that, Morningstar leaped down onto the bridge and gave another order. "The healthiest warriors will carry the dead back to our Clan so we may pay our respects to them!"
"Right!"
"Let's hurry to get back home!"
Shatter was waiting impatiently, her tail thumping the wood beneath her. "Willow, will you come down here this instant? We need to have a talk!"
Lion padded over slowly, wanting to hear more. A tail tip touched her shoulder, causing her to look to the reddish-brown and white tabby she-cat. "May I help you?"
"I wanted to thank you for stopping that tom from attack us." She told her shyly.
"It's no problem." Lion relaxed a little. "I know that a cat needs to grieve properly is all. It was the least I could do."
"Right, I'll let you get going now. Looks like trouble is on the wind."
"I agree." She murmured, padding over to where a growing crowd of cats were. As she drew closer, she could hear what the argument was all about. Shatter was unhappy, vehemently so. Her tail lashing as her sky-colored eyes blazed with fury and rage.
"As leader you should be planning revenge!"
"Just because you say so?" Willow asked.
"We all want this! Don't we?" Shatter looked around.
Lion saw hesitation as she padded up. "Revenge for what?" She challenged aloud, "For Quail who was trying to show off? For Heather who was hiding in a den's storage space? For Cedar being a pain in the tail? Just tell me, what revenge do we have to fight for?"
"We lost!" Shatter snapped. "We have to do revenge for our pride!"
Willow looked over the rest of the group. "Do you all agree?"
Shadow stepped forward. "I agree!:
"I do too." Reed meowed, looking to Timber, who nodded her agreement.
Pounce's fur fluffed up. "How could we not?"
"Then leave." Willow replied coldly.
"What?" Shatter gasped, seeming to deflate.
"Leave?"
"Are you sure this will be a good idea?" Hail asked softly.
"According to what I was taught, I can choose who stays and who goes." Willow pointed out.
Shatter blinked slowly. "You can't be serious. Look, let's just go home and talk it over."
"There is nothing to talk about." Willow explained. "Anyone who doesn't agree with me letting Hawksight continue her travels to meet with BushClan's medicine cat are free to leave and live elsewhere."
"Do you think that because you became leader you can change everything?" The white she-cat stared in horror.
"Don't tell me that feather-brain made you think like a Clan-cat!" Shadow shouted in outrage.
Lion stepped between them, her tail lashing. "At least some of his kin actually spent time with him. Don't act like you are entitled to anything here, Lone-Cat. You didn't grow up here like the rest of us and you made it very clear on where your loyalties lay the moment you walked into FearClan camp."
Shadow looked hesitant, his green eyes wide as he seemed to finally realize that it was her who had brought him into FearClan. The same cat he abandoned to be with Cedar and treated her just like dirt like all the others. Shame, for once, washed over the black tabby tom's face as he looked to his paws. His tail dropping as he muttered something, it sounded close to a "Sorry," but she wasn't sure if she heard him correctly. Instead she looked ahead to where the pale gray striped she-cat looked to her longingly.
"Lion, you are an heiress. You can lead us to a new home then."
Lion tilted her head. "The cats who are with you are the ones I do not want to associate with."
"They will respect you, we always respect leaders." Shatter promised.
Lion looked to Willow, whose amber eyes only watched her in silence, obviously not going to make the choice for her. Slowly, she looked back to Shatter, whose hopeful blue eyes were wide. "But can you promise there would be a river?"
"A river?" She seemed confused, making Lion's heart slowly seem to break.
"I belong with the river, Shatter. I was born beside it and it has whispered and murmured in my ears the moment I could hear." Lion went on with a pained warmth in her voice. "You can promise me respect and a place to live, but you could never promise me the home of my heart. When my mother died, I did not stay in FearClan to be its prisoner. I stayed for the river, Shatter. I was a River-Cat before anything. I was never a FearClan-Cat or a River-Fragment-Cat. This is where I want to stay and live. This is where my closest friends live and as long as I have at least one of them, I am happy enough."
"You have always been a traitor." Reed growled.
"Leave." Willow repeated himself. "Leave or we will make you."
Moth stood up beside them, as well did most of the cats. "I will follow Lion's lead. I have so much to work on with her, to make things right. To prove myself to her."
"And we will support our brother and Hawksight." Nettle pointed, Ant nodding beside her.
"Kits, you can't-"
"They aren't kits anymore Shadow." Willow reminded him. "It's their choice just as it is every cat's choice here."
"I suppose you will go back to being FearClan." Shatter snarled.
"FearClan was started by Cedar, Quail began the River-Fragment. I am starting a new era, a new name for our group. Just as BushClan fights in Bushstar's name, WillowClan will fight in my name. You can go and be whatever you want to be, but I will follow the stars. They haven't disappointed me as much as my mother and father had before their passing."
"I am right here!" Shadow cried out, pain flashing in his green eyes. "I am alive and right here!"
"All you have seen was Cedar, all you grieved for was Cedar. We never existed to you. Our father died the moment Cedar's life had left us. Take your hatred and go elsewhere. Hawksight will care for our wounds and you lot will take care of your own." Willow pointed out.
"Even if you change your group's name into a Clan-cat's you will never be a true Clan!" His father meowed coldly.
"And no matter how much you say you loved us and saw us as our own cats, we know you only truly saw our mother inside us." Ant replied back sharply.
The black tabby tom flinched as though he was struck, his pale green eyes looking to them with dismay and betrayal. "Shatter let's go. You can lead us."
Shatter nodded numbly, looking over the other cats who looked to their paws and to their leader. Lion felt a flash of satisfaction as she watched Timber and Reed pad away slowly. Pounce hesitating as his brown eyes watched her sadly. Regret flickering in his eyes, while they gathered Quail and Heather to bury on wherever they were going. Lion glanced to Willow, the tom looking over the cats that were left before raising his tail straight up with pride. Slowly, ever so slowly, they made their way to Hawksight and began to get their wounds cleaned and dressed. Lion waited for her turn by cleaning her own wounds. Her amber eyes honing in on Willow who was whispering something to Hawksight. Whatever it was, it seemed very important. Her stomach began to become tight with anxiety as she realized she had no idea what Willow was really planning for their group.
Hawksight nodded to Willow, her pale green eyes bright as she continued her work. The silver and white tabby looked over the cats, seeming to want to speak what had been decided. However, he held his tongue as he waited for his own turn. Lion watched as she settled down and watched Hawksight work, keeping her amber eyes trained on the dark brown tabby she-cat as she bustled around each cat that had stayed. The bridge beneath her paws and belly no longer trembled from the retreating paws. Their lives were changing and the reddish-brown she-cat was not certain about becoming WillowClan. Her eyes slowly glancing over the cats who stayed, their pelts being burned into her memory just as their scent had been for the past several or so moons. With gentle strokes of her tongue, she rasped over her wounds, the tang of blood and it's salt making her shudder inwardly.
When Hawksight was done, Willow rose to his paws after resting. The silver tabby tom stepped forward, his long fur billowing in the chilled breeze. His amber eyes seeming to glow with the moonlight as it slowly faded into the latest of the night. His jaws parted as he took a slow and steadying breath. A cloud of his breath appeared before his muzzle as he exhaled and began to weave his way through his cats. His cats. We are his cats. Lion blinked in surprise, feeling a bit more weary than before. Did she deserve this? Was her loyalty to the river too much for any cat? The river was all she had left to her name, a place that soothed her nerves and reminded her of a simpler time before her mother was gone.
"Every cat here has fought hard." Willow spoke, his baritone mew carrying across the Twoleg Bridge. "Some showed more compassion than others and I will honor them first and foremost." Lion looked up, seeing the young tom stepping towards her. "Lion, you have been brave to stay within FearClan for the river. Even braver to bring those of the Giant Garden Fragment to us. As the first step into becoming WillowClan, your name will be changed. From this day forward, you will be known as Lionriver. We will honor your loyalty to the river and treating others as you wish to be treated. Much like said river, you must be treated with respect to gain anything."
Lion wanted to refuse, but she found that in a way she would be carrying the river with her always. Warmth spread through her as she dipped her head as low as it could go. "I am honored. I accept my new name, Lionriver."
"Then, by the power of leadership and the stars that guide Hawksight, you will forever be known as Lionriver from now on." Willow mewed, looking to the other cats who stared like a group of owlets. "I will rename every cat in honor of how they have fought, their past, and who they are."
"And you renamed Lion because?" Moth suddenly asked, her amber eyes flicking to him.
"No matter what happens between now and the future, I want the river to always be with her until we find what she desires."
"Thank you." Lionriver whispered, her paws shaking.
Willow nodded to her. "Tomorrow night I will visit the place I have been so curious about. After that I will choose who I will have lead beside my paws. Just rest and do not worry about a thing."
"What will we do about prey?" Hail asked, his ice-blue eyes trained on their leader.
"The ones who are not hurt as badly will hunt first thing in the morning." Willow replied warmly, "They will be renamed next so we know who to thank. It will take time to get used to, but I feel it would be best for all of us to leave FearClan and the River Fragment far behind us. We will work on becoming WillowClan and finding what that means to us most."
Lionriver listened, her stomach fluttering as though there was butterflies trapped within her. Moth huddled close to her, his emerald green eyes darkened with thoughts she could not fathom. All she knew was, this was what she decided. She wasn't going to leave the last traces of her mother if she could help it. The anger that had boiled inside her skin for so long had faded at last. The last traces of her being unsure about where she lived also had faded. Her loyalties had been finalized and she knew this was what she wanted.
She watched Moth's expression before meowing softly to him. "I hope you know what you just agreed to be with now."
Moth looked to her, his gaze brightening. "If I can be half the tom you deserved, then I will do all I can to reach it."
Slowly the cats rose from their resting places as dawn began to lighten the sky. As one, they filed back into their side of the forest, they had been renamed as they rested. Those who had the strength to hunt had been first, those who were the worst came next and then the rest. Willow already dealt with Speckle's kits, declaring that they will follow the Clan's influence that Hawksight had told him about and named them into 'paws before renaming their mother. Those kits were then given mentors to be taught the rules they would follow. Rules that all the cats had to learn from Hawksight. Rules that were known as the Warrior Code. Lionriver didn't quite understand them, but since all the others were expected to follow them, she decided to try her best to follow them as well. The day was spent resting, the healthiest cats hunted and brought back whatever prey they could find, the kits turned into apprentices did their best to learn how to hunt and fight. She would know since Spottedpaw, formerly Spot, was her apprentice and she was teaching the young pale tortoiseshell how to hunt and provide for their newly named Clan. The cats adapted into WillowClan much like a fish took to water after returning into the river. Peace truly felt it was on the horizon for the first time in Lionriver's life.
Author Note:
Battle over and the newest Clan has been born! WillowClan now takes RiverClan's former territory! This is where I had been working to getting to since last year.
Hope you enjoyed, have a great day/night and thank you for reading! - NightSky
