Ashley Reeser- THANK YOU! That's sooooo nice of you to say! And good luck on your two projects! :)
Raeda2001-THANKS! I hope this one' seven better! And you'll find out in this one... HeHeHe!
To everyone else- Yes, I know. I didn't really give most of you the chance to review, but it just had to write this! Keeping it in was killing me! XD Just think of it as- I didn't write one last week, so yall get two this week. ;) I might possibly even write three!
Hawkfur- "Spirit, you're crazy."
Me- "No, you're the crazy one! Haven't you checked out Elements Of Three yet?!"
*He goes and looks at the story*
Hawkfur- "HEEYY!"
(to clear up any confusion, Hawkfur is my lil brother. :P)
Chapter 25: Goldenfur
The next day, Goldenfur jumped to get on the first dawn border patrol. He just had to get out of camp. There was no way in Starclan that he could take the distrustful stares of the clan cats any longer.
Thankfully, Sunstar eagerly let him join the patrol. The leader knew that his son was having a hard time, and he gave him an encouraging smile as the patrol set out towards the Windclan border.
The forest was ripe with the warm, Green-Leaf weather. Its trees were laden with glimmering green leaves, fruits, and acorns, and the bushes surrounding the patrol were vividly colored, their fluffy-looking leaves making them seem like little emerald clouds.
Goldenfur, standing at the exit of the Thorn Tunnel, breathed in deeply before letting out a sigh of content. This is where he belonged, out in the forest and not in the den. The golden tom contemplated his previous predicament and decided that he had experienced what queens felt when they were stuck in the nursery. Great Starclan, he thought, laying around all day really isn't any fun at all!
Then he, along with Fernfoot and Cherrytail, made their merry way through the forest, stopping to smell a few trees or admire the scenery here and there. They had nearly made it to the Windclan border, the edge of the tree line in sight, when a disgusting odor assaulted their noses.
Cherrytail hissed, her ginger fur spiked, and Fernfoot narrowed her dark green eyes. Goldenfur scented the air, determined to pinpoint the source of the uneasy smell.
Fox!
"Come on! Follow me," Goldenfur yowled, speeding off towards the lake, where the sthink was coming from.
They raced through the forest, now seeming sinister with the new information. Every tree seemed to harbor the enemy, every bush seemed to hide the enemy, and every bump in the path seemed to be the tripping foot of the enemy.
Yowls arose ahead of them, and the group sped up. It seemed they weren't the only cats that had found the fox.
The three burst into the clearing that bordered a section of the lake and housed the Sky Oak. But, to their surprise, there wasn't another patrol in sight, only a black form battling an outrageously large fox.
"HELP!" The warrior yowled, and Goldenfur recognized who it was.
Blackfur.
The mangy piece of crow-food must have left camp on his own, running into the fox on his way.
The older tom surveyed the scene. The old rabbit burrow beneath the roots of the tree had been dug out, and the stench of fox arose from it. Blackfur, already covered head to toe in wounds, was stupidly battling the powerful animal alone, and he had suffered a crippling bite to his midsection.
Fernfoot and Cherrytail ran forward into battle to help their clanmate, and Goldenfur grudgingly followed them. It didn't matter what he thought about Blackfur, this fox could end up killing his other cats in Thunderclan if it wasn't stopped.
They hissed, spat, and clawed at the big red creature as it howled in pain, snapped at, and spun around at them. After enduring many wounds, the beast kicked out a hind leg and sent Fernfoot's brown tabby body flying into the massive tree. She slammed against it, slumped to the ground, and was still, but her chest still moved with breath.
"Cherrytail!" Goldenfur yowled above the grotesque growling of the fox, "Get back to the clan! We need reinforcements!"
The tabby she-cat gave him a wide-eyed look, but she obeyed and sped off back to the camp.
Goldenfur watched her dark ginger tipped tail disappear into the trees before turning back to the battle. The fox was advancing on Fernfoot, licking its lips menacingly, its yellow teeth bared and piercing chrome eyes lit with malice. Blackfur, trembling, tried to edge towards it, but he was too weak to move from his crumpled position at the other side of the field.
Goldenfur threw himself at the enemy with a cry of rage, landing on its neck, digging his claws deep into it's skin, and biting off an ear. The fox howled in agony yet again, shaking its head like a demon to try and dislodge the strong warrior.
Goldenfur hung on with all he could, enticing more cries of pain from the red beast before the sheer might of the animal was able to throw him to the side.
Goldenfur skidded across the dewey grass, panting heavily. His strength was fading fast, but there was still fight in him.
The fox had diverted its attention to the shuddering form of Blackfur. It stalked forward slowly, blood running down the side of its mutilated head, until it was only a jump away from the black tom.
He was many fox-lengths away, but Goldenfur could make it if he tried. But as he readied himself to burst forward, something stopped the golden tom in his tracks.
Why should I save him?
Blackfur whimpered in fear, shrinking down to the floor in a vain attempt to hide himself. His pelt was spiked in horror, and his body was dripping with blood from the wounds he had received.
The fox cackled,—a rough, horrible sound—and licked its chops, drool sliding down from it open, barb-filled maw.
Blackfur's eyes widened in terror as it lunged.
Chapter 25: Pinestar
Pinestar lay awake, lost in his own sadness. If only she were here, he thought.
The past moons had been full of stressful clan duties and horrible psychotic attacks. The aching absence of his mate grew every time Pinestar blinked, and the dark brown tom felt as if a great burden had been laid upon him, weighing him down completely. He missed her so much, he hadn't slept in two sunrises. He looked down at his paws, remembering how perfectly they had held Greyleaf's, and sighed.
For the past moons, Fernshadow had sent him to live in the medicine den, evicting the leader to stay in the secluded area for fear of him hurting others. Pinestar hadn't seen a cat other than the quiet brown tom since that first attack, and the isolation was starting to get to him. He felt so alone.
To ease the pain of solitude, the white-chested tom thought of Greyleaf. Would Starclan be leaning down to scoop her up from the earth and join them in the skies? Or would she already be gone, watching him from the brilliant, dazzling orbs that inhabited the heavens?
Growling at the thought of being separated from Greyleaf any longer, Pinestar had exhausted his patience. He needed to see her, needed to know if she was still alive. So, he resolved to go and see her, if only to get a glimpse of the darker grey tip of her plumy tail.
He blinked the crust of dried tears from his eyes and groomed his pelt, knowing that dirty coats were a pet peeve of Greyleaf's.
Once that was done, he slowly poked his head out of the den entrance, blinking in the bright morning light.
Most of the clan was out and about, the patrols having been sent out earlier. Elders and queens slept, their soft snores emanating from their respective dens. Apprentices were nowhere to be seen, most likely out training with their mentors, and Fernshadow was off gathering herbs again.
Pinestar cautiously snuck out of the den and climbed up a nearby pine tree, quickly scaling it and hiding in the boughs. Breathing heavily,—he hadn't moved this much in moons—Pinestar peeked down at the clan from the shadowed tree. No one had really noticed him, but a few cats had their ears pricked.
The white-muzzled tom quietly sighed in relief. He hadn't been spotted.
Gingerly making his way around the tree, the black-striped leader crawled to the ground outside of camp and set off, rolling in some nearby garlic plants to mask his scent.
He carefully traversed the land between the two clans' camps, hiding whenever a patrol came by. When Pinestar arrived at the Thunderclan camp, he was at the very highest precipice of the hollow that so long ago, he had almost... No! He violently shook his head, refusing to think about it.
A ginger she-cat ran into camp yowling, the words indecipherable to the Shadowclan cat's ears, and suddenly every available warrior—which was only a few—started flooding out of the camp, fear scent rolling off them in waves.
Pinestar watched as Featherheart leapt out of the medicine cat den with herbs in her jaws, Rosepaw and an unknown, spotted grey apprentice following her. The three she-cats then ran out of the hollow as well, leaving it vacant.
Well...lucky me, Pinestar thought apprehensively as he started to pad around to the hidden back entrance. He slid down the steep slope and into the camp, senses alert for any other cats.
He snuck across the barren stone floor, nerves on edge, until he stood in front of the medicine cat den. Peeking in, he saw that no one was there.
His heart dropped, and sorrow threatened to overcome him, crashing down upon him like a giant wave. His ears, head, and tail drooped. His chest threatened to explode from the force of the surge of grief. She really is dead... I thought.. I thought...
He couldn't even string a sentence together in his mind, and he turned away from the medicine cat den with tears dripping down his face, hopes doused.
Just as he was about to leave, the faint whiff of a familiar scent wafted across his senses. Greyleaf? Pinestar whirled around, his hope reigniting.
Amber eyes eagerly scanning the camp, nose sniffing earnestly, the Shadowclan leader began his search once again. Following the scent, the dark brown tom walked into the nursery.
She was there, right there. And he had almost missed her! He quickly ran through the small distance separating them to stand over Greyleaf. She looked beautiful even with her ragged fur and skinny frame. To Pinestar, she would never be anything less than perfect.
He began grooming her fur, smoothing out all the knots and wads with his tongue, until it was back to its normal, silky perfection.
"Don't worry, Greyleaf," he mewed quietly, licking her head lovingly, "I still love you. I'll always love you."
Just as he was about to touch his nose to hers, she jerked awake with a ragged gasp.
YAAYYYZZZ! MY MASTER PLAN IS SET IN PLACE! So, wha'cha think? I hope yall liked it. I had some help from Skillet—listening to Monster, Sick Of It, and Awake And Alive—to write the Goldenfur part, and the Pinestar section was backed up by Vanilla Twilight from Owl City. If you read closely in the second part, you can probably spot some lines that sort of match the song. :P
Questions Of The Chapter: Do you feel bad for Blackfur? How do you feel about Goldenfur right now? Why do you think he's acting this way? Where you expecting this to happen? Did you think Greyleaf was going to die? Why or why not?
AAAAAAAHHHHHZZZZ! SO MANY QUESTIONZZZZZZZZZZZ! XD