`` V I S I O N A R Y
&& meet me on the equinox
in the middle of the day
Russetstripe is handsome, mysterious, and ultimately perfect—he's also long dead. Despite all his qualities, he can do nothing to help his son and daughter against a treacherous plot against the WindClan leader. Can he find the key through the past which eventually met in his end?
I wrote a poem for you all—it's called DISCLAIMER.
-clears throat- ahem. DISCLAIMER:
Russetstripe is a cutie-pootie
And if you steal him I'll kick your booty
And if you steal ANYONE else
I'll kick you so hard you get welts…
Asseh, Icetail, Orange and Demon
Are all mine, and if you take 'em I'll be screamin'
Warriors ain't mine, and neither is Tallstar
And if you take Streakz's charries I'll KILL YOUU.
BAM wasn't that a thing of BEAUTY?
I should get a career in that, right. I could be famous.
Yeah, okay, go on…
c h a p t e r s e v e n – the return.
To Tallstar, it suddenly seemed like Russetstripe was no longer relevant or important to his story. He couldn't erase that image burned into his irises, that moment when Demon's face had twisted in agony, that infinitesimally small instant in which her face had been transformed into a mask of fury. The lone WindClan warrior returning home was suddenly a small matter to the black-and-white leader now. All he could think of was how he'd hurt the she-cat that had tried her best to help him—though perhaps it would have hurt her more to stay.
The StarClan tomcat had to admit a strange respect for Demon, despite her harsh attitude and obvious lack of a warrior's honor. That was to be expected—really, in the world the she-cat probably had to survive in, it was surprising she wasn't worse. Anything could happen outside the Clans, where there were no rules to play by—any cat was fair game.
"What happened to Demon?" Tallstar asked, slightly anxious, as Russetstripe concentrated on the scene within the pool. Even now there was that slight flattening of ears, that twitch of the whiskers, which was the ginger warrior's reaction to the name. It must be a tender spot, Tallstar thought.
"I'll show you that in a minute," Russetstripe mewed, sorting through memories and past images which flashed half-revealed in the depths of the water. "I'll give you the good news first. But we have to hurry—don't have much time." Tallstar remembered belatedly the scene occurring in the present down below the nightly carpet of dusk, where the WindClan leader's life was in jeopardy. Somewhere in twolegplace a bloody battle raged, tainted with the flavors of betrayal and fear.
Russetstripe's skill in manipulating the viewing pool was considerable—he must have spent many days of the afterlife sitting here, watching his children grow up, watching the Clan he'd loved grow—watching perhaps Demon as she coped with his loss. As Tallstar mused finally the images grew still and the pool became milky.
"Here we are," the dark ginger tom said finally, letting out his breath. "Finally made it back. Almost forgot where the territory was… stupid me." A halfhearted mrrow of laughter left his muzzle as the two tomcats stared down into the scene.
^^:^^
She was waiting for him, up on the hill—how she knew he was coming Tallstar had no idea. Perhaps she'd been waiting, hoping, every day since the time when he'd left—perhaps it was merely intuition on the warrior's part. Whatever had happened, when the chestnut-furred head of the ginger warrior first appeared through the long grasses of WindClan territory Icetail was waiting for him.
Tallstar could tell nothing from her expression, but he bit his lip with sympathy for the young, exhausted Russetstripe returning home. How cruel that the first face he see be the last one he'd witnessed as he'd turned and fled the territory—cruel that the she-cat who most despised him would be the one to 'welcome' him at the border.
He knew before the alabaster warrior opened her mouth that 'Welcome' was not on the tip of her sharp tongue. Russetstripe had been quiet, silent, as he'd continued to trudge on, to drag himself back home, and only when he was a tail-length away from Icetail's snow-white pelt did he halt.
Neither of them spoke at first—they measured one another up with their eyes, searching, measuring, thinking. Those jade-hazel orbs of Russetstripe were calmer, more mature—there was no fear, no expectance in his gaze. Tallstar could tell Icetail noted this as well as with a twitch of her long white tail she indicated her surprise at his new attitude.
"You're back," she said finally, a hint of chill in her tone. She didn't need to say much—the last time they'd met she'd spoken enough. Russetstripe met her eyes and lifted his chin—not arrogantly, but evenly.
"Yes," the tomcat said. "I've come back."
This was followed by another instant where the two simply surveyed one another, reading spoken and unspoken signals in one anothers bodies.
"Where did you go?" Icetail almost sounded hurt for a moment before Tallstar realized it was defensive, almost angry. "Your stupid admirers nearly exiled me after I told them why you'd left—for StarClan's sake, Russetstripe, I wasn't trying to make you leave." Her spat comment was hostile, but yet again there was that odd half-note of plaintive resentment in it.
"I'm sorry," Russetstripe said, tilting his head slightly as an expression of grief flitted across his face, "I was stupid—but I'm a better warrior now. Icetail, please forgive me for what I said and did. I deserved more than what you said." Icetail looked like she was about to spit something venomous at him before she realized he was sincere and flattened her bristling fur.
"Well, it doesn't matter what I think about it," she growled, "It's up to the leader at this point. Should we accept a runaway back into the Clan?" Her shrewd gaze crossed him again. "Why did you come back, Russetstripe?"
"I missed you."
"What?"
"Well, I missed the Clan, too—it was bearable through the winter, a rogue helped me, but when the snow melted and I began to feel the wind in the air, the scent of newleaf… and I was thinking, you know." Russetstripe's eyes suddenly burned with quiet desperation, his voice straining suddenly as it tumbled out in a flood from his mouth. "Icetail, I'll be honest—what you said to me all those moons back was the bluntest and cruelest anyone has ever spoken to me—it shocked me. But as I thought about it, even though I was hurt… you were the only one who was brave enough to be honest with me. The only one who was willing to do me the favor of telling me what I really am.
"I was spoiled, Icetail… I got whatever I wanted from whoever I wanted, and nobody dared to tell me the problems I left behind me. A pretty face isn't enough, and you showed me that. Over the winter I couldn't stop thinking about it, and about you…" He trailed off and flattened his ears with embarrassment, "I never respected my seniors. But you taught me a lesson that I'm unbearably grateful for, and I couldn't stop hating myself because you hated me. I couldn't forgive myself for earning that loathing. I realized if I never saw you again I could never repay that favor, and that all I wanted was to be good enough for you…
"And when I saw you waiting here, for me… I realized how much I'd really missed you. Icetail, I don't give a rat's tail about the kind of cat you still think I am—because I'm going to prove you wrong. And that's why I came back."
For a moment the she-cat was completely silent, dumbstruck. Her pink maw opened in shock, but no sound was released. Finally behind those clear irises ignited a blaze of pride that surged through her pelt, through her eyes and expression, and a smile broke out on the she-cat's face.
"Good answer," Icetail meowed as she covered her grin with a scowl, flicking her tail. "Come on. Embarrassingly enough, I've missed seeing your face—even if you were a spoiled brat, at least you were a good-looking one. Now, let's get going, and we'll see exactly how much you say you've changed." Her eyes danced and Russetstripe leapt up to her side, a quiet purr rumbling in his throat. "Maybe we can be friends."
"What, only friends?"
"Yes, ONLY friends."
"Aww, but I'm so cute!"
"Not that cute. And you're not doing a very good job of convincing me."
"I'll win you over. You'll see."
"Whatever, Russetstripe."
^^:^^
As Russetstripe loosened hold of the memory and the scene dissolved, for a fleeting moment the expression of mingled fierceness and laughter on the senior warrior's face seemed familiar. As the vision of the present returned, Tallstar remembered who it was—Orangeflash, Russetstripe's daughter. Even now the vivid ginger-and-white warrioress was streaking towards the battling WindClanners and rogues in the city below…
"I take it you won her over?" Tallstar purred with amusement. "Since there's a certain resemblance between she and your daughter."
Embarrassment and laughter danced in Russetstripe's magnetizing eyes as he nodded, some of that legendarily 'cocky' attitude surfacing as he meowed, "Of course. How could you ever doubt? I wanted to show you that because it leads to, yes, my own daughter—who has a big part to play in this treacherous plot herself. She's a lot like Icetail, I think, though with a little less reason and a little more cocky, just like I am… and I've already showed you Assassin's mother. I don't know what's going to happen down below to Ficklestar—but if I know Icetail, I think Orangeflash is going to try and stop it. As for Assassin… well, you'll see.
"Now is the time for perhaps what could be to this problem the most important part of my life… the events that led up to, and the actual, scene of my death."
"Oh…"
"That's what I said."
w r i t e r c o m m e n t s –
WELLP, I have not updated in a VERY LONG TIME
This is because silly me overloaded our bandwidth limit on the computer and WildBlue docked us and slowed our internet for like two weeks as a penalty until our download usage goes back down to under 70%. Currently it is at 88%, and I'm uploading this from school.
I really love Russetstripe… he's so cocky and cute, even in this serious scene lol. I love Asseh even more lol though you guys may never meet him unless I start a fanfic just for him… eep! Scary thought lol. On the other hand, I SERIOUSLY recommend Streakz's Fanfic for you guys, which is called 'Warriors- the Shattered'. It's Blackblizzard's tale, who is my NUMBER ONE favorite cat in the UNIVERSE! I have a collection of his fur-tufts lol.
Please read and review, peeps, I really appreciate that. Even if it's just like 'Yay' for a review, I'm quite glad to get it, lol.