Everything hurt. The snow, though soft, had done nothing to cushion Blizzardcloud's fall. He couldn't move a muscle, and he was barely breathing. However shallow his breaths were, and however damaged his nose was, he could smell the coyotes as if they were right next to him. He vaguely realized that he was still alive, and the coyotes hadn't found him yet. The pale pelts that were the signature trait of most IceClan cats were doing their job: Blizzardcloud looked like part of the snow. He knew he'd be caught. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance when they found him, he was so damaged. He could hear them coming now, he was done for, the whole Clan was going to die…
Ravenheart scraped at the ice around her in distress. Nothing could conceal her obvious black pelt. Her measly battle training wouldn't help her at all against these menaces. The only hope was Blizzardcloud somehow being magically unharmed from that terrible fall. She shivered at the thought that she too could have careened off the edge. Be brave. Save the Clan. She paused. This was a new thought. StarClan is with you, Ravenheart.
"But what can StarClan do to save me from being killed like Blizzardcloud was?" she muttered to herself.
Blizzardcloud isn't dead, Ravenheart.
"Okay, that is not me speaking." she shut her eyes. "Willowmoon?" she whispered. Beneath her eyelids, StarClan came into view.
No, came the voice again. It's me. Under the layer of stars covering the cat's fur, the pattern was easily discernible. Ravenheart snapped out of the vision. "No." she whispered. her voice rose to a shrill, scared mew. "No!"
Blizzardcloud lay helplessly in the thick snow, the sound of shifting snow ringing in his ears. Underneath the awful stench of the coyotes was a warm, familiar scent. Was StarClan calling him? He heard a gasp and felt something prod his fur gently.
"Blizzardpaw?" came the soft voice of a cat, one of his Clan! He wrenched his eyes open and found himself staring into a concerned pair of dark blue eyes. Ternpaw!
"Blizzardpaw, are you alright? Where did you come from? Where's Frostpelt?" Ternpaw whispered, as though afraid of being heard. Blizzardcloud turned his head slightly upwards.
"Ravenheart-" he moaned. Ternpaw's dark blue eyes widened.
"Is she here too? That's great! Are Frostpelt, Ripplestar, and Sealfin here as well? We'll need them to overthrow the coyotes."
"Ternpaw, Frostpelt is dead." his mew was becoming clearer, and he could feel awareness return vividly to his head. Ternpaw looked shocked. "And Sealfin and Ripplestar could be going the same way. The plan is messed up, I wasn't supposed to fall."
"You fell from there?" Ternpaw said, flicking her tail towards the Ice-cliffs. "And Ravenheart is up there?"
Blizzardcloud nodded.
"I was supposed to clear the way so she could get to the Clan safely and be ready to heal." he began to climb shakily to his paws.
"No!" Ternpaw hissed "If you get up, the coyotes will see you. They think I'm making dirt right now." she paused for a moment, letting Blizzardcloud fall to the ground. "Okay, I want you to very inconspicuously drag yourself to one of the out-of-sight areas of the Ice-cliffs. I'll find Ravenheart, and I'll rally up the Clan. Trust me, we're ready."
"No, Ternpaw, you can't. You're much less experienced than me, and-"
"Excuse me? We were in the exact same litter! That means born on the same day, starting apprenticeship at the same time.That plus you're seriously injured and I'm not." Blizzardcloud smiled weakly.
"Fine. You win." he began to inch slowly towards the Ice-cliffs. "But just know this: it's Blizzardcloud now."
Sealfin barreled into a hulking mass of gray-brown fur. The paw prints of two fleeing coyotes were stamped into the snow behind her. This plan might just work! She thought happily. Of course, the other half depends on Ravenheart and Blizzardcloud. Where are they…? At that moment, Sealfin was slammed from behind by an attacking coyote. She felt consciousness slip away from her as fast as the Melting was making the stream flow.A long stretch of murky, indefinite nothing. Was it nothing? There was a sort of odd color to it, not definable, but certainly there. Sealfin realized with a start that this was how Ravenheart always described StarClan. Her tail drooped in defeat.
"Don't give up, Sealfin." Sealfin raised her head to look at the starry cats materializing around her.
"You're not dead yet."
She located the speaker quickly, for the jumble of dead cats parted to let Sealfin see.
"Oh, no…" she breathed. Had she really been paying that little attention to the battle around her? Underneath the layer of stars, she could see the pattern that gave the speaker her name: Pale gray stripes upon pure white fur.
"Ripplestar!"
There, I updated. You happy?