Pondstar felt weary.

For days, the sickness ached in her soul. Her internal organs felt constricted as they twined around each other in an uncomfortable heap. Her stomach was in pain from her lack of feasting - leaf-bare would do that to a cat.

The sage of her eyes was fading, looking hazy and distant. The glossy shine of her coat paled to a dull silver to express her struggle against the plague.

She coughed.

In the process, it felt like her throat was scorching despite the bitter chill of the surrounding air.

Passively, she rasped a dry tongue over her paw then carried the shaky paw over her ears as a feeble attempt to wash.

"Please, Pondstar," Reedtail was at their leader's side, carefully nudging a small parcel of leaves to the she-cat's dirty white paws. "You're frail and weak. Please eat the catmint."

Pondstar waved them away. "No," she coughed, voice croaky. "I have eight more lives to spare. Give them to some loyal cat of my Clan who deserves it."

Reluctantly, the black cat shuffled away with the herbs, leaving Pondstar to her musings.

When the medicine cat returned to the leader's den the following sunrise, they discovered the silver tabby immobile in her nest, looking almost peaceful with the passing of her first life.

"I'll warn you only once Whitestar, my Clan has the right to the streams. They are not yours to fish from."

Pondstar held herself assertive in the front of her clanmates, poised from battle at the head of the reed bed.

"BlizzardClan, attack!"

From the lack of a reasoning response, BlizzardClan seemed intent on taking without a second thought.

Warriors from both sides surged into the mesh of inter mingling waves, springing over the plants with strong jumps and furious screeches.

Pondstar weaved around the fighting warriors with supreme agility, gracefully gliding over a young orange patchwork apprentice and careening for Whitestar. Within seconds, she had him pinned beneath her claws, a snarl on her muzzle.

He managed to throw her to the side with his bigger heft. The silver tabby was sent sprawling into the weeds, paws thrashing to regain proper footing. Pain inflamed on her flank as Whitestar's claws sliced through the pretty tabby pelt, drawing crimson droplets. Pondstar lashed out blindly, catching the white tom's muzzle and heard his cry of dismay.

There was a snap of teeth.

Another snap. Muffled. Muffled through fur.

Whitestar's jaws wrapped around the other leader's neck, burying those sharp ivories deeper into the exposed throat.

Pondstar choked up, gasping as the final spurts of life dwindled and enemy teeth claimed her second life.

The silver tabby shrieked, roughly shoving her deputy out of the line of attack as the pine tree quickly tumbled to the ground.

The light of the storm raged around them, causing an unstable tree to uproot and swing to the earth in the enclosed hollow almost silently midst the chaos.

Seafoam went staggering, stumbling to react as she saw the silver tabby's fear replaced by relief.

"Pondstar, watch out!" the gray deputy called back.

The leader looked up, panic alight in her sage eyes as a choked off cry resonated through the hollow.

The tree came down with a sickening crunch, trapping Pondstar to the dry grass instantaneously.

Her airways trapped, the silver tabby suffocated.

Her third life was claimed without a chance for a savior.

"She's loosing too much blood."

"Grab some moss, stat!"

"Hurry!"

"Anemonepaw, where's my moss?"

Breathing labored and strained, Pondstar tensed upon her side, flanks rising and falling in time with her harsh inhale and exhale process. Her eyes had been squished shut from the pain, teeth clamping down on a stick even after the medicine cat cleared the two newborns aside to be cleaned.

The silver tabby was still loosing massive amounts of blood and without early enough treatment, she'd bleed to death.

"It hurts. . ." she managed to cry, spitting out the splintered wood with a disdainful hiss.

"Anemonepaw!" Reedtail yowled louder, voice impatient and bristled. They turned their gaze back upon the silver tabby. "Shh shh, it's going to be alright. You'll be fine, Pondstar."

"My kits?" Pondstar attempted to rise, an aching pain forcing her back to her side with an ungraceful moan.

"Are fine as well," Reedtail added, wincing at the way the tabby moved.

A well rounded puddle of crimson was staining into the sand and surrounding reeds.

"I can't. . ." Pondstar wailed again, vision going blurry as she laid her head down and closed her eyes.

Her fourth life was taken as compensation for the lives she brought into the world.

"Pondstar, are you sure this is a good idea?"

A non-committed grunt.

"We're OceanClan cats. Not exactly suited for tree climbing, eh?"

A disdainful snort.

"And you've only just recovered from that nasty cough. You're still frail. You shouldn't be so reckless right now."

The silver tabby lodged herself amongst the branches of one of the dwindling trees in their sandy rocky territory. She placed one paw in front of the other, still weakened by the fading effects of the cough as her deputy said.

She kept her weight careful and precise, shifting from branch to branch with a subtle air of grace that a leader always seemed to carry with them.

"OceanClan or not, BlizzardClan uses tree attacks," Pondstar finally answered, pleased with herself as she made it to a semi-stable portion of the tree where she could pause and take a breath. "I want our warriors to be well advised in above ground maneuvers. We should take the 'paws here tomorrow at sunhigh for an early training session."

"Your word is law," Seaform sighed, reluctance lacing her fatigued tone.

The darker gray feline scarcely had time to breathe in before a splintering crack echoed from above.

With a startled screech, the silver tabby body flew to the earth with a chilling thud.

Her fifth life was stolen in the blink of an eye.

"Will you ever learn?!"

The caterwauls of battle raged on under moonlight, a futile war between those of the blizzards and those of the ocean yet again.

This time, the silver tabby had no such honor of being pinned by a leader. She was forced to the sand by a pair of bulky warriors, matching her strikes blow for blow with force as she tried to gain an upper paw.

Pondstar managed to clip the cream one on the jaw, forcing him back a few paces, but the second white female snapped viciously near the leader's neck. When the tabby became distracted from a cry from her own Clan, her throat felt teeth upon it once again. Her limp figure was thrown to the ground, letting the gash bleed quickly.

Additionally, pain inflamed around her stomach where the cream tom had started to slice cleanly.

BlizzardClan was cold and ruthless and strayed often from the 'killing only when necessary' rule. Whitestar had led quite the band of tricksters and thieves.

"Murderers!" Pondstar choked, voice raspy as she blindly swatted, her claws catching the muzzle of the female, which in turn expressed a yowl of dismay.

"We just want the territory!" she spat, muzzle bloody from the swelling injury. "BlizzardClan land is small compared to yours, you hoarders!"

"Yes!" the cream tomcat agreed with a snarl. "You have the entire ocean! Where's our share?"

"You are the thieves!" Pikefang's brown ticked tabby pelt stormed into view, tackling the nearest threat to his leader. "Stay on your side of the border!" He snapped and bit and clawed and slashed until both warriors scampered away with excessive wounds.

"You can't beat us on our own turf!" Mudshark crowed, perched on higher ground after sending an apprentice stumbling. "Back to the woods, cowards!"

BlizzardClan warriors fled, bloody and defeated as the victors cried their winnings to the stars.

But the damage had already been cast. Pondstar lay on her side, flanks immobile as her breathing stopped altogether.

Lives six and seven were drained from her soul, seeping into the sand on which she lay peacefully.

Pondstar lead the patrol further down the shoreline, voice catching from the intense bout of sprinting.

"We can't lead it back to camp!" she yowled in reference to the shaggy flea-pelt pursuing the trio of cats across the sandy expanse.

Its barks roared like thunder, shaking the very ground upon which they all walked. Its longer legs proved advantage as small Shellpaw fell behind in step.

Pondstar heard his shriek and stopped running. She encouraged Waverunner to slow and the bulky tom whirled around to save his apprentice. Pondstar fell in line beside him, pouncing mid stride to catch her claws on the dog's hairy face.

This drew the mutt's attention aside while the white warrior forced a bitten Shellpaw off to the sidelines.

Pondstar was bit and tackled, thrown around in the dog's toothy grip like a helpless piece of prey.

By the time Waverunner resurfaced to aid, drawing sights away from his injured leader, the silver tabby had already been thrown against an upturned rock jutting from the sand.

Her head hit the stone with such force that claimed her consciousness.

Unconscious, she bled out her insides, until her eighth life flickered away.

Now, Pondstar lays silently in her nest, with slow breaths and tired eyes.

Fatigue clings to every muscle, rendering her unable to move around too much.

Her muzzle is grayed and her pelt has lost that shiny gleam, forcing it pale much akin to the time she caught greencough. Through lidded eyes, she glances around the den, making out a set of four silhouettes loosely crowding around the leader.

"Mama?"

"Yes, love?" Pondstar's aging crown lifts from her paws, her faded sage eyes meeting a dark blue that can only belong to her oldest.

"I love you," the black tom smiles feebly, making light of the darkening situation.

"I love you, too, Shellspot," Pondstar returns the faint grin, placing her weakened paw atop her son's. "And you as well, Pebbletuft." Her other gray tabby son beams at the recognition, moving closer to his mother in her time of dying. The three bump noses playfully, smiles marring their faces before her sons pull away to let Seafoam speak to their mother.

"It's not common for a leader to properly advise their deputy on their deathbed," Seafoam chuckles.

"Then cherish it, dear," Pondstar replies, voice raspy and old. "I'm glad I have this time to speak with you. I know you'll lead this Clan well. You have my blessing, but then again," she pauses with a lighthearted look of amusement. "You had my blessing from the day I named you deputy."

They touch noses and the gray deputy allows the final cat to step forward.

"Reedtail was a fine medicine cat," Pondstar begins, sizing up the thin pelt of brown that stands in place of her kit-hood friend. "I almost wish he was here to see me pass in my final moments, at least to know that I have passed peacefully. I know that Reedtail taught you well and as such, I expect you to look after my Clan just as well as Seafoam does. You will accompany her to the Star Willow. Good luck." The silver tabby rasps her tongue over Anemonewhisker's head, smoothing over a little tuft of stray fur.

"Good night," she says in departing as the four felines vacate her den, looking solemn but hopeful.

"Good night," she repeats to herself, closing her eyes for the final time.

Challenge for TorrentClan

- Thornpaw