A New Era
So…….. You wanted to find out about what happens next…........ AWESOME!!! As always, review, Review, REVIEW!!! (It makes me feel good!) Here, I wanted to make Leafpool faint, but she would probably have taken too long to wake up. So I did something else instead! BTW, the other leader's deaths are shortened.
If you want to know what happened to the other clans' leader/deputy death, then read on. If not, then you can skip to Chapter 3! It won't make much of a difference either way. If you do read it tho, I just want you to know, it may contain some spoilers for the next chapter(s)!
IMPORTANT!!
When you come to the numbers, if you want to give Leopardstar a peaceful death, read #1. If you want to give Leopardstar a bad, tragic, death, read number 2. (or read both for all I care! ^-^)) I couldn't pick how to kill Leopardstar! (The Riverclan deaths is the best one!!)
~Crystal Cavern
(who is AWESOME)
Chapter 2: How You Deal With It
(IN WINDCLAN)
Ashfoot blinked. She felt weary, confused, and tired all of a sudden. It was sun-high, and the sun shone through a few stray clouds, making dappled shadows dance on the ground. Maybe it was the heat that made her woozy.
She got up and took a blood-soaked rabbit from the fresh-kill pile. What a lousy kill, she thought, but prey is prey. You can't argue with that.
She walked up to the medicine cat's den. "Barkface, are you there?" She asked.
"Yes, I am. I'll be there in a moment." Barkface finished wrapping up the poppy seeds in a yarrow leaf (to store it) and faced Ashfoot. "What can I do for you, Ashfoot?" He asked.
Ashfoot flicked her ears uneasily. "I brought you a rabbit." Was all she could say. Barkface twitched one ear, impatient. The act of generosity didn't fool him. Something was terribly wrong.
"Are you feeling alright, Ashfoot?" Barkface asked gently.
"No…" Ashfoot replied. "No, I feel terrible. My paws feel like they're going to fall off and my pelt is burning. My head just won't clear no matter how many times I shake it."
Barkface padded up to her. "Lift up your paw." He said. Ashfoot lifted up one of her forepaws. Barkface examined it. "Nothing seems to be wrong with your paw." He concluded, and then felt it with his nose. "It doesn't feel warm at all. Strange…"
"Barkface, I feel like I'm going crazy. I'm having symptoms that you can't detect." Ashfoot mewed quietly, her voice getting weaker.
"I'm sure there is nothing wrong, Ashfoot. You just overworked yourself. First, guarding the camp at night, and then helping with the dawn patrol." Barkface tilted his head slightly, looking at Ashfoot at a new angle. Still Nothing. "I'll give you some poppy seeds to help to sleep. If you would like juniper berries to strengthen yourself, than you can have some of those too."
Ashfoot nodded. "I think I'll have some juniper berries, Barkface. No need to waste poppy seeds on me. I can get myself to sleep. I know you are short on poppy seeds this new-leaf. I heard the gossip around camp. May I ask why?"
"Because of those rabbits." Barkface said. "They are eating all of the poppies, and the seeds don't have enough time to grow." Barkface turned around to get a few early juniper berries from his cache of herbs. "Oh, and, please stay in my den for today. I want to monitor your progress." He said, concern creeping in his voice.
For his efforts, he got a short, and frighteningly weak, "Very well..." from Ashfoot. Nevertheless he was satisfied.
"Here are your juniper berries." He said as he laid them down. "I'm sure you'll feel better when you wake up." Barkface was uneasy. His voice was more strong and reassuring than what he felt.
Ashfoot ate the berries slowly, as if every movement took an amazing amount of effort. "Thanks." She croaked, and lay down on a moss-lined nest to sleep.
Barkface sighed. Her breathing was ragged, and coming in quick, shallow gasps. Everything about her seemed normal, except for the fact that she was really sick.
He soaked some moss in a puddle, placed it near Ashfoot, and whispered in her ear, "Water, if you need it." He took the rabbit and put it on her other side. "Food." He added. With that, he turned and left.
Barkface padded out of his den and looked around the clearing. The clan was sharing tongues.
Just then, Onestar came up to him and said, "Barkface, I need your help."
Barkface nodded. "Of course. What would you like me to do for you, Onestar?"
"Nothing much. I just feel tired and weird. I feel as if something's not right. My fur feels so hot, it's like it has been clawed, and clawed hard."
"Let me guess. Your pads also feel hot and heavy, and you feel weak."
"Yes, that's correct, Barkface. How did you know?"
"Ashfoot came up to me with the same complaints. Just come to my den." Barkface led the way into his den, followed closely by Onestar.
"Lay down on the other nest," he instructed, and went to get more juniper berries.
Onestar twitched his nose. "Juniper berries."
"That's right, Onestar. To help you get your strength back." Barkface rolled three berries with his nose to Onestar. "Would you like some poppy seeds too?" Without waiting for a reply, he went back to the poppy seeds. First, he opened the yarrow leaf, and then removed two poppy seeds from the pile. He then placed it on a regular leaf, and brought that to Onestar, who by this time had already eaten the juniper berries.
"I don't want to nag, but, please eat these." He implored.
"I don't need poppy seeds."
"Poppy seeds will do you good. They will help you sleep. Ashfoot turned down my offer, but you won't. What would WindClan do if their leader got sick?"
"I've still got many lives, Barkface."
"That's not an excuse to not eating the seeds. Onestar, I know you have pride, but I order you as your medicine cat to eat those seeds."
Beaten, Onestar nodded, and licked up the seeds.
"You and Ashfoot will stay in my den tonight. That's also an order."
"Yes, Barkface." Onestar mewed softly.
Barkface gave a mrrow of laughter. Both the leader and the deputy, rebellious, just like kits squealing to their mother. Barkface sighed, and whispered to himself. "Please StarClan, help me. Am I doing the right thing? What if I'm sending them to their deaths? Did I give them the wrong herbs?"
Barkface sighed again. Onestar was asleep now, and he himself was hungry. Getting up, he walked over to the entrance of the den. Looking back, he saw that both Ashfoot and Onestar's breathing were short and shallow, in gasps. They were asleep, but uncomfortable. I'll just go to the fresh-kill pile quickly and get a rabbit for myself, he decided.
He walked quickly to the fresh-kill pile. There was a rabbit, two mice, a raven, and another rabbit. Barkface chose the bigger mouse and grabbed it. He decided not to take a rabbit after all. He felt like eating mice all of a sudden.
"Barkface!" An elder called. "My joints are stiff!" The elder's joints, did, in fact, creak. "Barkface!" He called, as he entered the medicine cat's den.
"I'm over he-" he was cut off by a screech made by the tomcat. The she-cats in the nursery came out to see what was the matter. Apprentices poked their heads out if their den. The warriors sharing tongues only fractions of a moment ago were now tense and alert. All cats within the camp turned to face the sound, Barkface included.
"What in the name of StarClan…" Breezepaw murmured.
"Barkface! Barkface!" The elder hissed, "You better have a good explanation of why you have the corpses of Onestar and Ashfoot in your den!"
Now all eyes were on Barkface.
"No… Tell me it's not true…" Crowfeather challenged.
(IN SHADOWCLAN)
Runningnose was worried. He was an elder, yes, but he wasn't stupid. He wanted to see what happened to Blackstar and Russetfur all of a sudden. They seemed so frail and weak. When Littlecloud asked them what was the matter, they slashed at him! Nobody does that to the medicine cat! Maybe it was Sol. That cat, making them lose faith in StarClan, And now making them bitter to their medicine cat! It was outrageous!
He padded up to the entrance of the leader's den and waited. It was evening, and the sun had a few hours left. "Come in, Runningnose," Blackstar said.
"Greetings, Blackstar. You seem weak today."
"Yes, it started a while ago. Must be my age…" Blackstar changed the subject.
"So what brings you, Runningnose, to see me?" Knowing Runningnose, he probably came for a reason.
"Blackstar, you seem frail today." He replied (for the second time). "You and Russetfur. Would you like to tell me the name of your new deputy before he dies… with you…?"
Blackstar gave a wheezy grunt, to hide his anger. You don't go out on an elder, especially a medicine cat elder. StarClan would get angry. What would they know, Blackstar thought, they're up there! Nevertheless, he kept his temper under control.
"No, Runningnose." Blackstar replied, answering Runningnose's earlier question, "We're not going to die so easily, and besides, I still have six lives left."
"Six… Last time I remembered, it was seven… What have you been doing lately Blackstar?" Runningnose interrogated.
"That's none of your business." Blackstar flicked his ears unconsciously. He was nervous. What was old Runningnose getting to?
"Fine… Fine…" was all Runningnose said.
Then there was a long silence as the cats waited, each waiting for the other to speak.
"Runningnose…" Blackstar gasped, finally breaking the silance. He suddenly felt like he was going to die. "Get Littlecloud…" he rasped, and he died.
Runningnose ran to the medicine cat's den. Or rather, he wobbled there. His bones were not what they used to be. His running was awkward, but if you looked carefully you would see a pattern. As he did his wobble-hop-grunt run, his bones groaned with effort.
"Littlecloud! Littlecloud! Go see Blackstar!" Runningnose panted.
"I will! Right after I finish checking over Russetfur!" Runningnose hopped over to Russetfur's body. Her gasps were shallow and many. She looked like she was suffocating. "Russetfur! Not you too!" Runningnose mewed loudly.
But nobody noticed this comment. Nobody was paying attention to Runningnose. They were focused on Russetfur.
Tawnypelt came in. "She was on a hunting patrol with me," She explained, "when she spotted a frog. She leaped on the frog and had it pinned under her paws when she all of a sudden fell over. She's been gasping for air ever since."
Runningnose left the commotion. His ears must be failing him if he hadn't noticed all the commotion that the hunting patrol back until now. He stiffened when he remembered Blackstar. Hobbling again, he limped to the leader's den. Why did it have to be all the way on the other side of the camp?! This was bad. Littlecloud was with Russetfur, and so were rest of the clan. What about Blackstar? Would his lives last?
When he got there, he saw Blackstar gasp his last breath of life… "StarClan…" he croaked, and he died.
Runningnose left the den. There was nothing more he could do. Blackstar was in the paws of StarClan now.
As he padded back to the elder's tree root, he heard Littlecloud giving orders to an apprentice. "Fetch Blackstar. Tell him that Russetfur has died, and he needs to pick a new deputy."
Runningnose whipped around, determined to stop the young apprentice from finding out the harsh truth. "Stop!" he called, but Toadpaw didn't hear him. He continued to race toward the direction of the leader's den.
When Toadpaw got there he cried, "Blackstar! Blackstar! Russetfur is-" Toadpaw suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and gave a loud ear-piercing screech.
"What's wrong?" A she-cat called.
"Bring Bleackstar!" Littlecloud repeated.
Toadpaw's fear scent reached the whole camp. After a brief silence, he called out, "Bleackstar's dead too! And the last cat here was Runningnose!"
All eyes turned to Runningnose. "Explain yourself", Boulder instructed.
(IN RIVERCLAN)
Mistyfoot sighed. Her paws were empty. She just missed the fish again. Normally it would have been an easy catch, but today, she felt groggy. She just couldn't concentrate.
One more time. She thought to herself. She sat back, careful to not let her shadow go over the stream. She waited. One fish swam by. Too deep. She thought. Another fish swam by. Too far away to reach. The third fish came and went. Too small. Mistyfoot sighed again. Why won't StarClan give me a BIG fish?! She sat up and gave her fur a few quick licks to hide her embarrassment. She stared at the wet marsh, not thinking about anything in general. Then, in a puddle near her right paw, she saw a tadpole. That's right. She thought. I'm just like this tadpole. Separated from everyone else. Sad, and devastated. I'm so useless.
Just then a fish about a tail length long leaped out of the stream and whacked Mistyfoot on the head. Mistyfoot feel on to the marsh, dazed. The huge fish, seemingly unharmed, flopped around and tried to get back in the water. Only, it was going in the wrong direction.
"Did you see that?" An apprentice called.
"Yah! That fish was huge!" Another one said.
"Mistyfoot, nice job!" The first one continued, her eyes still on the flopping fish, "I've never seen such a big fis-" She stopped as she saw Mistyfoot sprawled on the ground and started to giggle. Realizing the situation, the second apprentice giggled too.
"So that's what you call prey jumping into your paws! No wait, your head!" The second apprentice laughed.
Mistyfoot was so embarrassed; she didn't even try to get up.
The apprentices giggled until Beechfur scolded them. Then, she told the first apprentice, Pebblepaw, to kill the fish and the second apprentice to continue fishing. Next, she went over to Mistyfoot, and asked, "Mistyfoot, are you alright? That fish practically jumped on you!"
"I'm fine."
"I don't know how you did it, but that fish looks like could feed all the elders and apprentices tonight!"
"I didn't do anything, Beechfur." I just got jumped on.
"That doesn't matter. A catch's a catch!"
Mistyfoot sighed. I feel like the sun. It goes around us, round and round, without ever achieving anything. I didn't catch that fish; it jumped on me. Mistyfoot bit her lip. And it hurt.
She started back towards camp. Life was suddenly so hard. She wished for Stonefur to comfort her, for Bluestar to tell her how proud she was, because right now, she felt so depressed. Not just depressed, but tired. Not just depressed and tired, but embarrassed. Everything seemed to go by in slow motion, yet she still couldn't catch fish!
Reaching the warrior's den, she found a quiet place to nap. No sooner had she finally dozed off, she was awakened by Voletooth.
"Mistyfoot, come on." He said.
"Wha…?"
"Mistyfoot, it's time for the dusk patrol, remember? When you organized the patrol, you said you would lead it with me, Beechfur, Dawnflower, and Pebblepaw." Voletooth looked at Mistyfoot with concern. "If you're not feeling well, then I will lead it." You don't have to remind me of the fish, Voletooth!
Mistyfoot got up and stretched. "No, no, Voletooth. I'll lead it." When Voletooth gave her an unsure gaze, she reassured him. "I'm fine, really!"
Mistyfoot was so tired by the time she got back from the dusk patrol, she could hardly walk. Only her duties as the deputy kept her awake. She reluctant went to see Leopardstar first. Mistyfoot basically crawled to the leader's den. She was no tired now that she realized that she couldn't even feel her wooziness anymore. Just extreme pain and tiredness.
It feels like my paws are going to fall off! No worse than that, I fell like I'm going to drop dead!
Leopardstar was waiting for her when she got there.
"Are you all right, Mistyfoot? While you were napping, rumor spread that the fish you caught bunked you on the head!" Leopardstar chuckled, "At least, that's what Pebblepaw told me."
"I'm alright, Leopardstar. And Pebblepaw is right. It did slap me on my head, but I'm fine."
It was obvious that Leopardstar wasn't convinced, but she did drop the subject. "So tell me about the dusk patrol."
"Everything is normal, although there was a stale scent of fox near the ShadowClan border."
"Did you try to track it?"
"Yes, it seems that it has made its den in ShadowClan, but only hunted on RiverClan territory. I've told all the hunting and border patrols to be careful and to chase it out if they see it."
"Is that all?"
Mistyfoot tried to make her last two words sound strong, but they were weak. "Yes, Leopardstar." She said.
"You'd better go rest, Mistyfoot. Tomorrow is another day. I trust that you made the patrols for tomorrow?"
"Yes, Leopardstar."
"You are dismissed."
Mistyfoot tried to walk back to the warrior's den, but she was too tired. Leopardstar saw her off. As Leopardstar was turning back to her den, she heard a thump. She whipped around to find Mistyfoot laying on the ground near the Tree. (That's where Leopardstar gives her speeches/clan meetings)
The last thing Mistyfoot heard was Lropardstar calling out her name.
"Mistyfoot!" And then her vision faded.
She opened her eyes to see her body, lying limp on the ground, getting smaller and smaller. Leopardstar was crouched beside her body, her mouth moving, but no sounds reached Mistyfoot's ears.
I'm going to the Silverpelt, where StarClan will receive me. I must be dead. And she was.
Leopardstar, meanwhile, was still crying out to Mistyfoot. "Mistyfoot! You Idiot! Why did you overwork yourself after being smacked by a fish?!?!"
Mothwing looked out into the small clearing. To her surprise, she saw Mistyfoot's limp body.
"Great StarClan!" she gasped, and ran over to the two she-cats.
Leopardstar stepped back to give Mothwing through. "No, no…" She kept on saying. "She can't be dead, Mothwing! She can't be!"
Mothwing concluded, "Mistyfoot was a noble warrior. She died a noble death."
"No she didn't! This death wasn't noble at all!" Leopardstar sobbed.
"She died giving her all to her clan."
"But she didn't have to! She could have lived on! Nothing would have changed!" Leopardstar hung her head low and buried her face in Mistyfoot's coat.
Warriors, apprentices, queens, kits, and elders watched Leopardstar, although she was not aware of it.
Mothwing padded back to the medicine cat's den and was waking the sleeping Willowshine (Willowshine was a heavy sleeper), when she heard Leopardstar conclude, "We will sit vigil for Mistyfoot tonight."
One by one, those who were close to Mistyfoot emerged from their dens and walked to their friend. They wanted to be with her one last time before the elders took her and buried her.
Leopardstar felt suddenly felt weaker. During the day she felt this feeling, but Mistyfoot's death was such a shock it made her feel so horrible.
1) Leopardstar buried her face in Mistyfoot's fur and breathed in her scent. My friend, I want to join you too! As soon as she thought that, she felt her soul seeping out from her body, and she died.
2)Leopardstar sighed. She screeched, "Let all cats old enough to fish gather under the Tree here for a Clan meeting!"
No Cats questioned why she was holding a clan meeting. Mistyfoot just died! Maybe from a brain percussion!
Leopardstar watched as her clan assembled in front of her. Her voice was filled with sorrow when she spoke, and it sounded very weak.
"Tonight, Mistyfoot has died…"Because of a fish! She added to herself. It was obvious her clan was thinking the same thing she was, but nobody dared to say it out loud. "But, we still need to choose a new deputy. I call upon my warrior ancestors to dook down and approve of my choice." Especially, you, Mistyfoot! Leopardstar was really tired by this point. "The new deputy will be-"
Every cat was waiting for the name of the new deputy. Leopardstar paused and looked as if she were in pain. Then she gasped, and fainted.
She tumbled down the Tree, and hit the floor with a crash, her blood soakine Mistyfoot's pelt.