Fearsome Legends, my third Challenge. See Cherry, I got it done! :) At first, I started it completely different, but then changed it all to get it where it is now. Then I added two sentances right before I posted it. (Still don't own Warriors...) Enjoy the oneshot! (Finished 1/15/13)
"Legend tells us of an evil place, which only few know the way to. Ones whose hearts are shadowed by ambition, who forget their path in life and are led by greed, are able to find this place. They call it the River of Sorrow. The river hides an unground cave, known as the Cave of Shadows. That's where the darkest souls go to find the power to be better and take control.
Few cats have ever escaped the Cave of Shadows with their lives, and the ones who did gained the power that they needed. Those who never escaped with their lives were stuck there forever; their souls trapped in the midnight black stone that rested in the cave, called the Heart of Death.
Those souls were to never see the light of day again. It was their choice to either help those who arrived in the cave, or to trick them into never leaving, to acquire new company in their eternal suffering. No one knows if you should listen to them or not, or which will tell the truth. Some are jealous that the new cat is getting the power that they were refused, so they turn against him. Some don't want him to share the same, cruel fate, and will try to help.
But in the end, it's what the cat does that decides if he lives, or if he dies. Those who live are granted the power to control the Clans, with all of the power of the souls of the Heart of Death, all combined in one form. All of their evil mixes together and forms the power, if the living cat wants it. But that doesn't happen a lot. Most times, the cats end up dead, and join the ranks of the forgotten.
If one tries to find the Heart of Death to be granted the power, they must journey from their Clan for an unknown amount of time. Some cats, it takes mere heartbeats to find the River of Sorrow that leads the way; others may search their whole lives and never even come close to finding it.
Few cats have ever escaped with their lives. Only four cats are known to have left. The first was a cat by the name of Rowanstar. He was only Rowanwhisker then, a young, brave tomcat who was ready for adventure, but let his greed for power consume him upon finding the River of Sorrow. Many cats before him had tried and failed, and the fact that he lived left his name forever in history.
The second, a cat named Whitestar, was known for her merciless killing of all in her path. Warriors, apprentices, kits even- it didn't matter to her! Anyone who was in her way was cut down in order to obtain a spot as the leader of the Clan. Whitepetal, the name she was once called, was a sweet and caring cat once upon a time. That is, until she grew tired of always being the cat everyone else used to get what they wanted. A hatred towards others grew in her heart, and upon finding the Heart of Death, she sold her soul to the shadows before she was granted the power to destroy all those who had ever used her, and make sure it would never happen again. Along with becoming leader, of course, so every cat had to respect her.
The third cat was different, but we'll get back to him later. The fourth cat, Owlwing, wasn't a shock to anyone. All of the Clans knew where he had gone when he disappeared. Many hoped that his soul would be claimed by the darkness. But then there wouldn't be a story about him then, no? They feared he would take over the Clans upon his way back. But he didn't want the power to control. He wanted the power to destroy. And that's just what he got. Many were slaughtered. He killed off an entire Clan- did you know that there were once four Clans? He was finally defeated, while the Clans were left with nothing more than battered warriors and few numbers. The Clans only had a few cats each, so they had to let rogues and kittypets join or else they would die off. And with the loss of one Clan already, it was a high option.
The third cat was different, a cat by the name of Frostdawn. He was a surprise to the Clans- he disappeared, but no one could believe that he had really gone to find the Heart of Death! It just wasn't possible for him- he got along with everyone. How could a cat with such a great life want to be so evil?
But he wasn't. Frostdawn found his way to the River of Sorrow, surprising even StarClan, who had placed all bets against him finding it. He managed to locate the Cave of Shadows easily after that, but when he looked upon the Heart of Death… power wasn't what he wanted. Greed had long since disappeared, and ambition was there for only one thing. Peace. Raising his claws to the evil stone with all of the souls claimed by the darkness trapped inside, he attempted to destroy the Heart of Death right then and there. Unable to do so, the darkened spirits chased him away. He would've died had it not been for the StarClan cats watching over him during his escape, chasing the evil spirits back down to their cave.
He was a savior in the eyes of the Clans. They didn't believe him at first, but StarClan verified his words to be true. He was looked upon as a hero, even though the stone still stood. The one cat to look power, greed and everything you could ever want in the eye- and turn it all away for a chance at peace. Frostdawn has a special place in StarClan as he tries to watch over those with darkness growing in their hearts, to try to put them on a better path.
They say that you can see his eyes glowing silver, like two little moons, in the darkness when you decide to look for the River of Sorrow. Those eyes hold a warning: only death lies ahead. Turn back now, and you won't be lost in eternal pain and suffering."
"How do you even find the River of Sorrow in the first place?"
Innocence, pure, sweet innocence.
"Follow the dead and dying, they say. They shall lead you to the River of Sorrow."
"And then you will be able to feel the Heart of Death bring you closer and closer," A pale brown tabby and white tomcat meowed, memorizing the words of the story that he had heard many times back when he was a kit.
Oh, the elders loved to tell that story! And he loved to hear it, wanting to be remembered just like those other cats had. Just like Frostdawn, he had always said to himself. He would be just like Frostdawn, though he would do what the ancient cat had not gotten the chance to do. He story would destroy the Heart of Death. Even if it killed him. He wanted to bring order to the Clans, and if they knew that there was no way for evil to gain power… then he would destroy it, and make that happen.
Those eyes had appeared to the tomcat, he was sure of it. Two little moons, glowing in the night, shining their warning just as the story had told. But he couldn't let them stop him. Sure, he wasn't all too sure of what 'the dead and dying' would be, but he knew that he'd find out sometime.
Stopping to hunt some prey, the tomcat sniffed around, inhaling the scent of a thrush. Padding around to the other side of the tree, he saw the bird lying dead on the ground. Cautious for some kind of trap, the tomcat made his way over to it. Silver claws sliced the skin open, letting wriggling maggots fall to the ground next to the bird. The stench that followed heartbeats later was unbearable.
As he took a few quick steps backwards, a smile grew on the tomcat's face. He found the dead. He was going the right way. The River of Sorrow was just around the corner, he was sure of it! Leaving the carcass behind, the tomcat raced through the forest. The faint scent of water hit his nose, and he ignored the dead prey creatures that littered the ground. Many were just skeletons, but there were a few that were still rotting. Giving a limping, dying mouse mercy the tomcat snapped its neck so it didn't have to suffer anymore.
Looking upon the slow moving river in front of him, the tomcat's smile only grew wider. A glint of silver caught his eye, and he knew that it was what he was looking for. Not thinking about the temperature of the water, since he didn't like it in the first place, he plunged in. Freezing water clogged his fur, dragging him downward. Kicking his legs out, he followed the silver light and the feeling deep down inside of him.
Gasping for breath, the tomcat found himself emerging in a cave. His eyes lit up, dragging his soaking pelt out of the water and into the cave. He could hear cries of long-dead spirits.
"Leave this place!" They called.
"Come towards the stone…"
"This place is evil…"
"Join us!"
Ignoring the voices, the tomcat shook the droplets from his fur and faced the glowing black stone with energy shining in his eyes.
"I am Thistlestep! I am here to destroy the Heart of Death, and bring peace to the Clans!" The tomcat, Thistlestep, growled. "I will do what Frostdawn failed to do. I will rid the Clans of this evil and bring a new order to them, one that won't tolerate disloyalty and disgrace."
"Will you now?" A mysterious voice asked. In the mist around the Heart of Death, the shape of a cat formed. A slender black she cat with glowing red eyes shone in the darkness. "Now, is that what you really want?"
"The warrior code isn't enough to keep cats away from evil," Thistlestep growled. "They break it again and again. Cats turn to darkness for power, wanting to rid the Clans of all order that they have. I want to restore that order and bring everlasting peace. Now die."
Thistlestep leapt at the stone, lashing his claws across the dark rock. His claws made no mark, which angered him since all of his power had been behind that swipe. No matter, he thought. I'll just try again and again until the stone is gone.
Laughing from the ghostly forms rang in his ears as Thistlestep lashed out at the stone over and over, each time leaving no mark. Anger bubbled up inside of him, clouding his mind.
"What if I told you that I could give you the order that you wish?" The shadow cat asked. "I am Death, and I can give you what you need to make sure that no evil will ever tempt your Clans."
Thistlestep snorted. "Yeah right. You're evil, I can't trust you!"
"And why not? I haven't done anything to you. You don't even know which of those cats in those stories those elders tell you are real, and which ones are fake," Death purred. Thistlestep tensed a little at her purr… there was something about it that just drew others in…
"And this… power you can give me," Thistlestep murmured, nodding his head. "It'll all be me. No other cats will try to do anything. They're all sealed in the Heart of Death, right? I can have the order that I desire?"
Death smiled, a smile that would've stopped any other cat's heart. "Only order, I can promise you that. Those cats foolish enough to want evil have been locked away. Only cats pure of heart are able to leave. Those cats you heard in your stories, they aren't true. Frostdawn came, yes, but after asking for power, I turned him away, and in anger he tried to destroy the stone and free the spirits."
"Free… the dead?" Thistlestep asked, eyes narrowing. I almost did that, Thistlestep cursed mentally. "No. I just want the order."
"The order it is, then," Death murmured, getting up and padding over to Thistlestep. "This may feel like you're getting nine lives, like a leader. It hurts, but the pain will go away. All true leaders are able to bear it."
Thistlestep nodded. Pressing his nose to the ghost cat's nose, pain spread throughout Thistlestep's body in an instant. Holding back a scream of pain, he stood up as straight as possible. The pain flooded through him like fire through his veins.
Letting out a gasp of pain, Thistlestep felt his legs failing him. As his eyes met Death's, Thistlestep realized that he'd been tricked. Death would never give him the power needed! If he could survive through this… he could go back to his Clan and forget any of this happened…
"Beware young kit, those who mess with the power of Death will be roasted alive, their fleash forn from their bones, and cast aside like dirt..."
Yowling in pain, Thistlestep collapsed to the ground. Writhing in pain, Thistlestep closed his eyes as he smelled his fur catching aflame. As it burned from his body, Thistlestep found his world going black. Skin ripped from his flanks, curling up at the edges. He could feel himself being burned apart from the inside and the outside, and as he gasped for breath, it was his last breath. His eyes opened to the everlasting darkness that came with the 'order' he wished to bring to his Clan, and the pain that would forever be infused with his eternal 'life'.
Tell me what you think.