Blossompaw's Escape

Part Two: The Mission

"Seastar!" Ravenstar called out to the tabby she cat. She turned and watched him with cold eyes, their sea foam depths were unmoved by his call.

"The gathering is over Ravenstar," she spat bitterly, her tail lashing. "Go back to the forests and leave me be,"

"I'm sorry!" he pleaded. "I love you, I never meant to hurt you,"

This time Seastar dropped her gaze to the smooth rock of the gathering place. She refused to look up, but she felt Ravenstar move closer. She drank in his scent, a mix of pine and lemon grass. Then she pulled away, and looked him in the eye as she spoke.

"It's over. We agreed it was over the second we created separate clans. We can't be together," she said this softly, painfully. "Cedarstar, my father, even cut ties with me for the sake of our new clans. This is how Starclan wanted it to be,"

"Well this isn't what I wanted!" Ravenstar hissed, his eyes blazing with passion."I won't give up on you Seastar! I won't let your father come between us, not even Starclan can stop this. Just say yes," he begged. The two rogues had been in love for some time, but when Ravenclan Seaclan and Cedarclan were born they decided it was for the best if they stopped contact. But Ravenstar would not, could not say goodbye to Seastar.

The tabby with eyes like the ocean simply shook her head and padded across the moonlit beaches towards her camp, leaving Ravenstar with a gaping hole in his chest. He turned his muzzle towards the sky and wailed for his loss.

Blossompaw sat next to Ashstar, watching the scene below. One of the many events leading up the creation of the clans and Ashclan's destruction. She had always heard the stories, but to see it was something else. The point in the story she figured they were at was in the early moons after the clans first came to be. The three rogues, Sea, Raven and Cedar had just been visited by the Starclan cat - telling them it was their destiny to build the clans. Of course Raven was in Love with Sea and was prepared to break the warrior code for her, but Sea would not do the same. At this point Ashclan had not been formed yet.

"You - you lying fifthly piece of scum!" Cedarstar shouted accusingly. Ravenstar didn't flinch at the harsh words, but Seastar was shaking under her father's wrath.

"I told him to leave me be but he didn't listen, I'm sorry father!" Seastar explained frantically, trying to stop the brown furred tom from attacking Ravenstar. Cedarstar stopped and looked down at his daughter, his own blood - his kin.

"You are a traitor to Seaclan for seeing this cat in secret. You are a traitor to me as well," he growled. Seastar reared back as if he had struck her. She hadn't meant any harm by meeting with Ravenstar, she had thought nothing would be wrong with simply talking to him. But when Cedarstar caught them he was enraged. Starclan watched from above, stricken with fear. The newly formed clans were doomed to fail if the three leaders resorted to war so quickly.

The once tightly knit group was now at eachothers throats with venomous words and strong resentment. Starclan realized to stop the fighting before it got out of hand they'd need to send another cat to the forest, one with an outside perspective to restore peace to the forests and beaches.

Ashstar sighed as the memory slowly changed to another scene. Blossompaw recognized the cat she was looking down on, it was indeed Ashstar, albeit younger. The black cat with observant amber eyes was filled with an energy that the one beside her didn't contain anymore. The young Ashstar was oblivious to the horrors to come.

Being the closest cat to the clans with a large following of rogues; Starclan turned to him to create the fourth clan. Ashstar, hearing the promise of nine lives, agreed and lead his rogues to the tall peak looming over the other clans. At first Starclan's plan worked. The other leaders were too preoccupied in patrolling new borders that their feud stopped.

Then Ashstar became greedy. He figured that Seastar, Cedarstar, and Ravenstar had given up territory for him so quickly it meant they were weak. They showed no protest in giving him the peak. Perhaps they would not protest the encroachment of more land. But they did. It united the other leaders against Ashstar, repairing their shattered bonds. The other three leaders protected one another from Ashclan trying to gain more territory. Ashstar, fearing being driven from the peak, ambushed the other clans at a gathering to show his prowess and power to intimidate the others.

Starclan would not forgive them.

Not one moon cycle later did the peak erupt and Ashclan was destroyed. Most assumed this was the end of the story for Ashclan, but that was not the case. Few escaped the eruption, and they begged for the other clans to help them rebuild their once proud clan. The others refused. The remainder of Ashclan scattered into the nearby cities, forgetting the warrior code for clearly it meant nothing if Starclan would not protect them.

Seastar, Ravenstar, and Cedarstar knew they had failed themselves as leaders. Turning their back on helpless cats who'd just witnessed the destruction of their home was heartless. They had all been so caught up int their own turmoils they ignored what made them clan cats int he first place; friendship. In shame the three leaders exiled themselves, leaving their clans in the paws of their faithful deputies. They trusted their deputies would better manage the clans - since they didn't have the feud their predecessors had.

They were wrong. Sandbreeze of Seaclan, Drycloud of Cedarclan, and Blackhawk of Ravenclan had been friends for moons - meeting in secret and discussing their futures int heir respective clans. Smogfoot, deputy of Ashclan, had been their friend as well. But they too turned their back on him as his spirit begged them to rebuild Ashclan. Smogfoot was enraged, how could they turn their backs on him after all they secrets they had shared, after all the nights spent adventuring?

Thing thing about betrayal - it never comes from your enemies.

When the three leaders went to claim their nine lives in the glowing cavern Smogfoot was waiting for them, but the lives he gave them were not the lives they wanted. He gave each of them a life for pain; pain to know what he had suffered. Pain to watch their own clans fail as his had. Pain as this life he bestowed them, this curse, would tear them apart.

Smogfoot vanished, his spirit walking unknown skies, unable to reach Starclan after dooming the remaining clans to crumble. Ashstar was the only one able to contact his lost deputy. Ashstar begged him to revoke his curse, but it was too late. The lives had been given. Seaclan and Ravenclan would become bitter enemies, fighting over borders and land. Cedarclan would fade into the shadows, corrupting in silence. Their own weakness would be their demise.

This dark fate almost happened, but a powerful cat managed to change it. This cat was so powerful he walked in skies even higher than Starclan's hunting grounds. His name was Rock...but his story no longer intertwines with this one from then on.

Slowly the Ashclan warriors faded from their small territory in Starclan, being forgotten by those living.

Blossompaw was horror struck as the story developed, she had never imagined how heartbreaking it was. Ashstar turned to her, his amber eyes chilled as ice.

"I will fade too, and soon. The decedents of the few who survived the eruption in Ashclan are loosing their way of life. Once they abandon clan ways all together Ashclan will be gone for good, and nothing will be able tor reverse it. Rebuilding my clan is no small task - think carefully before you accept. You will never be able to return to Ravenclan," he warned. Blossompaw had already given her answer, and she wasn't planning on changing it. She had many questions, of which she knew none would be answered. But she had one request.

"I can't complete this mission alone. I want my father, I want him to guide me. I know their is only so much he can do from my dreams. But still, I'd like him to be watching over me," she murmured resolutely.

"My daughter, I am always watching over you," a voice form behind her announced. She spun around and ran towards her waiting father. She buried her nose is his fur, he smelled of home.

"I will visit you in your dreams as often as I can, but I can't help you with this mission. This is up to you to do now. There are certain rules cats of Starclan are limited too, what we can and cannot say. I will only be able to encourage you, to train you in the ways of a warrior so you may train others,"

"I'll make you proud," she sighed into his fur, she felt him lick the top of her head. She turned to Ashstar and nodded with agreement. His smiled before slowly fading from her vision. Her eyes blinked open to soft sunlight, and a new found determination bloomed inside her.

Over the next few days Blossompaw worked on formulating a plan to complete her impossible task. When she had first accepted it was because she had thought it was her duty, and Ashstar's heart wrenching story was compelling. But after thinking on it she realized it was going to take the moon and the sun to do it. She stayed at the meeting wall for the time being, she was protected there from dangerous street cats. Whisper visited every so often to check on her, but she was recovering well.

Flint and Shiver were goo company too. Well, mostly Shiver. Flint seemed arrogant and often rubbed her fur the wrong way. But things never got too out of paw because Shiver managed to keep the peace amongst them. In one of her cats with the orange and white she cat she was curious to learn more about her early life.

"Well as you know Flint and I grew up as kittypets with out mother Princess. We were only with her for a few moons before we were old enough to be taken by other twolegs. But when we were young we loved hearing stories. Her brother Fireheart was a warrior from a different set of clans than yours - he told her tales of the forest and in turn she repeated them to us. Flint and I have a basic understanding of the warriors way of life. When we were taken from Princess we craved that freedom and escaped out twolegs. When we found the meeting wall it became home,"

"What about Whisper, he knew of the clans too?" Blossompaw murmured, thinking of the mysterious old tom.

"Ah, yes, his story is much more interesting than mine. But he's reluctant to share it. He was born a rouge, I know he had a brother and sister. But something happened, something bad. He traveled all over and encountered a clan which he called home for some time before moving on. He certainly is ominous though, he seems to know more than he should," Shiver gave a slight chuckle. Blossompaw agreed wholeheartedly. Whisper gave off the feeling he could read signs like a medicine cat, but he wasn't one so it must have just been how he acted.

"What about you, I know of course you were held captive in the dark place and you escaped. And I know you were born in the clans, but tell me about the in between stuff," Shiver prompted. Blossompaw didn't know what to say, she didn't like talking about her life to others. Even though Shiver was a good friend it was too personal.

"My clan was called Ravenclan, I had just been apprenticed when I was taken. I don't know how long I was held captive. When I escaped with the other animals we lived as a pack for some time," she phrased it as simply as she could, but her heart still stung from the memories. Her mind drifted back to Ashstar, she'd been meaning to ask Shiver if she could guide Blossompaw out of twoleg place. The thunderpaths were too confusing to navigate for a newcomer. Before she could say anything Shiver was talking again.

"Have you given any more thought to what I said? About helping to stop the twolegs cruel operation?" she asked somewhat hopefully. Blossompaw couldn't meet her gaze, but she felt guilt stir inside her.

"You know I can't...it's still too fresh. Besides there is nothing we could do anyways,"

"We should at least try, and we won't be able too without your help," Shiver pleaded, her green eyes were wide and imploring. An idea popped into Blossompaw's mind. She pushed it away but it was persistent.

"I might be willing to help you, but I'll need a favor in return," she said softly. As quickly as she could she told Shiver of Ashclan's history and of Ashstar visiting her in her dreams. "I know it's a lot, but I can't do this on my own,"

"Rebuilding a clan though...I wouldn't even know where to begin!" Shiver said in shock.

"That makes two of us," Blossompaw smiled ruefully.

"I'd need to talk it over with Flint," Shiver sighed finally. Blossomapw felt a spark of hope, but it was crushed by the fear of going back to the testing place, with its echoing halls and torture rooms. Her nose twitched as she recalled the lingering scent of death wafting from the air vents. Chance's words rang in her ears, his explanation of the furnace and how the twolegs burned the dead instead of burying them.

Flint suddenly entered the meeting wall area with clump of herbs in his jaws. His eyes were watering from the bitter taste. He spat the herbs out and Blossompaw let out a purr of amusement.

"Whisper had me collecting herbs all morning," he complained. His stomach rumbled and Shiver rose to her paws.

"Care to come hunting with me?" she asked. She didn't need a reply to know Flint would say yes. He turned to look at Blossompaw, eyes twinkling.

"It's best if you and I hunt, sis, cause we know Flowerfeet here can't catch dirt,"

Blossompaw ignored the jibe and stared back indignantly. She didn't bother correcting his nickname for her either. It was simply his attempt at being creative and mocking her name. Pathetic, really. She watched them walk away, knowing Shiver would tell him about what Blossomapw had told her. Either they'd make the deal and help her or they wouldn't. All Blossompaw could do was wait for their return.

After what seemed like hours of gruelingly waiting, Flint and Shiver returned. Flint had a troubled expression and Shiver looked impassive.

"So?" Blossompaw asked cautiously, both cats were too neutral to be able to read their expressions. Shiver spoke up first.

"We've agreed to help you with your mission about Ashclan, but only if we succeed in our mission. We can't simply try to destroy the facility, we must. If it doesn't work there is no deal," Shiver explained. Blossompaw mulled it over, deciding it was worth the risk.

"Alright, we leave at dawn tomorrow," she finalized. Both cats nodded and walked away to turn in form the night. Blossompaw did so as well. Her eyes closed slowly, and she eagerly awaited her dreams.

"Adderfang," she mewed and rushed forward to embrace her father. He smiled down at her, his usual harsh features softened as he gazed at his daughter.

"I'm proud of you, I knew Starclan made the right decision in choosing you to save Ashclan, I have faith you'll succeed,"

"That's comforting to hear, but I'm still confused. I don't understand why Starclan decided to save Ashclan at all. The clans been gone for centuries. Why now? Why try to resurrect it now?" she questioned.

"Because Starclan is never proud of themselves when they let a clan die. And every once in a while a new clan will have to be created because one of them fell. Not all of Ashclan died in the volcanic eruption so long ago. But the survivors had to leave because the other clans wouldn't take them in and they hardly had enough numbers to create another clan. They traveled far and have gone to a place not even we know of. You have to find them and reconnect them with their Ashclan roots. You have to rebuild them because we failed to save them,"

"How," she cried helplessly. "Flint and Shiver will try to help but honestly how much can we accomplish when we don't even know what we are looking for!"

"I will train you, here it your dreams. You will become a warrior and you will have the strength to find a way," Adderfang said with determination. Blossompaw nodded and focused at the task at hand, her training.

"I never had proper training before I was taken, I still have a lot to learn,"

Adderfang didn't reply. He simply flicked his tail, urging Blossompaw to follow him to wherever they would begin their first lesson. Adderfang first demonstrated three types of hunting crouches; one for mice and voles, one for rabbits, and one for birds. She looked up at her father as she landed in the proper form.

Her eyes stared at darkness. Blossompaw was just starting to get the hang of it when voices shattered the dream. She glanced around, trying to located the voices int he dark. It was Flint and Shiver, sitting in their nests a ways away. They were whispering, but it was loud enough to distinguish their words.

"Are you sure we should go through with this?" Flint asked Shiver, she nodded.

"It's only fair to help Blossompaw if she helps us,"

"That isn't what I meant. It isn't right of us to demand Blossompaw return to that cruel and horrid place, even if we do help her it return," Flint explained.

"There is no other way," Shiver remarked, ending the conversation. Blossompaw was surprised Flint had seemed concerned about her well being, he didn't want to make her go back. But as Shiver had said they had no other choice. It was time Blossompaw faced her fears, because she had not escaped yet - not really. Her mind was still trapped in that place, and only when it was destroyed would she be free.

For Chance, she thought solemnly. For never treating him with the respect he deserved.

For Sylvester, the name tugged at her heart. For leaving him behind as we fled.

For Talia, the image of the small dog came to mind all of a sudden. Because she was the first to want to listen to more of my stories.

For Mylph, she thought with a pain. She was too young to experience those horrors.

For me, Blossompaw hadn't realized until that moment that facing the white coats again would do what she needed. When she has run from the pack she had continuously lied to herself about why she was fleeing. It wasn't to avoid spreading the sickness, it wasn't because of Adderfang's cryptic messages, it was because she was afraid. She was afraid to get close to others. She was afraid she'd lose them like she lost Ravenclan. I will do this for me.

The first rays of sun moved over the horizon, illuminating the sky in oranges and hazy blues. The air held a chill too it and Blossompaw ruffled her fur to keep the cold at bay. She heard the soft padding of paw steps coming up behind her.

"Leaf bare is coming early," Flint mused. Blossompaw flicked her ears.

"I noticed," she surmised, but there was no sarcasm in her voice for once. Flint said nothing more and turned to wake Shiver. The orange and white she cat opened her green eyes lazily. She stood and stretched the stiffness from her muscles, shaking the cold from her pelt.

In silence the three trudged out of the meeting wall area, careful not to alert any other early risers of where they were going. The breeze was subtle but Blossompaw was frozen to her core. Shiver pressed her pelt against the smaller she cat knowingly and shot her a warm glance. Finally the silence was shattered by Flint. Although he spoke quietly his voice sounded rough against the tranquil calmness.

"What is the plan?" he remarked to Blossompaw. Her crystal like eyes hardened as the building came into view.

"We do whatever it takes to destroy it," he voice was unwavering as the facility loomed before them. "This ends now,"


That must have been the crappiest cliffie in fanfiction history, seriously.

Anyhow I made a blog about yours truly. It features my fanfics and has little bonuses and story blurbs so check it out if you have the time and tell me what you think. The url is:

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