So cold, hmm; so cold.... DX

100 Tales 97

So cold

Swiftkit watched her brothers and sisters sleep, her tail swishing slightly. They were all starving and weak for some reason. She, on the other paw, was not. She felt very alive, and she wondered what was happening. I'll go ask Longclaw what's happening, she thought. He might know. He's our only elder, and very ancient. He was here even before the leader before Shadowstar was born. That's a long time.

Swiftkit padded out into the middle of the camp, noticing how cold the air was. Never fear. Her long gray tabby pelt and plumy tail were just the thing she needed to protect her. Swiftkit raced across the camp to the elder's den, which was just as open as the nursery.

"Longclaw?" she called.

The elder's dark brown tabby head appeared from deep in the dead leaves and grass. "What?"

"Can I ask you something?" Swiftkit asked the elder, padding closer.

"Sure." Longclaw sat up and waited for her to come over to him, then wrapped his tail around her shoulders. "What is it you need to know?"

"Um—" Suddenly, Swiftkit wasn't very sure if this was a good idea. "Why is everybody going hungry except me?" She thought back to the time when they were suckling from their mother, and her siblings would get no milk while she'd get a lot.

"There's no milk!" Shadekit would complain.

"Yes, there is." Swiftkit would show them the milk in her mouth. "See?"

"Let Shadekit drink from there, then," Ferntrail would say, gently pushing her away, letting Shadekit take her place. She would latch on to the teat that Shadekit just had, and there would be lots of milk. Then, Shadekit would latch onto her former teat, and say, "There's no milk here!" And it all started over again.

Swiftkit shook her head vigorously and turned to Longclaw, who had just said softly, "Swiftkit."

"Yes?" Swiftkit looked up at the dark brown elder eagerly.

"I'm going to tell you something very special. But you must never repeat it to anyone, not your mother, not your siblings, not your Clan leader, not the medicine cat." Longclaw's serious deep green eyes gazed into hers, making her blink.

"Okay," she agreed.

"Good." Longclaw shifted on his paws. "Now listen closely and remember it all." He took a deep breath.

"I'm listening." Swiftkit looked up at his face as he began to speak.

"Long ago, in the days even before I was born, the Clans and StarClan lived in harmony. What held them all together, you ask? A cat named Starsight. He was a dark ginger tom with deep blue eyes, and he was neither alive nor was he dead, but he appeared to both. How…. I can't really say. I've just heard that he looked like a spirit, but not like a spirit. I don't know how this would look, mind you, but back to the story. Anyway, he controlled the world of the Clans. He could make kits get born, and he could kill them. He could grow trees, or destroy the entire forest. He could make prey abundant in resources, but, at the same time, he could destroy it all. He was like a god to the Clans. But one day a cat named Silverheart decided he didn't want Starsight there, and he gathered cats who thought the same. Clan cats, StarClan cats and rogues alike, all who lived in the forest that wanted him out. Silverheart was a good cat in both heart and mind, but he was very young and foolish. He had forgotten the elders' stories that, if you angered Starsight, he would place his wrath on the forest. He would kill everything, cats, prey and the forest alike. Anyway, Silverheart and his gang drove Starsight out one day and that was the end of him. Or so they thought. They never realized that now, many, many moons later, even though Starsight is far, far away, he can still use his mind powers to place his wrath on the forest, making it always leaf-bare and making the forest have no prey. The trees have died and cats are getting sick because of the lack of prey. It's a horrible time for the forest, and nobody knows what to do. Nobody wants to leave, because this is their home. Anyway, I must tell you the rest of the story now. It took him a while, but Starsight's mind powers finally reached this forest where we all live. Not anywhere else, only this forest and the surrounding land."

"Um…. Longclaw?" Swiftkit asked. "If cats are dying, why am I healthy and sleek? Why aren't I scrawny and weak like my siblings?"

"I was getting to that part." Longclaw sighed. "Before they drove him out, Starsight vowed that he'd spare one cat, and that cat would come and bring him back to the forest. Swiftkit, I think that cat is you."

"Me?" Swiftkit was incredulous. "You have to be joking!"

"No, it's true." Longclaw shook his head. "I don't know if you have the willpower to bring him back to the forest, but whether you call him through dreams or journey to find him, please be safe wherever you go."