Chapter 3 - Facing Death

Blackblaze watched his kit walk off and enter the nursery before going into the medicine den to check on his mate. She was curled up asleep on a moss nest off to the side and Silverwing, sitting in the middle of the den sorting herbs, looked up concern in her eyes. He bent his head and gave Bloodclaw a sniff before sitting before ThunderClan's medicine cat. His eyes stayed on the herbs she was sorting, but his mind was whirling.

"There's not much we could do for her now is there?" he asked hoping the silver she-cat would answer differently. When she answered his question with silence he sighed and answered his own question. "She's dying isn't she?"

She sighed as well. "Yes. There isn't anything I can do but ease her pain as she joins StarClan."

Looking up, Blackblaze saw the tears he wanted to shed in Silverwing's eyes. Any death for a medicine cat hurt him or her as much as the cats that cared for the deceased.

Silverwing cleared her throat. "You need to rest. I can give you a poppy seed."

He shook his head. "No need. Come get me if she starts getting worse." With an affectionate lick to her shoulder, Blackblaze left the den and padded to the warriors' den. A gray tom nodded to him and gestured to a nest near the back. Taking that as his place to sleep, he padded to the back of the den and curled up with his tail over his nose. Praying to StarClan Bloodclaw will recover from her illness, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

A paw prodding him in the side woke him up and he opened his eyes to gaze up at a red tom with green eyes. Blackblaze got to his paws and flicked his ears. Glancing around, he started to recognize StarClan's hunting grounds from his trips to the Moonpool, but not the cat that stood before him.

"I'm Flamefur," the red tom said seemingly reading his thoughts. "I was a ThunderClan medicine cat."

That explains why I don't recognize him, he thought. "Why have you brought me here?"

Flamefur flicked his tail to follow him and the two toms started off in the direction of the lake. Blackblaze didn't see any other cats but he could feel them watching him.

The red tom stopped at the lakeshore and turned to him. "I want to say how sorry I am for your coming loss, but it's time for Bloodclaw to join us. You changed her from a rogue to a warrior by your words and love."

He fidgeted on his paws. "Why is it her time? She just recently kitted our kit. She's never been a warrior yet, only a queen. I want her to experience the life of a warrior."

"And she has!" Flamefur broke in. "By bringing her into Clan life, showing she can trust others, you've made her a warrior in her own way. But she's going to join StarClan soon. It's her fate."

Tearing the grass with his claws, Blackblaze shook his head. "No, it can't be."

The two toms stood in silence and the StarClan warrior turned his gaze to the lake. Blackblaze sighed and curled up on the grass. "It's her fate to die so soon?"

"Yes." Flamefur didn't break his gaze away from the lake.

Another sigh. "I'm just a medicine cat turned warrior. I know her illness can't be cured. Even despite my denial I know she'll die." The red tom didn't say anything. "Great StarClan, Bloodclaw is going to die," he wailed softly.

"But she'll walk these skies for moons to come."

Getting to his paws, Blackblaze nodded and stared across the lake as well. Flamefur pressed up against him and as the first light of dawn started to appear he blinked to find himself awake in the warriors' den. Other warriors were beginning to stir, but all froze as Silverwing appeared at the entrance. Her blue eyes reflected sadness.

"Blackblaze, I think you might want to come to the medicine den," she whispered.