Hi again! I'm back with the second chapter, here is where the legend begins. Thanks for reading, hope you like~~~
Chapter Two: Forbidden Birth
The sky was a deep blue. Far off, a coming stormed warned as it slowly turned into a deep gray, with angry, black bits of sky threatening the strong, clear blue. Little wisps of clouds dotted its endless depths here and there, and finally, the sky met the horizon as it blended into lush, green plants, and tall, exotic trees, where lions snarled and monkeys hooted, anteaters snuffled the ground, bats slept in the shadows of their caves, and sloths slowly made their way from tree to tree.
Under a canopy of wild green leaves and curling, beautiful trees, rocks and smooth ground and tall, waving grass revealed flickers of a large, dark-brown lion with an unkept, shaggy mane and many black scars lining his flanks; and the quick, lithe shape of a tigress.
"Littlecloud... Littlecloud, talk to me. Breath, please-" the lion was whispering in her ear. His eyes were dark pools of misery and fear. The tigress under him shifted and twisted, her breath coming in brittle gasps.
"Bl- Blackscar-" she shivered, eyes wide as she wailed, her body convulsing.
Blackscar trembled, taking a step away. He stared in horror at his beloved as she cried in pain. Her pregnant sides were swollen, but she did not look healthy. She looked tired and in pain. Scarlet blood lapped at Blackscar's paws, and he stared at it, horror crossing his face.
The pregnancy was going all wrong...
"Littlecloud, hold on, please, I'm here," he gasped, swallowing and taking a step towards the tigress, beautiful even in pain.
"No!" she cried, twitching, groping. Something slippery appeared; she groaned, a deep, agony-filled cry. Blackscar stared, speechless, face blank.
"That's- that's a cub," he said stupidly, paws tingling, face numb as he slowly took a step forward to touch the shiny, bloody body of his first child.
Slowly, he dropped his shaggy head, and began licking the tiny cub in quick, uncertain strokes. But the body was cold; he stopped suddenly, gazing into the little cub's face. Her eyes were closed. They'd never opened.
"Oh, Littlecloud-" he breathed. No. No...
Littlecloud let out a cry, and another cub was there. Blackscar shivered, nudging it closer to its mother's swollen belly. It was not the only one: Littlecloud was silent, breathing labored, and suddenly, another cub slipped out.
Instinctively, Blackscar reached over and tugged it closer to his dead sisters, by his mother's stomach.
Littlecloud was whispering, shivering. Blood was everywhere. Blackscar felt sick as he fell close to his mate's face. "Littlecloud... Oh, Littlecloud," he whimpered, a sob tearing at his chest.
She gasped, swallowing hard, and licked her lips, amber eyes flicking wildly. She strained to sit up, lift her head, see her children.
"No..." Blackscar said softly.
Littlecloud got a glimpse of the still bodies, and fell back, wailing, clutching at her muzzle. "Blackscar... they're... they-"
"My love, please. Do not... do not cry. They are safe in StarClan..." Blackscar whispered, grief flooding over him.
Littlecloud cried, face empty. "Who wants half-Clan cubs? Oh, Blackscar, what have we done?" she whispered, voice strained, body going cold.
Blackscar anxiously licked her face, heart racing, eyes swirling. "Hush, save your energy, Littlecloud."
"It's no use. I'm sick. I.... I'm sick..." Littlecloud whispered.
Suddenly, there was a soft crying, and Blackscar froze, not daring to hope as he slowly looked across his mate's swollen, striped stomach.
Between his dead sister, the little boy cub was crying, shivering.
"Alive?" Littlecloud whispered, barely able to speak.
Blackscar, trembling, took a sweeping step over, and gently took his son in his jaws, placing him next to his mother's cold muzzle. "Alive," Blackscar whispered, small joy making his heart break in half.
The happiness that crossed Littlecloud's face made Blackscar's heart soar, and he licked his mate's face, then his son's.
"Bl- Blackscar... he is so bright... so handsome. He is my light," Littlecloud murmured, shivering. The jungle was oddly silent, as if everyone was quiet. Trying to listen, trying not to cry.
"I know, my love. I know," Blackscar murmured softly into her ear.
"Black- Black..." she whimpered, trying to say his name.
Her eyes glazed over, and her body twitched in one long, ugly movement.
She was gone.
Far off, the coming storm had finally arrived. A low rumble of thunder gently shook the sky.
* * *
The sky was a deep, watery shade of gray. Shafts of dark light shivered through the trees and hit the rain-soaked ground. Silver droplets pattered the world fiercely, like small claws, and streaking the lush, green jungle into a gloomy, dark world.
It was like the whole world was weeping for what had been lost.
Suddenly, under the shadowy, curling trees, the dark bushes shivered, until it parted to reveal a skinny, ill-kept lion pushing his way through the cold and mud, head lowered, black mane matted and twisted as the rain groped at it. His skinny muscles shivered under his rain-soaked pelt, and there was something very small, with golden-brown fur and startlingly dark stripes crossing his body that somehow looked out of place along his pathetic form, and one would have no realized it was an animal until it began uttering a low, painful wail.
Blackscar, his only surviving son held weakly in his jaws, had to resist the waves of grief and loss crashing over him. He wanted to fall, to curl up in the wet, cold, bitter world, and never wake up. He wanted to find the starry fields of StarClan and run away from all of this.
And perhaps the only thing that did keep him from collapsing, from giving in to the broken, pathetic pile in his chest that had once been a heart, was the breathing, crying cross-Clan cub in his jaws. His son.
Despite the overwhelming grief gnawing at Blackscar's insides, he felt a tiny flicker of pride attempt to rise up in the ugly flood. He was a father. And he couldn't selfishly abandon his only child; he couldn't leave this cub to the mercy of his Clan, leave him utterly alone in this world.
The sudden thoughts of his Clan made Blackscar's blood turn cold.
LightningClan. Snowstar. What would they think of him? Blackscar shivered, and he knew it wasn't the cold rain beating upon his spiny back. A warrior who chooses a cat from another Clan as his mate; that just didn't happen. It broke the Code.
Sudden fears swam in Blackscar's grief-wrought mind. Falling in love with another Clan warrior was one thing, but bringing home a cub, the product of his affair? It was unheard of. He would surely be banished, killed. And as for the cub?
Blackscar paused, among the shadowy jungle, the rain-soaked world, to gently place his son at his paws, to let the motherless cub scrabble at his first steps. The pathetic scrap of fur wailed and shivered, pressing against
Blackscar's large paws to gather any bits of warmth the cold rain hadn't driven out.
Murdering a cub- cross-Clan or not- was against the Code. But then again, this cub wasn't supposed to exist; his very birth was also against the Code. What Clan would take in a cub like this one? No leader wanted the impure blood in his Clan.
"It's not fair," he whispered to his son, scrabbling among the flattened, broken strings of grass at his father's paws. Love was a beautiful thing; why couldn't it be cross-Clan? Why would they all blame his son for something his parents did? Blackscar knew, gazing at his tiny son at that moment, that he would do anything to earn his cub a place in the Clan. But the knowledge that his brother, Snowstar, leader of LightningClan, would never accept the cub, deeply troubled him.
Blackscar sighed, looking up as rain droplets dripped into his face, making his cold, wet muzzle even wetter. Under the sweet, yet cold smell of rain was the familiar smell of LightningClan; their borders were marked near here. He was almost out of WaterClan territory.
Feeling a deep unease rattle his chest, and growing anxiety biting his heart, Blackscar dipped his head to gently take his cub in his jowls, and begin leaping through the mud and beating rain to quickly get into his territory.
As he trudged his way towards the camp, a new wave of grief crashed over him as the bitter realization came all over again: that he would no longer be wrapped in Littlecloud's gentle, beautiful scent, no longer see her gleaming pelt of fire and stripes of night, press against her soft face, feel her whiskers tickle his muzzle. She was truly gone forever, hopefully in the safe paws of StarClan. She would be judged by them now.
Feeling numb by piercing sorrow and regret, he finally recognized the lush brambles and tall grasses that surrounded the LightningClan camp. Sighing, he hesitated for a long heart-beat, dark brown eyes flicking down to the mewling cub in his jaws. This was his decision. He didn't have to return; to face the shock and anger of his betrayed Clan, to see his brother's grief-stricken face, to know they would never trust him again. He could flee; find a remote, safe hollow to raise his son all by himself.
He swallowed hard.
That wasn't a choice, he knew. The bonds of his Clan still thrived within him; he would bitterly miss the loyalty, the joy, the excitement of being a Clan warrior. If he ran away and raised his son by himself, he would be alone forever. The guilt of Littlecloud's death would haunt him even easier when silence was his only companion; and besides, could he really steal any chance of his son growing up as a true lion? The little scrap of fur may be a cross-Clan lion cub, and he might never truly gain the respect and honor any other warrior takes for granted; but he would miss out so much.
Blackscar sadly realized he could never take away his son's future. Surely it was his destiny to grow up as a proud LightningClan warrior? StarClan watched over every Clan warrior; even if his parents came from different Clans, he deserved chance at the life any wild cat should have.
And so, taking a deep breath, Blackscar slowly pressed his way through the outer walls of his camp, and padded slowly through the rain into the heart of LightningClan.
Getting more interesting? And also... does what just happened remind you of another sad love story...? Yes, you'll see simularities between out beloved series and my new story. Thanks for reading, tell me if ya enjoyed 3