So…Crowstar, Hawkstar, AND Shadestar are dead. Yeesh, I just realized that I killed off THREE leaders in one chapter O.O The idea for Crowstar to kill Shadestar just randomly popped into my head cause I seriously wanted him to die for some reason and I think we all knew Hawkstar was going to die sooner or later. However, I was then stumped at how to kill off Crowstar because it just didn't seem rational for a tiny kitty like Echowing to be able to murder a huge tom like him. So I was just staring at the screen and I thought 'Maybe StarClan can kill him.' And voila! It happened. So, onto the comments!
Bluefang62: yeah, even I cried while writing it and I'm the author! Lol
Silent Steps in Silver Snow: O.O I can't tell you anything about kits so you'll just have to read on! Heehee…Oh and by the way, there are security cameras all over my room so you cannot kill me without being caught! (: ….I probably shouldn't have told you that now that I think of it….
CheyRaye: Yeah, like I said, I didn't even realize I had killed off three leaders lol. And hmm….you will have to continue reading to find out about any kits. :\
Spottedfire7: D'awwww, thank you!
Rainy1212: Here you go to ease your pain. *gently hands you Hawkstar plushie*
Now, read on my lovely readers!
A warm breeze, quite unlike the frozen biting one she was used to, ruffled Echowing's creamy fur and she slowly opened her green eyes. The first thing that came to her mind was, since when did it become new-leaf? She lifted her heavy head and looked around in confusion at her surroundings.
She was in a gorge that was similar to the one in WindClan but this one was deeper and had towering walls that hurt her neck to look up at. The sharp, jagged points of them seemed as if they were the only thing holding up the orange and pink sky above. She figured it was sunset because of the vibrant colors. The ground she was lying on was sandy with pits of broken pebbles slightly burrowed in it.
Echowing rose warily to her paws, wondering what in StarClan was going on. She spotted a small pond a little ways away and made her way towards it, her throat suddenly parched. She stepped up to it but just as she was about to take a drink, she caught sight of her reflection and gasped.
Her left ear was almost completely shredded and dried blood caked the area around her eyes. The three old scars on the right side of her face added to the gruesome effect and she had to hold back a sudden whimper. I'm hideous!
Then she shook her head furiously. She had never cared about her looks before and she scolded herself for being so vain. But still, she flinched and had to look away from the pond. Her stomach felt heavy though and she sat down to examine it.
A long skinny wound stretched the whole length of it and it looked very deep; deep enough that she knew she had lost a lot of blood from it, if the rusty substance around it was any indication. But the thing was…she didn't feel any pain.
"Echowing," a gentle voice meowed, one that she vaguely recalled but couldn't put a name to.
She slowly turned around lifted her gaze from the ground. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest when she swallowed hard. "Mother…"
The almost identical creamy she-cat in front of her let out a soft purr. "Hello my sweet daughter," Brightfeather mewed softly.
Echowing then realized that she was in StarClan and her eyes widened in fear. "Am I…am I dead?"
Brightfeather's eyes grew shadowed for a moment before they cleared. It was so quick that Echowing thought she had imagined it. "No, you are not dead…technically."
Echowing relaxed in relief. "Oh good. For a moment I thought-wait, what did you mean 'technically'? How can someone not technically be dead or alive?" she demanded, her earlier fear coming back.
Brightfeather shook her head. "Everything will be explained soon enough Echowing, just be patient. Right now we have to find the others and then you will know everything."
The small warrior opened her mouth to retort but then quickly snapped it shut and followed her mother as the StarClan she-cat began walking. Echowing caught up and glanced up. "How are we going to get out of here? This path just keeps twisting and seems never ending. We can't exactly climb out."
Brightfeather sighed. "You have your father's impatience."
"Hawkstar?" she asked, slightly confused. "No, he's the most patient cat I know; well, besides Featherpool of course. In fact, he's probably waiting for me to wake up right now so can we make this quick?"
"Echowing…"
"What? You said I'm technically not dead, right? So that means I can wake up-"
"Please," Brightfeather interrupted. "I promised everything would be explained to you so please stop asking questions until we meet with the others, okay?"
Echowing nodded, not wanting to argue with Brightfeather. Not only was she her mother, but she was also a StarClan cat, and if there was anything that Echowing had learned from Forestfur it was when to respect your elders. So they continued on the twisting path in silence.
After what felt like only a short while, they were suddenly in a large meadow with tiny flowers blooming everywhere. Gone was the gorge and when Echowing glanced up, there were not jagged points holding up the sky. She looked around but the clearing was empty.
"So…where's everyone else?" she questioned.
Almost as if on cue, the air in front of her shimmered and before she knew it Featherpool and Thornstrike appeared in front of her. Echowing's eyes widened but before she could speak, Featherpool murmured, "Let us speak first young one and then you can ask as many questions as you want."
She nodded tersely and the Medicine Cat continued.
"I know you are wondering why you're here and I will try to explain it as clearly as possible," the gray she-cat began. "But first I have to know: do you remember how you got those wounds?"
Echowing flinched at the reminder of her ugly scars. She glanced down at her belly and narrowed her eyes while racking her brain for memories. Finally, she shook her head, frustrated. "No, I don't. Why who gave them to me?"
Featherpool's green gaze softened. "ThunderClan went to attack ShadowClan because they were stealing you prey but then you realized that there were RiverClan cats there as well. You met Hailsplash-well, Hailstar now because of what happened-and she told you that Crowstar was attacking your camp."
Her mind whirled and she felt a vague stirring in the back of her thoughts.
"ThunderClan retreated right away and returned to camp." Then Featherpool paused and bowed her head, unable to go on. Thornstrike stepped forward and took over.
"Shadestar killed your elder Goldenmist and when she tried to fight him, he almost killed you. That is where you got that very deep wound," he meowed, pointing with his tail to her stomach. "But then Crowstar killed him because Shadestar had made a fatal announcement that when it was all over, the territory would be all his." His yellow eyes grew dark. "I think incidentally saving you is the most honorable thing my brother had done in all his seasons."
"Until he tried to kill her," Brightfeather muttered in disgust.
Suddenly, it all came crashing back down on her as one huge black wave. Thornstrike continued talking but Echowing wasn't listening anymore. Her legs buckled as several scenes from the battle came rushing at her and her breathing hitched.
There was the confusion at the ShadowClan camp, then a flash of the dead body of Goldenmist with Mouseclaw's agonized scream echoing in her ears, and then there was the brutal fight between Crowstar and Shadestar.
And finally-
"No," she wailed as visions of Hawkstar's lifeless eyes danced in her head. She staggered back from the three StarClan cats and glanced around wildly. "No! This can't be right, I fought Crowstar and then you all took his remaining lives away. He couldn't have killed Hawkstar, he just could've!"
"Echowing…" Featherpool tried to soothe her but she rounded on the gray she-cat.
"N-no, this isn't right. Hawkstar is waiting for m-me to wake up right now because he's alive! He h-has to b-be!" she sobbed, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. Her father wasn't dead, he wasn't.
Brightfeather padded up to her and pressed against her in reassurance. "Echowing, he's gone, do you hear me? No listen to me," she added when Echowing tried to pull away. "Hawkstar died just as he had always wished: his last act as a leader was protecting you, his daughter. He had always done everything to keep you and Pinepaw safe-even more so after your brother died."
Echowing looked from Thornstrike and Featherpool to her mother, her green eyes anguished. "Is…" she swallowed hard. "Is he here?"
Brightfeather shook her head. "No," she mewed softly. "But you will see him again, do not worry little one."
Her throat closed up as she at last accepted that Hawkstar was in StarClan and not waiting for her down below. She hung her head, trembling, as she allowed herself a moment of silent grieving. Then she raised her head and closed her eyes before whispering, "How many others are gone, Brightfeather?"
"We cannot tell you, you will find out for yourself one way or another," her mother answered. This struck Echowing as odd but Brightfeather continued before she could really dwell on it. "The reason why you are here Echowing is because when Shadestar gave you that deep stomach wound, you lost a lot of blood which should have killed you."
Echowing stared at her. Did I hear her correctly? "So…I'm supposed to be…dead?"
"Technically," Featherpool interjected, drawing the small warrior's attention to her. "At this moment you are neither alive nor dead. You're body in ThunderClan is breathing and is stable but your spirit is here in StarClan. Littlewhisker has done all he can with my guidance and help, but you are still here with us."
"No StarClan cat has ever encountered such a rare situation before," Thornstrike rumbled. "This means that there are only two options left because there is nothing else we can do."
Echowing was stunned. She was alive and yet she was dead…? Her head hurt just trying to think about it so instead she just asked, "What are my two options?"
Brightfeather exchanged a glance with the other two StarClan cats. "Since we do not have any idea how to handle this, we have decided that you have a choice: You can either choose to be returned to your living body, or you can choose to stay here in StarClan while your body in ThunderClan stops breathing and dies."
"But you must know Echowing," Featherpool meowed urgently, "that if you return to your living body, there will be limitations that you didn't have before."
"Like what?" she demanded.
"For one thing, because of how deep your stomach wound is, you will never be able to have kits."
Never be able to have kits. The prospect of kits had never been a priority for Echowing and so this didn't really bring her despair. The thing that did tug at her heart was Rowanstrike and the idea of him never having a family with her. She knew he would be crushed. He'll never forgive me…
She took a deep breath and looked steadily at Featherpool. "Go on."
"The wounds you bear right now on your ear and you stomach will turn in to scars and those will never go away," the gray she-cat replied gently. Echowing realized that her friend somehow had guessed her petty fears of being ugly.
"And what if I chose not to be sent back?" she questioned.
"If you do not wish to be sent back to your living body," Brightfeather murmured, "then your spirit will stay up here in StarClan as if you were truly already dead. However, you're body down below will only be a breathing shell. It will never open its eyes, or speak, or hunt, or do anything except continue breathing. I know your Clanmates will keep feeding you and giving you water to drink in hopes of waking up, but your body will be hollow. It will stay in ThunderClan until it stops breathing and you heart stops beating."
Echowing closed her eyes. From what Featherpool had told her, choosing to be sent back seemed like the right choice. However, she didn't know if she was strong enough to face all the death of her Clanmates or how broken Rowanstrike would be once she told him about not being able to have kits. A sudden fear struck her. What if he blamed her for not being able to give him a family and pushed her way? She didn't know if her hart could take it anymore. He was one of the few cats left that she deeply cared about.
But, if she were to stay in StarClan, not just Rowanstrike but her friends would be hurt when she never woke up. It seemed the easiest way out though and she could be with her family here in StarClan; she could hunt with Pinepaw, sleep next to Hawkstar and Featherpool, and finally get to know Brightfeather.
Torn with indecision, Echowing gazed helplessly at Thornstrike, the one cat she knew would be unbiased. The dark brown and white tom's yellow eyes held hers steadily and she knew what he was silently telling her.
Follow your heart.
Echowing looked around the beautiful meadow one last time and took a deep breath, inhaling the warm air. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer to anyone who was listening. Give me the strength to do this, please.
Then, and only then, did she turn around and faced the three StarClan cats who were waiting for her answer.
"Okay," she meowed with only a slight tremor in her voice. "I've decided on my choice."
0-0-0
"Why isn't she waking up?"
"I don't know; I've never seen anything like it."
"Isn't there anything you can do Littlewhisker?"
"I'm sorry but I've done all I can. She's in the paws of StarClan now."
"That's not good enough!"
"Wait." There was a soft voice now. "Look at her breathing, it's getting steadier."
"Is she waking up?"
"Echowing please…"
"Oh StarClan, her eyes are fluttering!"
Echowing slowly opened her eyes and blinked once, then twice. Her blurry vision cleared and she was looking up into the scared and concerned faces of Rowanstrike, Littlewhisker, and Tinyfeather. She struggled to remember where she was and then the dream with StarClan came back to her and she began to shut her eyes. She didn't want to see her friends' anxious worry, because it was just a reminder of what had just happened and all that ThunderClan had suffered.
"No, Echowing," Rowanstrike pleaded. "Don't go back to sleep!"
"Back away, give me room." Little whisker pushed through the two warriors and leaned down so that he was looking her straight in the eye. The relief in them made her recall just why she had come back.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
The small creamy she-cat tried to open her mouth and answer but found that her throat was dry and parched. Littlewhisker seemed to know exactly what was wrong and turned to Rowanstrike. "Bring her some moss with water," he instructed.
Rowanstrike cast her a frightened glance before racing out of the den and returned a few heartbeats later with some moss that was dripping wet. He placed it gently in front of her and silently watched her as she lapped it up thirstily. After a long moment, she slumped back down into her nest.
"Oh no you don't, you're not going back to sleep again!" Tinyfeather protested, giving her a quick lick on the ear. "You had us terrified when you didn't wake up for two days."
Echowing stiffened. Two days?
Littlewhisker glanced at the she-cat in disapproval. "Echowing needs all the rest she can get, Tinyfeather. Her body is weak from all the blood she lost and she needs to replenish it." He looked at her with shining eyes. "It's a miracle you're alive, Echowing."
"We thought…" Tinyfeather swallowed. "We thought you were gone."
Echowing let out a weak purr. "I'm not leaving for a while," she rasped.
Her friend sniffed, eye misting. "You better not. Now I'm sorry I have to leave so quickly but Ivypetal just had her kits and I have to bring her some fresh-kill."
"How many?" she croaked.
Littlewhisker turned away to his stock of herbs and answered, "She had four but one was stillborn. ThunderClan now has two little she-cats and one tom."
Echowing's heart went out to Ivypetal, knowing that the mother would be grieving for her dead kit. "What are the names?"
Tinyfeather's voice was overly cheerful. "Oh Echowing, they're the cutest little balls of fluff I've ever seen! The tom is called Cinderkit and the two she-cats are Mosskit and Willowkit. I'm sure you'll be able to see them soon enough!"
If you get better. The rest of the sentence hung between them in a tensed silence but Echowing forced herself to sound excited. "Sounds good," she meowed. "I can't wait to meet them."
Tinyfeather nodded and flicked her tail in farewell as she padded out of the den. Littlewhisker came up and dropped two poppy seeds in front of her. "I treated your wounds as best I could and you should make a full recovery as long as you don't do anything to reopen them. For the next few sunrises, you'll sleep in here so that I can keep an eye on you. No strenuous hunting or anything like that," he commanded, narrowing his eyes. "You need to let that belly wound of your heal fully before you go patrolling. You need to eat these poppy seeds before you go to sleep again, okay?"
Echowing nodded. She had expected nothing different.
The Medicine Cat's green eyes softened. "I'm glad you're alive, Echowing. StarClan must truly be watching over you." With a dip of his narrow head, he turned and walked out of the den leaving the two cats alone.
Echowing turned her gaze over to where Rowanstrike was sitting, still silent. His blue eyes were dark and serious and she felt a trickle of nervousness. "Hey," she said softly.
The ginger tom just continued to look at her and she felt a flash of irritation. "Say something, would you?" she snapped, trying to cover up her confusion. Should he be happy she was alive?
After a long moment, he finally spoke and his voice was thin. "I thought you were dead, Echowing."
She dropped her gaze from his and eyed her belly wound. "But I'm not," she whispered. She looked up at him again, green eyes pleading with him. "I'm alive, Rowanstrike and that's all that matters, right?"
He shook his head in frustration. "You don't understand. I thought you were dead."
"But I'm not!" she meowed sharply. "You know, I would have thought you'd be more thrilled to see me instead of repeating that you thought I was dead-which I am obviously not."
"You don't think I'm happy Echowing?" he growled leaping to his paws. "When I found you were so still and there was so much blood a-and I feared the worst. When I saw you breathing I prayed to StarClan that you would be okay but you just kept sleeping and didn't wake up. I saw Shadestar and Hawkstar and even Crowstar all lying around you and I thought for sure that I had lost you! Do you know how that feels? To lose the one thing that matters most to you?"
Echowing blinked, stunned, but he wasn't done yet.
"There was so much death, Echowing," he cried, his voice cracking. "I couldn't lose you too. I slept by you for two whole days, never leaving your side, and I prayed and prayed and prayed that you would wake up. And now you're alive and looking at me with those beautiful green eyes and it breaks my heart because I can't believe that you're actually here and-"
"Stop," she begged, hating to see how much pain she had cause him.
Rowanstrike padded towards her and flopped down right in front of her so that their muzzles were less than a whisker length apart. His blue eyes were haunted and sorrowful but something burned within their depths that made Echowing's throat constrict.
Love.
He leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching and he closed his eyes. "I thought you were dead," he choked out.
"Look at me," she stated and waited for him to open his eyes and look up at her. "I will never leave you, do you hear me?" she meowed harshly with all the conviction she had. "I promise that I will never, ever leave you Rowanstrike. I love you, don't you know that?"
"I love you too, Echowing. More than you'll ever know."
She locked gazes with him and blinked slowly up the cat that was not only her closest and best friend but also the one cat she loved more than anything. "My heart will always be yours," she murmured, eyes warm and glowing.
Rowanstrike started to purr. "You've had mine since we were kits, Echowing. It's yours forever and always."
And even though she knew that all the scars of Crowstar's attack on ThunderClan would never really fade away, Echowing was just grateful that she would be there to help heal the wounds.
*stares at Echowing twitching on a lab table* It's ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! MWUAHAHA!
-coughs-
Ahem…moving forward. Yay, she's alive! ^0^ So, I decided that after this chapter there are only going to be maybe two and then the Epilogue! Wooh-hoooo! Review please! And so sorry to all my fans who really wanted Echowing o have kits. :\ I personally never could really imagine her with any but I am sorry. I hope Ivypetal's and then Tinyfeather's will make up for it!