All Alone
'I'm alone….. I am alone….. all alone…..' Was all Icethorn could think as he made his way through the forest. 'I failed the Clan….. I failed my brother….. I, I failed her.' The cold couldn't pierce his pelt as his white and grey pelt blended perfectly in with his leaf-bare snowy ash-covered surroundings. Any cat could tell that Icethorn was going through a hard time, with his drooping tail scoring long furrows in the soil. That would be, if any cat was around to see him, 'I failed them…..' The loss of them didn't bother him, they hadn't liked him, with his prickly ways, but Icethorn felt his brother's absence like a wound, and her absence like a death blow. 'I wish I could forget all this…..' Icethorn thought, and then his paws brushed the edge of the gorge. Icethorn felt the sudden urge to jump, and for a strange reason, he was willing to follow it into the darkness. As he jumped, one thought went through his head, 'I failed her…..'
*Earlier that day
"EVERYONE OUT, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" yowled the ThunderClan leader as the fire blazed strongly behind him, burning their camp to cinders. The red of the fire painted the cats eyes red and almost made their fear tangible. Icethorn dived out of the camp, and ran to collect moss for the cats who had inhaled smoke. "Icethorn, we are gathering in the Abandoned Cave, the whole Clan." Whitefang yowled. "I know, I'm not a mouse-brain!" Icethorn snapped, which got him a hiss from his Clanmate. As Whitefang peeled off to the cave Icethorn found the stream, and started tearing moss from the rocks and soaking it in moss. When the mossball was weighted down with water, Icethorn took off towards the cave. Dodging a flaming branch, he pushed harder to get to his Clanmates. The fire was burning hotter, and the smoke was clogging his lungs. Tearing into the cave, Icethorn dropped the mossball near the medicine cat and took off to get more, "Icethorn, wait!" His love cried. "I have to get more for the Clan!" He yowled back before disappearing into the burning forest again.
Icethorn barely made it out of the cave before a massive crack was heard, and Icethorn spun around to face the cave. A cry of horror split the air as a tree collapsed in front of the cave entrance, trapping the ThunderClan cats inside, and Icethorn was the only cat not in the cave. 'No!' He thought, as he watched his Clanmates trapped. "BADGERS!" Somecat cried. Cats screamed and yowled as the cave they were trapped in filled with fighting as warriors engaged the badgers. Icethorn hissed angrily as he watched helplessly as his Clan was slaughtered in that cave, that dark, horrible cave. He tried to get past the tree, and was rewarded with a burnt shoulder and singed fur. "No, no, no, no, nooooooooo!" He cried as the badgers started winning, tearing through the cats with their strong claws and sharp teeth. Icethorn could see five or six of the beasts, felt every cat die. 'The warriors, my leader, my deputy, the queens, the elders, the apprentices, my friends, my family, my brother….. my love.'
*Current time
Icethorn felt the water burn his shoulder, and cool his heart. Then he was being thrashed around in the water, the black swirling water. Lungs gasping for breath, Icethorn broke the water, gazing up at the sheer white cliffs before being dragged under the water again. The freezing water blinded him and he felt the darkness closing in on him. When Icethorn broke the surface again, he saw the warrior spirits of his dead Clanmates, lining the cliff. He searched their faces, seeing his family, friends, brother, and her, his love. As he watched she turned her back on him, and left the cliff edge as the others watched him. At that moment, Icethorn lost the will to live, and wanted the darkness to take him. Then he saw her, waiting for him on a little outcropping, and his heart rose ever so slightly, "I'll miss you Icethorn, take care of our kits," Her voice echoed in his head. Icethorn looked down and saw two small scraps of dur between her paws, mewling pitifully. Icethorn looked at his love again, gazed into her gleaming blue eyes and said, "I will Mintfur, I will," He promised. 'I will!'