Post by Ki on May 1, 2010 9:57:09 GMT -6
Story by Spike. I think she did awesome.
The moon was high in SkyClan. The stars glimmered but to most they were just dead lights. No warriors would watch them tonight. No StarClan could guide a Clan that had lost its will. Or at least most had lost their will; some believed.
As the Clan yowled its painful mourning, one she-cat wept while muttering to herself about the greatness of StarClan for gifting her brother a path to their lighted forest. Ravenflight lay on the ground with so much about him no longer being a cat. Addertooth, the deputy of SkyClan, had tried very hard to make the dead comrade seem peaceful but it was near impossible to do.
The deceased’s pelt was mangy with mud and rain. He smelled of the fierce stench that Twoleg monsters gave off. His jaw hung loosely as the impact had hit him square in the head and chest. One ear was torn and the scab had set in already but that was all it would do. His tail was twisted at a terrible angle and his limbs were cut and marred by damage the monster had done. The least the deputy had done was close his eyes so death would not stare into the eyes of the lasting warriors.
Those gathered around had known him best. Most of the Clan hung to the sides. He had been young and strong. It was a great loss. Cats gathered in their own groups to nod with sorrow. Birchclaw and Frostwing sat side by side with their eyes downcast. They did not seem to be sad but they did not show disrespect openly either. Cindertail turned her two kits, Stormkit and Pebblekit, into the nursery where the mews of the abandoned Smudgekit erupted in dire search for his mother.
Pinewhisker, the newest warrior, seemed to be stepping away in utter shock because Ravenflight had been young to die. Grasswhisker, the oldest warrior, was talking quietly to the very elderly leader, Erminestar. The leader gazed down on the warrior with pure tears moistening his fur. He might’ve been one of the three cats actually crying for Ravenflight.
Finchwing was there. The pretty tabby was extremely plump with kits and yet her mate’s death was the only thing permitting her to be out in this extremely cold air. Even if it was only leaf-fall, the leaves were coated in frost and the air was close to snow-worthy. Many cats with short coats shivered at the last traces of wind that brushed over them. Two cats were gathered in center camp with the body and the wind that blew across seemed to move around them protectively.
The other she-cat was not like her brother, dead now with blood caked into his midnight pelt. She had white across her as if she had wandered deep into the snow and never could wash off the flecks. She was the mother of the squealing Smudgekit and she was the sister of Ravenflight. The way her eyes watered and spilled great rivers of tears was heart breaking to see. Addertooth wandered over and nudged her in quiet concern. But she turned and lashed out at the tom with unsheathed claws. It just barely missed his nose and the deputy lurched back before he could be harmed again.
There was little way to cure a broken soul, let alone a broken heart. Spottedsky yowled the loudest among them as she pleaded to her brother’s dead body to reawaken and provide them with his voice and his love. But that was all she could do was beg.
“Spottedsky, allow our elders to bury him,” Erminestar wheezed. The limber tom lightly pushed both she-cats away and made a very strange haste to bury the dead.
“No, no!” Finchwing bawled and tried to lunge at the elders but Addertooth jumped in to hold her back. The Clan was filled with her cries and yet it did not stop the elders from doing what had to be done.
“Spottedsky,” a voice whispered. The she-cat turned and blinked at the cat she had called her mate. His light tabby pelt was not like her brother’s had been. Groomed, well-cleaned, and neat; it was heartbreaking and angering. Spottedsky couldn’t explain it but rage built up in her chest.
“What do you want?” she spat at him. “Come to help? Well, you can’t! What’s done is done!”
“Woh,” Mothpelt hissed in return. “Why am I the one being growled at? Spottedsky, I just came to tell you that Smudgekit needs to be fed.”
“Is that all you care about?” she retorted. By this point, warriors were returning to their dens and the camp clearing was empty. Both Addertooth and Erminestar shared a gaze of knowledge. There was nothing that could be done between the fighting pair.
“Smudgekit? He’s my son! Why would I not care about him?” the tabby tom answered.
“I just lost my brother and you come to tell me our son needs fed?” she replied hotly. “What is wrong with you, Mothpelt? You are so inconsiderate of what I am feeling! What are you doing to do now, talk about kits with Finchwing? She’ll be left alone to raise her kits and I bet you hardly take into consideration about what just happened.”
“Me? I’m not being the inconsiderate one,” Mothpelt grumbled. “You snapped at me when I am at no fault here, Spottedsky. Is it wrong that I merely wish to move on? Ravenflight is dead. It’s all we can accept.”
“He’ll walk among Silver Pelt at least,” she agreed. But that did not stop her eyes from burning with something- tears or resentment, she could not tell. “Leave me alone, Mothpelt. I don’t wish to see you. I will mourn tonight. I don’t wish to move on so soon. He was my brother!”
“He was a warrior,” her mate snarled. “He was not just a brother, Spottedsky! Look through my eyes! SkyClan lost a warrior tonight. It is not unusual. We’ve seen our fair share of deaths.”
“Why, you mouse-brained fool!” she roared. “You talk to me about death when I stand here with my brother’s death on my shoulders?”
“I don’t know what has happened to you, Spottedsky, but I don’t like it,” Mothpelt growled before turning tail and walking to the warriors den. Spottedsky stood there with bewilderment playing across her face. Had he just turned away from her? Never had he done such a thing! She cringed and gazed towards the nursery. Cindertail, the oldest queen there, was giving her a tiny grin of hope. Grasswhisker’s mate knew how to cheer up anybody it seemed. Spottedsky gave a mere nod of answer and turned in for the night.
***
Smallkit and Crowkit were still too young to see her but she knew that they had taken an instant connection. Finchwing was in the middle of camp, dead alongside her stillborn kit. All that was left was Spottedsky and those two kits she had birthed that lived. The queen left behind to care for them had tried hard to hide her sorrow. She was never a fan of Finchwing but after Ravenflight had died, she had learned to care about the other.
The Clan mourned alone. She did not join them and for that reason they thought she was forever scarred. Nobody believed that more than Mothpelt.
The tabby tom hesitated as he stood at the nursery entrance. He heard voices but none of them were what he wanted to hear. Mostly it was Smudgekit’s curious questioning on Smallkit and Crowkit; there was also Spottedsky’s whimper. He lifted his chin and breathed in sharply to build his courage. It felt weak as he walked in, however. Cindertail had left now that her two kits were apprentices. With Finchwing gone too, Spottedsky was the only one needing to fill this space.
Smudgekit was sitting on Spottedsky’s stomach and he was tilting his head more and more with each squeal the two newest members of the nursery gave.
“What are they doing?” the kit squeaked. “What’s that one doing? He’s not even opening his eyes!”
“Hush, Smudgekit,” Spottedsky ordered with a grunt. “They are young. They cannot open their eyes yet.”
“Listen to your mother, son,” Mothpelt added. Spottedsky’s head jerked up and she glared at her mate with the same anger that had been passed between them these past few days.
“Oh, it’s you,” she muttered. “What do you want, Mothpelt?” Smudgekit yelped as he fell of his mother’s side. The newborns began whimpering when the warmth was lost.
“I came to talk,” he stated.
“Talk or offend me?” she howled at him. Her voice exploded suddenly and with that the fight began. Mothpelt bristled wildly at the sudden accusation thrown his way.
“What is happening to you?” he cried. “Ever since Ravenflight died, you’ve gone mad. You keep thinking I’m here to poke fun at the deaths! You keep thinking I’ve committed some crime.”
“I have seen no proof against it,” she answered.
“I could give you the world and you wouldn’t believe me,” her mate raged.
“You said that when you asked me to be your mate,” Spottedsky gasped and backed away. Her eyes spilled those rivers of tears again and Mothpelt realized that he had said those very words.
”I could give you the world,” the tom promised the she-cat. “But give me a chance. I will love you forever.”
“Forever?” she asked.
“Forever.”
“I… I want you to take your words back,” she choked. “I don’t want to be your mate anymore.”
“What?” Mothpelt said, his turn to gasp. “But, Spottedsky, what have I done to make you say that?”
“I just don’t want to be your mate!” she shouted now. “Can you accept that or not?”
The tom paused and stared at her with something in him dying bit by bit. Spottedsky choked back her sobs and turned her eyes away. The silence was stinging their ears as if the early bare-leaf was truly gnawing at them. Mothpelt stepped forward to nuzzle her but instead she turned sharply and sat on the far side of the nursery. Her tail curled around her. The way her shoulders lowered and her ears flattened; there was nothing but depression whirling around her.
“Maybe… maybe you’re right,” Mothpelt said coldly. He sounded bitter and hurt but he was hiding it beneath a vacant face. “I don’t think we’re suited to stay together. Our time together was sweet, but it is time for us to part.” There was a moment of still air before he spoke again. “I gave you the world and you turned it down. I’m sorry to hear, love.”
Spottedsky turned her eyes away and the last tear fell onto her paw. Smudgekit turned and cuddled himself between Smallkit and Crowkit since he knew this was not the appropriate time to approach his mother.
Throughout that night, two sets of eyes cried. Whether it was sadness for the love lost in the nursery or just the plain pain of reality hitting them too hard, it was easy to see that life would never be the same. Not when a broken heart inflicted them both.
The moon was high in SkyClan. The stars glimmered but to most they were just dead lights. No warriors would watch them tonight. No StarClan could guide a Clan that had lost its will. Or at least most had lost their will; some believed.
As the Clan yowled its painful mourning, one she-cat wept while muttering to herself about the greatness of StarClan for gifting her brother a path to their lighted forest. Ravenflight lay on the ground with so much about him no longer being a cat. Addertooth, the deputy of SkyClan, had tried very hard to make the dead comrade seem peaceful but it was near impossible to do.
The deceased’s pelt was mangy with mud and rain. He smelled of the fierce stench that Twoleg monsters gave off. His jaw hung loosely as the impact had hit him square in the head and chest. One ear was torn and the scab had set in already but that was all it would do. His tail was twisted at a terrible angle and his limbs were cut and marred by damage the monster had done. The least the deputy had done was close his eyes so death would not stare into the eyes of the lasting warriors.
Those gathered around had known him best. Most of the Clan hung to the sides. He had been young and strong. It was a great loss. Cats gathered in their own groups to nod with sorrow. Birchclaw and Frostwing sat side by side with their eyes downcast. They did not seem to be sad but they did not show disrespect openly either. Cindertail turned her two kits, Stormkit and Pebblekit, into the nursery where the mews of the abandoned Smudgekit erupted in dire search for his mother.
Pinewhisker, the newest warrior, seemed to be stepping away in utter shock because Ravenflight had been young to die. Grasswhisker, the oldest warrior, was talking quietly to the very elderly leader, Erminestar. The leader gazed down on the warrior with pure tears moistening his fur. He might’ve been one of the three cats actually crying for Ravenflight.
Finchwing was there. The pretty tabby was extremely plump with kits and yet her mate’s death was the only thing permitting her to be out in this extremely cold air. Even if it was only leaf-fall, the leaves were coated in frost and the air was close to snow-worthy. Many cats with short coats shivered at the last traces of wind that brushed over them. Two cats were gathered in center camp with the body and the wind that blew across seemed to move around them protectively.
The other she-cat was not like her brother, dead now with blood caked into his midnight pelt. She had white across her as if she had wandered deep into the snow and never could wash off the flecks. She was the mother of the squealing Smudgekit and she was the sister of Ravenflight. The way her eyes watered and spilled great rivers of tears was heart breaking to see. Addertooth wandered over and nudged her in quiet concern. But she turned and lashed out at the tom with unsheathed claws. It just barely missed his nose and the deputy lurched back before he could be harmed again.
There was little way to cure a broken soul, let alone a broken heart. Spottedsky yowled the loudest among them as she pleaded to her brother’s dead body to reawaken and provide them with his voice and his love. But that was all she could do was beg.
“Spottedsky, allow our elders to bury him,” Erminestar wheezed. The limber tom lightly pushed both she-cats away and made a very strange haste to bury the dead.
“No, no!” Finchwing bawled and tried to lunge at the elders but Addertooth jumped in to hold her back. The Clan was filled with her cries and yet it did not stop the elders from doing what had to be done.
“Spottedsky,” a voice whispered. The she-cat turned and blinked at the cat she had called her mate. His light tabby pelt was not like her brother’s had been. Groomed, well-cleaned, and neat; it was heartbreaking and angering. Spottedsky couldn’t explain it but rage built up in her chest.
“What do you want?” she spat at him. “Come to help? Well, you can’t! What’s done is done!”
“Woh,” Mothpelt hissed in return. “Why am I the one being growled at? Spottedsky, I just came to tell you that Smudgekit needs to be fed.”
“Is that all you care about?” she retorted. By this point, warriors were returning to their dens and the camp clearing was empty. Both Addertooth and Erminestar shared a gaze of knowledge. There was nothing that could be done between the fighting pair.
“Smudgekit? He’s my son! Why would I not care about him?” the tabby tom answered.
“I just lost my brother and you come to tell me our son needs fed?” she replied hotly. “What is wrong with you, Mothpelt? You are so inconsiderate of what I am feeling! What are you doing to do now, talk about kits with Finchwing? She’ll be left alone to raise her kits and I bet you hardly take into consideration about what just happened.”
“Me? I’m not being the inconsiderate one,” Mothpelt grumbled. “You snapped at me when I am at no fault here, Spottedsky. Is it wrong that I merely wish to move on? Ravenflight is dead. It’s all we can accept.”
“He’ll walk among Silver Pelt at least,” she agreed. But that did not stop her eyes from burning with something- tears or resentment, she could not tell. “Leave me alone, Mothpelt. I don’t wish to see you. I will mourn tonight. I don’t wish to move on so soon. He was my brother!”
“He was a warrior,” her mate snarled. “He was not just a brother, Spottedsky! Look through my eyes! SkyClan lost a warrior tonight. It is not unusual. We’ve seen our fair share of deaths.”
“Why, you mouse-brained fool!” she roared. “You talk to me about death when I stand here with my brother’s death on my shoulders?”
“I don’t know what has happened to you, Spottedsky, but I don’t like it,” Mothpelt growled before turning tail and walking to the warriors den. Spottedsky stood there with bewilderment playing across her face. Had he just turned away from her? Never had he done such a thing! She cringed and gazed towards the nursery. Cindertail, the oldest queen there, was giving her a tiny grin of hope. Grasswhisker’s mate knew how to cheer up anybody it seemed. Spottedsky gave a mere nod of answer and turned in for the night.
***
Smallkit and Crowkit were still too young to see her but she knew that they had taken an instant connection. Finchwing was in the middle of camp, dead alongside her stillborn kit. All that was left was Spottedsky and those two kits she had birthed that lived. The queen left behind to care for them had tried hard to hide her sorrow. She was never a fan of Finchwing but after Ravenflight had died, she had learned to care about the other.
The Clan mourned alone. She did not join them and for that reason they thought she was forever scarred. Nobody believed that more than Mothpelt.
The tabby tom hesitated as he stood at the nursery entrance. He heard voices but none of them were what he wanted to hear. Mostly it was Smudgekit’s curious questioning on Smallkit and Crowkit; there was also Spottedsky’s whimper. He lifted his chin and breathed in sharply to build his courage. It felt weak as he walked in, however. Cindertail had left now that her two kits were apprentices. With Finchwing gone too, Spottedsky was the only one needing to fill this space.
Smudgekit was sitting on Spottedsky’s stomach and he was tilting his head more and more with each squeal the two newest members of the nursery gave.
“What are they doing?” the kit squeaked. “What’s that one doing? He’s not even opening his eyes!”
“Hush, Smudgekit,” Spottedsky ordered with a grunt. “They are young. They cannot open their eyes yet.”
“Listen to your mother, son,” Mothpelt added. Spottedsky’s head jerked up and she glared at her mate with the same anger that had been passed between them these past few days.
“Oh, it’s you,” she muttered. “What do you want, Mothpelt?” Smudgekit yelped as he fell of his mother’s side. The newborns began whimpering when the warmth was lost.
“I came to talk,” he stated.
“Talk or offend me?” she howled at him. Her voice exploded suddenly and with that the fight began. Mothpelt bristled wildly at the sudden accusation thrown his way.
“What is happening to you?” he cried. “Ever since Ravenflight died, you’ve gone mad. You keep thinking I’m here to poke fun at the deaths! You keep thinking I’ve committed some crime.”
“I have seen no proof against it,” she answered.
“I could give you the world and you wouldn’t believe me,” her mate raged.
“You said that when you asked me to be your mate,” Spottedsky gasped and backed away. Her eyes spilled those rivers of tears again and Mothpelt realized that he had said those very words.
”I could give you the world,” the tom promised the she-cat. “But give me a chance. I will love you forever.”
“Forever?” she asked.
“Forever.”
“I… I want you to take your words back,” she choked. “I don’t want to be your mate anymore.”
“What?” Mothpelt said, his turn to gasp. “But, Spottedsky, what have I done to make you say that?”
“I just don’t want to be your mate!” she shouted now. “Can you accept that or not?”
The tom paused and stared at her with something in him dying bit by bit. Spottedsky choked back her sobs and turned her eyes away. The silence was stinging their ears as if the early bare-leaf was truly gnawing at them. Mothpelt stepped forward to nuzzle her but instead she turned sharply and sat on the far side of the nursery. Her tail curled around her. The way her shoulders lowered and her ears flattened; there was nothing but depression whirling around her.
“Maybe… maybe you’re right,” Mothpelt said coldly. He sounded bitter and hurt but he was hiding it beneath a vacant face. “I don’t think we’re suited to stay together. Our time together was sweet, but it is time for us to part.” There was a moment of still air before he spoke again. “I gave you the world and you turned it down. I’m sorry to hear, love.”
Spottedsky turned her eyes away and the last tear fell onto her paw. Smudgekit turned and cuddled himself between Smallkit and Crowkit since he knew this was not the appropriate time to approach his mother.
Throughout that night, two sets of eyes cried. Whether it was sadness for the love lost in the nursery or just the plain pain of reality hitting them too hard, it was easy to see that life would never be the same. Not when a broken heart inflicted them both.