Bitter Ends

This is the tale in two parts that relates the last moments for two cats.

Part 1 - Shooting Stars & Silver Skies

Written by Kitsufox on 4 December 2011 about NPC Blackstar and Willow's characters Silverdust and Dawnstar, then Dawnfire.

It occurred IC on the 1st day of the Moon of First White

Blackstar lay curled in his den, shifting restlessly as he came awake. When he finally rose and shook the moss from his pelt, he stared out through the drying leaves of the bush that sheltered his den. There was a chill in the air but something else flavored it, too. The big black and white tom's eyes narrowed slightly.

Leaf-bare was coming. Unlike the other clans that would be sheltered by trees and terrain, his clan stood the risk of being snowed in again. Blackstar ignored the chill, pushing the branches aside to step outside his den. Automatically his eyes scanned the fresh-kill pile, taking stock of the supply the clan had. Hunting had been good yesterday and plenty of food was tucked away there.

The wind blew down through the entrance tunnel and bit into his pelt. Leaf-bare was coming.

He stood there anyways, uncertain of what he wanted to do. It was early in the day, and the patrols had only been out for a short while. He was undecided until Silverdust limped from the Elder's Den. Empowered with a sudden sense of purpose he bounded across the camp towards her.

~~~~

Silverdust ignored the way the scar pulled as she struggled to keep up with Blackstar. He was bouncing along without a care in the world. It was nice to be able to see him flitting around like an apprentice, but each time the scar tissue shortened her stride she wasn't able to shake the dark thought that flooded her mind: Badger. She'd only come out here with him because he'd seemed so desperate that she join him. He was also right when he insisted that the cliff overlooking the Rockfield wasn't all that far, and the badger hadn't been scented outside the flatlands since it had killed last.

And yet there was that word again. Badger.

She shrugged it off yet again, following the big black and white kit who'd sired hers. Silverdust ignored the chill and let the exercise warm her as the neared the overlook. It had been so long since she'd spent this much time outside of camp. She stood next to Blackstar, letting the warmth from his pelt mingle with hers while she stared, soaking in the rare sight. It was cold, yes, but worth it to see the stones that littered Rockfield in the crisp leaf-fall air.

The peace was shattered with a snarl that came straight from her nightmares. The squat gray and white monster scrambled up the bank and almost straight into them. Blackstar growled with rage, leaping over her to put himself between the she-cat and the badger. The beast's lips were curled back in a tooth-baring growl that the WindClan leader matched with a savage hiss. Blackstar was big, but the badger was easily twice his size. Silverdust was transfixed by the claws and teeth that had taken so much from her already.

"RUN!" Blackstar spat the words, and then dove towards the badger's head with a true warrior's battlecry.

Silverdust fled.

~~~~

Dawnfire had been there, in camp, when Silverdust had returned in a panic as fast as her damaged leg let her run. She was gasping and yowling in turns about Blackstar and the badger and how he needed help at the Rockfield. She'd gathered the cats she needed and led them out as soon as she understood what had happened, but it had been too late.

When they'd reached him it had been too late for Blackstar. A badger didn't care if you had one life or nine: Not even StarClan could heal some things. She'd had the patrol work quickly. He hadn't been eaten. That made it a territorial rather than a predatory attack. It was getting more daring than ever about the camp. They would have to act, soon, and drive it away.

Dawnfire shook the thoughts from her head. She had more pressing things to do, and started the walk towards the Elder's den. Brightsky had been forced to use poppy to calm Silverdust, but now she would have to stir that calm again. She'd been the mother of his kits. She would want to sit Blackstar's vigil.

~~~~

Dawnfire's quiet voice stirred Silverdust from her rest, but the haze that came with poppy didn't clear for several long moments. "Did you say you brought him back?" She asked quietly, looking desperately for a positive answer. "Is he in Brightsky's den? How badly hurt is he?" Silverdust struggled to her feet. Blackstar was a leader. He had lives to spare! She'd sent help!

"Silverdust... I'm sorry..." Dawnfire's unease was in her voice and her body, ears and tail twitched nervously and eyes darted. Dread sank into Silverdust's heart well before the ginger tabby found her voice again. "We didn't make it in time." The gray cat sat with a thump in the moss, blue eyes wide with shock.

Her life had just cost the clan nine.

Part 2 - Black Blood & New Dawns

Written by Kitsufox on 26 February 2012 about Bloodstar, NPC Leafdusk and Willow's Dawnstar.

It occurred IC on the 8th day of the Moon of First White

Bloodstar moved through the trees, ignoring his own stiffness as the proceeded out into the open land between owltree and fourtrees. He could hear the quiet paw-falls of Leafdusk behind him. The red tabby was still as brazen as he was in his youth, but time had tempered him. The twilightlight that was descended marked the hour as late, appropriate for hunting as well as for the sunset border patrol. Some things were matters of pride, and for Bloodstar no pride mattered more than still being fit enough to be on a border patrol.

Trespass point, the place where three of the four territories met, was always an unpredictable place. You could met cats from both WindClan and RiverClan there in addition to the no-cats-land that started at the bush on the point. And today was to be one of those nights. In the flatlands just beyond the border in WindClan's territory was a stocky ginger she-cat, stalking something. She stalked forward, but it looked like she'd missed what she was hunting and came up blank. It was then that the she-cat straitened and noticed the two red-furred figures walking the border.

Bloodstar couldn't help but snort in derision. It wasn't commonly known in the ThunderClan camp, but he knew about Dawnstar and her half-brother's folly with the badger. She must have caught something in his bearing, though, because Dawnstar marched towards the border and the pair of ThunderClanners. She waited a couple of fox-lengths back from the border, just as the ThunderClanners did, and she quietly flicked her ears. Bloodstar's restraint broke first. "Hello Dawnstar."

"Hello Bloodstar." No errant tremor made it's way to her body to reveal how she felt. Bloodstar had a long history of needling Blackstar, and now it seemed he would continue with her. If that was his plan, she would give as good as he did. "Has it been all paws on the proper sides of the borders for ThunderClan?"

"I'm not sure." Amber eyes narrowed at Dawnstar as his ears slid backwards fractionally. "Has it been all badger-bait in camp for WindClan?" The cruel barb had the ginger she-cat looking daggers at the big blood-colored cat.

"At least WindClan has the honor to defend our weak." Dawnstar's voice was sharp.

"At least ThunderClan has the brains to keep our weak where they'll be safe when the forest is full of hunters." Bloodstar's voice was just as sharp, and his face was full of the same smugness he'd always used when talking to Blackstar. Dawnstar's claws burned to rip that look right off his smug face. Leafdusk shifted uncomfortably as the two leaders spat their insults back and forth. He moved closer to Bloodstar, positioning himself like a sentinel and prayed to StarClan that the two wouldn't come to blows.

"Watch yourself, ThunderClanner." The fur on Dawnstar's tail was rising slightly.

"Why should I watch the words I speak about a traitor to StarClan who defies their will." Bloodstar's voice carried an undertone of smug purr in it, and his face showed his scorn towards the WindClan Leader. The big red tom didn't catch the flicker of fury that preceded Dawnstar's explosion, but Leafdusk did. The smaller tom threw himself at the she-cat, intercepting her. By chance along Dawnstar's fury drove him to the ground and her fangs landed in his throat. Leafdusk's claws bit deep, but Dawnstar's teeth bit deeper. When she shoved him aside he rolled away, blood pouring from the wound his in neck. Trespass point was awash in snarling, screaming cats and flying red fur. Blood blossomed on the earth and within moments, it stilled with the larger red form prone on the ground. It took only a moment before he jerked, coughed and rose again.

There was no hesitation in his movements when he dove directly back at her. The big red tom's eyes were ablaze with fury.

~~~~

Dawnstar was limping when she returned to camp. Rowanbough's eyes were wide when he greeted his once-mentor-now-leader. "What happened?" His voice was nervous. He hadn't been happy when she'd left camp to hunt alone. He was even less happy when he heard her answer.

"Bloodstar happened." She spat out the words.

"Did you at least give as good as you got?" Pale eyes remained wide in the black furred face.

"I gave better than I got." She shifted uneasily. "We're going to need to step up the patrols on the ThunderClan border."

The young cat echoed her unease. "Do you think that he'll retaliate?"

"He won't retaliate." She spoke the words slowly, carefully. "But I don't know what Fiercestorm will do." The words washed over Rowanbough, the meaning not touching his brain for a few moments. But then, it dawned.

"Bloodstar is dead?" There was awe in his voice. "Truly dead?"

Dawnstar's voice was cold and resolute. "Yes. Dead as crowfood."