TWG: It's hard to say goodbye [part 2]

Silentbreeze shook quietly as she watched the proceedings.

Fernpelt was gravely injured, she doubted he would survive much longer.

all according to plan . . unfortunately

The she-cat sighed as she settled into her position, watching Plumblossom appeared from the entrance to try and save the tom’s life.

She did her job, she got him to the entrance without being spotted, he’ll do his job and handle the rest.

And then what?

Poppy wanted to summon Cinderstar into the woods alone, so she could use that thing on her.

The leader would most likely be killed, slowly stripped of all her lives.

One. By. One.

Silentbreeze felt sick just thinking about it.

So then  . . . what are we going to do Silentbreeze? We are officially traitors to the clan. If anyone ever found out about this arrangement, the prey stealing from Moonclan, the hiding of mother’s group, the death of a leader . . . i think it would be safe to say we’d be at least chased out.

Which means we do what? What more can we do? Poppy already threatened our family, and i doubt anything can take down that new ‘god’ of theirs . . .

Grim always said we protect our own. Family matters most.

Family matters most.

Cinderstar appeared at the entrance, and Fernpelt was delivering the message Poppy had given him.

The deputy was with her, he seemed upset.

For that matter no one seemed too thrilled at the prospect of their leader walking into a trap.

Well except for Cinderstar, although Silentbreeze could never read her leaders face. She just always looked so . . unsettled.

Others were appearing now, Plumblossom didn’t seem to be winning the losing battle with the tom’s life.

Cinderstar hadn’t moved yet.

There is a time limit on the deal the she-cat reminded the leader with her mind.

Come to the woods alone to die, or allow the rest of your clan to suffer a similar fate as the three bodies so far. Poppy was very explicit on the death thing.

The she-cat wondered whether the leader would even go. The old battle weathered warrior might keeps her wits about her, and not fall for the obvious trap.

She should be aware that no matter what, the clan will be attacked, the leaders death is only a matter of when.

Envykit appeared by her mother.

Silentbreeze had always found the kit odd, and now she was there completely ignoring the dieing tom to her right.

Cinderstar leaned down and seemed to say something to the kit, licking her between the ears, before turning towards the woods.

No one stopped her.

It’s only logical, a leader must protect it’s clan no matter what, their lives must be sacrificed for the greater good.

. . jees

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cinderstar padded into the designated clearing. Spirit lake, Shadedfang had named it himself when they discovered it.

Although the flower valley with the calming spring looked a little different filled with angry rogues.

A yellow tinted tabby moved from the group, her amber eyes flickering with a thirst for something.

blood . . probably

“Cinderstar” the she-cat cooed as she flashed a grin.

She had yellowed teeth.

“I am here as promised. Now how you rogues snuck into Dawnclan territory unnoticed-”

“Please, lets not discuss such trivial matters now” Poppy sighed, with a murmur from the others.

It wasn’t a terribly large group, maybe seven cats max. They didn’t look as if they had eaten a decent meal in a while. Shadedfang couldn’t have been killed by them.

“Fine. What do you want with my clan, why are you targeting us.”

Yellowed grin.

“I’m hurt you don’t remember. We were all once apart of Grim’s family. Grim, the one i believe you killed. We also had Spirit, our chosen messiah. The messiah you tainted with your Clan speak.”

Cinderstar’s heart missed a beat.

Grim

After the battle with the rogues at Moonclan she thought she was done hearing that name.

She had even made Shadedfang promise to forget about that tom, promise to forget the unethical training Grim had forced young Shadedfang to go through.

It was, in fact, the reason she allowed him a warrior name at all.

“Is that why then? Is that why you killed those three?! Because they used to be rogues?! Because they threw that life away and joined the clans instead of running off like you cowards?!”

Cinderstar’s fur prickled, they were killed because of her? Because she created Dawnclan? Because she wanted to make a home for them in the clans?!

“They were impure. You must understand, we are trying to fix our family. After Grim’s death we scattered. We were so lost we-”

“That is a lie”

Silentbreeze moved into the clearing to stand beside her leader.

“Lily! What are you doing here?!” Poppy’s voice faltered, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“That is a lie and you know it. Poppy was not in the battle with Moonclan. Grim had thrown her out of the group for attempting to kill Raven.” Silentbreeze turned to Cinderstar, the leader’s gaze did not move from the yellowed tabby.

“You tried to kill Shadedfang before?” the golden orange she-cat’s voice was icy.

Poppy fidgeted. Her comrades looked at each other . . grinning.

“Who told you about that?” Poppy hissed, before regaining herself.

“No matter, i will not deny this claim. However it is not the whole truth. Grim kicked me out of the group, but not for trying to kill Spirit. No. He was threatened by me, that Grim. He knew i could lead the group better than he could.

And he waited for his moment to abandon me. Right after i had you Lily. That’s right, he abandoned me when i couldn’t move, told the other members to just ignore me. But take the kit.”

Silentbreeze twitched her whiskers, she didn’t seemed surprised, she must have known this story already.

“Put a vole in it Poppy.” a bluish grey tom murmured.

The she-cat turned, her eyes bugging out.

“We all knew you had been trying to kill Spirit’s host. You had this obsession that if you managed to kill him than your kit could take his place. How ludicrous. A tabby?! Spirit needs a host that looks like him mouse-brain!” the others snickered again.

“Silence! How dare you!” Poppy turned, baring her yellowed fangs.

“We don’t need you anymore Poppy.” a black spotted she-cat murmured, flicking her tail.

“Today we sacrifice two lives to the gods” a brown and white speckled she cat added.

“What?!” Poppy took a step back, realising what was happening.

“You can’t! It only listens to me!”

“Food is food Poppy, you said that before. Remember? When you gave it my kit?!” the black spotted she-cat snarled, her fur raising.

“no!” Poppy’s fur bristled in terror.

“No i brought us together! I found Spirit!”

“That’s not Spirit” the bluish grey tom spat.

“I just told you Poppy. Spirit’s host has to look like him.”

“NO” Poppy wailed.

A deep growl emitted from the forest as a large sandy colored cat appeared, covered in black spots.

“It’s here” Silentbreeze murmured.

Cinderstar felt every hair on her body rise as the predator appeared before them.

It was huge! Bigger than Shadedfang, bigger than all of them.

impossible the leader felt her own blood run cold.

How was she supposed to protect her clan from that?!

Poppy screeched, stumbling backwards, trying to get back to the group.

But they had abandoned her, moving away so she was isolated.

“l-lily! LILY SAVE ME! SAVE YOUR MOTHER!” Poppy turned, hysteric tears running down her face.

Silentbreeze snickered. “You threatened my family Poppy. Grim taught us all. Family matters most. You are not my family Poppy. Good bye.”

The yellowed tabby howled in anguish as the Lynx settled its gaze on her.

Poppy turned and sprinted into the forest, but the Lynx was quick, each bound creating what felt like an earthquake.

The two vanished into the forest, and everyone held their breath waiting for it.

A terrible scream suddenly emitted before cutting off.

The silence was deafening and Cinderstar felt sick.

To their own? How could they!?

Shadedfang was killed by that thing

The she-cat’s ears started to hum.

That things scent . . it was all over their entrance. No one had noticed because no one had ever smelled such a thing before, and the scent of blood had been so strong.

“Cinderstar . . . Cinderstar!” Silentbreeze hissed, pushing her leader gently with her shoulder.

“You have to go. I’ll handle this, this is all my fault anyways, they wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me . . . i’m sorry . . i didn’t know they would kill anyone . . i’m so sorry” the warrior’s eyes started to water.

She had just allowed her own mother to be torn apart by that monster and didn’t seem to care, now here she was about to have a break down over the clan mates who were killed instead.

“I can’t believe you followed me, i’m very upset with you. But i will not leave one of my own here, especially not now i’ve seen that.”

“Cinderstar please!” Silentbreeze held back a sob.

“If it knows you’re another target it will . . “

A low growl.

The other members of Poppy’s group were watching Cinderstar and Silentbreeze with interest, as if they had shown up for a kit’s rendition of the battle at Pebble Creek.

Silentbreeze was about to protest again, but the leader gave her a violent shove towards the woods.

Cinderstar bared her fangs at the she-cat.

“It is you who will leave. NOW!” she snarled.

A large bloody paw stepped out of the shadows from the direction of Poppy’s escape.

And Silentbreeze was gone.

The leader turned, her ears were ringing.

The Lynx moved out of the dark, but stayed at the edge of the flowered clearing. Starting to circle the smaller she-cat.
Clearly she was the next treat. The main group of hooting rogues shimmied around the spring so they would be out of harms way.

Cinderstar slowed her breathing.

Yellowed amber eyes, with pupils like slits. These were the last eyes Shadedfang ever saw.

The leaders mind went numb as she drew her claws, and moved away from the Lynx as it got closer.

They circled each other.

The Lynx seemed to be waiting for something. Did it want her to try running Poppy?

Cinderstar skirted the edge of the spring, the ground squishing under her paws, suddenly making it harder to move.

The lynx charged, clearing the distance between them in seconds.

The leader grunted in surprise, rolling away into the water.

Oh how she hated water.

The Lynx’s claws fell a whiskers length away from her as she struggled to regain her footing in the spring.

Cinderstar’s fur was very thin, so the water didn’t weigh her down that much.

The Lynx however, trying to snap the leaders tail between it’s fangs, slipped and fell into the spring as well.
Moaning, the Lynx stood, water pouring off of it.

The spring was not very deep, the two felines could stand, but they were both soaked to the bone.

The Lynx hissed as it spotted Cinderstar.

Great, now it was angry.

The leader managed to dodge it’s next attack. The water slowed the Lynx down enough where Cinderstar could keep out of its claws, but only just barely.

However, she couldn’t just dodge forever, the leader needed to be able to strike back if she had any chance of winning.

leaping back onto shore, Cinderstar dove before a huge paw came crashing down where she was standing.

this is impossible

The Lynx spat water at her,  as it’s claw got caught on something and fell into the spring again.

Cinderstar took this moment to leap onto the Lynx’s back, sinking her teeth into it’s hind leg.

The fur was so thick, her fangs barely made a difference.

The larger cat rolled before Cinderstar could leap away, throwing the leader into the spring once again.

It was on her before she could move.
Dear Starclan, it’s weight alone is going to kill her.

Something snapped, that must have been a rib.

Cinderstar gasped, releasing the last bit of oxygen in her lungs as the Lynx’s weight kept her under the water.

i’m going to die if i don’t do something

The she-cat tried scratching at the paw holding her down, her hind paw flaring out and getting . . something.

The weight of the Lynx was gone and the leader shot out of the water, gasping for air.

The scent of blood mingled, forcing the leader to blink open her eyes.

The Lynx’s right eye was streaming blood, the large feline pressing a paw against it.

It snarled murder.

Cinderstar moved as fast as she could back to shore. Her chest screaming in pain.

The Lynx charged after her and the leader had to dodge to the side to avoid being impaled by it’s claws.

Cinderstar would have kept going like that, if she hadn’t noticed the audience on the other side of the spring.

you brought this on yourselves, playing with fire . .

The orange leader sprinted, as quickly as she could around, towards the now yelping spectators.

They scrambled to get out of the way as the Lynx charged through, whacking the bodies out of the way like flies as Cinderstar wove between them.

Close to a tree, Cinderstar leapt and used it to rebound onto the Lynx’s back once again, this time aiming for the Felines head.

The leader sunk one claw into it’s thick shoulder fur, before using the other to reach around and attack the other eye.

More howling.

Cinderstar managed to move before the cat rolled again.

Blind. The Lynx was now blind. Hissing and spitting it charged in Cinderstar’s direction, but the she-cat moved and the Lynx made a face plant into a bush.

Cinderstar scrambled back. The rogues had scattered now, a few lying still in the grass, a few more scattered up in the trees.

The Lynx backed out, scenting the air. Looking for her.

stay downwind

Cinderstar moved, using all her years of hunting experience to guide her.

The Lynx let out a broken wail, it wanted to find her.

i need to kill it. It feeds on cats. It isn’t safe to just lead it away.
The leader shifted as the wind moved.

The Lynx wandered, getting a little too close to the water again.

It’s front paw took a dip and it hissed.

Maybe . .  if the center of the lake is deep enough . . i could drown it. .

Cinderstar moved swiftly rushing past the Lynx so it could smell her.

It roared, and they both charged into the water.

It was cold and the water was deeper in the middle, but the Lynx had already gained on her.

The Lynx was also still able to stand.

Cinderstar had made a mistake.

The larger feline grabbed Cinderstar’s left hind leg with it’s fangs.

Everything went white, she couldn’t feel the leg anymore and she was thrown across the water.

She couldn’t look, she already knew. Her left hind leg was shredded and impossible to use. The blood was starting to pool in the water as Cinderstar tried to stand.

It hurt so much.

The edge of the water wasn’t much farther away.

If she could have used her back leg at all, maybe she would have made it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Silentbreeze lead the way, Warmrain and almost every available warrior followed.

She had relayed as much information as she could, but everyone already knew Cinderstar was walking into a trap.

Warmrain had already gathered warriors before Silentbreeze had even gotten back to camp.

Now they charged onto the battleground of Spirit lake.

The Lynx stood over an orange body at the edge of the spring.

The rogues no where to be found.

The warriors charged. Spicefang was the first to tackle the Lynx, forcing the feline to drop the leader’s body.

Other warriors followed suite, Hollowstrike, Forestshadow, Aspennose then Warmrain.

Silentbreeze got to Cinderstar and dragged her away from the fighting.

She wasn’t breathing. One of her hind legs was pretty messed up, and a long slash went down on her right side, starting from her eye all the way down to her hip.

The cut was deep and there was blood everywhere.

why why why, couldn’t you have just hung in there a little longer?! I didn’t want this! I didn’t want any of this!

“Cinderstar no” Silentbreeze sobbed. She had no idea if even a leader could come back from this.

More yelling. The warriors were taking turns attacking the Lynx from all sides. Since it was blind, it was only a matter of time before someone could get a good strike in. It was already bleeding.

“You blinded it . . you actually injured the monster . . all by yourself“ Silentbreeze murmured in awe.

She knew Cinderstar was an experienced warrior, but not even the other three were able to so much as touch it.

Shadedfang lasted the longest.

Silentbreeze had had a long discussion with one of the members in her mothers group after Poppy had threatened her family. They had told her everything.

It was unbelievable, as a kit she had been told that her mother died during kitting. To find out what had actually happened.

She couldn’t believe it.

And now there was a Lynx being brought down at a leiserly pace, the same Lynx that had killed at least four cats Silentbreeze knew.

It was too much.

The she-cat’s heart felt heavy. She knew what she had to do now, but she didn’t like it. Would her kits hate her? What would Wrenflight do? Should she even tell him?

“Silentbreeze” a deep rumble broke the she-cat out of her thoughts.

Rowanheart stood beside her, his amber gaze on the leader.

“I’ve brought Plumblossom.”

The medicine cat padded forward, prepared for the worst. Both herself and Rowanheart were covered in cobwebs.

Songchaser appeared from the woods as well, she was holding an assortment of seeds in her jaws.

Silentbreeze looked down at her leader again. She seemed so small now, so fragile, why hadn’t she ever noticed that before?

The two of them were careful when arranging the leader for the medicine cats to get to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing she saw were stars. Lots of stars. Last time she had lost a life there had only been darkness, so this must be a good sign right?

Cinderstar turned her head.

Shadedfang.

The she-cat’s eyes widened.

He smiled sadly back at her.

“Are you really-”

“Cinderstar” his voice was one of many.

He was here to deliver a message.

The warrior felt her heart breaking, she wanted to speak with him, she wanted to tell him so many things.

“Cinderstar, you have broken one of the sacrid warrior codes. You are a leader. This cannot go unpunished.”

The orange she-cat didn’t move.

“You are to lose the remainder of your lives, and you are to step down as leader.”

Cinderstar felt her stomach twist, this was to be expected. A broken law cannot be overlooked, even for a leader.

“Does that mean i’m to stay here? Does that mean i’ve died for good?”

The she-cat thought of Envykit, her only child. Alone.

“ . . . “


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Cinderstar?” Plumblossom’s blue eyes peered down into the orange she-cat’s.

“Don’t call me that . . ” the warrior groaned, everything hurt.

“What do you-”

“I’m no longer leader. I will be referred to by my warrior name Cindermoon from now on.”

Cindermoon touched her right eye, there were cobwebs covering it.

For that matter her entire right side was covered in cobwebs.

“What?!” Silentbreeze’s voice sounded a bit like a sob, she seemed to have been crying a moment ago.

“You heard me . . am i missing a leg?” the old warrior realised looking down at herself.

“  . . i’m sorry” Songchaser murmured.

“It had to be removed” Plumblossom added.

Sure enough, she now had a stump where her left hind leg should have been.

That’s what Starclan meant. You will live out the rest of your days and think about what you’ve done. You’ll be a living testament to those who try to break the rules again.

Even if she wanted to stay on as leader, she wouldn’t be able to. This body is no longer fit for battle.

With a very heavy sigh Cindermoon lay back down.

“Does that mean Warmrain is leader now?” Rowanheart questioned.

“I don’t care.” the old she-cat sighed. “Don’t ask me about such trivial things anymore.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rowanheart looked to Silentbreeze, who looked like she were about to pass out. She had been crying when she thought the leader wasn’t going to make it. He always knew she liked Cinderstar . . Cindermoon? That will be hard to get used to.

He turned. There was a lot of celebrating. The Lynx had been brought down. A brilliant team effort.

The tom trudged over.

Someone needed to break the news.

Warmrain rushed over to greet him, followed by the rest.

“Is she ok?” his eyes were so earnest.

“She has lost a leg and one of her eyes, but she’ll be fine.”

Cheering.

“I’m not done.” Rowanheart grumbled, before clearing his throat.

“She’s stepping down as leader.”

Silence.

“What?” Warmrain looked very uncomfortable.

What did this mean? Did he have to take over now?

That’s when the fight broke out.

Spicefang wanted to contest Warmrain becoming leader, however he wasn’t alone.

The warriors divided, it seemed this had been discussed before.

Those in favor of Spicefang vs. those in support of Warmrain.

Rowanheart fell back in horror. What was he supposed to do?!

He turned his head, hoping Cinderstar would intervene, but she just looked disgusted. Clearly, she was not going to get involved in this.

It was then the Moonclan patrol arrived.