Post by Goldenstar on Jul 6, 2023 23:37:56 GMT -5
"Thank you so much for making time to walk with me today. Are you sure you're feeling up for it, cousin?"
"Oh, Nightlegend- I'll always feel up to it for you!" The raspy, gravelly purr came from the peppered muzzle of an old shaded gray tom. Crowshade's steps were uneven and he wandered off from time to time. But his companion was quick to aid him back on the right path again. Any other day, with any other cat- this would have been a happy occasion. Despite his delirium, Crowshade was having a good day by all accounts. He wasn't hysteric and he was walking on his own and hadn't even taken herbs for the ache in his bones. But the source of his companionship was something quite troublesome. And it shouldn't have been.
Shadowstar padded alongside the stubborn senior warrior with an odd kind of weight on his feet. He didn't walk like himself and the shadow that broke from him on the ground reflected the form of a cat much more skeletal than he was- with smaller ears and a shorter tail. Every so often, as the toms walked in silence, he would glance over at Crowshade to find the senile tom less and less aware of his surroundings and increasingly just blissful of the day. The pair stopped beside the crest of Golden Falls and settled there, side by side. Shadowstar caught a few small minnows and they shared them with mirth. As Crowshade began to clean the oil from his whiskers, Shadowstar started to wipe away the grit from his claws.
"It's a shame- about this waterfall you know," the older tom said after some time as he swiped his tongue over his whiskers. "It's got so many tragedies attached to it now. Mintgem's suicide, Creekstar's death, the flood itself- maybe Aldershade's bones are down at the bottom. It's a graveyard now. It's still so lovely here. And it used to be such a magical place. I remember racing my siblings up here at night. We were such naughty apprentices- the whole lot of us! Always sneaking out of camp." His whiskers twitched in amusement. "Do you remember playing with your baby sister like that?"
"Yes," Shadowstar replied as he curled his tail around his paws. "We would race to the Hollow and back."
"Hmm..." Crowshade tilted his head, his eyes gazing ever forward into the endless blue sky. "You're not Nightlegend."
Shadowstar paused and shrugged his shoulders. "I am not."
"You're not Shadowstar either."
The tom froze. "What?"
"I'm senile and old. I'm not stupid." Crowshade turned to face the tom before him with an understanding look in his eyes. "I saw you, that day. I saw you as plain as the clouds in the sky. You can hide your vileness from everyone else- but I saw right through you. Nightlegend didn't have a sister- he was the youngest of three boys. And I remember how Shadowstar and Brackenrose behaved as kits. They never played. They were always stuck in survival mode. You wouldn't know that." The former leader's pupils narrowed. "Who are you?"
A harsh breath left the black tom's lungs as he began to pace in a circle around Crowshade. The elder kept an eye on him and got to his feet, the fur along his shoulders rising. "Who are you?!"
"A forgotten foe," Talcshade chuckled as he gave the warrior a fang-toothed smile. "Your dearest cousin struck a deal with the devil. My soul for his. Bit by bit. It won't be much longer now, I'm afraid. There's less and less of Shadowstar with each passing day. Of course, it hasn't always been so easy. I've had to eliminate a few threats and show my nasty side." He took a step forward and Crowshade took one back. An odd kind of understanding crossed the told tom's face.
"You brought me here to kill me."
"Correct." As Crowshade unsheathed his claws, Talcshade let out a soft sigh. "Don't make this harder than it has to be, old timer. Honestly it's a mercy, isn't it? You don't remember what era you're in half the time and you have half the medicine cat's herb supply as your daily regimen. Do you really want to keep living when this is the quality of life you have? You should thank me, really."
"Do you think I fear death?" Crowshade pricked his ears. "To see my long lost loved ones again? To see my mother and father? And Goldenstar? To see all the little kits who passed away in the Valley? To have my sight again and be strong? To enjoy hunting with Aldershade and feel my paws like thunder?" he shook his head and then bared his fangs. "I welcome death as an old friend. But you are a threat- a threat to the clan I swore to protect. Even at the cost of my life. If that's what it takes..." the old tom snarled and leaped forward, bowling into Talcshade as the lunge took him off his feet. Crowshade raked his claws across the imposter's face and Talcshade hissed in pain as blood welled down his cheek. He snapped at the former leader's face and kicked with his hind paws. The blow was a hard one and sent Crowshade flying backward, landing treacherously close to the end of the falls. He gasped for breath and tried to get to his paws, only to find a strong foot pushing down between his shoulder blades.
"Don't h-hurt my clan! Leave me kin alone!" Crowshade groaned as he swiped out weakly at the tom's feet, but his claws didn't make contact. The imposter faced Crowshade again, their muzzles only a breath apart. For only a heartbeat, a spark of recognition crossed Crowshade's cataract-hazed eyes. "Talcshade!" The tom snarled at him and raised a paw. The blow across the elder's face sent Crowshade reeling. His hind paws slipped on the dewy grass and in the next instant he was falling.
"No!" Shadowstar gasped as he reached over the edge of the hill and caught Crowshade's paw just before it was beyond his reach. The elder looked up at him with so much pity and love in his gaze. "No-no, Crowshade. I won't let him do this. I won't... H-hang on... I..." tears were rolling down the leader's face as he tried to pull the old tom upward. But as soon as hope had showed its gentle face- a cloud descended over him once again. "I'm s-s-sorry..." Shadowstar managed to cry through clenched teeth as the center of his Spirit Stone blazed green. Talcshade's cold viridian eyes stared down at the former leader and found, to his surprise, that he didn't see fear. Nor sorrow. Nor panic. Just a soft kind of understanding lingered in the tom's milky eyes. Talcshade bared his fangs. "Give Starclan my regards." He let go.
Crowshade didn't make a sound as he fell. He just stared upward. Upward beyond Shadowstar's body and Talcshade's spirit. Beyond the treetops. Beyond the mist of the falls. Beyond the sky itself. He swore, for just the fleetest moment, that he saw the stars shining in the bright, blue day. And then he saw nothing. Just white.
Talcshade watched as the churning tide of the falls took the elder under. He wiped a bit of blood from his cheek, looked all around him, then disappeared into the forest. Unknown to the imposter, horrified ember eyes had seen the entire event unfold. She had followed the pair from camp. It was too odd, just too odd, for Shadowstar to have woken before the rest of the clan just to sneak Crowshade out for a walk. Why she had been awake at the same hour- she didn't rightly know. But for whatever reason, a soft whisper had come on a breeze. Follow. It said. And so she had. She had watched, confused at first, as the two toms sat side by side and enjoyed their meal. And then she noticed how Shadowstar had tossed the little skeletal fish bodies into the river again. As if he was trying to hide the encounter. And then, the true terror had begun. She saw Crowshade with more clarity than she had seen him have in moons, suddenly come to life and understand. She saw him fight for his life and for his clan. She saw Shadowstar- the real Shadowstar- broken and desperate- for only a moment. She saw Crowshade fall. Now, her trembling paws stepped from the safety of the forest into the damp grass that grew in the wake of the fall's tumbling water. She looked around in all directions, her ears pricked and tail down. She padded silently toward the edge of the water and gasped.
Leaning against an outcropped rock, Crowshade had his paws weakly wrapped around the stone. Without a moment hesitation, the brave warrior leaped into the water and grabbed him by his scruff. She dragged the former leader to the bank but knew she couldn't stop there in fear of the imposter seeing them. She gathered all her strength and, painstakingly, brought the wounded elder safely under the shade of a young cedar tree. As she released his scruff, overhead a crow cawed at her and she blinked up at it wistfully. She gave the old warrior's head a nudge and found, to her amazement, he was still breathing.
"Crowshade!" she gasped as she prodded his side. When she did, she heard a cracking sound and the tom groaned in pain. The she-cat recoiled, horror seeping into her bones when she realized how uneven and broken his flanks looked. "C-Crowshade?... I'll go get a medicine cat..."
"No," he gasped as his milky eyes opened. He turned his head toward her and offered the smallest smile. "Oh, Citrineshard... I wish you hadn't been the one to see this..."
Her lip trembling, Citrineshard lowered her head. "I can get you help."
"It's beyond that now..." Crowshade exhaled a harsh, rattling breath that made Rin's sides hurt. "You must tell... n-no one in the clan what you saw."
"What?" Citrineshard shook her head. "How can I not tell them?! My father has been possessed. He's hurt others and he..." tears welled in the stony she-cat's eyes and she suddenly felt very small, like a newborn kit who has felt cold wind for the first time. "They need to know."
"Talcshade will hurt them," he gasped. "Pro-protect the clan..."
"I will!" tears streamed down Citrineshard's face as she saw the light die from Crowshade's eyes. As he drew his last breath, the crow above them cawed at her once more then took off into the sky. As the bird flew away from the scene, it cast a shadow that looked almost like a cat identical to her father- spare for his icy blue eyes.
No one but your mother. She knows.
Citrineshard shook her head and tried to look again. But the crow, the shadow, and the strange cat were all gone. She lowered her head in grief and let out a few soundless sobs. She wiped the snot from her nose on the back of her paw and looked all around her again. The forest continued on. Birds sang, crickets chirped, trees swayed. But somehow, it would never be the same again. A fire lit in her eyes as she took Crowshade's scruff between her teeth and began to drag him backward through the trees toward camp.
I have the entire walk back to think about what I'm going to tell them. But one thing is for sure... I must speak to Alderstar.
[/div]"Oh, Nightlegend- I'll always feel up to it for you!" The raspy, gravelly purr came from the peppered muzzle of an old shaded gray tom. Crowshade's steps were uneven and he wandered off from time to time. But his companion was quick to aid him back on the right path again. Any other day, with any other cat- this would have been a happy occasion. Despite his delirium, Crowshade was having a good day by all accounts. He wasn't hysteric and he was walking on his own and hadn't even taken herbs for the ache in his bones. But the source of his companionship was something quite troublesome. And it shouldn't have been.
Shadowstar padded alongside the stubborn senior warrior with an odd kind of weight on his feet. He didn't walk like himself and the shadow that broke from him on the ground reflected the form of a cat much more skeletal than he was- with smaller ears and a shorter tail. Every so often, as the toms walked in silence, he would glance over at Crowshade to find the senile tom less and less aware of his surroundings and increasingly just blissful of the day. The pair stopped beside the crest of Golden Falls and settled there, side by side. Shadowstar caught a few small minnows and they shared them with mirth. As Crowshade began to clean the oil from his whiskers, Shadowstar started to wipe away the grit from his claws.
"It's a shame- about this waterfall you know," the older tom said after some time as he swiped his tongue over his whiskers. "It's got so many tragedies attached to it now. Mintgem's suicide, Creekstar's death, the flood itself- maybe Aldershade's bones are down at the bottom. It's a graveyard now. It's still so lovely here. And it used to be such a magical place. I remember racing my siblings up here at night. We were such naughty apprentices- the whole lot of us! Always sneaking out of camp." His whiskers twitched in amusement. "Do you remember playing with your baby sister like that?"
"Yes," Shadowstar replied as he curled his tail around his paws. "We would race to the Hollow and back."
"Hmm..." Crowshade tilted his head, his eyes gazing ever forward into the endless blue sky. "You're not Nightlegend."
Shadowstar paused and shrugged his shoulders. "I am not."
"You're not Shadowstar either."
The tom froze. "What?"
"I'm senile and old. I'm not stupid." Crowshade turned to face the tom before him with an understanding look in his eyes. "I saw you, that day. I saw you as plain as the clouds in the sky. You can hide your vileness from everyone else- but I saw right through you. Nightlegend didn't have a sister- he was the youngest of three boys. And I remember how Shadowstar and Brackenrose behaved as kits. They never played. They were always stuck in survival mode. You wouldn't know that." The former leader's pupils narrowed. "Who are you?"
A harsh breath left the black tom's lungs as he began to pace in a circle around Crowshade. The elder kept an eye on him and got to his feet, the fur along his shoulders rising. "Who are you?!"
"A forgotten foe," Talcshade chuckled as he gave the warrior a fang-toothed smile. "Your dearest cousin struck a deal with the devil. My soul for his. Bit by bit. It won't be much longer now, I'm afraid. There's less and less of Shadowstar with each passing day. Of course, it hasn't always been so easy. I've had to eliminate a few threats and show my nasty side." He took a step forward and Crowshade took one back. An odd kind of understanding crossed the told tom's face.
"You brought me here to kill me."
"Correct." As Crowshade unsheathed his claws, Talcshade let out a soft sigh. "Don't make this harder than it has to be, old timer. Honestly it's a mercy, isn't it? You don't remember what era you're in half the time and you have half the medicine cat's herb supply as your daily regimen. Do you really want to keep living when this is the quality of life you have? You should thank me, really."
"Do you think I fear death?" Crowshade pricked his ears. "To see my long lost loved ones again? To see my mother and father? And Goldenstar? To see all the little kits who passed away in the Valley? To have my sight again and be strong? To enjoy hunting with Aldershade and feel my paws like thunder?" he shook his head and then bared his fangs. "I welcome death as an old friend. But you are a threat- a threat to the clan I swore to protect. Even at the cost of my life. If that's what it takes..." the old tom snarled and leaped forward, bowling into Talcshade as the lunge took him off his feet. Crowshade raked his claws across the imposter's face and Talcshade hissed in pain as blood welled down his cheek. He snapped at the former leader's face and kicked with his hind paws. The blow was a hard one and sent Crowshade flying backward, landing treacherously close to the end of the falls. He gasped for breath and tried to get to his paws, only to find a strong foot pushing down between his shoulder blades.
"Don't h-hurt my clan! Leave me kin alone!" Crowshade groaned as he swiped out weakly at the tom's feet, but his claws didn't make contact. The imposter faced Crowshade again, their muzzles only a breath apart. For only a heartbeat, a spark of recognition crossed Crowshade's cataract-hazed eyes. "Talcshade!" The tom snarled at him and raised a paw. The blow across the elder's face sent Crowshade reeling. His hind paws slipped on the dewy grass and in the next instant he was falling.
"No!" Shadowstar gasped as he reached over the edge of the hill and caught Crowshade's paw just before it was beyond his reach. The elder looked up at him with so much pity and love in his gaze. "No-no, Crowshade. I won't let him do this. I won't... H-hang on... I..." tears were rolling down the leader's face as he tried to pull the old tom upward. But as soon as hope had showed its gentle face- a cloud descended over him once again. "I'm s-s-sorry..." Shadowstar managed to cry through clenched teeth as the center of his Spirit Stone blazed green. Talcshade's cold viridian eyes stared down at the former leader and found, to his surprise, that he didn't see fear. Nor sorrow. Nor panic. Just a soft kind of understanding lingered in the tom's milky eyes. Talcshade bared his fangs. "Give Starclan my regards." He let go.
Crowshade didn't make a sound as he fell. He just stared upward. Upward beyond Shadowstar's body and Talcshade's spirit. Beyond the treetops. Beyond the mist of the falls. Beyond the sky itself. He swore, for just the fleetest moment, that he saw the stars shining in the bright, blue day. And then he saw nothing. Just white.
Talcshade watched as the churning tide of the falls took the elder under. He wiped a bit of blood from his cheek, looked all around him, then disappeared into the forest. Unknown to the imposter, horrified ember eyes had seen the entire event unfold. She had followed the pair from camp. It was too odd, just too odd, for Shadowstar to have woken before the rest of the clan just to sneak Crowshade out for a walk. Why she had been awake at the same hour- she didn't rightly know. But for whatever reason, a soft whisper had come on a breeze. Follow. It said. And so she had. She had watched, confused at first, as the two toms sat side by side and enjoyed their meal. And then she noticed how Shadowstar had tossed the little skeletal fish bodies into the river again. As if he was trying to hide the encounter. And then, the true terror had begun. She saw Crowshade with more clarity than she had seen him have in moons, suddenly come to life and understand. She saw him fight for his life and for his clan. She saw Shadowstar- the real Shadowstar- broken and desperate- for only a moment. She saw Crowshade fall. Now, her trembling paws stepped from the safety of the forest into the damp grass that grew in the wake of the fall's tumbling water. She looked around in all directions, her ears pricked and tail down. She padded silently toward the edge of the water and gasped.
Leaning against an outcropped rock, Crowshade had his paws weakly wrapped around the stone. Without a moment hesitation, the brave warrior leaped into the water and grabbed him by his scruff. She dragged the former leader to the bank but knew she couldn't stop there in fear of the imposter seeing them. She gathered all her strength and, painstakingly, brought the wounded elder safely under the shade of a young cedar tree. As she released his scruff, overhead a crow cawed at her and she blinked up at it wistfully. She gave the old warrior's head a nudge and found, to her amazement, he was still breathing.
"Crowshade!" she gasped as she prodded his side. When she did, she heard a cracking sound and the tom groaned in pain. The she-cat recoiled, horror seeping into her bones when she realized how uneven and broken his flanks looked. "C-Crowshade?... I'll go get a medicine cat..."
"No," he gasped as his milky eyes opened. He turned his head toward her and offered the smallest smile. "Oh, Citrineshard... I wish you hadn't been the one to see this..."
Her lip trembling, Citrineshard lowered her head. "I can get you help."
"It's beyond that now..." Crowshade exhaled a harsh, rattling breath that made Rin's sides hurt. "You must tell... n-no one in the clan what you saw."
"What?" Citrineshard shook her head. "How can I not tell them?! My father has been possessed. He's hurt others and he..." tears welled in the stony she-cat's eyes and she suddenly felt very small, like a newborn kit who has felt cold wind for the first time. "They need to know."
"Talcshade will hurt them," he gasped. "Pro-protect the clan..."
"I will!" tears streamed down Citrineshard's face as she saw the light die from Crowshade's eyes. As he drew his last breath, the crow above them cawed at her once more then took off into the sky. As the bird flew away from the scene, it cast a shadow that looked almost like a cat identical to her father- spare for his icy blue eyes.
No one but your mother. She knows.
Citrineshard shook her head and tried to look again. But the crow, the shadow, and the strange cat were all gone. She lowered her head in grief and let out a few soundless sobs. She wiped the snot from her nose on the back of her paw and looked all around her again. The forest continued on. Birds sang, crickets chirped, trees swayed. But somehow, it would never be the same again. A fire lit in her eyes as she took Crowshade's scruff between her teeth and began to drag him backward through the trees toward camp.
I have the entire walk back to think about what I'm going to tell them. But one thing is for sure... I must speak to Alderstar.