It hadn't been too terribly long since the horrible attack from Riverclan and Skyclan. When in the battle, Mousetail had suffered from many wounds, mainly from the she-cat that had leaped on her and scratched her on her shoulders and her back... it was painful. But there were many others that had suffered far worse injuries. Not only that, but Mousetail didn't think much of her wounds except for the fact that they still hurt a lot. Unnaturally so. She had stayed away from most of her clan mates for the same reasons as usual. It was what even kept her from fighting in the last battle. And now she had begun to see the apprentice around, taunting and torturing her. Even with all of her scratches and bruises, she spent most of her time in the territory away from everyone to keep them from finding out. She already suffered enough seeing the Shadowclan cat follow her around and tell her just how much she would rot in the Place of No Stars for what she had done. It had gotten too much.
Walking around the territory--actually she was stumbling at this point-- Mousetail moved through the territory just trying to do anything she could for her clan. Yet, she felt weak. She could barely walk and her vision was fading. The biggest scratch, the one from the top of her right shoulder down her side, hurt like she had never felt before. At some points, it even got nasty and seeped with a disgusting liquid. Now that she thought about it, she was pretty sure that it was infected, but she couldn't show her face around the medicine cat. A loud cough quickly exited her mouth as she continued, trying to find any kind of prey or move towards any of the borders, but still, she couldn't find anything. Of course, stumbling around like a cat on catmint wasn't going to help her, but she didn't care. She couldn't really continue.
Giving up, Mousetail simply lied down where she was. She couldn't really breathe now through the coughing and the rasping in the middle of her lame walk. She was exhausted, and now that she was down, she couldn't even find the strength to get up. "Starclan, forgive me..." she breathed. "I'm... I'm so sorry. I've... failed you." She closed her eyes and took as deep of a breath as she could, but it hurt too. "I didn't... mean it. It... wasn't my fault."
"Don't worry, my darling. You are safe now," A very familiar voice said almost in a whisper. "You will come with me. Starclan is not mad. You only did what you were told. Come, join your family and your friends."
Taking one last breath, Mousetail looked up to see her mother standing in front of her. It had been so long since she had seen the brave Thunderclan queen, and as soon as her eyes landed on her mother, her body almost seemed like nothing. All of the heaviness she had been burdened with was gone. Finally finding the strength to stand, Mousetail stood and faced her glistening mother. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone..."
"You have been forgiven," the queen purred. "But your wounds were great. They became infected and the disease is what has brought you with us. Now join the ranks of Starclan, Mousetail. You've done all you can for this life." And with that, Mousetail left behind the life of Thunderclan and joined Starclan forever.
