She had failed. Ever since they had left their kithood behind, Sageleaf had failed him. It should not have been a surprise now. Rage burned hot in the pit of the tom's stomach. Nothing had gone as planned. Everything was wrong. The grey and white warrior had paced the camp all evening before deciding to co-hearse his sister from her den. The effort had not been easy. Clearly, she was terrified of him, and rightfully so. His claws scored the ground as he covered the territory quickly. Sageleaf was on his heels as if running for dear life. In her head, she was clinging to the hope that he would stop all of this now. And unknowingly to her, he would. But, maybe not in the way she intended.
"I supposed you know why we are here." He growled as they neared the edge of the gorge. Slatethroat had chosen this specific spot for this very reason.
"Slatethroat, I-I"
"Shut up." The warrior snarled, "There are no excuses. A warrior does not make excuses for their failures." Her mouth closed shut and her eyes stared down at the ground. If it were any other cat standing in front of her, she would not have accepted such a harsh tone. However, her brother had always been her weak spot. He held a power over the young medicine cat that no one else had. The rushing water echoed in her ears as she waited silently for him to speak up once more. It took every ounce of her to no quiver in fear. After everything had transpired and she had learned the truth of her kin. He was as bad as Starclan had predicted. How had she been so blind to it?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of Slatethroat's body slamming into hers and throwing her onto the ground right next to the rushing waters. That only magnified her terror. The tom stood over her body with a gleam in his eyes. As she saw the flash of claws, panic rose in her chest and she quickly rolled to the side. The warrior was shocked by her reaction; in his head medicine cats weren’t as capable as cats of his caliber. Before he could lash out with his front claws once more, she was ramming her head into his side. Surprise lit up the grey and white tom’s face as he felt the solid earth underneath him disappeared. The rushing waves roared in his ears and instantly the world went black as he hit the surface. There was no welcome from starry ancestors as the life faded from his body.
Sageleaf watched in horror as her brother’s face twisted while he sailed through the air. Her heart wrenched as she watched her kin plummet to her death, at her own paws. Claws digging into the earth, she could not help as a low moan of grief broke from her maw. Green eyes stared down at the river. The waves never slowed as they helped to take the life of another cat. She barely stopped herself from internally calling him ‘innocent’. As much as she longed to remember the motivated little kit she had grown up with, he had been lost long ago. As she meowed slowly, “You won’t hurt anyone ever again…” She stared at her paws, thoughts of her betrayal to Starclan, and now taking the life of her own kin. Windclan would not want her after everything, she had screwed up too badly. Sageleaf had taken a vow to heal and not harm, yet here she was. No clan would want her as their medicine cat, “And neither will I…” As she stepped tentatively forwards, the lack of solid ground was a welcoming feeling. Is this the destiny you had for me?
“Stop!”
The she-cat felt teeth embed themselves into her scruff and yank her back from the edge of the gorge. Her sides heaved as she fell back into a sitting position with her shoulders slumped. After a second, her eyes darted up to look at the cat who had prevented her from throwing herself to the water. It was the last cat she ever expected to see, and despite the moment, her heart leaped, “Beetlewing!” Sageleaf stared at the now starry tom as he stood behind her. There was a stern look etched on his face but it softened at her exclamation of his name. His tail flicked, as if to say he was in a hurry, but he stopped to meow a soft greeting.
“Hello, Sageleaf… it has been quite some time.” Eyes focusing on the gorge, he added, “I didn’t spend all that time training up such a fine young medicine cat for her to go throw herself to her death.” The brown tom narrowed his eyes and she felt her ears heat up in embarrassment. She had been so prepared to end her life that she had not considered much else. Although he had a point, she opened her mouth to protest. Her clan would hate her, she had killed her brother, she had lied to them about a sign… nothing good had happened in the past sunrise.
“Beetlewing, there is nowhere for a cat like me, I-” His tail flicked up to rest over her maw.
“Your destiny is not over yet. Puddlepaw has reminded you countless times that we chose you for a reason and yet you still doubt.” Beetlewing’s tone was a slight bit rough, but more of a fatherly chastising than anything. Despite not having spoken to him in moons, Sageleaf still respected her late mentor as much as she had when he was still alive. The former medicine cat had helped to guide her through her first moons in the new role. She missed him constantly and could not help being overjoyed at his presence now. As he spoke, her ears pricked, waiting for whatever he had to say, “Your time here is done. Go to Thunderclan. They will be waiting for you.” As soon as he finished speaking, her former mentor seemed to disappear and she was left with nothing before her.
Thunderclan? That was almost the last place she wanted to be, other than her own camp. Hesitance made her paws feel heavy as stone. However, she remembered Beetlewing’s words ‘we chose you for a reason and yet you still doubt’. Maybe it was time to put a little more faith in her starry ancestors. The grey and white she-cat slowly turned towards the forest territory. Her gait was certainly not swift or eager, but at least she was now on her way.
