Passing The Flame [Closed]

Blizzardstar walked out from the medicine cat’s den after getting her wound treated. All the time that had passed by since the fight against the foxes at Sunningrocks alongside Ivystar she had been thinking. She had lost multiple lives in the attack, Ivystar had lost all of hers, ultimately giving up her last life to kill the fox with the star on the forehead and save her from following that same fate.

The more she thought, the more the pieces fell into place, and as much as it pained her, as much as she wished she didn’t have to take the decision she was going to make, she felt she had no other choice.

With heavy paws, she walked towards the golden spotted tom that she had grown to see as one of her best friends in the clan, the one that would soon take the place that she didn’t know she would need to surrender so soon “Leopardclaw?” Her voice was soft and gentle, but tainted by a tone of sadness and urgency “Can you come to my den? We need to talk”.

Not waiting for the answer of her deputy, she turned around and headed inside the hollow rock. There was no time to lose, the faster this was done the faster the pain would stop and their ancestors would be pleased.

Leopardclaw glanced up from where he sat, hunched, near the fresh-kill pile.  He hadn't eaten...ever since he had buried Reedheart his appetite had left him.  At the sound of Blizzardstar's voice though, he pricked his black-tipped ears and his hazel eyes shone with a faint glow of curiosity.  The low, sad tone of his leader's voice though concerned him, and the curiosity faded into dread.  Getting up without a word, he followed her into the den and sat down.  Giving his ragged pelt a few hasty licks, he fixed his gaze of the rosette-pelted she-cat and meowed in a hoarse voice; "...what is it Blizzardstar?"

Blizzardstar sighed at Leopardclaw’s question, this wasn’t easy in the slightest. She was about to tell him to forget about it and change her mind…but she couldn’t do that. As if confirming her thoughts, she felt her healing wounds sting, causing her to flinch for half a second. She wished StarClan could heal her completely when reviving her…at least they had healed her broken bones though. She wouldn’t need to live with a disability the rest of her life because of that.

“I lied, Leoparclaw” Her voice was soft and low, as if fearing someone else would hear her “When I returned from the fox attack I said I had lost one life…Leopardclaw, I lost seven” She raised her gaze to meet her deputy’s. She hated to lie to her clan like this, but at the time of her return she hadn’t been able to figure out things just yet thanks to a mix of pain, panic and worry, that’s why she lied saying she had only lost one, to avoid having her clan go into her same state of panic and worry by knowing their leader was left with only one last life.

“A-and Ivystar…she not only fought by my side, she was killed, all lives. She saved me from losing my last life to the fox” With the full truth of the attack she decided to wait for Leopardclaw’s reaction. She knew her final decision regarding her leadership had to be shared, but she didn’t want to drop so many blows on him one after the other. She wanted him to be able to digest them one by one.

"W..WHAT?"

Leopardclaw was unable to hold back his immense shock.  He, of course, knew about the fox attack, but...great StarClan, eight lives?!  It usually took a lifetime for a leader to lose that many...he couldn't begin to imagine the pain that his friend had gone through.  Concern sweeping into his mind, he shuffled a bit closer to Blizzardstar so that he could touch her shoulder comfortingly with his tail tip.  "Blizzardstar....I..."  He didn't have time to reply before she swept on.

“A-and Ivystar…she not only fought by my side, she was killed, all lives. She saved me from losing my last life to the fox”

"Ivystar's DEAD?!"  His hazel eyes widened so much you could see their white rims; the RiverClan leader who had wrecked so much torment on their clan...had died to save their leader?  It didn't make sense, but that was not what Leopardclaw chose to dwell on.  "Oh StarClan, let RiverClan have mercy on us..."  He trailed off, lost for words.  How could so much happen in such a short amount of time...so much had changed, and he wanted to scream for the world to pause, let him come to terms with one thing at a time, before flinging him into another.  His heart rate increased slightly, he tried to sound calm as he rumbled; "At least you're okay...I couldn't have lost you too."  Over the moons, the fluffy she-cat had become his friend, his advisor, his leader, a guiding light to both his and his clanmate's lives.  He couldn't even begin to imagine how to go on without her at the head of the group.  Everything will be okay...we can get through this, we always can.

Blizzardstar lowered her ears as she rested her chin on Leopardclaw’s shoulder comfortingly. She could tell that the news had carried great shock to him, maybe even bigger than she had anticipated. As this last fact registered in her mind she had to take a deep sigh, eyes shifting nervously as she realized that she had to carry on, if she took any longer to…no, no, she had to do this now…but she had to explain first. Delivering hit first and explanation later wouldn’t be wise in her dear friend’s current state, she had to try and prepare him…if he found out on his own the better though she doubted he would.

“A pack of foxes attacked us, as soon as StarClan healed our injuries and returned us to life we already had another fox on top of us trying to kill us again. While most of the pack fell within my first four lives, their leader proved to be…strong…way too strong” A small shiver traveled across her body as memories of the fight flashed before her eyes “It was simply unnatural…it was when I had already lost two lives to him that I noticed it, on his forehead, shinning under the sunlight, the perfect shape of a star”.

She pulled away from Leopardlaw, gaze low and a sad expression on her face “I think Ivystar noticed too, because for several heartbeats we only looked at each other. I don’t know why, but I felt the fox was…giving us a chance to get away with our lives. I could even hear a whisper in my mind telling me to right then and there” While she still had the doubt of if it was just her being slightly delirious from all the times she had died in a row and exhaustion, whether it was something inside her telling her otherwise or herself forcing the belief of it into her mind, she felt it wasn’t the case

“The voice didn’t finish when Ivystar launched a second attack, and I decided to follow. It was then when the fox resumed its attacks, I fell to the rocky terrain, dead once more, and when I returned with my very last life I couldn’t do anything but watch as it was about to land on me from a pounce with fangs ready to finish me off. It was then when Ivystar jumped towards its neck. The fox growled and turned its attention to her, the fangs of the canine closing around her body, taking her last life instead of mine’s” Tears rushed to her eyes. While she had grown to dislike the RiverCln leader over the past couple moons because of all the suffering she had brought to ThunderClan and WindClan, their only friends and allies, she never wished for her to die.

She had to clear the tears off her eyes and clear her throat to be able to speak again instead of breaking into sobs, the grief mixing with her nervousness and making it even harder for her to find her voice at all “As the fox bleed out from the wound Ivystar had inflicted on its neck it tried to reach for me, unsuccessful. Before he died we locked our gazes one last time, don’t ask me how, but it was at then when I finally understood the message the whisper tried to deliver. Once I did, his eyes of the color of the night sky clouded with death and his body went limp…I can swear even the star on his forehead lost all its shine”.

Once the story was told, she looked up at Leopardclaw once more “Leopardclaw, the message this fox had to deliver is not one I like, but one I can’t fight as I somehow know it was sent by our ancestors between the stars and I fear what action they could take should I defy what clearly is their command…but I need to know you’ll trust me and walk at my side during this process, as I know I can’t do it without you”.

Leopardclaw couldn't help but flinch slightly as Blizzardstar rested her head on his shoulder, the odd instinct to pull away from other's touch still strong within him, but after a moment he relaxed and swept his tongue over her ear, a friendly gesture as if to wordlessly say It's okay, don't worry, everything's going to be fine.  On the inside though, a whirlpool of doubt began to twist in his stomach as he listened to the odd story his leader began to provide.  Once she pulled away, he met her gaze with a hazel expression of astonishment, his paws kneading the soft sandy soil anxiously.  A fox with a star on its forehead?  He had never heard of such a thing...  It wasn't the only unbelievable thing though; Ivystar sacrificing herself for the sake of ThunderClan?  If this news wasn't coming from a cat he trusted with his life without hesitation, he would've thought it was the funniest concept he had ever heard.  Yet...here they were.  His unconscious suspicions seemed to be confirmed as Blizzardstar spoke of some sort of message the fox had instilled in her, her deeply upset demeanor though signaling that it likely would not be good news.  In his opinion, anything a fox could give was probably going to be devastating.

“Leopardclaw, the message this fox had to deliver is not one I like, but one I can’t fight as I somehow know it was sent by our ancestors between the stars and I fear what action they could take should I defy what clearly is their command…but I need to know you’ll trust me and walk at my side during this process, as I know I can’t do it without you”.

"Yes, of course, Blizzardstar."  He answered instantly, though her seriousness worried him.  What was going to happen to ThunderClan?  All he could pray was that his remaining family would be spared...though, he had a feeling this world would not be so gracious.