The Clouding Soot Shines One Last Time {Open}

The leader was last to arrive yet he could hear all the screeches and hisses from where he was coming. His former apprentice, Lightstep had come to him before he could even enter, claiming that the young and bold Sunpaw was about to fight with Flurryshine. The large tom made his entrance into a den full of chaos: his clanmate shouting to each other, Flurryshine and Sunpaw arguing while poor Sootpaw could barely make any comprehensible word. Jaystar was shocked to see that pure body seize so violently without apparent reason. Why did Starclan choose him to have such a painful disease? One that couldn't be cured or helped? "Enough!" He yowled, placing his paw in between the crowd and Goldeneye, who was taking care of Sootpaw. "I heard everything from outside and I can't believe this madness! Flurryshine, you have no right to ask for a clanmate's death when we don't even know if he will make it or not. Starclan will decide his fate now so the only thing we can do is to make him feel comfortable as we wait." He mewed to the broken mother. Though he understood her pain, how horrible was to see a kit suffering in front of them, Sootpaw couldn't be discarded just like that. His head turned back to Goldeneye, locking his eyes with hers. "Dewshine and Sunpaw are right too. We cannot give up hope on him until we see what will become of him today. If he survives, I'll be the one who decides if he should continue his training or not but I would like to hear your opinion on the subject too."

There was nothing more to say. The silver tabby took his stance next to the den where Sootpaw was having a seizure yet kept a good distance to give Goldeneye some space. "All we can do now is wait... and don't fight each other. Do you think he would have wanted his sister and mother fighting? His family broken? Don't make the same mistakes I did, Flurryshine."

Sootpaws seizure came to a halt and he blindly bad touch at the ground with his front paws. His tongue hang loosely wit hhis jaws open. He gasped and tried to pull in the air yet nothing was happening. He let out a wheeze and looked up. "Jaystar." That was the first cat that he saw. "I'm sorry I'll never be a warrior." He rasped. He knew what was happening. He could barely feel his heart slowing. "I love you." He whispered to his mother and Sunpaw stop fighting her and rushed over to him. He let out painful gasp and his head flopped back down and pain ran through his body. His jaws opened and he let out a silent cry and watched the cats above him, waiting to see his ancestors.

Lightstep had been immensely grateful when he found Jaystar just outside, already slightly clued in to what was happening within the den. The white warrior re-entered just behind his leader to see the den in as much chaos as before. Dewshine had joined and was comforting Flurryshine, while Wolfsong was glaring dangerously at the queen and working with Goldeneye to make a protective barrier between her and Sootpaw. Lightstep stared hopelessly around the den. A short distance away he saw Minkpaw, still recovering from his injuries, cowering and trembling in his nest, but the white warrior knew he couldn't make his way through the den to comfort the apprentice. I'm sorry, Lightstep thought, but all he could do was continue to watch the situation.

The little tom who had unwittingly caused so much chaos, Sootpaw, began to relax, his body slowly going limp as his seizing stopped. Lightstep dared for a moment to hope, but when the apprentice spoke his voice carried a dangerous tiredness to it. "I'm sorry I'll never be a warrior." Then the little tom said he loved his family, and Lightstep dared not approach Flurryshine or Sunpaw now. The white tom feared what was happening; his family was about to lose another member.

His green eyes widened when from the tortured apprentice's mouth, his name was called. The Riverclan leader turned his sight to him who looked weaker and weaker as each second passed by. But despite his miserable state, what really broke his heart and made him want to cry was his unrequired apology. The leader knew at that moment that Sootpaw wouldn't make it... that Starclan was calling him to join them. He didn't have to think too much about it. Without a warning, the large silver cat got closer to the apprentice and laid down in front of him. His muzzle touched the apprentice's forehead for a second of little peace. "You don't have to be sorry... You've been a great apprentice and... you will be a warrior." The tom put one paw over him as he took a distance from his head. He may have not gone to his moonstone journey, but Sootpaw had the age and the training to join the warrior's life if it weren't for... his disease. " By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this day forth, you will be known to all as Sootcloud, warrior of Riverclan... Y-You have done well." The tom's voice cracked as the life of the young was slowly slipping away. "Starclan will welcome you as the warrior you deserve to be. Rest now... You may go in peace, little one."

Tears had formed in Wolfsong's eyes as Jaystar gave his apprentice his warrior name, Sootcloud. He smiled at him "I'm proud of you Sootcloud, it has been a pleasure to train you, your fighting skills have really impressed me and... and I'll miss you." he paused and took a deep breath and leaned a little closer "If you meet Spotfur in Starclan, please tell him that I said hi...".

He looked up, he hated this, it seemed as if every cat he came to like ended up dying... And there was nothing he could do! He looked back at Sootcloud, he wanted to get up and leave but he didn't move, he had to stay strong, he wouldn't leave his side, he'd stay with him till the end.

So much had happened all at once. Goldeneye rejected Flurryshine's demand to put Sootpaw down, then had the gall to accuse her of no longer loving or valuing him. How dare she! The entire reason why she wanted her to kill him was to save him from the constant pain of seizures! How could she be so blind as to not realize that?

Then shrieking sounded from behind her, and all of a sudden she felt a body pounce on her back and claws digging into her long fur, trying to reach skin to puncture the skin. Sunpaw was attacking her! With a shriek of alarm, Flurryshine struggled to shake the young molly off, and she just barely had the mental capacity to screech at herself not to retaliate and harm her. She could've sworn she had heard Lightstep cry out something, but it was drowned out by Sunpaw's furious caterwauls.

Sunpaw then managed to pin Flurryshine on her belly, wincing as claws dug into her shoulders and back, as well as the ear-piercing shriek right in her ear that left it ringing. Once it cleared, she could just faintly recognize another voice. ...Dewshine? She looked up at her mentor, who had left the nursery to see what all the ruckus was about.

"Let yourself believe in him, as I always have believed in you."

That statement made by her motherly figure, one of the only cats whom Flurryshine loved with all of her heart who was still alive, the cat who never gave up on her, never stopped loving her, always saw her as one of her own despite everything else... Instantly, her mind began to clear, and she was finally able to think and reflect on her actions logically.

Great StarClan above, she asked Goldeneye to kill her own son. How terrible a mother could she be? Had Sootpaw heard that? She never even though of that. It was no wonder Goldeneye accused her of no longer caring for him, or why Sunpaw was still keeping her pinned to the ground in protective fury.

She practically tried to murder her own kit.

Jaystar seemed to have come from absolutely nowhere, his strict, booming voice scaring the daylights out of her. His scolding towards her only helped her realize more and more how horrible a cat she truly was. How could she wish death upon her own kit? How could she do such a thing to poor Sootpaw?

Suddenly, she felt the weight on her back lift, and she saw Sunpaw race up to the now eerily-still Sootpaw. It seemed his seizure had ended, but... Something wasn't right. She slowly climbed up to her paws, staring in horror back at her ill son, and caught his whisper to her. His whisper of love, the love of a kit for their mother.

She almost missed Jaystar's informal ceremony he had decided to hold right then and there, dubbing the sick apprentice a warrior. Sootcloud. What a beautiful name. But... why was he doing this?

It was then she realized just what was happening. And right at that moment, in spite of all that she had said earlier, one thought flashed through her mind, utterly consuming her entire being for a split second.

I don't want him to die.

Flurryshine raced to Sootpaw's side, ignoring everyone else, whether they wanted her near her now dying son or not. She wouldn't let them keep her away from him. Not this time. "No! No, Sootcloud! D-Don't die! Come on, baby, don't die, please!..." Tears slid down her cheeks in little rivets. "Ohh, Sootcloud, my lovely!... I'm so sorry I wished death upon you, I-I wasn't thinking straight! I don't want you to die! You... You won't die! I won't let you!" She pushed her muzzle into Sootcloud's side and curled her tail around him, as if just being there would somehow magically reverse the effects of death upon him.

Sootcloud couldn't die!

He couldn't!...

He couldn't...

Please, StarClan...

Don't take him away, too...

Sootcloud. My name is Sootcloud. He thought. "Spotfur is waiting to greet me." He said loudly. Not caring who heard it. "Thank you.. Jaystar.. Wolfsong.. Goldeneye.. Fallowlight.." He whispered their names. Then he felt his mother's body curl around him. "I will not judge you for doing what you though was best for me. I will always love you the same and I will always be with you alive or not." He let out a rusty purr and his breath began to slow. He felt the presence of other cat around him. "Sleekpaw is waiting for me." He wispered and his eyes closed.

In an instant he felt better. It was easier to breathe.

[i]This is it.[i]

He stood up and he saw his ragged grey pelt in a ball with his loving mother curled around him. He looked at his paw and it was sleek and groomed well. His heart ached with pain as he stood and watched all the cats he loved around him. He bent down and purred into his mothers ear.

"I will always be with you."

The apprentice's small, pitiful apology had nearly broken Lightstep's heart. When Jaystar took an abrupt few steps forward and laid down in front of Sootpaw, Lightstep watched with interest. The silver tabby tom touched his head to Sootpaw's gray forehead and said with sorrow and determination, "You've been a great apprentice and... you will be a warrior."

Lightstep sucked in a small gasp and his eyes became wet with tears he hadn't expected. He quickly closed him mouth and clenched his jaw against the overwhelming sadness, listening with his head dipped respectfully as Jaystar continued to speak.

"By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this day forth, you will be known to all as Sootcloud, warrior of Riverclan... Y-You have done well." A tear slipped down Lightstep's face as Jaystar finished softly, "StarClan will welcome you as the warrior you deserve to be. Rest now... You may go in peace, little one."

At Sootpaw - no, Sootcloud's side, Wolfsong spoke soft, kind words of praise and farewell, his voice choked. Flurryshine, who was being comforted by Dewshine a moment before, raced to Sootcloud's other side, curling herself around his body which seemed unnaturally small. Lightstep watched her as she cried out in sorrow, his eyes dark with sadness. Sootcloud spoke his own goodbyes, but his voice soon became soft - too soft for Lightstep to hear. When the new warrior's gray body went still in Flurryshine's fur, Lightstep felt his entire body droop, his head hanging low as he made a soft mourning sound. After several moments Lightstep moved to Flurryshine's side, sitting and gently resting his tail on her haunches as she buried her face in her dead son's pelt.

Flurryshine looked down helplessly at her dying son, tears swimming in his eyes, distorting his image. No matter how many times she tried to blink the tears from her eyes, Sootcloud wouldn't stop shifting in her gaze. "S-Sootcloud... Please... Don't leave me, too..."

But she knew there was nothing she could do, no matter how badly she wanted to. It was too late.

As soon as his body stopped moving, Flurryshine whimpered. Then she rose up to her paws and rushed passed her gathered Clanmates towards the camp entrance, fleeing through the reed barrier and out into the territory. She didn't want to see her dead son. She knew a logical cat would've stayed by his side to sit vigil for him, but... she just couldn't. It hurt far too much.

Sootcloud, I'm so sorry!...