Color Green {solo}

Velveteen, velveteen. Leaftwirl sighed as the world above her grew calm. No pain meant her eyes, and she only laid there, watching the night sky. The pines rustled overhead, and the she-cat wondered if Arno was watching the same night sky from his perch atop the twoleg nest. She wished to join him, but part of her spirit knew that'd never be the case. The warrior smiled in a bittersweet manner, thinking that she knew long before she struck Daisyflame from her tree. Isn't that what happened? When a cat meant their goal? It would be too sweet to live a life of bliss, almost boring. The she-cat began to wonder what she'd do with herself if she had stayed in the twolegplace. Perhaps she'd find Amberdawn, or maybe become a kittypet. The boundaries were limitless, but maybe they weren't for her. All her life, Leaftwirl had craved consistency. It was so easy to fit into the role of a SkyClan apprentice, and it was easy to answer to her mentor and simply play the part. Warriorhood was different, however. The pressures of life now weighed on an adult, and to her surprise, she was one. Now she had taken a mate and given birth to kits, taking up some cursed mantle to please StarClan and her ancestors. How foolish she was to imagine she'd be the kind of cat to achieve that. Foxpaw, maybe. And Mossbloom was even more likely. But like Arno, she was free, and she no longer answered to a higher power. It was bliss, it was happiness, and it was terrifying.

Leaftwirl had always been a spontaneous cat, from her relationship to Sunflower to her eagerness to please. But there was always a more responsible figure to curb her outlandish desires. She didn't know what to do with herself when she became that figure instead. StarClan, she had given birth to kits. Never in her life had Leaftwirl imagined such a thing would happen. Yes, they were safe in SkyClan's camp, and she had done her part. But Leaftwirl wondered if that was the reason for her death, she watched the stars and blinked, knowing that living such a free existence in the twolegplace would end her. Her claws curled above, and she knew that SkyClan had built her beautiful days from scratch. Leaftwirl remembered hiding under her pine trees with Amberdawn, she remembered dreaming of Greenleaf, and then crying when it eventually came. Trials seemed to crumble her, and yet leaf-bare remained her favorite season despite its struggles. She was a walking contradiction. An adventurer who only dared to explore her own territory. A friend who only loved the surface talk. And a cat who strived for peace, for happiness, like the rest. Arno had taught her there was nothing wrong with that, and a sob escaped her maw as she echoed a silent thank you to him. If their meeting had never taken place, she may have died a guilty cat.

It wasn't death that saddened her, no. But Leaftwirl was scared, she was scared of the new adventure the afterlife would take her on. Who would be her Arno there? Who would take hold of her flighty spirit and set her feet once more on solid ground? The she-cat gasped as air struggled to reach her lungs. The pain was only an after thought, and these last moments of desire was her poem to the world that raised her. She nuzzled her maw into the mossy ground, smelling of dried grass and late snow. Her favorite. The warrior hoped they'd bury her under a pine tree. Her thoughts lulled and she felt light, as light as her mind itself. Her body was broken and stained with a beautiful crimson, and she watched as it lay peacefully amongst the forest grass. Her eyes were closed, tail still fluffy as a feather, and she stared at herself and said goodbye to a body that carried her through life. She looked at the nicks in her ears and the barely-there scar on her nose. "I love you." Leaftwirl spoke to her still frame, brushing an ethereal paw over its fur.

She rose higher into the night until the lights from the twolegplace glowed a horizon away. Leaftwirl smiled and thought of Arno, and thought of the freedom and strength that cat harnessed. She prayed his life would treat him well, and she made a note to keep him in her mind as times moved on. StarClan resembled the loner life well. There were no dawn patrols and there were no mentors to impress. She hoped there were pine trees in StarClan. Maybe the grass would be white like snow. Ascension was slow, and she watched from the air, watched her clan as they fought as warriors did. The former warrior would always hold a place for them in her heart. Her pride for her birth clan was vast and wide, and she hoped they'd remember her, not as a loner, and not even as a warrior. But as a cat who pursued happiness, and found it in the end.

Sunflower had been collateral damage in her impulsive state. Leaftwirl had made him her mate as she spiraled downward in those early days of warriorhood. He didn't deserve that, and she wished him the best. But regrets would not be taken with her into StarClan. This was a fresh start if she ever saw one, and the cat hoped her slate could be wiped clean. There was no conflict in StarClan, no fears and no worries, and she would be joyful. The warrior giggled as the stars tickled her fur. She was decorated with Silverpelt and danced with the night above. As whimsical as her life had been, her death would be as well. All the dogs and the floods could not touch her, she soared above her trials and remained victorious through circumstances themselves. No anger was held for metaphorical Daisyflame, and no anger for her life was carried with her into the silver forests above. She was Leaftwirl, as wispy as the wind itself, and as stellar as the stars.

A frame rested to meet her, and a voice she knew well. The she-cat wished to edge back but stayed, eyes green. She had not been a model warrior, and she had not fought perfectly. But Wolffang's yellow gaze was neutral, and accepted her journey as it unraveled. "Wolffang..." Leaftwirl whispered, running to meet the cat who stood before her. She stopped halfway and simply stared, unsure of what to do or where to go next. Was her guardian disappointed? But StarClan was bright, as silver as the sky itself. The she-cat's eyes flashed as she grinned, echoing words that shattered Leaftwirl's very heart.

"You did good kid, you did good."