A Cardinal's Last Song

Delta was tired. She wasn't too old, no, not as old as some of the elders from the Clans. Still, her bones creaked and her muscle mass grew thin. It was too bright for her outside, so she laid in a feathery nest under the Gnarled Tree. It was old, older than time itself, and she hoped that beneath it, perhaps Starclan could reach her and protect her. Despite it, she spent her days relying on pain-relieving berries from the Herbmaster. Faint pawsteps grew closer... She'd recognize them anywhere.

"Come, Delta. Eat." She opened her eyes, feeling the comforting fur press near. With a little support from Bracken, her jelly legs managed to bring her to the prey outside the hole. Greetings surrounded her. She sat and began to munch a fresh mouse as Ivory sat by her, telling her about her day. Azar began to quarrel with Ivory, since there was no Quill to make peace. The red of the mouseblood blended into the grey-brown of its fur. "Don't fight, young ones." She said, though the energy to say more escaped her.

Delta blinked, laying on the sun-rock. It was past sun-set now, and the moon shone bright in the sky. How had the afternoon gone by? Dull pains told her she'd been cursed to sleep the afternoon away again. The stars. The stars where so much of her family resided. Hopefully not Quill and Rowan. They'd set off to explore the world, to leave the Haven. She knew the feeling. She knew Starclan would protect them. They wouldn't make the same mistakes as her.

Mama, come play! Cardinalcry lifted her dead, tattered ears perking. The sound of playing? At this time of night? The giggling of kits surrounded her. It's time to come home, Mama! Yes... Home. Skyclan? Shadowclan? The Haven? Wasn't she there? She looked around. It was too bright. Too bright for dead of night.

"What are you doing, love?" The fluffy brown pelt of Bracken broke away the haze, allowing Delta to, for a time, see and sense clearly. She could sense weariness in him, as he took care of a sickly cat who grew old before she should have. He was nearly as exhausted as she was.

"I'm sunning, can't you see? It's de-light-ful out here." Her gaze was clear enough to see his face was full of mourning for a cat not dead. He only watched, no words to be exchanged. He'd always been a quiet cat. "There once was a night like this one. Full of light, writhing in dark. My life seemed to change the most on these nights." She turned her eyes up at the sky. She saw seven moons, all in the shapes of cats. It was so bright, but her eyes didn't hurt. "I love you."

Come home, the moons told her. Get up and come back home. And so she stood, without help from anyone at all. One pawstep, then two, and she jumped down from the sunning rock, energy returning to her, as if her scars were mending themselves as she walked. "Bracken, can finally hunt again. Will you join me?"

"No, he won't." A familiar voice pierced the dense night. She turned to see Scorchedbird standing, waiting. "It isn't his time yet." Her face lifted in the sight of her former mate, then fell as she put together the pieces. Cardinalcry looked back at where Bracken sat sorrowful over a scarred red pelt, little more than fur and bone. "Come home, Cardinalcry."

One more look back, and she knew she had to go. She hopped up to Bracken, pressing her nose to his forehead, though he couldn't feel it. "Goodbye, love. It's time to go home."

With that, she followed Scorchedbird into the sky. And if a cat listened closely that night, they would hear the chirping of a cardinal as it faded away.